Mikey R

Stormshadow Guitarworks in Sheffield got togerther with MJW to produce some high gain guitar amps - its a business model that worked for them.

Cheers everyone! Ive not gigged in 10 years or so, playing again should be great.

Eh up, Ive just joined a new band. We had our first get together today, it all clicked and Im really happy with it, I had to share. We mostly play Pink Floyd songs, but theres a few other songs in there too. I should be back to gigging towards the end of the year. Lots of songs to learn, their repetoir is HUGE!

The BF cabs are very well engineeed, they do lightweight, high power handling, high sensitivity as well as sounding great. I just wanted to debunk the myth that BF went after SPL at the expense of tone.

One piece of advice I got from a sound engineer (the chap that used to do sound at the Twist in Colchester) was to try putting the bass amp at the opposite end of the stage to the bassist.So, over the far side of the stage, we had the big Marshall guitar amp pointed forwards (those 4 x 12s are very directional) and the small Trace bass amp pointing across the stage. Job done.

Ive been playing around with my two main amps today - one is an Ashdown Little Bastard through a Barefaced Compact, the other is a Hartke VX2515. This isnt a like for like comparison as I dont own a high end transistor amp, but the Hartke is alright for a spare. First the obvious differences - the Hartke kicks out alot more bottom end, is more powerful and compresses less. It has a graphic EQ. Obvious really. The LB, however, kicks out so much low mids it would puch through a brick wall, with the EQ set the way I like it. It doesnt have the clean headroom to really shift air like the Hartke, but thats why you use a 30 watt valve amp. Although it is starting to break up, it is still way more defined than the Hartke. Now, the more subtle differences, and you need to own and play both for a while to really appreciate them. Valve amps have a different, interactive feel. They feel like part of the instrument, breathing along with the bass. Solid state amps are very stiff by comparisson, to the point that they give a very clinical feel - if youre playing alot of fast stuff, this might suit you, but I find them a little uninspiring. And the best bit - output tubes just round out and polish off the sound so nicely. My Blackfinger compressor is a bit fizzy through the Hartke, but though the LB its slick and creamy. Combined with the LBs ability to push the mids, and Ive found my ideal tone for rock. Maybe a high end solid state rig would be less fizzy, more defined and more interactive than the Hartke. For the moment, Im happy with the LB, though it would struggle without PA support on anything but the smallest of gigs.

Nope - it has a strange trolly case handle thingy, so Im guessing its a beast!

Not my cup of tea, but it seems they definitely have their fans. If anyone is after a big, tubey warm amp, thats a little unusual, there is one in Mor Music in York going for around £500 (half what it is in on the website). [url="http://www.mormusic.co.uk/product/mesa-boogie-buster-200w-valve-combo---used"]http://www.mormusic....ve-combo---used[/url] You might be able to haggle the guys down a little, tell them Mikey sent you.

I cracked open my LB yesterday evening, the valve types are written on the top of the chassis.

Is this something you want to be able to switch in and out of? If youre looking at something just a little warm and driven to use as your basic sound, that you can add to with other effects, then EHX do a couple of nice valve pedals. Ive got the Black FInger to give me my basic warm tone - its absolutely amazing, just adds that little bit of edge without losing any definition. I call this my clean tone, but really its just a little bit driven.

Cheers Kiwi, it seems I had the wrong expectations. I'll look elsewhere.

I had a chance to play through a Buster 200 yesterday, I was lead to believe its basically half a 400+ in a weirdly shaped 2 x 10 combo. I was totally not blown away by it, in any way, despite really trying hard to find a nice growly tone using both a P and a J. I was really let down. I know the 400+ gets loads of rave reviews on here, whats the secret to making these things growl? EDIT: It seems Ive had the wrong expectations from the amp, so Ive changed the topic title to reflect this

This is a constant battle for me. If you add too much drive, then the bass drops out. The best Ive come up with so far was splitting the signal into two, so that a Rat into a Sans Amp VT runs parallel with a Sans Amp Blonde (bassman mode), then combining the two with a line mixer. Still not really satisfied with it at high volume with the full band. I think Im on the right track to a solution, but experimenting with actual valve effects has given better results, so I think valves are the way to go. I'll probably be selling both the Sans Amps soon, they are really nice but Im just not using them.

This explains the differences rather well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LMp0qw0FYw

Ok, its only the front page of their site thats knackered at the moment, the product pages still work (google is youre friend) [url="http://ashdownmusic.com/products/1/Bass-Amplification/1/Valve/10/CTM100/"]http://ashdownmusic....alve/10/CTM100/[/url] Yep, two KT88s rather than four EL34s. Really want to try one!

