TenLetters

I tried my Puma 350 tonight for the first time and no hiss for me. Could it be something affecting just the combo amps? I could only try it at bed room practice volumes but to my ears it sounded great straight from the box. Like others I will wait until I have had it a while and tried it at practice and a gig before giving a full review. Its not looking good for my Hartke 3500 though, that can be expected in the for sale section by the middle of this week!

My Puma just arrived!

Just pulled the trigger on one of the Pumas, its rude not to at that price really. Expect a classified add from me next week, either the Puma or Hartke 350 head! Im guessing the puma will win.

[quote name='Stylon Pilson' post='610951' date='Sep 28 2009, 04:12 PM']The 9.0 is supposedly 4lb. The 6.0 was 3.75lb. So there's not much in it. S.P.[/quote] I dont often weigh them, but I am pretty sure I have produced stool samples heavier than that.

+1 to that comment about Artic Monkeys, the joys of 'ghost PR'. Im sure that is the case with the majority of these bands who make it on their own with the 'DIY approach'. I remember that girl who used to do live web perfomances of her songs to hundreds of thousands of fans claimed that was all off her own back. Im no web expert but the artical said that the bandwidth you need to broadcast to that many people would cost thousands, which i doubt she would have but a major lable may well have. (that could all be Bull but im sure i have an artical on it somewhere) Anyway, im sure there are those that have made it by the DIY approach, again it comes down to what you consider making it. If i can make the music i want with people i want then im happy. If people get lucky and sign to a major or feel the nee to go on TV talent shows then im not going to judge them over it but it kind of seems like seeling your soul to the devil for 5 minutes of fame to me. Found it, how reliable it is i guess is up for debate but still..... [url="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/was-sandi-thoms-effortless-rise-just-too-good-to-be-true-480288.html"]http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertai...rue-480288.html[/url]

Well, whats best for intonation is just when the string is in tune for its whole length, so really there is not opinion on it, its either in tune or not. Try putting intonation into google and there will be pages that explain it far better that i can. As a rule people tend to love really low action as its 'easier' to play (you need less pressure to fret a note), you will see countless adverts on a certain auction site that talk about low action. However, this bit is more down to personal tatse and how good (not expensive) your instrument is. As stated above generally the lower the action the more likely you are to get fretbuzz, in my experienence its easier to get a lower action without fretbuzz with a 'better' instrument. This of course all depends on general set up, conditions of frets, neck bow and how good the person doing the set up is........welcome to the wonderfull world of bass and trying to find what suits you best. Ultimately, if you are/become a decent player then you can work with almost anything. Posting after mates 30th at pub so hope that does not confuse things further.

Thanks for all your thoughts. I have not been able to try any thing out yet as i have been manic recently but sure i can get it sorted by checking these things when i have time. Cheers

I have an old style Hartke HA3500 which has been well used for a good 6-7 years with no trouble at all. I have owned it for 5 of those but knew the previous owner and there were never any problems untill recently.... Basically when i turn the amp on everything powers up fine but the output is barely audible and sounds farty. Turning up the master has little to no effect on the volume of the 'noise'. If I give the head a good bang it seems to work fine for the rest of the day even after being turned off and on again. It seems to happen after being left for a while unplayed which at the moment is quite often as i dont use it as my main practice amp. I assume from this that it is some kind of loose solder or something but really dont have the minerals to go snooping around when electronics really are not my thing. I change the tube in the pre-amp not so long ago and that didnt do a great deal not that i really expected it too. I dont really want to go on banging my amp every time I have a rehersal that requires it as im sure thats not going to do it a lot of good in the long run. Any ideas or advice/ things for me to check would be much appreciated. Cheers, Adam