ern500evo

49 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I've fitted the Warman PUP to my MB-5. Also shielded the control cavity swapped out one volume control for a 4-way switch to give bridge winding, series, parallel and neck settings.

 

Works, but have to wait until the morning to test at volume.

That sounds like a great upgrade. Be interesting to hear your thoughts once you’ve rested it at volume 

Well I used it for the first time through my gig rig tonight, and have to say, it’s just brilliant for the price point. Ran it through my ABM600 and Barefaced Big Twin 2. For live stuff I usually have my Darkglass Vintage Microtubes pedal always engaged, for a light grit. I played about 50% of tonight’s rehearsal clean, just to get more of an idea of the core tone of the bass. It’s great! It sounds snarly and has a nice growl when you dig in. The front volume pot has a bit of a squeak to it, I’ll take some contact cleaner with me to next rehearsal. Apart from that, I don’t really have any complaints. I bought it solely with the intention of leaving it at our rehearsal space, so I don’t need to take anything with me to rehearsals, but after a few hours jamming with it, I think I’d be more than happy to actually gig with it. Am curious as to how much of an upgrade the Warman pickup is now? 

13 hours ago, Kev said:

How much are they?  Used Alpha Omicron must be somewhere between £110-£130 mark with almost 0% depreciation if you choose to sell again, so saving needs to be really quite decent to risk the knock off?

About £50 including postage to the UK 

Mine arrived this week. Thoroughly impressed tbh. Can’t believe this bass is £121 brand new, including delivery from Germany! I’ve only played it briefly through a little 15w practice amp, but will get to play it through my ABM600 and Big Twin 2 later this week at rehearsal. Truss rod needs a little tweak, it’s a little bit buzzy at the headstock end but only a little. When I look back to the first bass I owned, a weird Encore bass, the quality of this HB for the price is just ridiculous 

For those who have added a Warman pickup, are your controls still volume-volume-tone, or is it now just volume-tone with the Warman pup? 

I’m about to order one. I want a bass to leave at our rehearsal space. I go to work straight from rehearsal and for security reasons I can’t take a bass into work. So a cheap bass that just lives at the rehearsal room makes sense. I may do a pickup upgrade, but to be honest If it sounds half decent stock, I may just leave it as it is. I will be a rehearsal bass for 90% of the time. Looking forward to actually trying one out. Some of these cheaper basses are great nowadays. I’ve just bought another Sire V7. For £449 they are superb. 

Up for grabs is my immaculate Microtubes X Ultra. One of the most versatile pedals that Darkglass have made. The ability to compress your low end whilst driving the hi end, or switch it so that the compressor affects the whole range. The amount of drive this thing offers I just insane, and with the hi and lo filters you can pinpoint exactly where you want the drive to come in. Only reason I’m selling it, the stuff I’m doing now, it’s just way overkill. What I need more now is an always on, low gain grit, so I’ve put a Vintage Microtubes on my small pedal board instead of this. I would keep it as an emergency DI pedal but it’s too good to just sit in my gig bag not being used. It comes with the original box, manuals, stick on rubber feet(it has Velcro on the bottom at present), the usb cable and the sticker. It has an aux in, and headphone out, so you can use it to play along with tracks in silence. The usb cable connects you to the Darkglass suite, where you change the cab sim to suit your tastes. Not looking for any trades on this one I’m afraid, there’s nothing else I really need. 
Thanks 

Picked myself up a 2nd generation Sire V7 vintage this week. Looking forward to giving it a whirl through ABM600 and Barefaced Big Twin 2 tomorrow night! 

