Dan Dare

My suggestion would be to invest in a decent passive DI box and use it post amp (from the effects send or preamp out - a good DI will have pad switches to match the input sensitivity to the signal strength). Using the DI out on your amp carries a risk of the sound person stuffing 48v into it if he/she forgets to disable the phantom power. I've seen it happen. Not good for most onboard DI outs. The transformer in a passive DI will not be affected should that be the case.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1497885899' post='3321114'] There are sought after versions of Strats and Les Pauls that have been up around this level for years. About 10 years ago we did a gig for a corporate lawyer at his house (we set up in his ballroom) and he showed us his "collection". A room with about 40 collectable and vintage guitars set up on stands and many more still in their cases. He reckoned it was all worth about £10 million. "Collectors" work to a completely different set of rules. [/quote] Sadly true. Anyone remember that silicon valley billionaire who advertised for vintage instruments a few years back. He was photographed sitting on the bonnet of the Batmobile (which he owns), holding the first ever Gibson Citation and something else equally droolworthy. He invited people to tell/send him what they had and he would make offers. It was obvious, from the fact that he was holding the guitars like shovels, that he didn't have a clue what to do with them. Was tempted to post a dog turd to him with a note that he would probably find it of more use. Collectors are usually (I know there are exceptions) people with far too much money who envy musicians their ability and mistakenly think that if they have a '59 Les Paul or whatever, they will automatically sound like their heroes. Fortunately for those of us who can actually play, it ain't so.

[quote name='bassace' timestamp='1497863546' post='3320882'] The cajon is the modern equivalent of the bongos that the hipsters of the day used to bang. And before that there was the bloody tambourine. Should all have been consigned to the waste bin. The people who abused them couldn't hit them in any semblance of time. They made the drummer sound like a musical genius, and that takes a lot to achieve. I feel better now. [/quote] You've been reading my mail. I play Irish traditional music (my original instrument was/is the fiddle). People who can't be arsed to put the time in and learn a proper instrument turn up to music sessions with bloody bodhrans (a handheld, single skinned drum that's played with a carved wooden beater). They bash away far too loudly and murder the rhythms and subtleties of the music and drown out more delicate instruments. Of course, there are a few who play a bodhran musically, but they're in a small minority. Hanging's too good for most of 'em. I feel better now, too.

Don't see many Satellite guitars or basses for sale. Wonder why

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1497789684' post='3320560'] [b][size=6]?[/size][/b] [/quote] 'Fraid so. You must have experienced someone attempting to bang along with the music on one of those bloody wooden boxes. Or were you that person?

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1497799801' post='3320601'] I'm the cheerleader for my band. Always upbeat and funny, telling jokes and keeping everyone in good spirit If a band member is really down I will do the invisible bear hump and that will fix everything. Hard to have a bad time when your humping an invisible bear �� Blue [/quote] You sound infuriating

I don't think there's a one size fits all answer. Some of us are fortunate to have tougher nails and skin than others. My nails are very hard (they can cut me if I grasp something too tightly and they dig into the skin) and although I don't play for hours every day, I rarely suffer soreness of the fingers. Just my good fortune. However, the only time I do get sore fingers on my plucking hand is when I play too hard (usually because I can't hear myself on a noisy stage). So I'm afraid the answer has to be play more softly and turn up (or get a more powerful rig if ours isn't giving you the sound/volume you need). All the putting superglue on your fingers, boiling them, etc is of little use, I'm afraid. Sorry, but that's the practical solution.

I have a Carvin B1000, which is also 2 ohms capable. Many of their heads are. Genzler Magellan will go down to 2.7 ohms (i.e. 3 x 8 ohm cabs). Worth knowing that they way amp designers make something 2 ohm capable is to reduce the amount of power through the output stage, so you won't get much more, if any power than you get running into 4 ohms. If you like the D800 sound (which I do, too. A pal uses one and it's excellent), the sound is down to the preamp - it uses the usual Bang & Olufsen ICEpower module found in many of he better Class D heads. So all you need is an add on power amplifier which you can drive from the D800 preamp or effects out. I picked up a used Bugera class D head, which I use as a power amp driven by my Carvin and it sounds the same. Hope this is of some use.

Notice JJ is using a Bassman rig (same as he used on the Marvin Gaye live clip that's been on here). Love the way the band members are obviously enjoying themselves. Martha can certainly sing, can't she? Magic.

