thodrik

I'm really interested by the line of amps. I don't mind the Ashdown ABM and MAG heads on the whole, but never would feel the need to buy one. The valve ones look really cool though. The proof will be in the tone and build quality though.

Does the Aerodyne series not have a slightly different flatter fingerboard? I might have imagined that though. Mark Hoppus ones too, but that is a Precision neck. I would say Sadowsky jazzes have a somewhat different neck profile that I really like but they are expensive and its clear that some folk on here just don't like them! Sandberg as well I thought as well had a less cramped jazz neck that didn't plat like a standard Jazz neck. I would stick to a good P bass personally or get a second hand Fender and switch the neck with a Precision neck.

EBS Fafner (The big amp) Trace Elliot GP12 SMX 300 (back up to EBS bought on ebay for cheap) Two of the new Trace Elliot cabs (the 2x10 and the bigger 1x15, mixing drivers oh no!) Mesa Walkabout 1 x15 (My 'lightweight' portable rig, its really loud and can fit in taxis no problem) Trace Elliot GP 7 SM 300 1x15 combo (my main and only rig for about 8 years until I got the EBS and Mesa last year. It now lives up north so I have an amp when I go home). To be honest, I have been pretty blown away by the power of the Mesa, to the point that I could almost sell the Fafner and use the Mesa to drive the larger cabs. I'm probably going to cross that bridge when I really really need the money though. I will be looking at cabs or a five string bass before I look at any more amps. Probably a 4ohm 4x10 or 2x12 to replace the stack I have just now. It is almost overkill, though it does look cool!

[quote name='risingson' post='1005660' date='Oct 29 2010, 07:38 PM']Honestly I'm lost for words. It's like a bass player saying 'oh sorry, I don't really use my E string that much'.[/quote] Peter Hook?

I have both an GP 7 SM 300 in the form of a 1x15 combo and the 300 SMX GP 12 head. Both are really nice and good enough to do a job. I do think however that the SMX offers a lot more, just in terms of features like the dual band compressor, effects send return and the valve drive. The valve drive is hardly that great and isn't really driven hard enough in my opinion, but it does add a little but of life to the sound and makes the tone sound less hi-fi and clean than the SM series, as you can get a little bit of grind when you drive it hard. It can do the clean hifi sound as well The 12 band graphic is also a lot more useful than the 7 band, and allows some decent scope for tailoring your sound. The GP 7 SM series offers the basic Trace sound with few bells and whistles. I think that it is a really good solid state amp that has plenty of power, I've disconnected the internal speaker and driven the amp through different cabs, and it copes well with a 4 ohm load through a 4x10, 8x10 etc. Both amps also have the 'preset 2' option, which I think was the company's attempt to do a 'mid-bump' preset than a mid-cut, and I think they both sound pretty bad. Both also seem to be built fairly well too and haven't caused me much bother.

Interesting that. I was thinking that I see so many Behringer stuff about at gigs, but never really see it in shops. Now I know why.

A five string bass. Vigier/Sadowsky/Sandberg/MM Stingray. Realistically the G & L L2500 or the Sterling by MM Ray 35 is already way more than I can afford. An all valve amp, or failing that the EBS Fafner II or Mesa Big Block 750. A 1970s Fender Jazz. A nice 4x10 or 2x12 at 4ohms, to run said amp through. DR strings. I will start saving for these first I think.

