bassbluestew

Whilst on hols last week I popped in to see Phil Nixon at Bass Gear in Harrogate. He has lots nice Mark ass gear I was able to try and the Markbass 800 valve thingy ( the name has flown out of my senior brain ) thru a Markbass 410 and it sounded HUGE !!! Much preferred it to the othe markbass amps he had including the momark. Well worth trying out and Phil is a top bloke !!! S

Have used Ampeg on and off for nearly 40 years..............back in the day it WAS just fantastic but had no real competition ( apart from Fender, which was/is a different beast ) in quality specifically bass only gear. Then up popped Acoustic, then Trace and Dynacord and HH et al, Ampeg survived on reputation and quality. Then the reputations of the other companies grew, Trace became extremely popular, then up popped Hartke, EBS et al and the market just seemed to boom and boutique brands apperared. We now have SO much more choice and some will inevitably find something that suits them better than Ampeg. That just wasn't possible back in the day. Those pictures are a shocker but IMHumbleO say more about the shop than Ampeg. As has already been voiced many times, they should never have been accepted by the retailer - do you think Ampeg would like to see these pics, I think not. Would you have accepted these in that condition if it was your shop or if you had ordered from a distance seller, again I think not. As it happens I still have newish Ampeg gear which I use regularly. Both amp and cab are under 3 years old and I have no idea if they are US or China built. I have never bothered to look. They work as they should, are well built and robust and sound great so I'm happy. I agree that it'd be wrong to write Ampeg off, hopefully they will be made aware of these quality issues and rectify them. In the meantime enjoy the choice, us oldies could only dream of this choice when I was a lad !!!! Oh and I didn't live in a shoebox in middle t'road. Stewart p.s the above list of manufacturers is not meant to be exhaustive, just an indication of a time line.

Dave, if you wouldn't mind I'd love to make the trip from Balfron to Lanark to hear this wonderful rig when it arrives. Maybe you'd even be good enough to let me bring my bass and try it out as I am seriuosly thinking of going down the very same route ( 900 and 2 cabs - or possibly the new Aggy stuff as an option ) you were originally going down. I'd be sooo interested to hear this. thanks Stewart

+1000 for the Pro Tec. Its the Mutts Nutts. Alleva Coppolo and Fodera I am told both use them as standard now. And the Thomann price is just a no brainer. Nice featue is the wee velcro strap holding the neck onto its protective pad.....and the onther wee velco strap holding the back pack straps out of hte way when not in use. Its a really great bag. My guitarist uses Protection Racket bags but they are very deep, much deeper than the Pro Tec. If you have a small head ( I'm thinking LM etc ) it will fit in the front pocket. S

Carrying on from ThomBassMonkeys thread about searching for the ideal backup bass, I thought I'd fire up my question. Who doesn't take out a backup bass ?? I'll be the frist to hold up my hand and say ME !!. For years I took out two basses to every gig, until I just got so fed up leaving one in its case and I stopped. I have been playing bass for over 35 years now and have only ever broken one string.....that was many, many years back at the old Marquee Club in London. And it was an E string too, must have been a dodgy string as I have never been an agressive player, sure I dig in a bit, but even so. Like Thom, I struggled with this issue for many years, should I get something similar to my main bass, or should I get something very different. After all who wants two versions of exactly the same bass ?? I certainly didn't and would have considered it a scandelous waste of money - I'm not rich enough to own multiple copies of anything really. Ok, so if I now decide to go for something different, HOW different do I go ?? Should it at least have the same number of strings ?? Similar tonal style ?? Same manufacturer ?? Eventually I gave up. Dazed and indeed Confused. Started taking only one bass to gigs about 2 years back now and haven't looked back since. I have NEVER had a bass break down on me and I have averaged 100 gigs a year for a good few years now. I guess I have always used basses of a reasonable quality and have looked after them quite well so am limiting daft annoying problems. For this reason alone, I decided to sell both my gigging basses and buy one bass - my dream bass. So far so good and I hope I haven't jinxed it. I should own up to also owning another bass, and I suppose at a real push I could gig it......as you can see from my sig it's not exactly ideal and I have never taken in to a gig. Now actually that's not true, I did ionce take it to a gig to play "Crazy Little thing called Love" with a Freddie Mercury / Queen tribute act who was a guest at a wedding we were doing. Worked out ok for that. Apparently Jeff Berlin only owns one bass and only ever travels with one. I find that hard to believe myself. Thoughts good people ?? Yours Aye, Stewart

Shame your not in Glasgow, you could have borrowed my SKB Bass Safe. I'm sure there must be a few in your neck of the woods you could borrow ?? That'd be perfect. S

[quote]How about Samba Parrty ??[/quote] Or even Samba Part Three ?? I'll get my coat............................................

Thanks guys, also can't find any weights on the Ashdown website. Is it heavy?? I play in a 6/9 piece wedding function band - live drums, not too noisy guitar. We can play on some largish stages. I'd like to still get the feeling I'm moving some air, but don't expect it to match my current rigs. But do hope it will be lighter !! You guys are the bestest ! S

Oh and though 30 watts is technically the correct answer to my question, it is also the answer most likely to get a smack in the chops. Nobody likes a smartarse !!

