Ian Savage

The SGC Nanyo stuff goes for absolute peanuts on eBay considering how good they are - I think any of their basses for less than a ton is money very well spent. They're lightweight, balance well and have very slim, comfortable necks - they'll do any kind of music with ease, although IMO the look of them doesn't fit some genres. I bought my SC441 in the late-90s for about four hundred quid, and the 301 was the 'budget' model at the time - that one definitely looks like it's got the slightly more steamlined body contours of the late-90s models as opposed to the oh-so-slightly more chunky-looking curves that came a few years after. I'm only guessing, but I think it's probably about ten years old, and for that price it'll do you great as long as you get on with the skinny neck! Certainly pisses all over anything you'd buy new for a hundred notes... EDIT: as far as I know the serial number should be either in the neck pocket or on a sticker on the inside of the control cavity cover, and I believe that the bass player from Muse is a fan of them; the body wood, IIRC, will be either poplar or basswood, hence the light weight. There's precious little about these on t'interweb, but someone here (I'll look it up and edit again in a minute) managed to identify mine after I'd totally forgotten the model number so there's some expertise 'round this very forum!

The Eurosys were always the bottom end of Peavey's speaker line, a pair of HiSys or Pros would be a worthwhile upgrade IMO.

Boss LS2 Line Selector will do either, I think.

Just to give you an option, I've replaced all of my Shures with Sennheiser Evolutions - A/B tested the E345 pissed all over the SM58 in terms of sound quality and feedback rejection. I think they're a bit cheaper too.

Wasn't Hendrix a bass player originally, or have I made that up? And Ginger (the band's guitarist/frontman) apparently played a lot of bass on mid-era Wildhearts albums, mainly due to the actual bassist being a smackhead.

[quote name='andyjingram' post='876602' date='Jun 24 2010, 05:02 PM']Intriguing- What's that then?[/quote] Music Man Reflex innit?

[quote name='Fat Rich' post='875465' date='Jun 23 2010, 02:43 PM']Neck wise, you might get away with it if you plug up the truss rod adjustment temporarily, maybe wax the fingerboard and any bare wood. And lightly oil the bridge and tuners.[/quote] Those are very good suggestions actually, hadn't thought of waxing/oiling.

[quote name='Lysdexia' post='875408' date='Jun 23 2010, 01:52 PM']Hi guys - serious tech question. If I was to throw a bucket of water over a bass would there be any resulting damage? And any tips for drying the bass to ensure there is a happy outcome for all? The bass will NOT be plugged into anything in it's moment of torment.[/quote] Hmm...it's been done, but it's going to depend on the finish and quality of the wood whether there's any lasting damage. Personally if I had to do it, as soon as possible afterwards I'd get the electronics out and give them a blast with a hairdryer to get the worst of the water out (but be prepared to replace the pots regardless if water gets into them). I'd then leave the bass itself strung at fairly low tension (say, down a couple of tones) and let it dry out naturally (after, maybe, if it's a bolt-on removing the neck briefly and towel-drying out any water that's got into the neck join/behind the neckplate. DON'T try to accelerate the drying process on the bass itself, combining excess heat with excess moisture will not end well for the wood. EDIT: a quick towel-dry would be a good idea, mind; I've played gigs in the past where either it's been an outdoor show and it's rained or an indoor show with sweat dripping from the ceiling and all I used to do to the bass was wipe it dry, *touch wood* never had any damage. If it's for a photoshoot, video or something, I'd be seriously tempted to strip the electronics out altogether beforehand and 'dummy' the look of it with cheap/non-functional stuff (superglue some control knob heads onto the scratchplate or something, and just slam a broken pickup in there for the look) so at least you've only got to worry about possible wood damage.

[quote name='Buzz' post='874989' date='Jun 23 2010, 12:06 AM']If it's got to be one I already own, then it's going to be my (soon possibly up for sale) MIJ Non-Export Aerodyne: That's a picture from when it was new, 4 or 5 years ago, if you look closely it's got the plastic film on the pickguard in the picture. It's not really changed as I've kept it mint. Although a small dent in the paintwork is present on the bottom edge from when I accidently knocked it against that wooden chair in the background. That chair has now gone. I've also got a different sofa.[/quote] That is beautiful, and well done on the change of furniture do drop me a message if you come to sell, don't know if I'll have the money but you never know...

One of these please: It's on the shopping list once I've got my finances together, don't think i'd need anything else.

