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thodrik

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Everything posted by thodrik

  1. thodrik
    Generally any old Mosfet or valve amp can be repaired by a qualified tech provided that they can source the correct parts. However a lot of those amps are now 20+ years old and parts can be scarce and in many cases the cost of repair will be greater than the actual market value of the amp. Class D amps are so high tech in comparison they are not capable or any kind repair if the power module fails so if they go wrong it is usually more economical to buy a new amp if it is out of warranty. Buying new, I would say Ashdown or Orange would be a good bet as they are large companies with probably a big lot of capacity for parts. I mean, you could also buy a Matamp and I am pretty sure they would repair the amp if it went wrong. Generally I find EBS good in terms of sourcing parts, but I think I have sourced about 4 lightbulbs from them over a 13 year period on the Fafner.
  2. thodrik
    True. For my own current situation (live band, heavy rock loud drummer, two guitarists with valve amps, often minimal on stage monitoring) having an amp and cab (or just a combo) on stage at least gives me a chance of enabling the rest of the band on stage to hear what I am playing even if the onstage monitoring is non-existent and/or useless. I generally set up according to the rest of band. If the rest of the band want to go the IEM route then I would be up for it. If the guitarist wants to use an old 100 watt Marshall valve amp (hopefully with an attenuator) then I am game for that too. After the last 18 months of the pandemic I am pretty much game for anything!
  3. thodrik
    The Eden model on the original Bass Pod was my favourite setting when I was a teenager. I always wanted to try a proper World Tour amp as a result. I still never have though!
  4. thodrik
    For smaller venues when I'm on tour and have no idea of what the provided PA and monitor system is like (or what the local soundperson operating the PA system is like), I like to have an amp and cab so that I can at least be sure that I will be able to hear myself. If I was a megastar playing larger venues with a top level PA or if I was in a function band that owned its own PA then I would certainly consider going the 'in ears' route. However, I am not so I don't. I do love the mechanics of amps in general, so I do own a massive valve amp and a 6x10. However, for practical gigging purposes it is an entirely unnecessary set up.
  5. thodrik
    I only tried an ‘original’ Japanese MetroExpress one. I didn’t try any of the newer Warwick made MetroExpress ones that come in at a much lower price. I have heard though that the new versions of that are much better than the initial production run.
  6. thodrik
    Well, in terms of the fit and finish and generally level of the fretwork, the Japanese MetroExpress was pretty much on par with my Metro. It was just the volume knob that was the issue, though that should not be an issue on a £1600 bass. I also don't think that the Metroexpress line were done in the same workshop by the same people as the original Metro line. It was designed to be a factory 'production line' bass to be manufactured in far greater numbers than the original Metros, but I don't think many actually got made because of various issues in terms of actually getting the basses produced. From playing one however, I would probably opt for a German Metro or a Sandberg at that price point.
  7. thodrik
    I think you are talking about the pickup blend pot. I was talking about the volume pot. For reference I have an NYC and Metro. In the Metro Express the volume pot worked the other way round from the two I have. So unless the Metro Expresses were specifically designed to have the volume pot going the other way then it was an error in the production process. Fit and finish was really good though.
  8. thodrik
    I tried one in the Glasgow shop. Really nice fit and finish, however the volume pot worked the wrong way round, which was something that definitely would not have happened with a Japanese full fat Metro of the time.
  9. thodrik
    I actually didn't mind Stadium Arcadium and thought it was a return to form after By The Way, which I found to be entirely boring apart from a couple of tracks (I think Don't Forget Me is one of their best songs, even though it is very similar in structure to Other Side) Honestly, I haven't really listened to them after seeing them on the Stadium Arcadium tour. It was the most uninspiring, phoned in performance I had ever seen at the time, which was an impressive achievement on account that I had seen Van Morrison a few months prior. I probably will give this one a miss too.
  10. thodrik
    It happened with a guitar to me but has never happened with a bass. I bought an American Deluxe Fender Toronado as my guitar in 2006 and really liked it. However, when I tried a Les Paul for the first time in 2016 my mind went 'my guitar feels like a toy' by comparison. I ended up buying a different Les Paul in 2018 and sold the Toronado to fund a Mesa Big Block 750 six months later. That was the first time I sold a decent instrument as I normally keep them, however I needed the cash, never played the Toronado and I really really wanted that Big Block!
  11. thodrik
    Got a set of D’addarios with no E string. They suggested I contact the retailer, which was Stringbusters who went belly up the week after I bought the strings. D’addario promptly sent me two free sets of strings.
  12. thodrik
    For me, for the purposes my location theses, my main query is 'do they deliver?' or 'will they cooperate with me making arrangements for a courier to collect?'. Generally however my main concerns are: - what can I afford? - what amp am I using it with? - what is the impedance rating? - what is the watts rating? - if it is used, have any drivers been replaced? - can I lift it? - do I actually need it? As a result I have bought exactly one cabinet in the last 12 years.
  13. thodrik
    The Mesa BB 750 is my 'big' amp of choice and I generally use that over a Trace Elliot V6 or EBS Fafner. However, once you put the amp in a rack case (in particular the Mesa branded wooden case which weighs a lot) you are not really saving that much weight over an all valve amp. It is a bit lighter, but it is still a lump to move around. The Mesa Walkabout however is much lighter, has a more flexible EQ than the Big Block and can deliver a great tone. The Walkabout has been my main 'day to day' rehearsal or gigging amp for the last decade. It is 'only' 300 watts but through a 4 ohm 2x12 it should have plenty enough headroom for gigging.
