Paddy Morris

Theres a Barefaced used BB2 on reverb right now. Get it to try, and if it's not for you then you'll most likely be able to sell it again for what you paid.

Report back. Spread the knowledge. String matrix is a great resource.

That's exactly what the BF cabs give you. Light, compact, hifi, loud. But VERY expensive. You do see them come up second hand though. I think your idea with the TC208 is probably a good option too.

I would hold out for a used Barefaced Super Mini. Particularly if you can't hear your own notes when playing, which has been a problem for me too. Very light, loud enough, pairs nicely with your BAM. But most of all, you hear the note cleanly.

Do you think maybe it's a knock-off, and not a genuine Shadow?

This is exactly what I did @NickA thanks for suggesting. A gnome with a BF Super Mini. Perfect.

Yes agreed. Too much choice.

Definitely do it yourself. It's easy, and you'll most likely do s better job than whoever made the harness.

BTW I just googled the Safran Iris. What an amazing looking instrument. Post some sound files once you've got your pickup sorted.

I tried one for a bit. It was very like an Underwood. Had the same sort of muffled quality the Underwood and DG Copperhead have. Some very respectable players go for that, but it wasn't for me. I have a big mariachi guitarrón, and eventually I put an Ischell C3 on it. Sounds mint. Don't know if that would work for you?

Hi Pete Yes, when they turned up they were normal weichs in weich packaging. Maybe just an acknowledgement by Thomann that Brits speak no language but their own? They took a couple of weeks to arrive. Patrick

That's interesting Joe, thanks. I might see if he'll have a look at it then. Also I don't think the nut has ever been set-up for the thicker, low tension strings I tend to use, so I wonder if maybe the A is it bit tight in the slot. It arrived with thin Chinese steels on it. Part of it is, the guy builds £10,000 basses and I'm slightly embarrassed by my plywood and car body filler box!

I had a bit of a search for this but couldn't find a result, so apologies if it's been covered in depth. What is the effect of a sound post tweak? I took the nicer of my 2 cheap basses to the excellent luthier who did the initial set-up for me, to get bridge adjusters fitted. He was going to 'tweak' the sound post too. In the end he said it didn't need it. So I still don't know what the effect would have been. My other bass, a cheap plywood slapper which I love dearly, has never had a proper set-up and has always been slightly quiet on the A string - this has been true regardless of the various string setups I've had on it. It might just be the limitation of a cheap bass, but I'm now wondering if a soundpost tweak might improve the situation?

Very neat indeed.

3rd vote for Spiro weichs. Growly sound, easy on the fingers. For some bizarre reason they're cheaper on Thomann than anywhere else to buy in the UK. No good for slapping though.

Very neat looking set-up. Do we get a close up of the pedal board? Always good to see what other players are up to.

Definitely. My bass with Spiros = blisters after a long gig. My slapper with guts and EP slaps = no blisters after an entire weekend of playing.

I'm an upright player and I found Spectracomp, Keeley Bassist, and EBS Multicomp, all tend to suck the attack out of a plucked string. They give a lovely smooth sound for slapped bass guitar, but not for upright. However, I just tried the Keeley Compressor Pro and it's just incredibly good. You can put soft knee in, and back the attack time off. You get great levelling of the notes and improved sustain if you want it (I don't) but the initial attack of the string passes through cleanly.

Next time my Mrs complains about the amount of gear in our den, I need to show her this thread.

Brilliant report back. Like a wine tasting, but louder.

Thanks for all the replies to this. I really appreciate it. So it seems as though most of these amps share the same generic output board and switched mode PSU. But the front end is where the designs are all customised.. Interestingly, just looking on reverb / ebay / gumtree, there are very few BAMs, Gnomes or Ants that people want to shift (none in fact) but quite a few Elfs (or Elves, whatever)

Thanks. Just found and read that comparison between them. All very interesting.

Are there any really differences between the Gnome 200, the TC BAM 200, the Trace ELF200 etc? The exact same layout of the front panel and rear, and identical feature set makes one think that they are probably the same, Chinese pre-assembled PCB, and what you're actually choosing is the case that it comes in. I have no problem with that, because they're all very good value for money. But is there a subtle difference between them?

I have 2. A Westbury and a Hidersine. I've got to say that the Hidersine is the one I use all the time. The padding is more or less the same in both. The more expensive Westbury looks slightly more rugged, but all the straps and handles are in the wrong places. The cheap Hidersine bag has been yanked from one gig to the next for about 5 years and seems to be surviving ok. And any minor damage to the instrument has always happened due to my own carelessness once the instrument is outside the bag.