Aliwobble

I thought that I was paranoid carrying three extra strings that hardly get used. And then I see this! 😎

Wow!, kinda up there with how many angels fit on the head of a pin. But if I had to go down to only one, it would be my Ibanez G104: weird to look at, beautiful to play.

Maybe GHS Brite flats would work?

Gave my JC a run at band practice tonight. Sounds great, although not the best choice for reggae. Difficult ergonomics, plays better with a short strap. And it was 30 degrees C here this evening, so lacquered guitars get sticky! Rest of the band loved the look.

Yep, the silverburst appealed. Gives it a bit of visual pop.

When you look this pretty, you don't have to sound good Plenty of output from the pickup, and a completely different sound to my solid body basses. The Jack's glossy finish makes my Schecter look like agricultural equipment in comparison. The Ibanez looks like it was dropped while a baby, but cannot be beat for tone, playability, and ergonomics. The Cort just sounds gutless next to the others, but is quite nice to look at.

So, this little beauty was dangled in front of me recently and I couldn’t resist 😃

Looks like doubling up on your current cabinet is the way to go.

I'm quite impressed by it, at least at lower volumes. I have not tried it against the rest of the band yet.

I’m loving my Ashdown little bastard for rehearsals and small gigs. Only 30 watts, but 30 valve watts gets pretty loud through a decent speaker. It is just an altogether different thing to my GK mb500.

Wrong! The little rubber feet lock them on top perfectly y

Sounded good in the shop. I took in my old Eden D210xst, and compared it to this Trace, and some Aguilar cabs. The Aguilar DB115 was heavy++ and for the life of me I could not find a tone I liked in it, which was disappointing and surprising. The Aguilar SL210 was very very nice, but cost more than double the Trace. The Eden D210xst was significantly louder than the others, and also sounded very good. so, the Trace wins for being affordable, easily portable, compact, and sounding good.

So, I was vaguely in the vicinity of the local music shop the other day (only for about two hours). Somehow, this little puppy followed me home... Can I keep it?

I play in a classic covers band and as I am essentially lazy and always pressed for time I like to start with everything at noon (amp and bass). It should sound “ not bad”. Then I make small tweaks to suit the situation. With my GK mb500 and Eden D210xst this usually gives a tight, slightly mid-scooped sound with too much treble and not enough high mids. Roll off the treble, a small boost of high mids and bass, and a small low-mid cut and I’m set. Usually the eq controls of my amp are between 11 and 1 o’clock, except the treble at 9 o’clock. In my opinion, a good quality modern SS head into a good cabinet will rarely need extreme eq. Tube amps, however, seem to be completely different beasts.

Three Trace Elliot elf’s. 🤣

Hard to disagree with this.

My Eden D210xst has done hundreds of gigs, sounds great, and more or less portable at under 30Kg. If I find another one I will snap it up in an instant. It has seen of challenges from Markbass and GK.

Give it its first gig at the weekend. Played through an Eden 2x10, with full PA support. Just loud enough, and sounded fabulous. I’m thinking that with a 4x10 it would have a little left in reserve. My usual amp is my GK mb500, which is a great modern sound. I would describe my little bastard as having a classic tube sound- an altogether different flavour of yum.

Thanks for your input guys. I’ve decided to let it slide as I would not have been able to test it. now, if I can get my hands on another Eden D210xst...

There is a Warwick Hellborg 2x12 cab for sale down here in NZ. They’re not common in these parts and I can’t test it before buying. Who’s got one, and what’s it like? Thanks in advance. A.

My recently acquired Ashdown Little Bastard. Tried it at rehearsal tonight, sounded lovely through my Warwick WCA 211 pro.

None of these heads are bad. My two faves are the GK and the GB. The laney has a good solid sound, and a ton of great features. Probably the most versatile stand alone amp.If you could only have one amp and no pedals then probably the one to get. The fx are very useable, and the eq is powerful. Tube pre amp allows you to overdrive, if that’s your thing. Also USB connectivity. the elf is super compact and has a certain sound. I’d happily use it. It seems to prefer passive electronics. I Could not get a nice tone out of it until I bypassed the active electronics, and then it was very nice. It’s my backup for live gigs. Perhaps a one trick pony, but that’s fine with me because once I’m dialled in for the night I hardly touch my amp anyway. the GK sounds “right” to me. My fave sound for live work. Compact, powerful and awesome sound. My go-to amp for 5 years now. The GB is a recent acquisition for me. I love the way this amp sounds, seems to let me hear more of the wood in my basses. It has now become my practise amp in a 1x10 cab. For solo practise you can really hear details that the others just don’t give.

So I was looking for an amp with the compactness of an elf, the sound of a GK, but with built in fx of the Laney, and the eq of a Genz Benz. Finally, this (and a roll of duct tape) and I have the perfect amp head. Actually, I just got a bit carried away in a bit of a post lockdown splurge.

I’ll put a good word in for the tech 21 vtbass combo. 1x12, compact ,light, sounds awesome. The fender rumbles didn’t do it for me.

Ibanez Prometheus 500 - lovely sound, but died after only 18 months. Still got the cab that it came with. GK mb500 - This is the one I keep going back to. Laney Nexus - lots of features, but somehow just doesn’t do it for me like the GK. I’ve just acquired an Elf and a GB shuttle 3.0 second hand. I might have to do a shoot out.