JTUK

not sure the cab would have gotten off scot free either... i would have thought the output stage of the amp/amps would be damaged..but you need to tell the story to the repair guys ..and when they have stopped tut-tuting, they should be able to put it right, amp-wise. Have you checked the cab..?

[quote name='Subbeh' timestamp='1352656133' post='1865700'] What bugs me is that so many of the entrants go on about how music is their life, all they've ever wanted to do was perform. Do they go out and find a band? go to open mic nights or do anything to further their dreams? no they wait for a 'talent' show to turn up on their door steps before they'll do anything. Obviously this isn't true for all of them but seems to be the case for the majority, I can't work out how they really want to do this but have never got off their arses and tried. [/quote]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1352634097' post='1865310'] Ha ha. It wasn't just me. The promoter wanted to fire him as well. Funnily enough he didn't pull that stunt again. We were touring in Germany so we still had to get on but the whole band loaded up the van and left him there about 2 months later. Not a happy time. [/quote] We were on tour with a band that dumped a gtr in Athens whilst we all went onto Thessalonika. Literally left him in the hotel room and boarded the bus without him.. The said gtr got wasted the first night, blew the gig and when the beer got talking, we all said sack him... when we got back to Athens a few days later, the gtr was still there and very humble...don't know what he existed on,..hotel..?? money..?? I still feel a bit bad about that even after all these years, when I think about it....and it wasn't even our band... the gtr was in another band on our bill.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1352633178' post='1865297'] A long time ago I was in the middle of an on stage volume "incident" with an idiot guitarist. It was also his band. I stopped playing and just stood there looking at him with my arms crossed. [/quote] Like it.... and did it work..?

Not sure I can see any positives here, tbh,,, you can get away with certain things not being that right,,, but if you play to 2 men and a dog too often, then that wears you down.. I think you need to step back and re-evaluate...but I am not sure about resigning via e-mail...

My first visit to Phil's shop, Bassgear, in Twyford after being notified by molan that what I have been after for a while, was living there, and that it would be rude not to pop by and get aquainted. At this point, I should warn readers that Phil has so many exotic pieces of bass kit that you should prepare for a minimum of 2 hours for the visit....and make sure your CC is working..!! I can't list..OR recall it all, so apologies here, but expect basses from Ritter, Fodera, F bass, AC, AV, Alembic ...and many ,many others....Godin, Fender, Zon, MM etc etc... it is a veritable Alladins cave...!!!! I went for an amp... and had a great time... a good few cups of coffee, and we gassed LOADS. Oh... and the pick of the basses that I tried..baring in mind, I took my own for the amp purchase... was a absolutely memorable 5 str Overwater acoustic fretless. Now, I am not in the market for either...just nowhere near my radar, but this thing is jaw-droppingly good and I knew I had to get out quick and not dwell ( I had already been there nigh on 3 hrs so I had my excuse )...otherwise I could have been in trouble, ditto, my card. So, just to say, Thanks, Phil, awesome shop, and thanks to Barrie and Paul as well, for piecing it all together. Will keep you posted on my purchase...going to gig it tonight. Recomend a visit to this bass heaven pronto....and I'll be back sometime soon.

Delighted is not the right world ...but we have our moments. How are we regarded by other bands..?? not so sure as they don't attend our gigs much. We are very well regarded by our bookers though..and paid well

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1352463151' post='1863353'] Whyt would he want to talk to Hartke if he is interested in MB gear?? [/quote] Because the OP asked for other companies contacts

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1352456537' post='1863221'] When you’re gigging you have to be as good as you can be, and you do that by being comfortable with the instrument you’re playing. I'd never say never, but as I've been using 5 strings for over 20 years and don’t feel good on a 4 anymore, I don't swap around. I’d just be causing myself grief by switching between 5’s and 4’s, and anyway you can play everything on a 5 that can be played on a 4. [/quote] pretty much the same for me.... 4's don't interest me anymore.and can't see why I would swap back.

[quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1352244128' post='1860769'] Some find that the smoke can get in the throat and can bugger up your voice. [/quote] This..... Fog machine over smoke everytime...IMO

Pick 2 or 3 tracks which YOU can really groove to... and if they don't work, you'll not want to join them. If they do work...job done. Stay away from the cliches.... everyone will do them..and that doesn't make you stand-out..

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1352291887' post='1861107'] +1 Id probably even say that you may even be able to use them in a heavy metal band also as the bass usually has more of a mid thaing & not so much low end (not always though). [/quote] Would look sh*te on stage though

ok, then

Great voice, still

As some said..Muse made their pitch for the corporate proggish market and they do that very well, in terms of sales. They are what they are, nothing offensive and borderline bland.. You either buy their stuff or you don't. JL is gathering his pension fund but has enough about him to 'convince' If you asked any of them, if they would still want to be performing in 20-30 years time, you'd hopefully get a 'yes' but whether that means they still have something to say, or they just love performing, or they can't do anything else to rpovide for their old age..?? you decide..!! And when you do... compare that to the 1000's of covers and tribute bands making a living over a fair few years.

If you are lucky you might find some Martin ICT's and a controller for that money SH and they will do the job ..and some. The bigger 500's are very worthy but are passive...and your power might not be enough for the 500's Maybe you might find a pr of active RCF 10/12's for tops for a little bit more money..?? Subs are a minefield.... getting the power out of them is the easier part, getting a focused sound is something else. We tried Mackie and others and all have been lacking... And then, do you go 2x115 or 1x118..??

