Skybone

When will house Sound "Engineers" learn that the PA is for vocals, and maybe the drums. Bass and guitar amps can fill the space adequately enough ta very much. Why else can a bassist justify running that 200/300/400/600w amp, if it's not to "fill the space"? Why not just run a DI into the PA, and save yourself the expense and backache? Cos big bass amps, like big guitar amps SOUND GOOD.

First Bass Amp: Marshall Bass 20 combo Second: MacGregor 100w 1x15 combo Third & Last: Ampeg SVT15T 1x15 combo. Very short list! Traded the Ampeg in quite a few years back for something I can't remember, I wasn't using it, and had switched to guitar. Had a good few guitar amps over the years, but you're not interested in them!

Many moons ago when I was first starting out on guitar, I only had an old Ampeg combo (SVT15T), and no guitar amp. Ran the guitar into the Ampeg with a Zoom multi FX. Needless to say, it sounded awful, though I can't remember whether this was down to the player, the multi FX or the amp. Probably a combination of all 3! Now it's the other way round, don't have a bass amp, but I use a POD if I want to plug the bass in.

Good memories... my second ever bass was a Westone Raider, Explorer stylee with a split P-bass style pickup and two-tone paintwork, though thankfully not as garish as some that were available at the time! Mine was the red/metallic charcoal version. Think I paid about £100 for it. My second Westone was a truly superb Thunder 1A (with old style script on the headstock), sounded amazing with the full 18v active circuit in play, think I paid about £40 for it from a mate of mine. Sold it a few years later to another mate for about £50. Need to get in touch with him & see if he's still got it!

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1326328493' post='1495689'] Think in effect it is like a stereo amp run in bridge mode. At a guess the output transformers are same as a 4 EL34 amp, and within range but not ideal for 4 KT88. Transformers were even tougher to get new then than they are now. At the time there wasn't UK demand for valve bass amps, everyone was rocking Trace I guess, the demand was in the States, and was enough that the US distributor was taking an EL34 Matamp and bodging in 6550 and calling it a bass amp because 'everyone knows' bigger valves is more. What you actually get is more exploding because the whole thing is unsuited, and they were getting sent back as warranty repairs. Everything all went wrong because of that and this bass amp design in progress got caught up among it, lots of shouting in northern, I'd guess prolific use of the C word. [/quote] I spoke to Jeff about this quite a while back, and that was basically what was happening, the then US Distributor was taking GT heads, revalving and selling them as bass amps. Loads failed due to the "non-factory approved modifications", leading to warranty claims, gaining a bad reputation, not helped by the distributors rantings on various websites. Also to add fuel to the fire, he then claimed the Matamp name as being owned by him, and not Matamp in the UK. Also from Jeff, their development of a bass amp came about after the departure of Dave Green from Matamp, because he "refused to build a bass amp", which is ironic, as he now works for Ashdown, designing/building their "Hayden" line of amps. I went over there to pick up a new faceplate for my guitar amp, and asked Jeff about the circuit diagram he was working on.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' timestamp='1326279718' post='1494758'] Made by a luther with a lazy eye.[/quote] Lax Luther?

I mainly use the HiWatt & Plexi amp models, with a mixture of 4x10 & 4x12 cab models. There is always the Fender Bassman model if they don't do anything for you, it was originally a Bass amp anyway. But as with any amp/modeller, get in there, mess about with various settings/models/cabs, and find something that sounds good to you.

[quote name='smurfitt' timestamp='1326035795' post='1491323'] Hi all, need some info: Which has the skinniest neck and shortest in length (the ric looks pretty darn long to me yet both have 20 frets). Which is better for a wide variety of music[/quote] Sounds like you already answered your own question. If that's your search criteria, then just try out loads of different Fender Jazz Basses.

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' timestamp='1326182117' post='1493284'] get whichever one is right for you[/quote] Thumbsup, nods in agreement, etc, etc.

To quote an infamous Twisted Sister video: "What do you want to do with your life?" "I wanna ROCK!" But without the 80's cheese...

Good Matsumoku/Aria/Westone/etc resource. [url="http://www.matsumoku.org/guitars.html"]http://www.matsumoku.org/guitars.html[/url]

[quote name='daz' timestamp='1324313358' post='1472899'] What the ??? [/quote] Indie Prog Rock. Bass: Fender Jazz.

You can replace a knackered nut, but a rubbish recording will be there forever to remind you that you really should have tuned those bongo's.

