Ajoten

What's the string spacing at the bridge? And - out of interest - what does this ramp thingy do?

Yes, but that requires expenditure. I have a distortion pedal... I don't have one that is blendable.

Excellent, thanks

My amp has a balance control on the fx loop enabling you to mix your wet and dry signals. While I understand what this is supposed to do, if I wanted to keep the dry signal at its original volume in order not to sacrifice bass when I engage a distortion pedal (on the assumption that's not a no-no for this loop malarkey), would a 12 o'clock setting do this? Or is that going to be 50 wet/50 dry volume? Or am I misunderstanding something? (I guess an associated question is whether pedals with a blend knob on full have all the wet and all the dry?)

To be fair it's not Ibanez using the word "professional" in this context, that's from punters, although obviously they do use a Japanese-models-are-the-real-thing strategy. I always buy based on my hands and ears and hope I'd not allow marketers to pull the wool over my eyes, but this is my observation: My lower-mid-range (?) Ibanez SR is superb. I find it nicer to play than any of the superior Fenders I tried in an actual shop tuther day, and I can't be the only one. Yet I've never seen anyone playing an Ibanez SR at gigs/festivals/on telly*, and I bet they shift them in their thousands (and I bet their Prestige ones are awesome). That's only loosely connected with my post here, and to be honest I don't know what point I'm making, if any. *Or a Washburn, Peavey, Schecter etc.

I was reading a thread about how in terms of the SR range, Ibanez consider any model with a number over SR1000 to be pro grade. What does that mean? And how do I compare that to other brands? Is any Warwick that isn't a Rockbass pro level? Is any Mexican Fender not pro? Is any instrument under £1000 or other arbitrary price still not pro? Yesyesyes, I know that "what you do with it" is the important thing... but wtvr, it sounds like there's a threshold between inferior and what you'd rock up with to your West End pit gig or Van Morrison recording session etc.

Ibanez SR505. I slipped on the ice a year ago (bass was a month old 😑) and landed on my back. Had the bass on my back too. It broke a pot but there were no other problems - and it has been perfectly fine for a year. Just took it into the shop to get looked at, and obviously it worked nicely <rolls eyes>. Therefore if they don't find something wrong I'm just going to sit waiting for it all to happen again, mid-gig probably.

Fair point. And I do regret not thinking of the whole passive bypass malarkey when choosing the instrument...

Midway through rehearsal last night my bass went all fuzzy/distorted. After changing a battery, lead, and amp there was no change. I'm assuming it's an EQ issue - the bass did take a knock and broke the treble pot connections, but that didn't affect anything else and it's been fine for over a year. Can preamps just "go"? If so, can they be fixed or is replacement the only option? Thx!

Yes, gammy tendons have sparked this off. Can't lift the Trace out of the boot...

This is where I get in a tangle thinking about a Wattier replacement. For any given amp sold as (i.e. @ 4 ohms) 350W how much discernible difference would there be between the expected 175W in 8 ohm and Ampeg 250W? Or for that matter between 175 Ampeg Watts vs the expected 150W from a 300W like the Ashdown Original HD-1? (To which everyone will say "no, go for 500W" I bet, although my intention at the mo is simply to not be quieter than the combo I'm replacing 🙂.)

Oo, interesting. Yes will try that, ta.

Hmm, something's not right here. I could gig with my Trace 1x15" 150W combo, 4 ohm speaker. Loads of oomph. I removed the amp and put it in MDF box to use as separate head. For lightweight solution am putting it through a shiny new 300W 2x10 8 ohm cab. This cunning strategy hasn't worked, as at rehearsal last night it really struggled. I was told that although an 8 ohm cab is only going to get half the power the difference in volume wouldn't really be noticeable. So - given it's not a powerful amp, could it be that there's a bigger difference between 150W split between 4 or 8 ohms, compared with doing the same to a 500W amp? Or have I [email protected] the amp with my faffing about? I can't believe there's much drop in quality between an entry level 90s Trace and a 2018 300W Laney. I'm hoping it's all about the ohms, otherwise I've been stupid.

Oo ok. Is the effect of running them in series the same as in parallel? I feel that's a question answered several times elsewhere in this forum... EDIT: Ignore that question, it doesn't matter. Just finding out I can indeed run 2 cabs from my current amp is extremely helpful. Thanks!