thodrik

Exactly, if the original bands just tuned down a semitone, I would tend to do the same unless the singer preferred otherwise and/or if most of the set is in standard tuning to being with. Generally, I don't think that the extra half step down is worth it for 'authenticity' or 'extra heavyness' if the rest of the band are happy playing it in standard tuning. Having a five string is handy, but the ability to play everything on one bass is lost if the guitarist is constantly switching between a standard tuned guitar and Eb tuned guitar over the course of a set. It is only when you get to 'classic' Sabbath songs or Queens of the Stoneage songs in very low tunings (C# standard or C standard), where I find that the songs sound a bit odd when pitched up to standard tuning. However these songs are not generally part of a standard pop/rock/blues/funk function band setlist.

If there are classic songs where the bass is tuned to Eb, I prefer to just have a five string or a four string tuned to Eb. Being really pedantic I think that a downtuned four string gives a more authentic tone of the original tracks, which were usually recorded was slightly slacker strings because of a downtuning. Sometimes a crystal clear low Eb on a tight B string on a brilliantly constructed active five string just sounds too crystal clear and modern for my tastes. However, the audience really wouldn't notice the difference over the course of a live gig. In practical terms if I am playing 2+ hours of covers in standard and Eb tuning, then being able to play all songs on one instrument is better than either switching basses or retuning the whole time. An octave pedal just has too much of an 'effect' sound for me. I had the Aguilar one for years which was a great unit but I never used it after getting a five string. There is a Digitech Drop Pedal but even that has a bit of an 'effect' sound for me.

Lars Ulrich, great song writer and a better drummer than he gets credit for. It could also do great things for my bank account.

In terms of current UK bands, I am a really big fan of Green Lung and Boss Keloid and have greatly enjoyed their two most recent albums. They both have significant 70s prog leanings though (Boss Keloid especially) so neither are bands I would consider to be straight doom metal. I really like With The Dead as well. For modern US based doom, I really like aspects of Windhand but it gets a bit samey. Yob are fantastic as well but can be tough going if that kind of hypnoticly slow riffing is not your thing. Inter Arma have doom influences, but there is lots of black metal drumming and some Pink Floyd guitar in there too which makes them a challenging, befuddling and (I think) rewarding band to listen to. I think that the Cavern EP is brilliant.

All my basses from left to right: Vigier Arpege, Vigier Excess, 1979-ish Fender Precision, Sadowsky NYC V, Sadowsky Metro, 1974 Gibson EB3. The NYC is the only bass I have bought in the last ten years. I would maybe sell the EB3 because I don’t use it, but I have been thinking that for nearly 15 years and still haven’t sold it. I would never ever sell the Precision. I would only sell the other ones if I was desperate for cash which I hope never has to happen. The original Sadowsky ‘stock’ photo of the NYC is gorgeous so that would be a tough one to let go too...

Exactly, most NYCs are made on a limited run of 1, so I don’t get how a Warwick made run of 30 identical spec basses under a Sadowsky license agreement is somehow more special than a Sadowsky bass built to your own individual spec by Roger Sadowsky himself.

That is right up my street! Thanks for sharing.

Massive stoner/doom fan here. My own bands have rarely ever been in that style over the years but that is pretty much the genre I like listening to the most. My newest (to me) band, Electric are the closest I have been to playing in that style. We are releasing our second album shortly (edit: today!) though it is the first one with me. It isn’t proper doom, but definitely in the ‘influenced by Sabbath/Down’ style. https://electricmother1.bandcamp.com (Edit: adding a picture of the cover art too!)

Thread revival. It seems that Warwick have now added Sadowsky instruments to their annual Limited Edition series. https://www.bassgearmag.com/sadowsky-press-release-sadowsky-metroline-masterbuilt-limited-edition-2021/ The basses look really nice, don't get me wrong. However, the price tag of $6,999 for the 4 string 'Masterbuilt' and $7,100 for the 5 string 'Masterbuilt' means that a 'Masterbuilt' Sadowsky by Warwick is about $1,000 more expensive than the current NYC Sadowsky instruments available for sale on the Sadowsky site which were actually built by Roger Sadowsky and his original team. Yes, the Masterbuilt instruments are released in limited numbers and feature some exotic woods, but you could probably provide Sadowsky NYC with a similar spec with a custom order for pretty much the same price, with the added benefit that the bass would actually be made by Roger Sadowsky and that it would be made to your own individual specs. I'm guessing that the Masterbuilt line is designed to cover the demand for high spec custom ordered Sadowskys now that the Sadowsky team in NYC is a lot smaller. I don't doubt the Warwick Masterbuilt quality at all, it is just tough to get my head around the notion that a instrument made under a licence can be considerably more expensive that 'the real thing', so to speak.

I don’t disagree. However, sometimes making a brief note on what was actually discussed on the phone is a good habit and can help prevent/solve disagreements later on if people have different recollections over what was said on the phone. It obviously depends though. I’m not going to make a note about a two minute call asking about whether they had some flat wound Labella strings of a particular gauge. I probably would if I had a custom bass order for an expensive bass and I was told it should be completed and delivered ‘in 4-6 months’.

In my opinion this is a very good policy to have. It enables any misunderstandings in terms of what was agreed to be ironed out at an early stage. In my work I am constantly making file notes of phone calls. It is annoying and time consuming but worth doing as it might be that one of those file notes can save the day in the event of a future disagreement.

Honestly, at this point I have would have much higher levels of confidence in a Spector made Sadowsky than the Warwick made Sadowskys we are seeing at the moment.

