thodrik

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1360144' date='Sep 2 2011, 05:18 PM']This reminds me of my old Ashdown ABM head. A big plus for me was it had a mute. Not only did it click when engaged it never actually muted either. It would attenuate the signal quite a bit but it would never 100% silence my bass. Even at home levels i noticed this. Ashdown seemed to think this was normal when questioned. Never again.[/quote] Every ABM I have tried (I'm guessing around 10-15 from gigs/rehearsals) has had a similar mute. I attributed it to be a design feature rather than a fault, though I do wonder why a mute button that is not acutally a mute would be a useful design feature. So it joined the the VU meter and the subharmonic generator in the list of Ashdown features I don't really see the point of! Decent amps though. Nothing beats my old Trace Elliot mute though, does make any click whatsoever and has a nice clear red LED to let me know when it is engaged. Of course it only works about 60% of the time. So in my experience, having an amp that has a working mute would be great, click or no click!

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1360606' date='Sep 3 2011, 12:36 AM']As you know I've tried; A 1x10, A 2x10, A pair of 2x10's, A 4x10, 3x 2x10's, A pair of 4x10's, 4x 2x10's, And an 8x10. Not all at the same time though Various makes and cab design but still no full fat whump for me Fwiw the best whump yet was from a Peavey TNT with a 1x15 black widow, just not loud enough.[/quote] I always thought that the Ampeg 4x10hlf provided excessive amounts of 'whump'.

[quote name='Paul Clifton' post='1360590' date='Sep 3 2011, 12:06 AM']Thank God - you scared me a bit there[/quote] Me too!

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='1360571' date='Sep 2 2011, 11:44 PM']Have you been introduced to Ashdown?[/quote] Have done, but didn't think that the old school tone was anything near the same quality that I got from the Walkabout. In my opinion anyway. The Walkabout overdrive sounds a lot more natural than the Ashdown ABMs I have tried. The drive on the ABMs just had a bit of the 'we stuck a 12AX7 in there and we are hoping for the best' type of 'valve' sound in comparison. A lot less rich and less clarity (I didn't say wooly!). Still I don't mind the Ashdowns, just not my thing.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1360538' date='Sep 2 2011, 11:09 PM']That is the first real volume issue I've ever heard of, and the rest came from non-owners who haven't even tried it so I don't count them. Did you compare it to the Walkabout? I know of a few owners that said the RH450 had a lot more headroom. I think the best qualified comparison I can give is the RH750 vs STL900, and I can honestly say they both have a lot going for them. The bass is too much sometimes on the STL900 and the 750 has more mids/cuts better, but on overall volume, extremely similar.[/quote] There are many amps with more headroom than the Walkabout. People looking for oodles of clean headroom would probably be better off looking at other amps. For me the best thing about the amp is that it can achieve an old school grit sound at a useable volume level (ie not pissing off soundperson). I have amps that are much 'louder', but none that have the same tone. It truly 'whumps' in my view!

I own a Fafner I and the only two things that I would trade it in for would be a Fafner II or an all-valve Matamp/Mesa 400+/Trace V-type amp. The Fafner II is pretty damn expensive though (around £1700 or so I think) and has more features (and power) than I would ever really need. I would maybe be looking at the TD 660 if I was buying a new EBS amp, as the Fafner I has been discontinued. From experience although they were great sounding, I found the Proline 4x10 to be pretty heavy, which is saying something as I have been using Trace Elliot gear on and off for the last 10 years. If it sounds right though and you don't mind the weight, then just go for it. For me lightweight should be an added bonus to an already good product, not a determining factor. Thus if I had the money a Proline 4x10 would still be at the top of my 4x10 shopping list.

