Paddy Morris

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.

It looks to have a set of natural gut strings on it (£100 right there, if they're in decent condition) and the wear pattern in the fingerboard suggests some pretty full-on psychobilly hammering. That finish looks like it had a lacquered coating applied that has been removed. I think you should arrange to meet up and play it first, but it might sound amazing, who knows?

I don't know if you ever need a dep upright bass player? I'm from Colchester and I'm back down there quite often. I've picked up a few one-off drop-ins to bands whose regular upright player can't make a specific gig. Let me now.

That's good to know. I just had a quick look at the IP300. That's a pretty convenient-sized rig if you're getting a sound you like

All true. There's loads of amp threads I could go at, including my own previous ones. Part of the difficulty is that you only have the recommendations of other players to go on. The gear is too expensive to just buy on spec. And most music stores don't have a double bass avaliable for you to try out an amp.

It's true. I did ask last year. I had actually forgotten that I did. But the quest to get a decent amplified sound from a difficult instrument seems never-ending to me. And I work on the principle that everyone is here because they're broadly interested in the subject, so there's no harm in asking.

Morning all. I've had a PJ Two Four for a few years now. There's no doubting that they are a very clever piece of kit. But I've gone off it. The tone is so highly tuned that it's a permanent feedback hazard at the sort of small room gigs it was designed for. At outdoor busking gigs, no feedback. But the tone is all that muddy, plumby boxy stuff that makes an upright sound like a cheap Hofner McCartney bass copy. Or at least, it does for me. Given that the design is a few years old now, and amp designers are clever people, I was wondering if there's anything else out there now that does this job better. The Two Four is incredibly compact, but it's actually more compact than it needs to be for me. I'd be happy with something twice as big (still very small, after all) but with a nicer, more neutral tone. Has anyone discovered a new killer compact combo?

Thanks for that. I bought one and will try it out. I also ordered some open cell rubber foam and I'm going to try and replicate some F-Its for my carved bass. I would love to get Bob to make them, he does such a beautiful job. But his website has been taken down and his FB page seems to be inactive. I'm sure he has good reasons.

This is interesting. So the Thumpinator fixed it for you? Do you feel like it has affected the tone much? I bought a Westbury, just after f-its stopped producing covers. It's a lovely dark instrument, but real handful to amplify. If I can't get f-its I might try a Thumpinator.

I have also tried Whackers. Much too clicky on my bass, very little actual note. Zero sustain. Silver slaps I liked very much. Again a bit too clicky on my fingerboard, but a good, defined note and plenty of sustain. I found the harmonic profile of the A in the set to be slightly too growly. Like a bass guitar string. I now have one bass set up for slap, with natural gut D, G, and Evah Pirazzi slap (the cheaper synthetic gut ones) on E, A. On my particular, inexpensive bass it's a great combination. Nice vintage thud. The click is less sharp and brittle. The sustain is moderate, but its enough. For arco you need to dig into them a bit to get them to start, but it's a nice dark tone.

In particular, some folks send the fingerboard output to a limiter, then recombine with the bridge pickup at the amplifier. It just helps you get a nice even click that doesn't take your head head off, without the limiter also squashing the main tone. With nothing plugged into the fingerboard o/p socket, the bridge o/p socket carries both signals mixed in proportion to the 2 knobs on the top of the preamp.

Get some good strings on it. If it has the factory strings still on then they're probably very cheap. The difference in the sound and playability is really dramatic with good strings.

I thought I'd ask this here, instead of starting yet another amp thread. Does anyone have experience of using GK amps for upright bass? Positive or negative? I have a little PJ two-four which is great. Also I have a brute of a 15" TC Electronics amp. This TC can sound great under ideal circumstances. Very clean, and I don't come remotely close to clipping ever. But it is just very prone to boominess, and I have to mess about with graphics and placing it on chairs and away from corners in most indoor venues, just to get it to sound acceptable. Someone on this thread said that a physically smaller amp might be better. And I'm looking at a 12" GK combo on ebay. I know they are very tailored to a certain type of electric bass sound, but was just wondering if anyone had tried one for upright?

Ah man. That's a shame. It looks tiny, but I guarantee that crack will screw you over on a gig sooner or later, regardless of what you do to it. I would have thought the maple would be too densely grained to absorb much of the glue. I'd get a new bridge fitted by a decent bass luthier, and not one of these jack of all trades guys either. It took me a few goes to find a luthier I trust, but the difference is night and day.

Feedback is very common, it's not just your college bass. I have also only tried the copperhead, but I found it very lacking in detail, just literally the fundamental bass note I was playing. So I would imagine that it might be more susceptible to feedback than some others, because a lot of feedback issues start with an over-emphasised low end - just a guess. You might find this useful if you haven't seen it already. But if you aren't needing to play too loud then a combination of both a mic and a piezo into a preamp like the Stanley Clarke or the Headway HB2 can give you a good, flexible jazz pizz sound. I play with a loud guitarist and a loud drummer and I freely admit that I have to sacrifice tone I would like, just to get the volume I need without feedback.

I bought a Yamahiko. Single transducer version. It's ¥35,000 which is £220 at today's exchange rate. The duty payment was another £60. So, not by any means a cheap option. But cheaper than a DPA say.

There are dozens of reasonable used basses on ebay at the moment. The 'don't buy new' adage is spot on. I bought new twice, and each time it took me at least 18 months of hard playing to get the wood to open up. With a used bass someone has done at least some of that work for you. Also, an average bass that has been played a lot, with really good strings and a luthier set-up, is going to work much better for you than a new bass, with factory strings and factory set-up.

Ha ha. I don't think I'm nuts. Would love to hear your thoughts though

Yes, it certainly is. If it's a high value instrument then get a luthier on the case. My first bass wasn't expensive, and still isn't. And I think that J-Tone was my first pick-up too. I used a very small file and some sand paper to enlarge the bridge wing. The sound of those J-Tones (and probably all piezo's) is very dependent on the tightness of the fit. Too tight and they tend to be a bit bright, and lacking in tone. Too loose and they're a bit quiet. So it will require a bit of trial and error.

Same here. I got an Eastman for jazz and swing. It's a lovely, warm instrument and Neil Heppleston set it up with a lovely action for me. But the difference in the string length between the 2 basses means my intonation is screwed when I switch between them.

Agree with Nick D. Superglue is the answer. Tape is fine but it's very difficult to feel the strings through it, so it affects your technique. Superglue, maybe a few coats, and you can still feel the sensation of the strings through your fingertips.