BillyBass

1 hour ago, asingardenof said:

I had the gain at noon and volume at about 10.30 and it kept up nicely. The band was well impressed.

I think I might try my Elf with the two Barefaced One10s I have at my next gig.

I have recently started wearing varifocals for work and now use them for playing.  I can get by without them for bass but that is down to my vanity, I see the fretboard better in dim light with glasses.

I took the female lead singer of my old band (a lot younger than me with a better understanding of what looks cool) to the opticians, and we chose a pair of cool looking frames to use with varifocal sunglasses (the ones that turn into sunglasses in the sun, can't remember what they are called).  These are my gigging glasses, and I sometimes wear them for going out.  I'm vain!

1 hour ago, Brucegill said:

I bought a legacy 800 115 combo from Polar on eBay - for a “too good to be true” price. Turns out, it was too good to be true…. I think they’re just selling if returns and Bstocks as mine had fooked speaker. 

I bought a Legacy 800 head from them last year and it was brand new, with absolutely nothing wrong.  It's still going strong and I have been so impressed I've ordered a Fusion S from Andertons too.

Originally Polar Audio had loads of really good GK kit on sale via their eBay site.  Almost all of that has gone now, though they still have a lot of 210 Legacy combos. 

If you have just bought the 15combo, you had one of the last ones, so maybe they saved the crap ones until last.  Apparently, they were hopeless as dealers so GK gave them the elbow and Andertons have taken over (without the discounts unfortunately).

Like @Mickeyboro above, I would pay to play there.

I first went to the Grope & W*nker in 1980, can't remember the band but I do remember a very long argument with a bouncer who didn't believe I was 18 (I was 16 or 17 and looked 12!)

Polar Audio used to be the Gallien Krueger dealer for the UK.  They aren't anymore and have been selling off all their GK gear on eBay.  Most of the good stuff has gone but they still have some Legacy210 800W combos available.  They are a bit over your budget at £699 but this is about half price!  A new Legacy 800 head will cost £850 from Andertons and that doesn't come with a cab.

3 hours ago, pbasspecial said:

My Ashdown ABM 600 (20th anniversary) and my Barefaced Supertwin. 
Absolute amazing tone and tons of power!

What sort of music do you play?

A sonic match made in heaven is all very subjective.  I gig my Super Compact and used my RM800 with it last week; we play punk/new wave and I used a Charvel reverse PJ (w/Dunlop stainless rounds) with a bit of bridge pup dialled in but mainly the neck pup.  It sounded fine, but not as good as my GL Legacy does, in my opinion.  I also prefer the features and knob layout of the GK.  So the RM800 is being sold and I have a GK Fusion S on order.

Personal taste?  Or music/bass/strings dependant?

Micro Thumpinator sold

On hold.

16 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

And yet once again, again, I've changed my mind.

On 05/05/2023 at 10:14, Baloney Balderdash said:

... of the about 30 years I've been playing bass, and think I am actually a quite proficient pick player), 

So there is hope for me yet!  I've only been playing the bass for 5 years and with a pick seriously for a couple.  I've got piles of picks at home.  I use a pick and decide its the one for me, then I buy a pack of 5...and change my mind.

I have sort of, at least for the time being, narrowed my choices down to Dunlop Gators and generally use the 1.5mm but occasionally use the 0.96 

39 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

A mere scratch...

 

I've had instruments with much worse wounds repaired. Just need to find a good luthier. 

Up for sale are:

Jam Pedals Ripply Fall Bass: £210. This is a beautiful chorus, vibrato, phaser pedal

Jam Pedals Rattler Bass: £125.  This an analogue Rat style distortion pedal with a clean blend. Sold

Tech 21 Geddy Lee DI-2112: £260.  2 channel pre amp.  The included booklet shows how to create Geddy's tone and also many other tones.  Sold

Aguilar Octamizer: £100. Octave pedal with a unique tone, definitely not an OC2, built like a tank

MXR Vintage Bass Octave Mini:  £100.  MXR cloned the OC2 Janek Gwizdala loaned them and also added a 'mid' button. Sold

SFXsound Micro Thumpinator: £80.  High pass filter, small enough to fit under a pedal board. Sold

As you may see from the photos, the pedals are all in excellent condition.  The all have velcro on the bottom but I can't see any chips or dings.  all pedals come with their original boxes (& box candy) except for the SFX Microthumpinator.

I live close to the M25/A1 junction and work all over North London, so if you are local we could meet up.  Failing that, postage costs need to be paid by the buyer.  The type of postage (insured/not insured) to be decided by us via pm).

Up for sale is my barely used Ashdown RM800 Evo 2.  I have used this for one gig, last weekend, and prior to that it has mainly been gathering dust at home.  I'm selling to raise funds for another incoming head.  It appears to me to be in perfect condition.

I live in Barnet, close to the M25 junction with the A1, I work all over North London so if you are north of the river, I could possibly drive over.  Other wise, postage will be £10

I have a MIM Tidepool Jazz.  I suppose it's inbetween turquoise and blue.  Very slightly greenish blue.  Not an easy colour to match with a pick guard, at least the usual colours pick guards come in.  I've kept the white one it came with, mainly because I couldn't decide on a better colour.