I use one of these: [url="http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=10907984&fh_view_size=10&fh_eds=%3f&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB%2fcategories%3C{9372015}%2fcategories%3C{9372043}%2fcategories%3C{9372178}%2fcategories%3C{9392071}%2ffeaturesBrand%3dStanley&fh_refview=lister&ts=1277160263181&isSearch=false"]http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?acti...;isSearch=false[/url] Mics in the top bit, cables in the bottom, and a few handy little 'hideaway' bits for spare fuses, connectors, adaptors and all that kinda bollocks. Perfick.

Thanks for that, some interesting options! The MXR and Aguilar might be a bit out of price range, DHA looks interesting...and the EBS is definitely out of range for the moment, but it does look awesome! Might be one to save up for... Having had a mooch around, the EHX Bass Metaphors seems like it'll do what I want on the cheap - anyone tried one at all?

Moving on my full bass rig in favour of a sod-off powerful PA system, so shall shortly be in the market for a wee preamp just to keep me going for jam nights and suchlike. I know about (and want!) the Bass Driver, the Bass Attack also looks like it'll do what I need (basically a bit of tone shaping with jack and XLR outs) - is there anything else I should have a look at? Ideally floor-mount but not essential, so I guess that opens up Line 6 and stuff too; I'm somewhat adverse to Behringer on moral grounds though.

Wharfedale and db are also good shouts, I too would steer clear of the Class D stuff; it's probably fine for rehearsals and suchlike but the build quality isn't great and their reputation for reliability isn't very good. If you don't mind going secondhand, look at FBT, JBL Eons and maybe Studiomaster VPX / Studiospares Fortissimos as well (apparently the latter two are the same speaker with different badges).

If you're putting bass through it you want a 15" ideally - I've heard good things about the Studiospares Fortissimo range and they're apparently identical to Studiomaster's VPX series, which I have used and quite like: [url="http://www.studiospares.com/PA-Speakers/Studiospares-Fortissimo-15A-Active-Single/invt/248260"]http://www.studiospares.com/PA-Speakers/St...gle/invt/248260[/url] There's also Wharfedale at the budget end of the market, who are making some decent stuff. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Wharfedale-EVP-X15PM-powered-15-monitor-MINT-COND-/300437966141?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_ConElec_SpeakersPASystems_RL&hash=item45f37f8d3d"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Wharfedale-EVP-X15PM...=item45f37f8d3d[/url] You want 300W+ ideally; what kind of budget are we talking?

If I end up gigging again, it'd ideally be with a Fender Aerodyne and/or a MusicMan SUB. I am a simple man of simple tastes

The speaker cab sockets will be wired in parallel, as will the outputs on the amp, so no difference whatsoever!

[quote name='phatbass787' post='869261' date='Jun 16 2010, 05:23 PM']Whats your budget? Have you thought about an Ashdown MAG or ABM head if you can stretch to it, both lovely and warm and then as suggested maybe a MAG 4 ohm 410 or ideally an ABM 210 compact with an ABM 115 compact... Perfect pub gig rig..[/quote] I am not affiliated with phatbass, but I am selling a 300W ABM head and 1x15" cab...

[quote name='dan670844' post='864559' date='Jun 11 2010, 06:34 PM']The most amazing thing I used to do was for fun go out into the crowd ( i had a wireless system) and walk around the venue while playing. We all did. You get an amazing insite into your sound and how it carries and how it doesnt in certain places its a big eye opener. I found that a middly sound on stage (horrible) sounds uber bassy and cool in the crowd.... sweet.[/quote] That's a fair point - if you're not running through the PA with an engineer out front, the sound you're hearing onstage is going to be a fair bit different from what the crowd are hearing.

I used to use the EQ footswitching on my amp a LOT - had it set on a 'slightly sad face' for the majority of gigging work, as there was more than enough 'oomph' from my P-bass and speaker setup, then EQ bypass on the footswitch for more quiet, mellow passages (i.e. when the guitarists went to their clean channels - on videos you could sometimes see all three of us hitting footswitches simultaniously, it was either really professional or a bit sad ). And then I'd use the footswitchable preshape (smiley face EQ) when the lead guitarist started soloing, to fill a bit of the space he left. I like EQ on bass amps, and I reckon that judiciously used it can 'lift' a whole set as unless you're AC/DC people start subconciously getting bored after half an hour or so if every instrument's making the same sound.

If you're only using 10"s at the minute, see if you can borrow a 15" for a practice/gig and check the difference. It might not fill ALL the low-end (as College says, having had a 210/115 setup), but I feel like I'm missing a lot of 'wallop' without at least one 15" speaker behind me. Oh, and compression can make a big subjective difference if you're not using it already.