So has anyone been able to compare the Little Bastard to the bigger CTM amps? Do they have a similar pre-amp? Im pretty certain most of the growl of this awesome little amp comes from the EL84s, so using KT88s would reallly clean the amp up and really change its character. Im surprised they didnt offer an EL34 amp to cash in on the extra grittiness we've come to expect from those valves. EDIT: Just went to look at the http://www.ashdownengineering.com website, and I got this: Whats up?

hey, everyones saying these are super clean and transparent. does the valve really do anything in these amps?

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1379274243' post='2210757'] I find the exact same with the bass shift switch. Nice, ain't it? [/quote] The character of the amp changes massively as you push the power amp, i find you need to play with the tone controls as you change the master. I really is an excelent amp for hard rock and metal, im not sure how it would cope with something smoother.

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1377104449' post='2183436'] I'd guess that pairing would sound very much like the LB30 drophead combo. I do know that my LB30 and BF Compact sound very sweet together. Question for you - do you find the LB30 Mid-shift and Bright switches do very little (if anything) tonally? I get a big change from the Bass-shift switch - much more midrange in the up position. Basically nothing from the Mid-shift, and a very slightly perceptable change with the Bright switch. Would be interested to hear your findings. Cheers Geoff [/quote] Ive got the exact same setup, I find the bright switch makes a huge difference, i guess its for less hifi cabs as it sounds pants with the bf. The mid switch does make a small difference, but not much. I only just started liking the bass switch, with it off i get a Steve Harris kind of tone, switched in and cranked up it becomes huge!

I agree with the above - in terms of cost, no way. You will also need to invest in a whole load of tools, you might make a few mistakes and have to do a bit of rework with fresh materials, etc. However, I think the BOM cost of the bass in my avatar was around £80 all in, with pickups, bridge and tuners from ebay. Im not telling how much I spent on tools whilst building it

Ive had a bit of a noodle around on it this morning - plugged straight in to my Ashdown LB throught the Barefaced Compact. I was initially struck by how rounded the Fender is, the tone is very mellow. Its also surprisingly easy to play with medium action. Notes sound with plenty of control, which is always something I look out for. Some Fender type instruments can feel a little 'sloppy', like there is a slight delay between playing the note and the string starting to sound, this bass has none of that. I did a few A/B comparisons next to my blue P type bass, which is a very agressive, snappy instrument. The blue bass is very fast to play, with plenty of tonal variation depending on how you pluck each string, but that makes it a wholly unforgiving experience - you mess up a note, you'll know about it. The Fender, on the other hand, gives a much more balanced playing experience. Ive optimised the setup of the blue bass to play best around the 5th to 7th fret, as thats where I tend to find myself playing the most. There are a few buzzes above and below that position, nothing that really comes through the amp but you can feel them under your fingers. Its a little unfair to compare the Fender with the blue one, as the action is totally uncomparable, but as it is the Fender plays well at every position. I did miss the upper frets on some chord playing - the blue bass has 24 frets, its odd to think how much I uses the upper end of the neck. Maybe its just psychological, and I'll get used to it, but even if Im not using the dusty end in any songs, its nice to know its there. More to follow... EDIT: Forgot to say, even though this is an 8 year old instrument, it looks like its had a sheltered life living mostly in its original Fender flight case. No scratches, its not even chipped around the headstock like most guitars are.

In a moment of weakness today, I took home this beauty. Its a 2005 MIA Fender Jazz, black on black with a rosewood board, currently completely stock but ripe for modding. Frets are clean, action is a nice medium, its a really good player with classic Jazz tone. I'll play it for a while and decide if its a keeper. If I keep it, it'll likely get a high mass bridge, a pair of super hot pickups wound by a local friend and some clever homebrew wiring. Theres tonnes you can do with a jazz plate!

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1376892205' post='2180323'] This is the link I found on Talk bass, via a quick Google search: [url="http://www.captnmoto.co.uk/Stats/LB30_Schematic.pdf"]http://www.captnmoto...0_Schematic.pdf[/url] Cheers Geoff [/quote] Nice one, thanks Geoff! Interesting to see its got a paraphase splitter, Ive never seen one of those in a modern amp.

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1374578574' post='2150316'] I've just checked my LB30 schematic and the volume control is post effects, in fact it is right before the power stage. Cheers Geoff [/quote] hey Geoff, are the schematics available online?

Fraid not, Ive been stalled doing other things. Life getting in the way and all that A good friend has suggested I prototype the preamp with a smaller power amp and power supply, to iron out the bugs. Im tempted to take his advice.