Iain

[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1403286423' post='2481560'] Damn you man! You have just released the GAS monster in his entirety ! [/quote] Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Then sell the 'ray because the Sterling is all the bass you'll want

[quote name='Fellrunner' timestamp='1403303016' post='2481774'] Thats my old bass! I traded it with Drew for a Thumb a while back, the Thumb is long gone and i was planning to go and rescue the precious red Sterling at some point until i saw it was gone (i live round the corner from Drew and his "lounge") Nice to know its not gone far.... [/quote] Wow, small world. Glad I don;t live any closer to Drew to be honest - I'd be bankrupt by now if I did.

[quote name='Ant' timestamp='1403266923' post='2481313'] i often look at swapping out my micro head for a small power amp, there seems to be no options out there as small and as powerful as the microheads (ampeg pf800 etc) [/quote] I swapped my PF500 for the Mark Bass Big Bang. Both 500w but, with the same bass driving them, the MB is much louder and more defined. In fact the MB into a single 1x12 (300W @ 8 Ohm was louder and tighter than the PF500 (500W @4Ohm) into the 2x10 and 1x15 PF cabs. I was really disappointed with the Ampeg gear.

[quote name='SimonEdward' timestamp='1403020558' post='2478936'] Hello Iain and ditto "Welcome on board" etc.. lovely gear, Basses and quite a few BC-er's have or have owned Musicman Sterling Basses, and seem to like them. I would like to own one myself at some point, or something similar, maybe a Jaydee 'Anarchy' Bass...........? in a year or two.. [/quote] Hey - mine was an absolutely mint 2nd hand one, I noticed MBL have another in stock currently in an interesting colour - Dark Metallic Teal.

I've got a Sterling (proper, not sub or 'by') and I played it back to back with a Stingray (and a lot of other basses at Manchester Bass Lounge). Necks seemed very similar i.e. excellent. Body is smaller and lighter than the Stingray but it's not a light bass by any stretch. It's got seriously hyped actives. Mine's the 4H - single noise cancelling Humbucker with a 3-way switch for various modes. Pretty flexible tone between the pickup selector and the 3-way tone. I generally play with them in middle position, just rolling back treble if the room is very bright. The bass-boost is huge. I absolutely love it and the red body with black scratch looks great. I went into MBL looking to pick up a Jazz or similar and came out with this - one of the last basses I picked up in the 3 hours I was there and it was love at first riff. Original photos...

I've got a Musicmann Sterling 4H (not the cheaper Sub version) and it's stunningly versatile on tone. The pre-amp in it's is allegedly a bit hotter than the Ray and I have no issues getting it very dark - also does the Stingray trick of glassy super-sharp. Had to dial back the presence on my SansAmp though - was a bit too much! As far as I'm aware the body on the Sterling is a bit smaller than the 'Ray too which is nice but I still get lower back ache after a 4 hour practice session.

/drool Been hankering after a Combustion for a while now and I feel my willpower weakening!

New here but I thought I'd chip my 2p in... I'm running a SansAmp Driver into a Markbass BigBang head (paired with a 1x12 and 1x15 Markbass cabs) and it's a great piece of kit - weighs in at a whisker over 2kg and can be rack-mounted with a kit from MB. Given the neutral tone of the MB gear you should be able to replicate your sound (which, from a brief listen is awesome) with no issues. I think my whole rig weighs in at 38kg!

Thanks for the warm welcome all! [quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1402691509' post='2476090'] Hi Welcome to the forum I like the look of the red ray any chance of telling me your address and letting me know a suitable time you will be out so I can come and pick it up lease? lol [/quote] Not tellin! However, if you do pop round can you leave a Dingwall Combustion in it's place? Fair swap I reckon PS. It's a Sterling not a Ray and it's awesome.

I've been browsing the forum for info and bass-pr0n for a while and thought I should register and say Hi... Hi! I've played bass for 27 years but hadn't played from '99 until last summer. I went along to a Rush gig in Manchester last summer with a couple of mates and ended up wondering why I wasn't playing any more... didn't come up with a good excuse so bought some new strings for my old bass, a mini Ampeg (Micro-CL) and started to get back up to speed. I set myself the job of trying to learn the set-list form the Clockwork Angels tour, way too big a step for my rusty fingers but it spurred me on to look for some local people to jam with. This worked out well and shortly after I spotted a local rock covers band looking for a bassist on joinmyband... short audition later and I've been playing with them since last September. Couldn't have met a nicer bunch of guys. I'm lucky to have a decent paying day job as I'm a bit of a gear whore... Started with my old bass: Washburn Chicago Series: I added a Musicmann Sterling (after trying most of Drew's basses at [url="http://manchesterbasslounge.com/"]ManchesterBassLounge[/url]) to my collection at this point and some Ampeg gear (Portaflex 1x15, 2x10 and PF-500 head) to keep up with the drummer... I really didn't get on with the Ampeg gear - too loose a sound when cranked up. Having played through some Markbass stuff at MBL, and being limited on boot space I bought a Traveller 112H and Big Bang head. I've since added a 115H to it: the other bass is an ESP Ltd B-2055-M which is awesome for the price but only used for one song (Scooby Snacks): I use a Tech21 SansAmp Bass Driver and simple Dr Green tuner!