kwmlondon

I just looked up the Bravo 112 and it's actually quite a desirable little amp. If you want a better practise amp for bass use I'd suggest selling it and buying a proper little bass amp - I used a Hartke 75w recently and it was brilliant, a Fender Rumble 40 would also be great. If you want one amp to do bass AND guitar just for practise then what I would do is get a small full frequency range speaker, or monitor, and then use the modelling on my laptop - I use a Mac so for me it'd be Garage Band. It's free and it has AMAZING modelling. You can experience an AC30, Marshall Stack, Fender Twin on guitar, and try an Ampeg 8x10 or whatnot on bass. Anyway. That's my suggestion.

This isn't an in-depth review at all but I just wanted to say how impressed I was with the amp that was in the rehearsal space I used on Saturday. We were just having a fun jam, a few rock covers (Floyd, Police, Blockheads, Weezer, that kind of stuff) and I was a bit put out when I got in and saw I would be using the 75w Hartke combo that was provided by Pirate Studios, I didn't think it'd keep up with a drummer, but I was wrong! I was running a Dingwall Combustion via a Darkglass Adam (I know, I know, it's a metal rig and I'm mad for using it for rock/pop/funk but it's sooooo versatile!) and with everything set flat on the combo it coped very well with the rest of the band - the two guitarists were using 4x12x as well! I can't comment about any of the tone shaping on the combo as I just left it flat, and there was only a single volume/gain but I had that at about half way and it was deep, clean and great to play through. The drummer wasn't really going for it though so this was definitely at rehearsal levels but still, when we played Another Brick In The Wall the bass comes in with a thunderous low D and that had real impact and drama - no farting or compression. I'm very much someone who likes to have a lot of power in reserve (carry a big stick, speak quietly etc.) but I'll hold my hands up and say that in this case I was wrong to turn my nose up at the Hartke and I'd happily use one again.

It’s tough though as the combination has such definition and punch even when tuned down, but they’re good for a lot more…. Just ask Lee Sklar or John Taylor!

I met Sheldon Dingwall couple of years ago, he was very pleased that I get funky with my Dingwall, bless him!

Ha! I use a Darkglass pedal… but I don’t play metal or even distorted that much. I play pop/rock/funk so the whole Dingwall/Darkglass is a bit Leftfield. It’s immense for disco!!

You playing 4 string mainly now yep? I have a Singray 4 string that always makes me smile but I always go back to the Combustion. It just works really well for me, it’s moved my playing on for sure, though I can totally understand why you’d get tired of it. I do like a good Pbass tho!

yeah Anderson’s we’re doing the Combustion 5-3 on sale for £1599 about it 14 months ago so I kind of pounced!

Sparkly!!!

I think the 4x10 would be a bit more coloured, bassy, the 2x12 feels very hifi. Let me know if you ever want a 2x12 though, this is probably too much for my needs!

I used it at a rehearsal today. Bloody hell it’s got some clout! I was very close to it so hard to tell what it’s sound like in a venue but I can’t imagine I’d be in a situation where I’d need more grunt.

Taking to recycling centre tomorrow unless anyone has any good ideas of how to use a neodymium magnet…

All I can say is well done!

Droool….

Well... the replacement drivers arrived. 20 minutes with a soldering iron and they're connected and.... they work a treat! I can't really say what the cab is like as I have neighbours either side so I can't wind it up but IT WORKS! Big thanks to Mats at EBS. Great customer service.

I don't know if anyone wants to have a crack at replacing the cones in these? It's a completely open circuit when I run a multimeter across it so it's almost certain the coils got cooked (god alone knows how, they're 300w each so must have been a really high square signal but they came to me like this so who knows). If you're in London come and pick them up or I'll box them up and you can send a courier. Ought to be cheap as they are very, very light. Otherwise going to the recycling centre.

I'd say keep an eye out for a 112. There are plenty around the 300w mark that are pretty compact, sound decent and won't break the bank. I've got a MarkBass NY 121 that you could take on the bus with you and it cost £260 second hand - it's not going to do a festival and it's never gonna do proper sub bass but it can keep up with a drummer. TC cabs seem to come up from time to time on bass chat, and right now there's an Eden on eBay that may go for a good price https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234852367588?hash=item36ae4abce4:g:AcgAAOSwE3djuwqD&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoJD0S8Gp6B7ph2uMrgkvCg0in1MRgPVioOz%2FhnYz4eKIvs38zlwlI3V%2BDk3y0ewgRVYhZXxDfKCT36sZDCVHhYbtMVnnEaYYfVUgmaKOegyEJODxVXbQlyzX%2Ff6m3KiCPULq36J75VFs5fXBIEOoBqqddEvTcNOHZfSNQGaQjCI5QIJAxx50aln8W1tOWsUPtqaQyjQGnAs39qjz3umUS9M%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR962_4u0YQ

Update: Mats in EBS has just sent me out a pair of replacement drivers. FYI they are Delta Lites but slightly different to the commercially available ones as the off-the-shelf version doesn't have the solder/spade connectors that the ones in the Neoline 212 use. Oh, and they cost a lot less than buying from a UK retailer even with shipping from Sweden. I'll give another update as soon as the new drivers arrive. Oh, and I'm thinking of putting the blown drivers on Basschat free to anyone who wants them. I'm pretty sure the coils are cooked but I don't know - maybe someone can use them for spares. What do you think? Or just take them to the recycling centre?

-1. Kind of. I’m not sure yet. My nephew has been showing interest in playing bass so I loaned him my bitsa-jazz (Squier Affinity body, MiM roasted maple neck, badass bridge and 70’s p’ups so light and punchy). If he shows interest he can have it. I think the deal I’ll make is he can keep it as long as he wants and if he decides to get something else I’ll buy it back (it’s worth so little and it’d be hard for him to sell anyway). the only other purchase has been an EBS Neoline 212 with blown drivers. I’ve reached out to EBS who say they’ll have replacement units in a couple of weeks.

I have now become "custodian' of an EBS Neoline 212 with a busted pair of bass drivers! Apparently I'm the 4th bass chatter to own it, looking forward to getting it back making noise. I'm going to double-check the drivers to make sure they're both blown and if they are EBS recon they'll have them back in stock by mid-Jan so I'll post something to update on progress. Anyway - we worked it out so as I went past his part of the world on my way to Wales we met in Magor using WhatsApp live location tracking. Huge thanks to Rich for coming to meet me so we could do what must have looked like a well-dodgy exchange in a service station on the M4! Great purchase process, excellent communications, very helpful and lovely to meet in person. Thank you and happy Christmas!!!