Paul responded to my wanted ad for a Darkglass VMT. Quick and easy transaction, great communication, pedal arrow E dwuixky, and very well packaged. Top man, thanks Paul 

Sire V7 in vintage white with tort pickguard and rosewood fretboard. These are fab basses for the price point, and the only reason I’m selling it is I’ve just bought a 2nd generation Vintage model, because I’m shallow and prefer maple necks. It’s hardly been out of the house to be honest. It was always my bass for home rehearsing and noodling, until recently when I started to use it for gigs, and liked it so much that I ordered a newer model. The 18v preamp is fantastic, with cut and boost for bass, mids and treble, with the mids being a stacked pot for sweepable mid frequency. You can of course just flick it into passive mode and just use the master volume and tone and pick up pan. The bass has green luminlay fret markers, professionally fitted by Simon Bamber at Sico setups. I only had this done as I ordered too much material for my Warwick, so got him to use the rest to do this bass at the same time. Bit overkill for a bass that was meant for home, but at least I didn’t waste the excess luminlay tube! I don’t have the charging torch, but any of the small key ring UV torches you can find on eBay or Amazon will charge the dots. It’s in really good condition, apart from some scratches on the control plate, around the bass pot. The bass was like it when it arrived brand new, and I never bothered sending it back. All in all, it’s a very nice active jazz for not a lot of money. It has an array of tones on offer and it plays really well. Currently strung with a fairly new set of Ernie Ball Hybrid slinky steels 45-105. I’ve had to take a bit of a stab at the price, based on what I could find for sale online, as I genuinely can’t remember how much I paid for it new. Collection/meet up preferred, but I can box it up if you care to arrange your own courier. No trades on this one thanks, as i’m just recouping some of what I just paid for the gen 2 V7. 
Thanks 

I’m really tempted by a Source Audio Aftershock. They look like a lot of fun. I really don’t need another drive pedal tbh, I’ve got a Lomenzo hyperdrive, a EBS Sheehan sig, and a Darkglass X Ultra, but no harm in trying something else is there! 😀

9 hours ago, danbowskill said:

Dirty dogs have copied the Alpha omicron, microtubes X and new version B3k now.

Even the names are identical 🤔

http://www.demon-fx.com/index.php?c=show&id=66

 

Wonder if they will do the infinity 😂

 

They can’t even be bothered to change the names now! 😂

The ABM600 is impressing me more with each gig. Did a birthday party gig at a local community centre on Friday. Tall ceiling,  wooden floor, large boomy stage, but the ABM just sounded great. First gig I’ve done with it using my Warwick Streamer all night. Thai amp just seems to have brought that bass to life 

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

How did I settle on my string choice?  The destination following a long journey; I use Elixir Nanowebs on most of my basses, I have a set of Markbass Long Evos on one.

 

For me, it got to a ridiculous point where I could be spending £60-80 a month changing strings once they became too ponky.  I'd be using D'Addario or Dunlop (or whatever was in my box of stuff), which had a usable life akin to that if a prawn sandwich.  

 

Yes, Elixirs are expensive, maybe double+ the other brands, but they last for ages and retain their zing. (Likewise Long Evos.)  I don't think I've changed any strings this year.

 

 

I like Elixir Nanowebs too. My Yamaha is currently strung with them. Their longevity definitely makes up for the price. 

I’ve recently put Ernie Ball hybrid custom gauge slinky stainless steels on my Sire V7 and really like them. They have a really nice brightness to them and don’t feel too harsh either. Going to put a set on my Warwick SS1 tomorrow and use it for a gig on Friday, to see how they sound on that bass 

4 hours ago, Ander87 said:

Seeing as you’ve matched the Six10 and the BT2 with the ABM’s (correct me if I’m wrong) what made you switch over to the BT2?

I’ve never owned a Six10, have played through one a couple of times, with an ampeg and a gk. I went from Ashdown 8x10, to Warwick 1x15 with either a 4x10 or 2x10, to the BT2. 

6 minutes ago, Ander87 said:

the thing is I’ve been spoiled picky with weights lol. Heaviest cab was the above mentioned Trickfish 2x12, and always been picky with bass weights (4kg max) and similar…

 

… until you realise the problem is not so the weight but me being 20kg overweight lol! Now that I’m fixing that, 3hrs with my 4.2kg basses are a breeze… Same would translate to everything else! Checking measures etc the Six10 is closer to a BT2 XL than our traditional 8x10. 

 

A bit more back to topic I do feel that the ABM just warrants a big cab and looks so bloody fine haha! And being in a punk rock trio is the perfect excuse to thicken up my bass tone and move more air. The other project that may kick off again is neosoul with my wife (been on and off) and then again warm tubey does just fit right…!