How loud are these little darlings?? Am thinking of trying out the fliptop version soon but not sure it'll be loud enough. S

Great replies, just what I wanted to know. Obviously the costs coming down from Glasgow are far more than those who live even a few hours drive away. ( The Ritz is bloody expensive these days, and two evenings eating at the Ivy aint cheap neither. ) In summary, lots of lush gear to try, but don't expect either ideal test conditions or best prices. Thangyouverymuch, S

Some great posts on this weekends show so far, big thanks for those What I'd really like to know is, did anybody buy anything, and if so was it a real bargain ?? Even if you just spotted a deal but didn't go for it that would do. Details please. Although i have no doubt it was a fantastic event, from a very mercenary point of view I am wondering if it is worth the expense of a trip from Glasgow. Moochass Grassyass, S

Did my first full length wedding gig with Smiffie last night. Despite have a serious arthritic explosion this week I don't think I have enjoyed a gig more. Had to sit the entire night spry from the first couple of dances - bah !!! Anyhow the Smith was a joy, the adjustment to the gain pot is great, boosted the mids on the amp and it was truly great. My bass gas has been replaced by the urgent need for some top quality lightweight gear. Anyone tried the new Ashdown fliptops??? S

Used it a lot on German gigs, its top, top quality gear ( check the prices - no g'tee of quality but a good indicator ). Not big in the UK yet, except with those in the know. I used it with my Ray 5 and it sounded great.......would love to try it with my Smith !!! You'll love it ! S

25 years ago I had a great job earning big bucks in Holland. One day I saw an ad in Molody Maker or NME or somesuch paper for a "vintage Tbird in excellent condition" from a big London shop. It cost then about £1200 which was less than two weeks wages at the time so on a whim and after some phone calles to the shop to confirm condition / terms of sale I bought it on apro and got it delivered to my folks in Glasgow as I was coming home the following weekend for a visit. It duly arrived and I asked my dad for a quick review over the phone. Now he's not a player, and he described it as bloody horrible. I asked him to look past the unusual shape and about the general condidion. He was less than encouraging. When I saw it myself a few days later I was gutted. It was a complete shed. The body was really badly marked and the scratchplate was badly cracked with pieces missing. The neck was horrible and pitted. It played like a dog. It went straight back to them and they didn't put up any arguements when I said I not only wanted my money back but also the courier ( good old Red Star ) costs refunded as the bass was just not as described Very disapointed. S

Hey a HUGE plus 1 for Dennis. Buy cheap, buy twice.........Dennis may not be the cheapest, but neither is he expensive in my experience. He does a first class job and as has been said really takes a huge pride in what he does. and is one of the old school ( and I mean that as a big complement ) who will happily go the extra mile to fix your gear and you might not know about it for some time, if ever. I didn't find him at all eccentric...........very enthusiastic, extremely professional, hugely talented at diagnosing and fixing faults. More power to your elbow Dennis !!! Don't hesitate in using him. Stewart

The Standing in the Shadows of Motown DVD is also well worth a look.......watching Babbit play is a treat and watching him cry as his fellow Funk Brothers say they would have taken a bullet for him during the riots in Detroit is extremely moving. s

Thanks Lee, it has been a long journey ( which you know a bit about ) and I'm so glad I got it. Have never tried the accugroove cabs......................used the head once through an ebs 410 and it sounded great. I hope your new Spector is still ticking all the boxes for you, and I have just noticed its a quilted maple model - just like my Smiff. Whats the difference between the BSR5 MW and the BSR5 GN ?? Mine is maple so thought it should have been MW ??? Almost as obtuse as Jimmy Copollo when it comes to naming basses. S

Nice one................... I hadn't noticed that !!! I truly wish it had been.....but I'm reliably told I only need one kidney !!!! S

Okdoky.........so the beast hes now been gigged. Rig used on the gig was my Ampeg B2-re head into the SVT410 HLE cab, Stage was one of these raised hollow horrible things that is normally a nightmare. [b]Sound[/b] The sound was terrific. I think the best way to describe it is controlled, articulate and little notes that can sometimes get lost in a fast run were just popping out - effortless. Had to crank the gain on the head WAY higher than I would have for the Overewater, but on further investigation found that the gain trim pot on the bass was set pretty low. I adjusted this a little and its much better. EQ on both the amp and the bass was set flat....used the p'up sweep to alter any tone I needed, but from the get go the sound was there. Sound engineer was very happy, he reckons he's getting a nice clean sound to work with and it sounded great out front. No noticeable effect of the horrible stage which was a real bonus. These things can really feck with your sound. [b]Playability[/b] It was a joy to play.....it was a long set - 2hrs followed by 1hr after a 15 min break, and I felt no fatigue. Bass balances really nicely on the strap. I have gone back to a 34 inch neck after the Overwaters 35, but it felt great. Spoke to the previous owner who advised me the strings ( Smiths ) were gubbed and had been on for a long time. I replaced them before the gig with a set of Elixirs I had and it felt really good. I will be trying some new Smith strings when I can get them as Uncle Ken reckons they sound night and day to anything else, and they are comparatively priced with the Elixirs so thats cool. So far sounds so good, and thanks to Trev for the wax, its looking good too !! Oh meant to add, for anyone looking for a decent semi solid gig bag, Thoamnn are doing a great price on the Protec Contego bag......that's what I'm using instead of the Smith hard case. S

My guitarist uses a Line 6 G30 and it sounds brill and is dead easy and quick to set up. He loves it. I would get one but they are really expensive, so I'm looking at these ....http://braceaudio.com/page/products-1 They get great reveiws and Thomann are doing a great price on them. Aparently Eminems whole band used them at a biq awards ceremony recently. Might just go for one. S

Thanks for the kind words chaps....cant wait for tomorrow nights gig. CK [quote]you have the right amp for a Smith bass[/quote] Which amp had you in mind out of interest. I have 3 rigs and am interested in which you think most suitable as I'm about to sell 2 of them !!! S

Merci !!!