GremlinAndy

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='144172' date='Feb 21 2008, 07:30 AM']What say we agree on £100 for 5 sets and you update your sig' to include that nice shiny black bass that you have [/quote]

Done! Plus I'll accept my Ltd Ed, certificate too!


I'll PM you to arrange payments.

Andy

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='143837' date='Feb 20 2008, 05:00 PM']I have significantly less basses these days so I've got a few brand new boxed sets of these EMP strings spare.

£22 covers paypal and delivery to your door. Just a thought but before tinternet came along I shudder to think how much I used to spend on petrol/bus fares etc going to a shop to buy strings!

'Tinternet killed the music store'[/quote]


Bargain. ...But how about if I offer £95 for 5 sets?

Ok, I just completed a second deal with John, and as before, the deal was silky smooth.

I have a suspicion that John won't have seen that last of me!


(Cheers mate! As always, it was a pleasure)

Valve Vs SS? Well, I'm 48 now and have been a lifelong advocate of SS. Well, admittedly, in the past I could never afford expensive (valve) gear so had to go for cheap (good bang for bucks) gear, but was always happy with my sound. In fact for a SS user I was always complimented on my sound. Always aggressive and big.
However I recently started buying pre's with tubes in front. (Many different ones, trust me) and all were kind of 'ok', ...but in honesty, didn't raise the bar substantially.
[b]But[/b] then I bought an Aguilar DB 680... It is an awesome bit of kit. I've raved about it in the reviews thread, so I'm not going to bore you here... But needless to say, it's a very musical and importantly, a *masive* improvement, ...and with a powersoft Digam 3002 poweramp (3000watt) I have enough SS power and headroom, to drive the tubey sound all the way to Mercury.

I can make God tremble now.


So I'm saying... Tubes for the ultimate sound, but then amplify with enough power to drive your sound through to the Nth dimension...

This is kind of the point of my original posting... Guys... PLEASE if you're reading this, go out of your way to try one of these pre's. (Yeah I'm almost evangelical about this. But for *your* benefit, not mine)
It's like a secret that's been hiding in plain view for years! I can't believe how much better than the rest these are. There are others I've not tried admittedly, but of the *many* pre's I've tried, this is the one which stands HEAD AND SHOULDERS above it's nearest rival. This is why, if you check the "for sale" thread you'll see I'm getting rid of an Alembic F-1X a Trace GP12, and a H&K Fortress Pre. I might as well as these have been rendered completely redundant by the Aggie. ...I mean the Alembic is a "tone classic". But it seems like a toy compared to the 680.


Don't take my word for it.

As has been said before, moving to an Aggie doesn't come cheap, but if you *have* to buy ANY piece of expensive gear, make it a DB680.

If you don't love it I'll eat my sh!t (hmmmm, I'll add again that it doesn't do *filthy overdrive* without help, just to save me from a sc@-munching sesh)

All PM's replied to.

Final reduction before I remove them...

no longer for sale.

[quote name='tayste_2000' post='134857' date='Feb 6 2008, 09:46 AM']Have you considered one of the mesa power tube amps? they are reasonably easy to find[/quote]
I've always avoided Mesa stuff because although they sound great they have a really bad rep for breakdowns (True/false?)

But for the sake of giving it a try...

[quote name='DHA' post='124291' date='Jan 21 2008, 12:33 AM']Did you check out my VTX range?

The VTX-Bass has an all valve pre-amp plus a low wattage valve power stage that drives an output transformer and a dummy load. This signal is used to drive a 400W SS power stage in the VTX-400-Bass or provides line and DI out in VTX-Bass. So, it's a valve output stage tone that is produced.

Dave[/quote]


Thats an interseting concept mate, and one which I may well need to know more about (in practical terms) once my coffers are high again. It sounds like it might be just the ticket.

Thanks

[quote name='Finbar' post='134725' date='Feb 5 2008, 11:29 PM']That's what I thought Just to check though, it runs at 4 ohms as well as 8 ohms, right?[/quote]


That seems like an odd question to me... Are you asking if that *8*ohm cab runs at 4 ohms too?


Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the question.

My gig poweramp is a "Powersoft Digam 3002".
Headroom +1
Although I'm trying to find an aggie tube poweramp as we speak.