Those new Modern Player (or whatever they're called) Jazz Basses look very cool... the one with the twin "jazz-bucker" pickups. Saying that, the new twin, chrome covered, pickup Tele Bass looks just as nice, shame it's only available with a maple 'board.

Eeny, meeny, miney, mo..... to which Fender Bass shall I go?

[quote name='TonyBones' timestamp='1323772288' post='1466708'] Aria = Cliff burton, ok he played a Rick as well but in the main the Aria SB [/quote] No, he only played the Aria (SB Elite II) during the Master of Puppets "era", his main bass up to and including "Ride the Lightning" was a Fireglo Ric.

NWOBHM: Fender Precision or anything loaded with a Precision style pickup. 80's Glam/Hair/Shred: Charvel/Jackson "Super P" style body, P & J pickups, pointy headstock. BC Rich Any Model. Lurid colours optional. Thrash: BC Rich Any Model, Ibanez Destroyer, Aria Pro II SB Elite, Ricenbacker 4001/4003, Charvel/Jackson "Super P" (as above).

Matamp built the early Ashdown valve bass heads and the some of the early Ashdown/Hayden valve guitar amps. Dave Green "left" Matamp, then some months later went to work for Ashdown/Hayden. Have a Matamp guitar head & cabs, and they are absolutely fantastic, would love one of the GT200 bass heads & cabs, but they're definitely out of my price range! Top quality build, top quality kit, fantastic sounding gear, absolutely top quality customer service and all round top blokes.

Got some ER20s' a while back to replace the foam type ones, which although they killed a higher level of sound, they didn't filter evenly. The ER20s' do... Still have tinnitus mind (but that is after 30-odd years of aural abuse). It started not going away after a day or so, a few years back, even with wearing earplugs. It's a real PITA, though it is totally my own fault. Anyone not using earplugs in their teens & twenties, playing in bands is risking getting permanent tinnitus by the time they're 40. And I'm afraid that is not lecturing, that's bitter experience.

Owned quite a few, mainly actives... Kay P Copy: POS. Westone Raider: m/ m/ Very much a "hair metal" 80's colour scheme, but a great shape. Single P pickup, nice sound, but prone to headstock dive. Aria SB Special II: Not too much variety in the tone. Great looking & playing bass. Westone Thunder 1A: very heavy & prone to headstock dive. Great sounding & playing bass though. Washburn MB4: It was alright, nothing spectacular. Tobias ?: Again, it was alright. Nice & light, reasonable sound, but not great. StingRay 2EQ: Fantastic, why did I sell it? 1989 blonde, 4 bolt maple neck, beaten up, but sounded gorgeous & played superbly. Aria SB Special II: Again. Love the shape & playability. Couldn't get the right sound dialled in. Aria SB1000: Always wanted one, beatiful to look at & play, but a complete let down sound-wise. StingRay 2EQ: Late 90's, rosewood board, 6 bolt birdseye neck. Nice to play, but sounded awful. Mex Jazz: Brilliant. Only flaw was the join between the scratch plate & control plate weren't quite flush. Ric 4003: Superb. Bit heavy, but great sound & fantastic player.

Just the one at the moment, though I should really trim the guitars down (3 electric, 2 acoustic)... Nah! Do fancy another bass, but haven't seen anything recently that cries out "buy me!!!".

Saw them on the "Hold Your Fire" tour, and although it was a great gig, the songs off HYF/Power Windows/Grace Under Pressure were, let's say, not the highlights of the night. Anyways, been listening to Vapour Trails in the car a lot recently, and the bass lines in Peacable Kingdom & Earthshine really stand out for me. The bass line for the verse of How It Is is great, but the chorus is a wee bit too safe, and instantly forgettable. Kind of like watching "Later..." and seeing one of the "big name", crtiically acclaimed singer/songwriters, who's plugging their brand new, critically acclaimed record, where the music is safely within chordal progressions and is simply there to back up the "heart-felt/tortured soul" lyrics. Meh. Been revisting a lot of my old CD's recently, and updating the missing parts of back catalogue albums from various bands, including Rush. Got to say that I never really rated Moving Pictures before, but listening to it again really puts it up there as one of their great albums. Counterparts for me, although not a bad album, is playing it safe. Test for Echo is a bit better. But for me, Vapour Trails and Snakes & Arrows are both superb albums by a great band. Got hold of the Beyond the Lighted Stage DVD recently too, highly recommended veiwing if you're in anyway interested in Rush.