The VU meter on an Ashdown. Input pads when there is a gain/input volume knob (like the Ampeg SVT 450). Graphic Eq sections on an amp that already has bass. middle and treble knobs (Ampeg SVT 450). Built in octavers (or any built in effects) in amps that rarely come with a footswitch (Ashdown). Side-mounted fans in rack-mounted heads, so you have to buy oversized rack cases so said amp can 'breathe' (EBS Fafner). Any attempt to excite us by trying to jazz up mid controls as something really exciting (the 'ultra mid' controls on an SVT 450). 1000 watt amps that are actually two 500 watt amps that can't be used in mono(Ashdown/Trace Elliot). Mute switches, they only lead to people telling you that your amp is broken if people try it.(Trace Elliot/Ashdown). Being designed to look like a valve amp, but containing no valves, making the amp twice as large and heavy as it could be, with the only benefit being some space to store a cable or two (Ampeg SVT 450). Really loud fans (Mesa Walkabout). Having a 'special' input jack which means that you could run an active bass on no batteries, impressive but not really that much use (EBS Fafner and probably the other ones I dunno). Pointless LEDs or lights that are only there for visual purposes (The glowing red bulb on EBS Fafners). Having tube overdrive capabilities with no footswitch, so if you play quiet or have a clean part to play, you either have to magically turn down the 'drive' knob and then up again, or use a pedal to get the 'dirty' sound, making the overdrive potential of your amp pretty pointless (Ashdown/EBS Fafner mark I). Room balance knobs (Fender Pro series). Master volumes that go from 0(silence), 1(quiet), 2 (loud), 3 (full power), when the numbers go to 10 or 11. (Like Marshall guitar amps). Ashdown Little Giants. Still love my Fafner though!

I have a Valve drive myself. Its really good as a preamp on low gain settings, it adds a little bit extra to the sound of most solid-state or hybrid heads. On the higher gain settings it works well too, though personally I prefer the EHX English Muff'n for gritty bass overdrive. The EBS one sounds a bit flabby in comparison and lacks a bit of bite naturally in my opinion, though you can pretty much use the eq to get the sound you want. You can swap the tube as well obviously to get a different sound. I don't use mine much to be honest, it might be something that needs to go eventually. Good pedal though.

I used to be obsessed with obtaining a really low action, but its not something that bothers me now. Not that a play with a really high action, but its nothing that I'm overly concerned about. I do have limitations though as I do don't like anything overly 'spongy'. I think that there is a difference between having a higher action and a poorly set up bass (generally off the wall basses in a guitar shop, though there are exceptions). I don't really measure my action though, I just tend to know when it feels and sounds right for me, and usually I won't go far away from a set up provided by someone that knows what they are doing and knows what I want.

Not a fan of the ying/yang design, its not that it isn't nice but more that it isn't for me.The general contours and shape of the bass is really nice though. I would probably get a Monarch.

Seems to be in really good condition, way too steep on the price though. Strung out guitars have two Jazzes from the same time period, in a fairly similar condition, priced £1399 and £1899 [url="http://www.strungoutguitars.com/Electric/"]http://www.strungoutguitars.com/Electric/[/url]. If I was heading to Bass Direct armed with £3000, I'm not too sure I would really be heading out with a vintage Jazz, and I'm a big vintage Fender fan. On second thoughts though, the original case and instruction manual is not something you see everyday, and I'm assuming would add a fair bit to the price. Regardless of everything else though, its a vintage Fender, somebody will buy it.

Decent enough strings. I have had been using them on the Sadowsky for all my gigs this year. For about £18 they do the job , nothing special but I find that they last about as long as the D'addario prosteels I using before, sound about as good, and are cheaper as well.

Neither of them went to Leeds College of Music, so I don't think that there is any evidence of either of them being musically talented on a technical level.

[quote name='danydan' post='988756' date='Oct 15 2010, 02:30 AM']Hello Thodrick, i think in your way generally, so i really understand what you mean... I just speak about this MM master built because i try it and i can say it's a real very good bass, and try to say people who can, buy it because it' will be a collector bass. I win anything to say that Keep on groovin' :-)[/quote] I have no doubts that it would be an exceptional bass and a collectors item, and that anyone who wants to buy it would not regret doing so.

Out of the options you listed I would probably go for the 2x15 as a single cab solution. Plenty of volume and personally I think that they look really cool. A 4x10 and a 1x15 is quite a lot to carry about, and would probably need to run on a crossover, though there are people on this forum that advise against any mixing of different speaker sizes. If carrying about 2 cabs I would probably go for another 4x10 personally.

[quote name='greyparrot' post='986845' date='Oct 13 2010, 12:34 PM']If the Alembic mark king sig had humpty dumpty on the headstock i really would not give a hoot! [/quote] Hence my warped mind!

