Beedster

So, 2-3 years in, my cheap Chinese neck is feeling the strain, still plays OK, but the cracks seem to be getting bigger......

So, 2-3 years in, my cheap Chinese neck is feeling the strain, still plays OK, but the cracks seem to be getting bigger......

I just had the extraordinary pleasure of a phone chat with Dave Green. I left him a note on Ashdown's webform, and received a pretty much immediate reply of 'Give me a call let's chat'. I think I learned more about tube amps in 10 mins than I have in the previous 25 years, and also had at least three belly laughs as he described the logic underpinning his choice of EQ curves for the tube amp in question. Sdaly I had to take the girls to the edntist or we'd still have been talking! What can I say other than thank God there's still guys like Dave and businesses like Ashdown. Many thanks Dave, hope to be buying some more stuff from you soon 👍

It's taken me 30 years to find the right band, and in doing so I've realised how much I need a band, and how much shite was going on in my bands previously. I've joined around 30 bands, left 28 of them for the same reasons as you, and the other because had I stayed I'd have ended up a junkie. My current thing started as a way to catch up with mates, have a beer or two, and play some tunes, but it's working beautifully. Bands are like relationships, you just never know which one's going to work 👍

All pat of the cycle mate, you'll shed a skin, find something new, and acquire a new skin. I'm on my 5th or 6th now 👍

Sublime Dull

I’d always assumed Barry Adamson played FL on some of Magazine’s late 70’s/early 80’s but the same is true. As ever, it’s less what you play, and more how you play it 👍

....by which I mean that 6-months in a rehearsal room perhaps equates to about 2-years of normal high-volume use for an amp owned by the average gigging bassist (more in my case I'd imagine)?

I'd say that 15 units over 6-months use in a rehearsal studio without problem (if I understand correctly) is a pretty decent indicator of reliability given that previous reports re recent Ampeg units suggested they could go very quickly?

Differences between fretted and fretless are greater with slap that other styles - frets have a hug effect on slap tone - but I'd argue it's less a case of 'doesn't work particularly well' and more a case of 'works very well when used appropriately', one example for me being Bakithi Kumalo on the Graceland album (I may be repeating myself here) 👍

Re fretless playing, it's all horses for courses of course, but for me, I play fretless and fretted very similarly as opposed to seeing each as needing a specific style/technique/genre - I often use fretless at rehearsal and gigs playing ostensible 'standard' bass parts, and always enjoy when someone says "I didn't realise you were playing fretless" (our keys player being a great example, I'd been playing fretless every week for three months before he noticed), which to my mind is far more of a compliment than producing lots of slides and double stops etc and having people say "I love the sound of fretless bass".

Ampeg is always a safe bet for definitive rock tones, the great thing about the V4B is that you can wind up the power tubes at decent stage volume in a small venue. Lovely amp

Not on a fretless no ……..