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='1354800' date='Aug 28 2011, 10:27 PM']I may have misunderstood but isn't part of the issue down to the fact that TC amps would appear to work best when coupled with TC cabs! The whole issue of the mapping (if that is the term used) for TC getting such a decent level out of the RH450 (is it across the range), is due to the fact that the cabs match/marry and work best together. It could account for the fact that when I tried an RH450 I thought it sounded fine at home levels but didn't cut it at rehearsal/gig level; I was using it with a pair of DB112 cabs. I'm not taking the opportunity to do a bit of TC bashing, I tried the amp and found it lacking when used in conjunction with the rest of my gear... hence I didn't dump my Thunderfunk and take up the opportunity of a used TC at a decent price. I would say that there are plenty people more than happy with their TC amps and if it suits them and their style/situation/other equipment then that is all that matters to them. However, manufacturers can not be allowed to make 'statements' or quote figures for their equipment and not expect to be hauled over the (Internet/www) coals for not being transparent about specs; no matter which manufacturer![/quote] Agreed on your second paragraph. As for the first, I read some of Bill Fitzmaurice's posts on the TC cabs in terms of ohms etc, but to be honest it was beyond my very limited understanding of musical instrument amplification! No matter how good or innovative a product though, TC should not be let off the hook for the misinformation in terms of watts, though I think that some of the criticism has been a bit over the top.

I can understand why TC decided to be creative with the wattage. If they had tried to market the product as even putting out 300 watts originally, people would complain that it wouldn't be loud enough. Tech 21 were criticised for building an under-powered amp when they were releasing the VT Bass 1969, as it only gave out '300 analog watts'. Part of the problem is that some people have the mindset that unless it is an all tube amp, anything less than 500 watts is just not 'loud' enough, hence the RH 750! Personally, I just think TC would have came across a lot better, and more innovative, if they had just been a bit more honest about the specs and marketed along the lines of 'our watts are louder than their watts'. It would still be advertising puff, but easier to take seriously than marketing a 236 watt amp as a 450 watt amp. I don't think that this will really damage TC as the quality of their products are high, but it should act as a wake up call to how they market thier products. While it would be nice to see other companies do this too, I doubt it will happen.

[quote name='whynot' post='1353891' date='Aug 27 2011, 09:24 PM']I went through much of the Trace range in the 90's. Never had a problem with the amps, just the cabs. Main amps I used were the original AH250 and a couple of later SMX heads. Used with 2x10 Alligator cabs mostly during that period. I did an overseas gig last year and the bass rig laid on was the latest Trace 4x10+1x15 and I think the current 500w head. Initially I smiled and thought this isn't so bad.... then I plugged in and turned it on. Just couldn't get a decent sound out of it all night, but would like to have tried the head with a different cab.[/quote] Personally I would say try the cabs with different amps. I have been using the current 2x10 and larger 1x15 over the last 2 1/2 years without any issue. Taking away my lack of knowledge at the time for the dangers of mixing speakers without crossovers (thanks to Alex Claber and Bill Fitzmaurice et al.), the cabs are pretty good, though falling short of what I consider the top of the line stuff (EBS, Mesa, Bergantino etc). But from experience I prefer them to comparative Ashdown, Ampeg and Eden cabs, if that means anything! I was thinking of buying the new 12 band 600 watt head when I was buying the cabs, but I found out that the EBS Fafner was cheaper and I had first hand knowledge of that amp. I would love to try one but the new amps just look a bit too plastic and cheap compared to the older ones that I could buy for less than half the price.

[quote name='Lozz196' post='1353706' date='Aug 27 2011, 04:46 PM']Back in the 80s, I did a gig, and was excited to see I would be playing through a TE stack. I wasn`t so excited after trying to get a sound out of it that I liked. I think, because they have a very versatile tone-shaping system, it is very difficult to get a good sound out of them. And they do seem to have a signature sound, no matter what bass is going through them. That said, I`ve heard some cracking tones out of them. Maybe you just need a year or two to find them.[/quote] Pretty much this. The SMX type amps give the impression of being really really versatile when you look at the specs: 12 band eq, valve/solid state pre, dual band compression, two different pre shapes. However just engaging the pre shape gives 'the trace elliot' sound which is really difficult to get away from, unless you have spent a good deal of time with the amp. Not the most 'plug in and play' amps to be honest. The sound of the amps is very much 'dialed in' rather than being transparent. If the Trace Elliot sound isn't your thing, you can try just creating your sound with the graphic which can produce any number of tones, which again is a bit of a pain to do during soundcheck and in the wrong hands can produce horrible results as well as good ones. I played a TE combo from the age of 14 to 21, so I feel confident of getting a good sound whenever I use one, which given I tend to use my own gear at gigs, is not often, though I have an old TE head as a back up. The main plus points of getting second hand Trace amp is that it is generally cheap, loud and reliable. The reason that it is cheap though is that they are generally heavy as hell!