I'd be interested to hear the Warwick, Jonas Hellborg Poweramp too. They sound like they'd be an interesting amp.

In fact now I mention it, I'll do a search on here see if anyone has tried one...

[quote name='Pedro1020' post='133946' date='Feb 4 2008, 10:26 PM']It's a tie between the two to be honest...but for many reasons,

Make a change from a 4 get a 5 string..

They're both in the same age bracket..(early 90's)

Pete's is natural whilst John's is laquered..

A couple of the few...hence Im tied up! got money to spend and GAS to release..we'll just have to see what happens..Trust here more than the bay, since peeps are kind, honest and generous..

But dw andy..it isn't a battle... I'm just shopping about!..[/quote]


No battle here mate... They're both nice basses, good luck whichever way you go.

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='133986' date='Feb 4 2008, 11:19 PM']Ouch. You got ripped.[/quote]


So it would seem. I gather that I can get them £50 cheaper now that they're more readily available.

I guess that *might* have affected my review, but when you consider that a functioning alternative can be bought for less than £5... Nah I'll leave the quote about price as it is.


(Availability at the time I bought mine was very low so even if I'd known they were going to rip me for £50 I might still have gone for it)

I'm reminded of a *joke/proverb/whatever* from my childhood.
...A woman goes into a greengrocers and asks for half a dozen bananas. The greengrocer says "that'll be £1". The woman is outraged. "[i]a pound?!!![/i] at the greengrocers across the road they're only 70p!". "Why don't you buy your bananas there then?" asks the greengrocer. "Because they don't have any" she says, slightly annoyed... To which he replies "Well, when [b]I[/b] don't have any in, mine are ony 50p!"

...and that's the thing about prices.

Andy

[quote name='Pedro1020' post='133839' date='Feb 4 2008, 07:56 PM']Wacky as it may seem, as soon as I get rid of my Fender Bronco....I'll be pitching in for this just a heads up mate![/quote]


I thought you were after Johns Blue Stage 1?

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='113552' date='Jan 4 2008, 02:36 PM']It's interesting to read GremlinAndy's review above. Give the fact that I paid roughly the same as what a DTR2000 would cost me, I wonder if his overall review figure would change...[/quote]

Sorry for the delayed response guys.

I think it's a much better unit than the Korg but I didn't realise the prices were so close. (??? someone above says they're close right? though I can't find evidence of that myself) I bought mine from Thomman, and I know I paid a LOT more for it than the korg.

When I gave it a low mark for price I was also including the comparison with the real *budget* tuners you can get. I mean many bits of kit come with them built in for *free* now. (Like the Tascam CD bass trainer and the MP3 bass trainer too. And the Pod Pro...) That takes my tuner count to 5 including the Peterson.
So it is with that in mind that I'll maintain my comment that they are an expensive piece of gear, and very few people need one of these, when a £15 clip on one will (kinda) do the job.
Besides... what is the value of reviews where everything gets a 10/10 score. People need to know what the down side of kit is. And on this, it's the price and only the price.

EDIT:
Here we go...
Thomman Prices:

PETERSON STROBORACK VIRTUAL STROBE RACK [b]286.83[/b]GBP

KORG DTR-2000 BL [b]178.06[/b]GBP

HARLEY BENTON GT6/200 [b]3.55[/b]GBP

Feel free to voice your deepest heartfelt thoughts on me as a buyer or seller...

I just bought one of Johns precious Warwicks! I can't praise him highly enough. A very friendly person (No sooner had I stepped through the door than the kettle was on!) and enthusiastic about his basses. I was so impressed that I'm buying another one of his basses, and you can't give a higher accolade than to do repeat-business with a seller.

Thanks for everything John.


I wholeheartedly recommend John as a seller. 10/10

GremlinAndy (Andy Ritson)

The swirly bubinga sound was the surprise of the day for me. It kicked a55!

I sold an SWR cab to Bernmeister. Good guy. Deal went well, and I can recommend him.

[quote name='Pedro1020' post='133288' date='Feb 3 2008, 09:37 PM']lol..I reli want the blue streamer...just a word for ya andy but congrats on what you bought![/quote]


Well, The blue streamer was going to be my third offer but won't be for a month or so, so if you back out, or dally, it will be mine!
I played it, and that is a helluva lot of bass for the cash. The sound knocked me over backwards. It will make a truly awesome working bass.