6 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

 playing like that takes discipline and has its own skill.

And very good concentration.  I find reasonably complex but not difficult songs the easiest to play, there is enough going on to stop my mind wandering.  I find monotonous bass lines problematic as my mind wanders.

Last night's rig.  I rested my GK Legacy and tried the Ashdown RM800, along with my Barefaced Super Compact.  It was fine and I have no complaints at all.  I do prefer the GK though.

It was very hot and humid.  We played at the 'Fox & Hounds' in Croxley Heath, which is near Rickmansworth in Herts.  The pub is in a street with few other commercial establishments, just houses so regulations dictated that we had to play inside (and have all the doors and windows shut by 9pm) when almost everyone was in the beer garden.  The landlady said the pub had been quiet for a couple of days; she thought Glastonbury might have had something to do with it.

Anyway, a fan was provided, which blew my long hair into my face for much of the gig and I also had to stand like the Ramones as the drums were slowing shifting forward during the set and I volunteered to keep one foot on the mat they were on, while avoiding the cymbals.

We've been asked back though so at least the landlady liked us.

Our set up

14 hours ago, Norris said:

We always carry our own extension leads and have a couple of RCD adapters if it's a venue we've not played at before or the sockets look dodgy

Having RCDs in a circuit is very good and much safer than not, however, if there is an RCD at the origin of that particular circuit (i.e. in the fuseboard) you shouldn't add another RCD, as 2 RCDs of the same trip rating , e.g. 30mA, can cause nuisance tripping.

20 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Socket tester is a handy gadget but what do you do when you come a cross a  system with a fault.  ?

Do you wait for the owner to get an electrician ......... if he can ?

Do you cancel the gig at last minute (unpaid)

Do you tackle a repair yourself (if qualified of course)

Its a tricky one.

I've come across double sockets that have been dodgy and i just don't use those particular sockets. An RCD wont prevent an earth fault / shock as far as i know.

Dave 

 

At my gig last night we had two double sockets in the 'stage' area and a double just outside.  The landlady told me to avoid the socket outside as it was a bit dodgy.  From what she told me it appeared to be on a different circuit, though in the same area.  Also, the problem is sometimes dodgy wiring in a particular socket, not every socket in a particular circuit.  So these testers do give you the option of avoiding problems, sometimes. 

Those socket testers are a good idea.  Just understand that they are useful for showing you that something is either right or wrong, don't trust them as a diagnostic tool.  Generally, the first and second lights will be green (and the third not lit up) when all is ok.  When something isn't right you will get a different display of lights and, depending on the make, a different noise.  Ignore the display that says, for instance: green-blank-red=lack of earth connection as it may be a completely different fault.

They are a useful tool to show you what sockets you shouldn't use.

I'm a spark, BTW.

This is my Charvel 5.  I bought it from Andertons, after comparing it to a cheaper Sire V.  Its not perfect but its pretty good and I doubt I could have found better for the money.  I love the look, the neck feels really great, it has luminlay dots on the side of the fretboard/neck and I like the sounds I can get from it.  The pre amp it came with wasn't that good, I changed mine but I could have kept the supplied one, or just played it passive, which is an option.  The B string could be better, but its a 34" scale.  I changed the supplied 125 to a 135 and that improved things. It has a bit of neck dive but this is fine when you use a strap. 

It cost me £699.  They are normally dearer but you can find deals online for Charvels.

On 23/06/2023 at 23:39, Downunderwonder said:

I combine all kinds of gear on the basis of what I can be bothered carting around and it all sounds pretty damn similar with some fx helping it along. I think sonic matching is a marketing invention to sell you an amp and a cab and a bass all at once.

I can't remember seeing any gear marketed as a sonic match for other manufacturer's stuff, but perhaps I just haven't seen it.

I will concede that, in the mix, differences in the bass sound can be minimal but, as an example, my G&L Kiloton, with its single bridge humbucker will never sound like my P basses.  

At home, practising without other instruments, the differences are obvious.

I have the Spectradrive pre amp.  The tone print beaming thing worked initially but gave up after about 5 or 6 goes.  I think the last thing I left on it was the clean boost.  As a pre amp its fine; it has a DI, the EQ section works well enough and it has an aux in and a headphone jack, if you need them.  The only problem for me with losing the tone print function is the damage to the resale value as I wouldn't use it anyway.

On 22/06/2023 at 01:49, Bluewine said:

I didn't post the video to say " look at me, look how cool I am"  It was more like sharing my opportunity. 

No one could accuse you of that.  If you did, well, you picked the wrong instrument!  Should have been the lead guitarist!

Nice work mate, that was very good!

1 hour ago, Riverbassman65 said:

 I also love plonker! 

 

You really need to check the meanings of English slang words before using them online

Welcome to the forum.  Yes its mainly British and Irish here but we have many overseas members too. There are a few Americans, some of whom haven't been banned from talkbass.com