[quote name='Alec' post='1352619' date='Aug 26 2011, 03:44 PM']Well, I think the TalkBass folk, being more US-centric have an affinity for anything home-grown - and TC are a bit too much "them over there" for them. I'd always been struck by how many posts there were saying how good the Genz team were at resolving the problems they've had - I'd rather see fewer posts about having had problems! As for the power, I'm more than happy with the output my RH450 gives me, but then again, I never had any complaints about the paltry 250W that my old Trace 4x10 combo kicked out! To be honest, my joy with my RH450 is less about its power and far more about its form (small, light, cool) and function (tuner, compressor, EQ, valvetone, presets). It has waaay more power than I ever need - if I need more level then I have a PA to support me. I'm still a very happy puppy...[/quote] There are a few brands on Talkbass that seem to be difficult to speak out against (Sadowsky/Nordstrand/Genz Benz/Ampeg). But I'm not sure that is much different from this site either in terms of 'untouchable' gear. A person starting a thread here saying 'I used a Shuker bass with a Mittle Mark III head and Barefaced Compact and it produced a really rubbish sound', would probably be subject to a few questions. I doubt it would amount to the level of some of the Talkbass threads that occasionally get highlighted on here though. However I have not seen much on the Talkbass site that suggests that the US members are suspicious of anything not made in the USA (insert non-Heritage series Ampeg joke here). They have Sandberg and Trace Elliot clubs, and there seems to be a lot of love for EBS and Ashdown stuff too. However, I think that are a number of folk on there with an Ampeg complex that seek to make EVERY thread on amps amount to a discussion of how Ampeg just does everything better. These comments are generally easy to filter through though and trying to argue with them is about as useful as going on the Ernie Ball forum and asking questions regarding how to modify the pickups, bridge and eq section. Putting it this way, if it was discovered that the Ampeg PF 500 was putting out about 250 watts, some of the same people going after TC on Talkbass would be making statements defending Ampeg. However,I must clarify that I just look now and then on Talkbass for updates for gear being planned/released around NAMM season or when I'm looking to buy gear. Though the excitement that I could potentially be Sadowsky club member 1545 and Trace Elliot club member 486 is almost too exciting...

Apart from the creative watts rating, I though that the BGM magazine gave a pretty good review. The watts issue has been jumped on by Talkbass folk, leading to lots of criticism. Some of the criticism is that a 236 watt amp has been marketed as a 450 watt amp. Regardless of whether the TC amp is a good product (it is), TC have really come across quite badly with the marketing of the watts ratings. They are not the only company to do this, they just got caught out and their 'quasi-watts' explanation is fairly weak and is something they should really have advertised more clearly before this all came to light. The fact that it is 236 watts does not make it any less of a giggable amp.

Saw them at Hampden on the last album tour. Very underwhelming and I am a massive fan. I heard that live that they should be called 'the Red Hot or Cold Chili Peppers', so I may have just got them on a bad night. I'm glad I at least have seen them live though. Not likely to be motivated enough to see them again though, unless the new album is something I really like (of course by then the gig will have sold out).

Pawn shop in Glasgow has what looks to be a heavily modified EBO or EB3 that has had a precision pick up inserted between the front and back pickup. It looks really really cool!