(edit: I say "working bass" because the sound *must* be gigged and heard by audiences! It was such an aggressive sound. Truly staggering!)

Thanks for today mate. I enjoyed your company. ...and your collection. I *will* be seeing you real soon I imagine. (See your PM)

To everyone else looking at the possibility of buying one of these machines:
My experiences today were VERY enlightening. I heard some amazing and varied sounds. More varied than I was expecting. (yet all unmistakably Warwick) And being able to A-B the different models one after the other was a great, and pretty unique, opportunity.
If any of you are considering buying, I'll just add that there wasn't a single bass there that I wouldn't have been overjoyed to have come away with.
I'm making an offer right now on another. ...and have my eye on a third!
So if you hurry, there might even be one left for you, when I've done....

AndyR, Proud owner of the Streamer '87 Ltd Ed

yep see you later today mate.

Andy

You know, it's really odd, but I feel like I 'discovered' something very special... And the irony is that the DB680 has been 'hiding' in plain view, camoflaged only by the amount of other pre's in the market. It's obviously been in circulation a long time, and every review raves about it. (But don't reviewers nearly always rave about their purchases? Even the low end stuff pleases people who can only afford the entry level stuff. How are we to find a jewel amongst so many favourable reviews?) Well, I'm saying that I've tried most of them out there, and the aggie is *noticably* superior to the nearest other.
The other thing which obviously keeps it from 'mass appeal' is it's price, which will obviously make it beyond the reach of many.
However, if anyone is reading this thread and is still unconvinced... PLEASE, actually try this pre! (if you possibly can)
It may be highly priced, but really, it's all the sound you'll *ever* want. Right now I'm convinced that I couldn't better it.


SMART: I too would have made an offer on that 728 so, please, keep me posted if it comes available. (This was my thread initially, curse you joegarcia!)

GremlinAndy

I'm just going to say a few words here guys. Because this is info some of you may have been keeping quiet.

[i][b]"If you can possibly try an Aggie DB680, then you should."[/b][/i]

I bought one fairly recently, and it was like an epiphany! I have always prided myself on having a good sound. But after hearing my sound through this pre I realised that I've been missing my best possible sound by quite a margin.

Now it's not like I don't have experience of other pre's... I currently own: A Bass pod Pro XT, an Alembic F1-X, A Hughes and Kettner "Fortress", Trace Elliot MP11, GP12, GP11 MK5, Sans Amp, and a couple of other not worth mentioning. Plus A lexicon MPX G2 which has a great pre in it's own right.
Some have a tube upfront, some are just SS, but NONE of them have the sweet tones of the 680. You might, like me, have read some reviews, and while people rave about the 680, it's true to say that the owners of many other pre's rave about thiers too. Well I would have to say, PLEASE try this out for yourself and make a call yourself, if you can possibly get access.

The Aggie makes your sound more tonally pleasing than ever before, it makes the high notes more balanced with the lows, (bye bye reedy thin highs, hello fat fullsome singing highs.) Yet the lows ring with a bell like quality ...and "sympathetic frequencies" (I'm searching for the correct phrase here, forgive me), previously unheard, come to the fore and add to the richness of the sound...
It's a MARKED difference. You'll even find that the drummer notices (sorry drummers that was a cheap shot. But *actually* true) that the bass guitar is more pronounced, but not overpowering.
If anything it sits in the mix much easier. The difference is very musical.

I've had mine for a while now, but I've resisted actually raving about it, because I wanted to get me a second one before I potentially increased the competition on them. However I ordered my *spare* one today and it's on it's way. A mark of how impressed I am with this pre is the very fact that I *NEEDED* to secure a second one in case my first one ever fails. And with a retail of nearly £1000 that's not an easy call. ...but that does maybe tell you just how good this thing is.

[b]Pro's: [/b]the best sound bar none! Nuff' said!

[b]Cons: [/b]If you want a dirty filthy overdriven sound, then I have to warn you... Thats the only sound the 680 can't accomplish (actually, hardly at all) You should look elsewhere for that particular sound. And the price... The 680 cost me double my second most expensive pre, but honestly, it's worth every penny if you can afford it.

Andy

pm'd