Vin Venal

Thanks for the suggestions all. Think I'm gonna check out a set of the cobalt flats.

As per the title, what flats would experienced flats players recommend for a P-bass for a player who uses a decent amount of gain for a rock/punk/alternative type sound? I know flats aren't the go to for this type of sound, but I like the feel of flats and the idea of not having to change strings all the time, so I'm interested in giving them a try. Recommendations would be appreciated.

If I was replacing my darkglass microtubes 900, I might be interested in the 700, but I don't think I'm interested enough to change for the sake of it. I do love Ampeg stuff though.

So the original beta lead and beta bass were 100 watt solid state jobs. Some people say they were exactly the same amp with the reverb taken out of the bass unit, some people say the eq section was different, but regardless it was definitely the same preamp hooked up to the same power section in the same sized box. I guess I can kinda see what they're doing here if what they were going for was an authentic looking and sounding head but cheaper (than a new one would be now) with a modern class D power amp for the lead, then just putting out the exact same product without the reverb for bass. I can also kinda see the logic of also releasing it without the power section so you can have the authentic look and sound of a beta lead/bass and run it into any power amp you like. In practice though, yeah, you're gonna end up with a woefully underpowered amp, or just a preamp, in a very big, expensive, heavy box, which is gonna be fairly niche in its appeal, surely? The price on the 100s is mad, you can still buy a vintage 100s for a fraction of that price. It's all a bit of a headscratcher really, especially cuz fender own the brand, so must have signed off on these guys ideas?

I can't believe nobody's said it at 4 pages, but MC5: Kick Out The Jams.

Oh yeah, good point, the darkglass cab sim can't be analog cuz you can download IRs onto it, so I guess there must be some digital processing for that bit at least.

I think darkglass stuff is all analogue. This is probably pretty much a direct clone.

There's also Demonfx who do a B7K and an Alpha Omicron clone. This looks like a better option though tbh, looks better made, or at least more stylish. I personally love the darkglass sound, all three of their main flavours of drive in fact, and the B3K circuit in my amp is my main "clean" sound, but the amp is a hold over from when I was financially solvent and I can no longer afford darkglass prices, so I'm extremely glad there are people making cheap knock-offs for when I inevitably need to replace stuff.

Greens a pretty colour, but I wouldn't rock anything with a union jack on it.

I'm trans and bisexual, this threads weird.

Big Timmy C gets the nod from me, especially when the distortion kicks in, that fella knows how to get dirty while the low end stays locked down.

Yeah I've heard other people say that, but surely if its genuinely the case that they're not bigots, either that they never were and were just espousing those views for shock value, or they've evolved, surely the right thing to do is to address it properly, so that generation after generation of young punks all round the world don't discover their lyrics and think they've found a home for their own hateful beliefs? Homophobia (as well as other forms of bigotry) were rife in the punk scene, to such an extent that queer people and women basically had to make their own scenes (queercore and riot grrl), and if you're a band that contributed to that, intentionally or otherwise I'd suggest you have an obligation to try to undo the damage.

An example relevant to my interests (vaguely although they're a generation or two back) is Anti-Nowhere League. They are frequently put on by promoters and loads of bands I like end up sharing a stage with them. The punk scene these days is pretty anti-homophobia thank god, but given that I always think its irresponsible of promoters and bands who are ostensibly progressive to keep putting money in these dudes pockets. The problem is their song - "the day the world turned gay" which you can Google the lyrics to, I don't want to post them. Really though, all they'd need to do for the punk scene to forgive them and move on is address it maturely, apologise and demonstrate that they don't hold those views any more, and are committed to making their gigs a safe space for people of different sexualities and gender identities. But they haven't done anything of the sort. I think they've taken the song off Spotify and apparently they don't play it live much anymore, but this seems to be a reluctant concession rather than a change of heart, and their statement on the matter falls very much short of an apology imo. Its more sort of - punk is meant to be offensive, we do what we want, if you don't like it find a different scene, whilst simultaneously adding some extra homophobic stuff about George Michael, and denying that they're homophobes. While this remains their attitude I think its absolutely right that everyone gives them a hard time. I think its an absolute fosters take when I see band like Crass sharing a bill with them. Principles and solidarity apparently count for less than bodies in the door.

This actually looks like a bit of fun! Considering getting one as a backup. Dagan isn't really a bassist and tends to make basses he demos sound awful, but I actually think this sounds great, considering it's the cheapest Squier you can get. Curious to see more reviews/demos. Esp interested in how they're finished and set up, and how bad the neck dive is. Anyone getting one?

Personally I don't think anyone is irrevocable. If they're already dead what matters is contextualising how we remember them. For instance I think every time we talk about how great Bowie was, we should also point out that he had sex with children. The wrong thing would be to hide that, which a lot of people try to do. When people are still alive I think it depends on how accountable they are. People like Iggy Pop, Jimmy Page, Clapton, Anthony Kiedis, etc - No evidence that any of them have faced any kind of consequences, or even that they've ever addressed their wrongdoing in any mature way, so putting money in their pockets is saying to them and the world that people like them can get away with doing whatever they want. If Clapton came out and said listen in the 70s I said some evil racist stinky poo which I deeply regret, I contributed to the racist climate of the time and probably emboldened generations of racists who went on to do actual harm to countless real people, and as a result I'm going to give loads of money and time to organisations which combat racism and I'm gonna work really hard to undo the harm that I did, I'd be like awesome Clapton is God, whatever, but he doesn't do that so he's still the racist POS who said what he said.

Some of those things aren't remotely immoral though. Speaking as a serial drug abuser who's had the occasional gay encounter in public toilets. 😅 Being an abusive piece of stinky poo who has sex with children is very different. What's shocking is that society lets a lot of people off the hook for being abusive pieces of stinky poo who have sex with children and demonises a lot of lovely people who just like drugs and gay stuff. Be gay do crime.