I have heard this plenty…! And it does make sense, the side handles on a super square shape can’t help too good. 

They do look great on a big cab, and if you’re looking for a compromise betwen can size and weight, I can’t imagine anything would tick more boxes than a Six10 

A lot of folks may disagree, but I actually think a 4x10 is worse to move around than a 6x10 or 8x10. For two reasons, 1) most of them don’t have wheels so have to be carried or you need to take a trolley, amd 2) the handles are on the side, which makes it a ball ache to get through a single width doorway with scraping your knuckles on the frame. One of the key factors in getting my BT2 was me being sick to death of scraping my knuckles on my front door frame at 3am every Sunday morning 

2 minutes ago, Ander87 said:

this is very valuable! The photon has noisegates and compression etc etc I believe I could wing it aye…?

 

29kg is criminal but my first cab was a 25kg 2x12 that I’d bring around with a cart whilst living in London if the gig was big enough to warrant it. What crazy times lol!

 

things have changed and I workout now more etc so I reckon I could pull it out from car to venue and back and my band mates are a sweetheart that always help anyway 😁 

 

and yes, I totally get what you’re coming from re: straight to amp! My plan is playing direct clean, and then via the AOP pushed clean / distortion / megafuzz for a couple parts…

Even my old 8x10 wasn’t as difficult to move as people might think. Stairs were obviously the last thing you wanted to see, but just loading it into the car, and out at the venue and wheeling it in, was pretty easy. Would I want to go back to it now? Probably not, but only because I’ve been spoilt by the BT2. I think you’d be surprised at how easy you’d find it to move that Six10 around. It’s featherweight compared to old big cabs. 

10 minutes ago, Muppet said:

The 610 is light. Handles on both sides and I can pick it up and pop it in the car. And a handle on top and wheels. It’s not like the 610 cabs of old. And yes, BF with a Precision and an ABM just works!

The old days of humping 6x10 and 8x10 cabs around. My back hurts just thinking about it! 

I lugged an Ashdown 8x10 around for about 2 years, humping it in and out of my hatchback car on my own. A Barefaced six10 would be a breeze in comparison! I think you’d find a little less sparkle than you have with the BB2, but the ABM has suck a great eq that it would be easy to find what you’re after. Even more so when you add the Photon in. I have a X Ultra, and I’m sure I could wind the crossover on the BT2 right back and still get enough sizzle easily enough. Bass wise, I’m using a Sire V7 active jazz, a Warwick Streamer Stage 1, and a Yamaha Attitude ltd 2. What I’m finding at the moment is that I love the sound of this amp with no pedals engaged. Doesn’t work for every song, but it’s still very satisfying to know that bass into amp sounds so nice 

As far as I’m aware, the Barefaced 10’s have a more vintage/warmer voicing, and the 12’s more of a modern hifi voicing. I also considered changing my BT2 for two 210’s at one point, just so I could use one for smaller gigs and rehearsals. Ultimately I decided that the BT2 is easy enough to move and the footprint would be no smaller, plus, I’ve never used the BT2 with any amp and it not sound fantastic. The six10 is a great cab. Personally I prefer the black metal grille and old logo, so the BT2 is perfect for me 

59 minutes ago, bassace97 said:

Tonights jam night rig - 2 Aguilar SL112s and a Mesa TT800 

That is one classy looking rig! 

1 hour ago, Ander87 said:

 

... Plus, there is a ton of times at home where I don't want to set up cables and power supplies etc back from rehearsal and just want to plug right into the amp and play straight from the bass  

I know what you mean. I aways used to have a drive pedal of some sort, engaged most of the time. With the Evo4, I also just love the sound of a bass straight into the amp. 

1 hour ago, Ander87 said:

Thank you @ern500evo!

 

im thinking of going down the path of ABM plus a Darkglass programmable pedal like the Adam - vintage tones and fuzz with compressor etc? Yes please!

 

Best,

 

Ander. 

The ABM600 is a cracking amp, I’m loving mine so far, but, if you’re using one of the programmable Darkglass pedals like the ADAM/Photon/Infinity, do you need an amp? If the pedal is going to be always on and taking care of all your tone shaping, you could just use a small power amp.