Sounds like you are approaching the instrument in a very technical way, almost to the point that you are not having fun anymore. If you have learned a lot of scales and theory, then getting lessons for that and working on playing fast is almost needless if you are struggling with basic time signatures and struggling to come up parts you like. Have you tried playing along to bands you like? I learned a lot just by listening to songs and trying to play along to the band and try to copy the basslines? Start with fairly easy songs that aren't technically difficult, but just try to keep time and lock in with the drummer. Over time you will just naturally pick up on the role the bass can play in a band and pick up ideas on what to play in certain chord progressions. Techniques such as tapping, slapping and 'playing really fast' can be learned afterwards. It might be helpful get a couple of theory lessons, just to get a feel of melody and harmony and how songs and basslines can be written and adapted depending on what the other members of the band are doing. Playing in a three piece band is actually a good thing, as it really allows you to play off the drummer and guitarist and try out interesting ideas. Many bassists in pop, rock and blues bands will never slap, tap or use double thumb technique in a band context, even if they have the techincal ability to do so.

Personally I have never needed anything more than 300 solid state/hybrid watts (Trace Elliot 300 watts mind), especially if it is going through an 8x10/4x12 cab. This applies even when I was playing with two full Marshall guitar stacks. On point of the topic, a Mesa 4x12 should have no problem coping with the power of a 300 watt valve amp. I don't have much proof in technical sense (I am an idiot in these things) but I have seen lots of bands playing with these set ups over the years: 300 watt valve amp 8x10/4x12 cabinet. However if you want a really loud clean sound at huge volume levels, I'm not sure whether there is much advantage in having an all tube amp. It might be the Matamp fan in me, but the benefit in having a valve amp is pushing it to get some nice overdrive. Have you considered a hybrid solid state/valve amp like the Mesa bass amps? The M9 does 900 watts, which sound ridiculous but is probably needed if the guitarist is playing a Dual Rec or something.

I really like the outro. Its not as bad a song as I thought it was when I first heard it. Must say I won't miss the Frusciante overly layered falsetto vocals on every bloody song, but they will miss his talents as a songwriter and guitarist. I can't really make any judgements on the new guitarist as the guitar doesn't really feature much in the song. All I can really take from this video is that Flea is using his own bass and is not using Gallien Krueger anymore, though I'm guessing that most of the recording was probably done to a DI and louds of plug ins rather than using the amp. The bass sounded like a bass played by Flea, which it was. Also Flea and Kiedis seem to be in great shape for 48 year old men. (Though they are 48 year old multi-millionaires living in California, which could perhaps help.)

EB strings are great strings for the money. Usually go for the hybrids myself if I go down that route.

[quote name='clauster' post='1339988' date='Aug 14 2011, 08:16 PM']£800, used, home use? I'd say you can pick any two out of the above three criteria. £800 and used will buy you a lot of gig-able combo: Mark Bass, TC Electronic, Eden, Maybe a Mesa Walkabout, but IMO you won't get the best out of any of these at low volume. Used and home use: Line 6 110, Roland Cube, smaller Ashdown combos, little Eden Combos, Ampeg Combos. Lots of change from £800. £800 and home use: Ashdown Little Bastard and one of the matching cabs? Still bloody loud though[/quote] Just from experience, the Mesa Walkabout is pretty rubbish for home practice (unless you live in a detached house in the middle of nowhere (me in Orkney). The point where it opens up properly is also the point where the neighbours from upstairs and downstairs start banging on the roof/floor (me in Glasgow)! The advice above is pretty good. Anything beyond 100 watt is going to be overkill for home recording.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1339759' date='Aug 14 2011, 04:51 PM']I wish they would make the Slapper bass again! [/quote] Is that a graphite/carbon-based neck? That is pretty cool. If so its funny that they would shift from those designs to the more standard wooden neck designs they have now. Mind you I really like the look of the XP basses, which kinda look a bit like Wals on a budget. Anybody have any knowledge of the history of the company? I'm guessing that there was a takeover of some kind, or there has been a change in designers.