  14. thodrik
    True, though I would have thought a shop selling them would have a 'well the first batch were rubbish but they are sorting things out now and the batch we have hanging on the wall are really good,' rather than a 'the partnership hasn't worked and the new RSD ones don't feel like Sadowskys' view that was given to me. Still, I personally think that the partnership will work eventually once the teething issues are resolved (and 2020 was a hell of bad time to launch anything). If anything I think that the made in Germany Metros look nicer than the old MIJ Metros in terms of range of finishes. I have always fancied carrying out a Sadowsky pre into a Sire as well! My nephew has a Sire and I was really impressed with the build quality.
  15. thodrik
    When I went to Guitar Guitar in Glasgow to try out preamps a couple of weeks back, I said that my main bass was a Sadowsky Metro I bought from the shop ten years previously and I wanted something similar-ish for a comparison. They gave me a Japanese made Metro Express and told me not to even bother with the new line of RSD Metro Expresses. To be fair, a Japanese Metro retailing at £1500 ten years ago is not a fair comparison to a RSD design at nearly 50% of that price, but from what I was told they were far from impressed from the initial run of RSD instruments As it was the Japanese Metro Express was very very nice, apart from the fact the volume knob was positioned incorrectly so that it looked like the volume was turned off when it was actually turned 100% on. Fretwork, preamp and general fit and finish was otherwise 100% on point. Essentially, it sounded and felt like a Sadowsky. I would love to try a German made Metro, but frankly if I had the cash I would probably buy a five string Streamer or Thumb just for something different.
  16. thodrik
    New provisional board. New addition is the Sansamp Bass Driver V2. I had the V1 for over a decade before selling it last year after not using it for years. Picked up the V2 after doing a shoot out with the VT DI, Darkglass B7K Ultra and the Markbass Vintage Pre. Being able to dial in mids at 1k on the V2 is a great addition and I find the V2 to have a great range of gain and overall the sound is a lot more ‘refined’ compared to the V1. I didn’t really like the B7K ultra and thought that the Bass Driver delivered a nicer low gain aggressive tone, though admittedly the B7K nailed it in terms of higher gain stuff. I was going to ditch the B3K but it sounds tremendous on low gain driving the Alpha Omega which in turn runs through the Sansamp at the end. Favourite pedal is my mate’s homemade clone of a Earthquaker Hummingbird (the green one). Need to actually Velcro everything down now!
  17. thodrik
    Okay, I will be controversial and say that this is not my least favourite Guns ‘n’ Roses song. There is stuff on Lies, Use Your Illusion and Chinese Democracy that I consider to be more unlistenable. After reading the thread before listening I was expecting much worse!
  18. thodrik
    I will give it a listen after work, which will either give me something to look forward to after a difficult week, or something to give me a good laugh after a difficult week.
  19. thodrik
    Problem has now been fixed. Cheers to whoever sorted it out.
  20. thodrik
    Charlie Watts has a very distinctive style and stage presence and has been an ever present fixture for the Stones for nearly 60 years. Yes, he could be replaced by any number of drummers to physically play the drum parts, but none of them would be Charlie Watts. Whether the new drummer 'is up to the job' will probably depend on how much a Stones fan or Charlie Watts fan you are. The average non-Stones fan or someone who goes to a Stones gig who kinda knows who Mick Jagger is and knows a couple of Stones songs from films and tv adverts probably really doesn't care who plays drums for them and won't notice a difference, while a diehard Stones fan will claim they hear a massive difference. Personally I hope Lars Ulrich gets the gig and brings his St Anger kit on tour.
  21. thodrik
    Thanks folks, that put me at ease! Cheers!
  22. thodrik
    Hello, this might be a bug with my phone rather than the site, however when I try and log in to the site with my mobile I get a message saying that I am 'banned'! I am not however 'banned' if I access the site via a desktop. If I actually am supposed to be banned then I would be grateful if one of the mods could let me know why, because I generally only post every now and then even then I generally just talk bass gear rather than 'off topic' stuff. Thanks in advance!
  23. thodrik
    My nephew has a TC Electronic BQ 500 and really likes it. I really rate it. The EQ is basic, however if you have an oboard EQ or preamp pedal then the EQ becomes redundant. It would be an ideal head to be played with a Helix. I didn't think it struggled in a band setting, but I wouldn't trade one for my main amp, which is a Mesa Big Block 750, but that really isn't a fair comparison.
  24. thodrik
    With 6xKT88 valves I would realistically expect the V6 to be a 300 watt valve amp, with the 4xKT88 V4 being a 200 watt amp. This would match with other KT88 amps like the 4xKT88 Matamp GT200 being rated at 200 ‘clean’ watts (and probably much more once you drive it beyond that) and the 6xKT88 Ashdown CTM 300 being rated at 300 watts. Could TE have squeezed 400 watts out of the V6? I’m not sure, but it was marketed as a 400 watt amp and on that basis can be marketed as such on the second hand market. Even if it was only achieved 300 valve watts of clean power it is still a hell of a lot of power and more than a player will ever need in a rehearsal or gigging situation. Either way, the reference to the 220 watt VType head in the service manual is a reference to the original 4xKT88 VType valve head that preceded the V4 and V6 (one of which is currently on sale in the classifieds here). So the reference to 220 watts in the service manual is not accurate unless one works under the assumption that both the V4 and V6 are 220 watt amps, which doesn’t really make any sense given the difference in the number of output valves.
  25. thodrik
    The original V type all valve head was the precursor to the V4 and was a 200/220 watt valve head. There was never a proper manual for the V6 as there was a general VType manual for the original range that was never updated specifically for the V6. The V6 has 6 power amp tubes. It was marketed at 400 watts. Whether it actually did deliver 400 watts is open to question given most amps with six power amp tubes (Ampeg SVT) are marketed as 300 watt. Irrespective of that the V6 is loud as all hell with all the headroom you will ever need.
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