Russ

It's built by the people at Peavey, but the actual Class D amplifier is going to be the same type of off-the-shelf Chinese item that is in pretty much all Class D amps, regardless of manufacturer, or place of manufacture. I'd say it's still a Trace if it implements design and sonic elements that are characteristic of earlier Trace gear, regardless of who is producing it. It certainly looks the part - lots of green and backlighting. Supposedly the character of the EQ is very Trace-like, it's got the classic pre-shape included, the dual-band compressor (working on the same frequencies) and the pre-post EQ switch. No graphic, but that's not a dealbreaker, since everyone seems to set it as full smiley or full frowny anyway. If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, basically...

Seems I was wrong about it not being out until June - they're out now. Sweetwater in the US is selling them already, so I'm sure they'll be making their way over the pond soon enough.

$999, apparently, So £999. And apparently won't be available until the middle of June (which is fine, that's my birthday, and it can be a nice present-to-self. )

I played some fretless on my band's album from last year. I think it turned out quite well. No fancy video, alas, just a lyric vid. The bass is a fretless Musicman Bongo 5.

From what I can tell, Fred, the guy from Peavey who's been soliciting opinions from the bass community, is a Trace fanboy, and seems very motivated to keep his fellow Trace fans happy. Interestingly, he's also been soliciting opinions on what features should be on a new version of the Cirrus bass - that I'd like to see. As Merton said, almost all the components in most electronic devices are made in China these days. All that's different is who is bolting and soldering it all together. The important thing isn't where it's made, it's who's doing the quality control. Peavey have a pretty good track record of reliability with their China-made gear, so the new Trace gear should be no different.

If you want a company that's UK-based and will fix your issues in the UK, then buy one of the UK-made Ashdowns. Many of Ashdown's engineers (and Mark Gooday himself) originally came from Trace Elliot, and the recent Ashdown 12-Band head is effectively a modernised GP12.

We've got a guitar shop near here that is a Peavey (and, by extension, Trace) dealer. I'm going to ask them when they're getting them in. I'll take my BF Big Twin II down to the shop for audition purposes. In an ideal world, I'd like to see them come out with a modernised take on the 1153/2103H cabs, with neo drivers.

Can't wait to try these beasties out. The cab looks great. Although I hope they come out with something else for those of us who don't need the full flightcase feature though, as I'm sure it's going to weigh a ton, and probably won't fit in the boot of a Fiesta.

Like GB used to be? To anyone not within the M25, and certainly to anyone from outside the UK, pretty much anything in the entire south-east of the UK is "that London".

They changed the shape a bit back in, I think, 2014, in order to differentiate it further from the Spector shape that they "borrowed", and, supposedly, to improve balance - the reshaped top horn is also a little longer than it was before (stops above the 14th fret instead of the 15th). I like the current shape, but you're right, I think the older shape was a little nicer and a little more visually balanced, and I liked the sculpting around the top horn better. If I ever found myself with enough money for a custom Warwick, I'd be getting a Fortress. Still their most underrated body shape in my opinion, and they'll still make you one if you ask.

His son does. A six-string, no less. And he's turning into a better player than his dad ever was.

If you're in a tribute band, yes, play it as closely as possible to the recorded version. People will notice if you don't, and it'll take them out of the moment. Otherwise, get the tone, notes and general feel right and you're probably good.

Wasn't it the Atelier Z guys who were doing the Japanese Sadowskys? I guess maybe this changed at some point, but I remember playing one 10-odd years back that was supposed to have been built in the Atelier Z factory, and it was great. Couldn't really tell the difference between it and a USA one.

Sweetwater don't keep much MM stuff in stock - most of it, especially the less mainstream stuff like the Bongo, has to be ordered from Ernie Ball, and the lead times are 4-6 months. Also, don't forget, if you order from Sweetwater in the UK, you'll have to pay a bunch for shipping, then get done for 20% VAT, as well as import tax and courier fees on delivery. Might be cheaper just to book a flight to NY, buy one in Sam Ash or Rudy's, and bring it home on the plane with you!

I'm itching to try these out. If they can get the old SMX tone into a decently powerful class D head then I'm going to be first in line. I wasn't a massive fan of the ELF (maybe a bit gimmicky?), but it did sound like a Trace. That 2x12" in the Wimbish video looks pretty tasty too.

I've got three of them (Bongos, that is). No issues with playing seated. The bottom horn doesn't dig in, although I do sometimes wish it was slightly longer as I feel it might balance on the knee slightly better, but certainly no discomfort. The edges are quite rounded and not at all pointy.

Yep, those Barts are kinda weak-sounding for something that's ostensibly going to be largely used for downtuned metal. The Nordstrands or Aguilars they offer in other basses would have been a much better fit. I'd still love to see a BTB with the ATK pickup setup - the MM/J setup on those were the best pickups I've heard used on an Ibby. They also did a short-lived version a few years back with EMG 40DCs that had the whole Spector thing going on tonally.

Based on my experience with Dingwalls, take away the Darkglass pedal and they don't actually sound all that much different. Just a bit less fuzzy! The clean tone of these Ibbys sounds pretty good, from what I can tell. There's a few segments of that video where the distortion is turned off.

I stumbled across some Celinder basses online the other week, and my mind turned to @Toasted - whatever became of him?

I'm digging the multiscale BTB. Might have to try and get my hands on one of those and give it a try. Got to agree with Doctor J - we don't all want to play Fender-alikes. I don't necessarily like everything they make, but I'm so glad you've got big companies like Ibanez out there who are still innovating and at least attempting to keep things moving forward.

I came here expecting to see a nice Emerald acoustic bass, or perhaps an old Chris Larkin. What I have now seen cannot be unseen.

I've played one. It's quite nice. It is neck-heavy, but plays easily, is quite light, sounds big and tubby (very much that old Gibson vibe) and, if you like that sort of thing, is a rather good instrument. I'd suspect most Queen-loving bass players would rather opt for a Deacy-style Precision or Stingray though. He's actually got a whole range of instruments, including the bass, various versions of the Red Special, an acoustic and a ukulele! https://shop.brianmayguitars.co.uk/brian-may-guitars.html

Play this for anyone who claims that Westone Thunder basses were rubbish. I'd forgotten how good he actually was.

Saw this a while back. Trevor Horn has an immense bass tone. He's playing very lightly too. Any idea what the bass is? Can't read the headstock decal. Looks Sadowsky-ish (but isn't), with EMGs.