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1497536696' post='3318953'] Because after playing for 50 years he still hasn't got it right lol. I cant stand bands who have soemone with a music stand on stage. If you cant be bothered to put the time and effort in like the rest of the band, at the expense of looking Ike you haven't, then you arent the right person. I know that sounds harsh, but ive seen so many bands where one or two members spend all night looking at their music stands and i find it looks very unprofessional and makes them look like they arent part of the band. I know some people play with lots of bands, with different arrangements etc, but even so, thats no excuse for not putting in the hours. We got rid of our last guitarist as he was always looking down at his iPad. [/quote] Easy to say if you only play in one band, which is probably your hobby anyway. Orchestras, big bands and many others use the dots. Are you really saying the look "unprofessional"?

I'm a miserable bastard and nobody likes me. That's usually my reason for leaving...

Aaaargh. Cajons.

Go to a pro' for a valuation/advice. If you think the bass and guitar world is a minefield as far as valuations and so on go, it's nothing compared to the violin world.

It's a good idea for a band not to own a PA jointly, but for band members to own individual parts of it. That way, if you split or someone leaves, people just take whatever it is they own. No arguments about buying people out, newcomers buying in (they just replace whatever it is the person leaving took with them), etc. Saves a lot of grief. Of course, if you're buying it your self, this doesn't apply.

[quote name='Cuzzie' timestamp='1497289023' post='3317078'] Cheap xenys 502 mixer, DI out into this and aux in to the mixer and headphone out the mixer, all done plus if want to record you can do this [/quote] This is also a good idea. When I practice, I run my bass direct, via a DI box, into my mixer and listen on headphones to avoid upsetting the neighbours and of course, it's no bother to incorporate a CD player, MP3 or whatever. A good pair of closed back phones - I use Beyer DT770s - will give you a fabulous bass tone (and also spoil you for live work when you realise you can't get that sound out of your live rig)

I do find a valve pre does make a difference. It isn't night and day and I agree with Bill that the power stage does have a much larger influence, but a valve pre does seem to sweeten/enrich the sound. You can play around with different types - Watford Valves and others do an enormous range of preamp valves (very often an ECC83/12AX7 in preamps). I find a slightly lower gain model better for bass. The high gain types are more for guitar applications and add a bit too much dirt to bass for my taste. But that's just my preference, so worth experimenting.

Might the Cub be a little low powered? The PJ Flightcase is still very compact and has a bit more oomph - 4 drivers as opposed to two. They come up used occasionally - you should get one for the price of a new Cub - and tend to be owned by jazzers and people who don't abuse them (as was mine).

B15s are lovely things, but their utility value is limited - see comments above. Remember the bass on a lot of the classic recordings was DI'd (at Mowtown, for example - where they designed/built a lot of their own equipment) and the amp only served as a monitor in the studio. So a B15 won't give you instant Jamerson sound. If you have the money and just fancy owning one, though, go for it. Far worse things to spend your hard earned on and you should get your money back when you sell it if you buy wisely.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1496440977' post='3311546'] I'd suggest a Barefaced Super Compact and use your Fender amp. There's a guy on Talkbass who rates this combination very highly. [/quote] Agreed. If you intend to keep the 6x10, it makes a lot of sense to get a smaller cab and use it with your existing head and save the big one for larger venues.

Good luck with after sales and assistance...

Nice. Dynacord is very high quality kit. I had one of their valve amps briefly a while back, but the output trannie failed (it was an old amp and I bought it used, so no criticism of Dynacord intended) and the cost of replacement was prohibitive. Very fine sound whilst it was working.

It's difficult to compare over time as memory can be unreliable. I used to love my old TE AH350 (which I sold when age/decrepitude made it a chore to carry about - it was flight-cased, too, which made things worse). It was flexible, powerful and reliable. Whether it was better than what I have now is a moot point, but it was a great amp.

[quote name='lownote12' timestamp='1496818819' post='3313983'] FWIW I had two Fender 112 cabs that at bedroom volumes sounded excellent. But they got ugly if you really turned the wick up. Same was true of a pair of TC BC 210s I had. So I bought a BF 210 which sounds good in the bedroom and excellent on the stage. But then I guess there's a very big difference in the quality of the drivers given the relative price of the cabs. [/quote] On the head. Most kit sounds decent at showroom levels, but quality shows in real world situations when you need to push it.

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1496811380' post='3313953'] I dunno. You lot. If you don't like it - tough. It's that or do all of your shopping in high street retail outlets where [i]customer service[/i] is still put into practice. I agree it's good to be informative with potential buyers but remember a lot of sellers are saying the same sort of things about buyers. [/quote] Yep