[quote name='danydan' post='986247' date='Oct 12 2010, 09:11 PM']Euh !! it's not a Fender preamp inside; the preamp is important ok, but before the preamp the wood and the built is amazing; the built quality of this bass is closer of a Sadowsky US and the sound too in his own way (Fender way but in my opinion you can sound it in your own way, like Marcus Miller does)[/quote] Umm, okay? I was commenting on Fender eq circuits in general, not on this custom model, which I never really been totally sold on compared to other campanies. I'm sure its an amazing bass that I could make to sound in my own way, but for that money I would be more likely to buy a bass built to my own specifications, rather than to Marcus Miller's, or failing that buy a genuine 1970s jazz, fit a badass on it and insert a Sadowsky preamp. That just me though, I'm just against having someone else's name on 'my' instrument, other than the person that built it. To me it just says that I'm either just copying or following in someone else's footsteps and that whatever I do in music, I'll never be as good as the person whose name is on the bass. I know that is total rubbish, but it is the way that my warped mind thinks. Obviously, I'm not the market that this bass is aimed for.

I just don't think it comes across as well, as there are lots of variables lead to nuances between basses which appear pretty obvious in person but end up sounding pretty similar when recorded. It easy (ish) to tell a difference between a Jazz and a Precision, but between rosewood and maple fingerboards, and different pickups or different models, the differences could be so minimal as to actaully make the different options seem unnecessary or just for looks, which is not something companies would want. I don't mind 'ballpark' examples of the sounds of certain models of bass. However, most high-end companies are keen to stress that you can acheive 'virtually any' sound with their particular type of bass. So if they then have a video or audio demo of 'this bass sounds like this' it kind of defeats the point. Also the way I play will be totally different to the person doing the demo anyway, so really how useful is the sound sample anyway? Personally for me it doesn't work for cabs either. I think that Mesa Boogie did a big video blog on the differences between the different bass cabs. To be honest, although there was maybe some difference between the sounds it could have been down to mic placement, or that they used a different bass or for each cab (which seemed to me to defeat the point of a 'cab' test). As my guitar-playing brother would say '...Yep, it sounds a bass. Wow.'

Well, at least it has a Badass! I'm sure its a great bass, for the collectors obviously. For £4600 I would probably want my dream bass though, rather than Marcus Miller's. I tried one of the Japanese (I think they were anyway) models a while ago though, and was fairly impressed. This was before I had tried Sandbergs and Sadowskys though, I'm guessing that if I tried one again, my opinion of the Fender eq circuit wouldn't be as high as it was then.

It all seems pretty annoying. Finding one of the problems is pretty common on a Fender. Finding about three is just unlucky. If it really irks you I would return it. I don't think the truss is really a problem though, more the pick guard and the neck pocket (which doesn't look that bad). Of course if you send it back you might get one that has none of those issues, except the fretwork isn't as good. I doubt that would happen though, I'm just thinking about what would happen if I sent it back!

I have three basses with maple fingerboards, they all sound really different when played acoustically so I'm not convinced by the 'maple sounds like X and rosewood sounds like Y'. For me its mostly down to looks, the difference in tone is pretty minimal and is generally down to the design, construction and finish of the bass rather than the wood on the fingerboard. That said, I didn't set out to buy a bass with a maple board, its just that the basses that I played and liked just happened to have them. Rosewood is just as good.

A classic Fender, probably my Fender P, though if I was greedy, which I am, it would probably be one of those 'slab' Precisions or a pre-CBS Jazz.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='983759' date='Oct 10 2010, 08:44 PM']Doesn't everyone just get old, hard of hearing and accidentally buy a P Bass, doggedly sticking to it until the grave?[/quote] Nah, some of us just start off with one... I think that everybody goes through a phase of learning or being interested in styles that is out of their normal comfort zone. I went through an interest in funk and jazz from 18-21 as I started developing new techniques like slap, double thumb, tapping. I think its good to pick up these techniques to keep practise interesting, though they have never been used in the context of a band I've been in, because generally they just didn't mix. I have also been playing pop/rock stuff and even folk stuff over the years, which has aided my adaptability, but hasn't really changed my overall outlook on what I want to acheive which has always been fairly consistent. The only problem is finding the right people to play in the way I want. As I get older I'm trying to focus on playing what I want rather than keep slotting into other styles. I really don't to fall into bridge pickup fingerstyle funk/jazz on a jazz bass a big eq bump in the mids, as it really does nothing for me personally whether its playing or listening.