Ok...we did quite a lot or research and experimentation and my views on Martin Audio are obvious. I would put EV and RCF as very directional pokey P.A cabs. You don't want to be right in line of them and close as the horns are spikey...but in a good way. I think they would be VG monitors I could see a loud band in a largish pub outrunning them...but then that would be the case with a lot of the others you'll look at at that price point. I think the RCF 12" actives can be had for decent money but not your SH price. The SX300's are very compact and light enough, and I call them a mini P.A... which might be enough to get you doing the job until you really narrow down or focus your requirements elsewhere. Not saying RCF and EV are shabby at all... just that there is only so far you can go with single speaker boxes... QSC being a classic case in point, IMO. If it were me building a P.A... but NOT looking to hump it ALL, I'd consider QSC, HK and Martin. Martin would be more traditional in terms of size and composite and top of my list, QSC new and lightweight but the jury is out on how good they actuallly will turn out to be and HK do such a range of cabs it is hard to nail them down. Some say the cheaper end of their range suffers the same failures as the cheaper name cabs. The better cabs being the heavier wooden ones. A couple of friends bands punish theirs and will tell you the same thing, IMO. What price hearsay..???

I use 2x112 and 2x210. IMO, the 2x210 outperform the 2x112 by some way... but 2x112 is good for a small bollocking rig in a way that 1x210 would not be..IME. Pros for 2x112 are carry, but you'll need to do two..which isn't a problem, IMO.. and the cons are that it is a more expensive way to do it. If you want a one cab solution, the cab needs to be 4 ohms to get the same output from the amp

[quote name='he man812' timestamp='1352066509' post='1858435'] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/190403-fsft-swr-super-redhead-swr-big-ben-joe-meek-oneq/page__p__1857822__hl__swr__fromsearch__1#entry1857822"]http://basschat.co.u..._1#entry1857822[/url] Found this, I was hoping to spend only £400 tops, this is 500. Its quite old as well 1994. Not sure where he lives either. Haha, I have no idea what i'm doing [/quote] The old SWR amps were better built, IMO. so wouldn't worry about age in that regard. This would prepdate their Fender escapade.. The main problem with age is the speakers. Focus on these and their life. The PAS chassis were a great match but aren't easy to source anymore.. at all, .but this is a problem with MANY 'bespoke' speakers. If the speakers are good then you are good.. the swap out is 2510 Delalites... and most swear by this..and get a great weight save as a bonus. I don't subscribe to that swap myself... but I seem to be in the minority by quite a way...!! I would put a Goliath 11 jnr 210 underneath for the loud gigs, if it were me..but again, I'd have to do that with ANY 210 combo, IME.

The TFB550-B is their mainstay..but not sure Dave F is making them anymore. You might want to e-mail him as he gets some come back to him from time to time and he is very accomodating.. That would be my first source. He makes 750-A's and has now put a 600w and 800w in his line-up. The 550-B runs very hot as he doesn't use a heatsink on the 550-B...so NEEDS the fan on all the time when racked. Great amp, great EQ stage for powerful shaping, but no one I know uses it as the sound out of the box is clear right through the power range. Timbre and enhance is all you need if your basses sound good. Tough to get a bad sound, I don't use the smartswitch ( valve type simulator ) which is very subtle, nor the limiter...just plug it is an play. These amps stay focused when you use them...as I do.. on the dials at 2 o'clock and 2 o'clock, which I assume is pushing them as it gets hot. Good quiet amps with post and pre DI, Eallier versions are 550-A's and 440 somethings...which were Gibson chassis. Amp tech looked it over and said they were made by Gibson...but I think that is just the chassis origin and part of its history.which is well documented

IIRC there were 2 in the FS recently.. for about the money you were thinking about

That was the sell of a few years ago, and with the low power ratings of chassis, it worked ok. I don't think there is any advantage today ..as the 115 cab will invariably be heavier and/or bigger for the same 300-ish power rating. A decent 210 will do that easily..so you may as well have 2x210..?? You might get the cabs to stacks a few cms higher..?? but this is negated by decent cabs anyway, IMO. Both my 2x112 and 2x210 rigs are heard by me on small-ish stages from wherever I might stand I used 115 plus 210 configs and I liked them, it is just that 2x210 looses nothing over them and you would probably get 2 horns in the cabs.

Agree that ICT500's are heavy. They put out 700w pr cab and have 210 and 210 woofers so that explains the weight. I would NEVER have traded them myself...and if they are still about, I'll buy them myself. You can put vox and keys and gtr through them with no bother and you'll never lose the vocal. Martin is quality. The ICT300 are the 210 version and I wouldn't expect them to do as much as the larger cabs... not surprisingly, but the quality will still be there. I am guessing that they would stack up against QSC Q12 tops very well..and the QSC stuff seems to be the fav stuff of the moment...but you HAVE to run them with subs, IMO, which is not the territory it sounds like you went t get into. No subs and they are just another decent top, IMO...for £2k in wooded cabs..not the composite ones..!! You can see the corners being shaved off here, IMO... RCF are pretty pokey small gig type units...and will cope with a full band in a pub quite well. JBL can sound quite good but I think their bombproof reputation of yesteryear is shattered, ...we sent back two horn diaphragms in a short space of time...and this doesn't seem to be unheard of, IME. EV has quite a few cabs out but the SX300 is entry level now. Will do a better job than most PV units you'll hear ..along with all the other non-names..but at least with PV, if you can live with the sound, they are VERY robust and reknown for it. For me, the quality of sound isn't there, but band for buck..??? Often, most of the top units need a controller, but for £400, if you can find decent ICT300 plus controller, or other Martin stuff, these are lights years ahead of the stuff I've mentioned here..IMO/IME. F12's are good as well, but not for the money you are looking at. HK...?? there is HK and HK, IMO... the lighter stuff is not so good, IMO..?? Seeing a pattern here..??