Bassman68

TBH outside of the obvious sounds that can be identified on recordings (where more often than not it’s the particular bass being used) , Who can tell what amp has been used, once that track has been compressed/digitised etc? Even on your average stage, who can tell what tones are coming through FOH. For those reasons alone, That’s why I don’t care much for amp modelling in the long run, But if it makes people feel better or gives them inspiration to play, Knowing that they’re playing through A,B,C to sound like X,Y,Z.....Go for it?

Yes to a large degree? I’ve never been too keen on amp modelling myself, I normally prefer to have a fairly neutral/flat amp eq unless the song requires something different. It’s only really recording when specific sounds have been required & I usually have left it to the engineer to come up with that as 9 times out of 10, they understand how to get the best results..

Got to agree with Ped here. I’d much prefer a descriptive generalisation of an amp model like... Clean transistor/bright punch cab (GK or Trace into 4x10 with horn) Clean valve/warm stage filler (SVT into 2x15) Driven valve/Big stage (Crunchy SVT into 8x10) Warm studio recording (B15....) It would be more about those classic sounds we can all relate to without getting too hooked up on exact models?

Best buy...A new iPad which meant i could use my old one for music/set lists/lyrics etc. Worst waste of money... On two occasions cheap 5.8gz plug in transmitters from Lekato & Ammoon which both packed up within weeks of purchase, during first lock-down. At least it made me update my Sennheiser system with a new aerial for the transmitter & a new anglejack lead from ‘Designacable’ (more decent purchases).

Does your circuit board not have a trim pot to tame the output? I have trim pots on my 93 Streamer 3 band, 93 Corvette pro 2 band & 96 Thumb Nt 3 band..

“The money’s in the first five frets”..... Think was a Donald Dunn quote?

My favourite that i read over the first lock-down was Guy Pratts ‘My bass & other animals’ .. Highly recommended More anecdotal than anything but a good read all the same?

No one mentioned Ian Dury yet?

Quite interested in these myself, would like a worn black leather look... What’s the padding like on them?

Some ‘Back in the day’ pics in the early 90’s.. The GP12,RA500 rack weighed a ton.

I first met my wife when she came to audition for a band I was in, We gigged regularly for 15 years until she had to give up singing due to throat issues. Our 15 year old daughter occasionally plays Sax in another one of my bands now, I would love to be able to perform with both of them, if my wife felt up to signing a number or two?

Not the best of pictures, but here’s my Warwick Streamer originally made for John Entwistle. It’s an absolute tone monster...

I have a Warwick double gig bag that must be over 10 years old now, It's put up with plenty of use & abuse. Zips are all holding up, with only a bit of fraying to the piping around the edges. When it's time to replace it, I will go for a Mono..

So am I? I don't consider myself totally inept with gear & electronics, I've been playing for nearly 40 years... The only thing I keep thinking of, is the fact that I use active basses? Are the pre-amps overloading the transmitter? I don't over do the eq, so nothing is ever maxed out? Over the pandemic, I've been playing my Alembic, various Warwick & Musicman basses & my Status. My practice set-up has been bass into wireless, receiver plugged into multi-effects with a feed from either IPad or laptop to provide practice tracks etc. with headphones/monitors being fed from the multi-effects (either a Boss gt6b or a Zoom b3n). The only other changes to that have been any full band practices where I've taken a lead from the effects into an amp? So no rocket science there? Even transporting the system, I found a pouch that was the same size as the box, so I removed the foam from the packaging & placed that in the pouch, so kept the radio system safe in my gigbag.. I really liked the convenience of a floor mounted receiver & little more than a jackplug in my bass, as opposed to the transmitter pack of my sennheiser system that I use for 'big gigs'. I just can't get over the fact that two of these little systems have given up the ghost after little more than two months usage each? As stated in my original post both units take a charge, they appear to link/sync to each other, yet nothing seems to be being sent from the receiver? I managed to get a 'bleep' tone, plugged into an amp, with the receiver plugged direct & then switching off the transmitter, holding the sync button down & turning the transmitter back on, but on plugging into a bass, nothing? The Ebay seller of the Lekato doesn't exist anymore & the Ammoon seller want's a video of me demonstrating the problem! So I don't think I'll have any joy there?

Yeah, you're right there I suppose? my own fault for buying a cheap piece of toot.. I'll stick with my Sennheiser system in my rack for wandering moments in future.