I do the same. I use it as a Tech 21 Bass Driver substitute. I actually had a Bass Driver but actually preferred the B3K as I thought it cut through the mix a bit more.

Getting no reply to an email is always annoying and off putting. To be fair I haven't emailed them since last July or so, but the lack of reply has never been an issue before and that has been over the course of about ten years. I might be lucky in that respect as there certainly seems to be good, bad and indifferent experiences from the looks of this thread. If I had a serious email inquiry that was ignored it would certainly put me off spending loads of money in a shop. Likewise with rude customer service in a shop which is why I pretty much stopped going to Sound Control in Glasgow after about 2005.

I generally get good service there. They also have no problems sending gear up to the Scottish Highlands and don't charge extortionate rates for doing so. They always reply to my emails within 24 hours. The replies are usually brief, business-like and to the point. I appreciate that but I could see how people used to 'how are you doing buddy? Many thanks for taking the time to provide us with your ever so special inquiry' ultra friendly tone of correspondence would find the tone of the correspondence a bit unfriendly. I will certainly continue to use them. Though, obviously given my location I am unlikely to actually visit the shop in person.

This cab would not look out of place in one of those old vintage Trace Elliot brochures, where the product description would be along the lines of 'best used in pairs for a full range stereo gig. Richard Savage used 8 of these on the most recent Def Leppard tour. Slap players may benefit from using the optional 12x6 Mega Bright Box in order to bring out some extra highs.'

Looks great! What is the 'harmonic emphasis' control? Is it like a progressive bass boost/treble boost/mid cut?

That would surely lead to a special line of 'Purr-gantino' cabinets featuring the NXV porting together with the classic 1990s Trace Elliot rat fur covering to give the cats something to claw at before going to sleep.

The ports could be good spots to store a packed lunch or a stash of biscuits to enjoy while the drummer is setting up, so there could be 'real world' practical benefits.

Exactly. Most gigs I play are multi-band gigs with 2-3 bands. There just isn’t time in the allotted sound check for every bassist in every band to go out front to check what their individual bass signal sounds like FOH and in all corners of the venue. You just have to know your gear, set up quickly and efficiently and let the sound engineer get on with their job.

I used to have a Trace Elliot 2x10 and 1x15 stack (Peavey era). Generally it sounded fine, though the sound quality wavered from venue to venue. I can't say it was definitely because of the mismatched cabs, but I felt that I got a more consistent sound quality when using the 1x15 by itself and in practice I didn't need a full stack when gigging in a three piece rock band. So I sold the 2x10. I have since bought a big Mesa 6x10. The Mesa cab is rated at 900 watts, which is the same combined total 'wattage' of my old Trace stack, but the difference in sound quality is staggering. Though the difference in sound quality might be more to do with the quality of the cab and speakers than the size of the speakers themselves. The big Mesa cab was kind of a bucket list purchase as my dream set up from 2008 onwards was one of those and a Big Block 750. I finally got hold of that set up in 2019, but for practical purposes my main gigging set up will continue to be my old Mesa Walkabout 1x15 combo. If I have PA support (which I usually do) I generally don't need more than that.

Changing speakers won't make much of difference to the weight. The real weight is in the wood. Also, assuming the cabinet currently features four 16 ohm 10 inch speakers wired in parallel (to give an 8 ohm cabinet), I would guess that you might have trouble finding four 16 ohm neo speakers that would also deliver similar frequency responses to the speakers you are removing. Most drivers on the market for the public to buy are 8 ohm speakers. Even if you can some speakers that will do the job it will probably cost you upwards of £300 or more. For me, that is too much outlay relative to the benefits. I would just sell the cabinet and use the money from the sale and the money that you would have spent on buying new speakers on a a lightweight 4x10, or two lightweight 2x10s.

I haven't really noticed it in the UK. Trace Elliot amps and cabs are so prevalent on the used market (though less so now than 10-12 years ago IMO) that there is never really much demand that would result in higher used prices. The lower powered amps and combos from 80s can generally be snapped up for £150-250. The 90s combos and amps go for a bit more, not because they are better amps, but they are newer and generally in better condition. Peavey era stuff used to be very expensive used but you can now get one of the 12 band amps for £350 or so which is impressive considering they were more than £1,000 new. The VA valve amps, Twin Valve etc generally go for a bit more, as they are less common. I am tempted of looking for a Series 6 or AH350SMX myself, even one of the Peavey era amps. This thread has done terrible things to my desire to once again own a graphic preamp Trace! The only Trace amp that would get a premium price on the used market would be the semi-mythical V8 but they are very rare.

I certainly agree with this statement. My first 'proper' amp was a Trace Elliot combo that just completely failed. It was under warranty so I got it sent away for repair. Trace Elliot actually sent me a brand new unit along with an official 'Notice of Fault' for the old unit which was provided a a one word explanation for the fault, 'DEATH'. This was in about 1999. The replacement unit worked for years without issue until I sold it in 2016. I also had issues with the Peavey era cabinets, as I bought a 2x10 which arrived with a speaker which hadn't been properly fitted into the basket and a 1x15 which arrived with the screws for the rubber feet already coming loose. Both were easy fixes for me but it did rankle me that I was paying a premium for cabinets which didn't look like they had gone through the proper quality control before being boxed and shipped. These cabinets were made in the UK, so perhaps quality control improved when production shipped to the US.

Awesome, a 4x20. If that was a real cabinet then I am sure the 'recommended systems' would include two 4x20 cabs being used for the lows and then two 8x10 cabs for the highs in a bi-amp system that would be an 'ideal full range system for a working professional'.