ogri

man is this thread still running lol!! im a convert from the last time i posted onnit. i always loved valve amps, bought a yank svt classic years back, discounted down from £1650 to £1050. cost me another 200 sovs to flightcase it.ran it with a Ev loaded mesa boogie 4x10. loved it, and it delivered til it got a few years old, when it started getting unreliable, despite being regularly serviced. was bloody heavy in its pukka case, and cost a lot everytime it needed valves. then it got even more unreliable. had it serviced, advertised it here, some young feller came down with the dosh. it bloody blew up while he was trying it...had it fixed(another 100 quid) he bought it, took it away. a week later got a call from his amp tech(checked out genuine) summat else had gone wrong. gesture of goodwill i paid that bill too. bye bye ampeg and bloody good riddance. anyhoo, two years down the line this time around i gotta get me gear sorted from scratch, right bloody quick like, and to a tight budget. i buy all secondhand..a GK rb 700 combo off a feller on here for £380, a eighties MIJ precision off another bloke in peterborough for £350 and a sansamp valve amp emulator thingy(what a cracking bit of kit) off a mate for 100 sovs. leads etc takes my spending to about 900 quid, and im sorted. so i get to the gig, and gorblimey guvnor!! it all sounds better than my old rig!or at least as good...and everything all together cost less than me old svt alone! i know valve amps are the mutts, but im done with the expense and unreliability issues, i'll stick with what ive got and be well happy with it, without feeling like a poor cousin to anybody with a tube amp. but then again thats all just my humble opinion, and whatthe hell do i know, im only a brickie..

mate, its like every other relationship in your life, an important part of it is knowing when to walk away .. i quit two years back, 50 years old, been gigging since the seventies, sick of roadying justbecause i got the van (self employed builder) pissed of with missing bike rallies because of weekend gigs etc etc all the usual i guess. sold everything or gave it away, and i mean everything.. anyhoo, really enjoyed not playing regular anymore, rested, chilled, watched other bands loving it that i wouldnt have to pack away at the end of the night, listened to new stuff, met up with the lads a coupla weeks back, cobbled a rig/bass together, did a one off gig last saturday, had a proper good un, enjoyed it just like the early days. wont gig regular again but we will do the odd one every now and then, and that really is enough now. enjoy having a break mate and just see what happens.. atb paul

i played a '77 ricky for over 10 years.... not just because i was in a jam tribute band(the setting sons..we was on live and kicking dontcha know and the studio guys told us despite the programmes title we wuz the first band that played live for three years onnit lol:-)), but because i thought its sound was worth offsetting against what a pig it was to play(and it was the best out of three that i owned) then you try a fender and thats it really...bye bye plank....no offence to any ricky lovers here just my personal view. as for tha foxten sound the sad truth is he only used the rick on the first album and after that it was precision all the way, so im led to believe. and how many bass players (nicky wire etc) do you see playing a cool looking rick in the videos but using a jazz live...