So during lockdown I decided to treat myself to one of these cheap wireless systems for use around the house for practice purposes. After a quick look on ebay, I bought a 'Lekato ws-50' system, and very impressive was it for a couple of months.....Then I used it at a socially distanced get together with a few band mates, where it worked just fine. Unfortunately the next time I went to use it, it had packed up? The lights were both on, the receiver was receiving the transmitter, I tried all four channels, yet nothing from the amp? "Oh well, it was only cheap.....I'll get another one?" This time I went for a 'Ammoon' system, which I had read about on this very forum? IT'S ONLY HAPPENED AGAIN! Anyone else experienced any trouble with these systems or am I doing something wrong? The system is stored in its box & charged before use (well, when the red light comes on?)

"Why do you have five strings, when bass should be one note at a time?" "Oi Ringo (Macca/Lennon etc.)" "Are you all miming, what with all those blinking lights in those boxes?"

I play in an 80's covers band, which focus on the more 'synth era' stuff.....I love it! I cut my teeth on bass in the 80's, so playing this stuff is like revisiting where I learnt to play.. Thompson twins, China crisis, Howard Jones, Duran duran, Nik Kershaw, Kajagoogoo etc. I'm in heaven? Bassbiscuits is right about SAW ruining the decade, but I feel it was the progress of the computer technology in the sampling,looping,drum machine etc. which started to create the demise for real musicians? Once the sequencers took over, all that was required was a face to front the song? I realise a lot of those bands I mention used sequencers etc. but they still had a 'band' to perform it..

I'd say from your photo Jal, Your friend has an early 90's SM Series combo? All the combo's do a fine job, whatever the era/series? The only problem (apart from their weight) that I ever encountered when I played through one, was that the sound carried much further than I imagined i.e Standing on a small stage within a few feet from the amp, you never got the full impact of your sound? Yet you could be crushing the first couple of rows of the audience with sheer 'Trace watts'!

The earliest Trace 4x10 combo's were black Painted/wood finish (MKIII's I think?) Came with either a GP11 or a very basic GP7 Pre-amp. These combo's later got a covering when the MKIV's came along. With the introduction of the revised MKV range, the GP7 was dropped in favour of the now footswitchable GP11 pre-amp, The combo still had the moniker 1110 combo, up to this point a similar sized 1x15 version was available. Then along comes the GP12 Pre-amp in about '88, with the extra 30hz slider, so the Combo became the 1210 & a much smaller size 1x15 combo. The power was increased to 200 watts at 4 ohms as opposed to the previous 150 watts (Think you'd struggle to hear much difference as they were all punchy beasts?). The next in the 1210 series, introduced in the early '90's was the SMX (12 band graphic) & SM (7 band). The SMX series having the twin pre-shape contours & twin hi/low compressors, along with the valve pre-amp option. I think Fans were dropped in the favour of heat-sinks on the amps? A HF Horn was introduced as an option as well.. Trace Elliot then underwent a series of buy-outs, firstly by Kaman & then Gibson & later Peavey. The covering on the combo's changed from a black vinyl to a green carpet fleck, with a slight change to the face of the pre-amps. The controls remained virtually unchanged but I recall the compressor being simplified? That's about all I can remember of the 4x10 combo's?, apart from the fact that they all weighed a ton, They all performed brilliantly as a stand alone combo without the need for an extension cab for the majority of the time? You certainly found out who your friends were when it come to shifting one around if you didn't have a sack-barrow or fitted castors...

......... "Nice Gibson bass"

My 'Go to' gigging bass would be my 5 string Stingray because of its versatility in the majority of situations I find myself working but my 'back-up' spare that comes to a gig is a 4 string Jazz or another Stingray..

Another thumbs up for Entwistle pick-ups, I upgraded a Chinese affinity Squier with a set of these & a Gotoh bridge.

It all changed when Status began manufacturing their own carbon necks. Up until late '89, all the carbon was produced by another company for Rob, The 'cricket bat' carbon through necks of series 2's & the complete moulds of series 2000, even the series 3000 bolt on necks. That all changed when Rob got his own Oven/Auto-Clave. The Series 2's got a 'set through neck' with the neck finishing under the bridge pick-up, all glued into a central tone block of wood & the Series 2000's had the same procedure but with a front & back laminate of carbon cloth (with the wooden edges hidden by a sprayed black 'sunburst'). The necks became lighter & stronger, The carbon weave neater & the quality control improved.