Rothko

I'd be all over this if it could be shipped to Berlin. Sadly, I know...

I had a HiWatt Custom 100 through a Trace Elliot 4x10 back in the day. Nothing at the time ever came remotely close to the sound.

That's good to know. I think there's only subtle differences. RCF probably my pick in the low end.

But also just seen a very affordable Harley Benton FRFR jobbie, optimised for guitar, but with a 12" speaker https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_frfr_112a_guitar_dsp_monitor.htm

Anyone tried a lower-end 10" £250-ish active speaker, something like the Alto TS310 or RCF ART 310 A MK III with a bass?

I'm not expecting miracles, or QSC K-type performance, just the FRFR equivalent of something like a Rumble 100 - good enough for home practising and moderate level rehearsals. But with a flatter and less boxy or coloured sound than most low-end combos.

Interesting you find the PJB better than the Magellan as a headphone source. I wondered how much amp headphone outs vary in quality, and a Magellan would have been one of my choices to replace the Veyron.

I've also dug out a Vox Amplug I'd completely forgotten I had - actually sounds much better than I remembered, and probably cleaner than my dead Veyron.

The Acme is coloured of course, but to my ears, much less than most bass amps. I struggle to differentiate most DI boxes in a blind test, while most amps seem to have a sound more or less baked in.

The Wayne Jones looks good, though probably a bit hard to get hold of - but definitely along the right lines. Also looking at a Quilter Interbass or Ashdown Ant, which might have the right feature set.

Thanks - MarkBass amps do sound neutral, but almost none have a headphone out unfortunately. Also just seen the TC BAM200 has a 'speaker emulation' on the heapdhone out, so that's probably far from neutral.

Having spent most of my life wanting a DI signal that sounds like an amp, I now think I want an amp that sounds like a DI – specifically, somehting like the sound of the Nash bass through the Acme DI box here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEyKeYgMCNE, though that sort of top-end valve DI box is completely outside my price range.

I’m using a P-bass with La Bella flats and a fretless Jazz with TI flats, and listening primarily through headphones at the moment, so any new amp or preamp would be used for now pretty much as an oversized and over-specced headphone amp.  

This would be to replace  a Veyron Bugera 1001T that sounded pretty good until the headphone out stopped working yesterday. So I’m thinking something like a TC BAM200 might be transparent and uncoloured enough, or maybe even a Focusrite Solo, for just a pure DI signal.

Any suggestions?

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Out of interest which model Bugera have you got?

1001T - the tube model. Just to confirm - the distortion was from the pickup height. The JV '57 s have a very hot and spiky output, particularly on the raised A. 

I've got a vague recollection of doing a gig with a 30w verison of those sometime in 1979...

I'm getting a persistant distortion at the start of a hard-played open A string, even with gain and volume backed-off at 9 o'clock. The clipping light shows red on these notes even on the lowest possible gain settings. It actually sounds more noticeable with the pad -15db engaged, though the clip light doesn't then light up. This is with a Precision and La Bella flats.

I'm only playing through a pair of quality cans at the moment, but it's not them distorting. Anyone else noticed the same thing with the 1001T, or is just me and mine?

Edit: problem fixed. I've got a '57 JV Squier Precison, and had recently jacked up the pickups to regulation Fender height, while still allowing for the staggered A pole. Taking them all down a couple of mm, and problem disappears, with no distortion until the gain starts to kick in around 2-3 o'clock. 

16 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Hard to say. It's quieter than some louder than others. Certainly I can hear it but not over my playing even at low volume levels. 

I'm intrigued by your other question a out two master volumes, can you explain maybe with some pictures? 

Thanks - sounds great into headphones anyway.

I think someone answered my question earlier in this thread - they were saying the 'Volume' knob acts to control the level of the 'Gain' before the eq. I'd just never seen this system of a pre-eq volume followed by an actual 'Master' volume post-eq. Though I see the GB Streamliner has the same system, uncoincidently.

Quick question for T owners - how loud is your fan at domestic headphone volumes?

Never had a bass amp with a fan before, and it's louder than I expected, though not objectionable - and just want to make sure mine isn't a particularly loud example.

4 hours ago, warwickhunt said:

'Volume' is output gain and adds nothing to preamp, so in this instance doesn't change the tonal characteristics... it just makes whatever you have set the input gain at, louder.  

Still a bit puzzled - so there are in effect two master volumes - 'Volume' and 'Master', is that right? Aren't they duplicates in that case?

So does it function as a clean preamp gain, with the gain a more valvey gain?

Just ordered one of these - couldn't resist at 222€...

How does the 'Volume' control after the 'Gain' work?

My YOB basses all a bit pricey. 1959. Bugger.

[quote name='linear' timestamp='1492350194' post='3279575']
Out of interest, has anyone tried the Loxx brand of straplocks?
[/quote]

Yes, I've got Loxx strap locks on my basses. Very happy, no problems so far, but haven't directly compared them to Dunlops.

I've got a lined fretless, but rely on the side lines 90% of the time, especially when playing strapped on. I've got no problem at all with the dots being in the 'fretted' positions - it makes transitioning between fretted and fretless visually seamless.

+1 on the improvement to fretted playing fretless makes - it's possible to get really lazy and sloppy in fretted l/h technique, and playing fretless really shows this up. I've got the fretless set up so it's in tune when I'm playing just behind the fretline - so in exactly the same place I'd place my finger on a fretted bass.

[quote name='Steve Browning' timestamp='1491313715' post='3272041']
It certainly was. My wonderful 66 Precision cost me £260 in Tiger Music in Brighton (I got the money by selling my 78 Stingray, to the guy who put the bass in Tiger Music as it turned out). It was just the price back then.
[/quote]

Tiger Music! That was a good shop, that was. But vintage prices had pretty doubled by the time I was visiting the Bass Centre in the late '80s/early '90s.

I've long had a love/hate relationship with fretless bass. I can play one happily for a week, then suddenly want to chuck it out of the window, it sounds so whiney, out of tune, and generally hideous.

I dislike most fretless bass playing almost as much as my own - it can sound so lazy and flatulent. The best fretless playing just sounds like a bass - you shouldn't really be able to tell straight away whether it's fretless or not.

But I'd never want to be without one. It's a whole load of fun. It should just be very rarely allowed in public.

A new loom for my Squier Modified Vintage Fretless - a lovely bit of kit sent in record time to Berlin from John. The series/parallel switch is fantastic.