bassix

Gotta be second-hand, you'll get a stonking bass with your budget. That fender avri 64 seems ridiculously good value.

They are what I like to refer to as career musicians, they write a couple of songs for singles and the rest is middle of the road tripe but enough to promote and sell the album. Probably sold to people who used to have a second thought for music when they were younger but now only listen to bands that remind them of that time.

I last saw Wonk Unit at the Prince Albert in Brighton. They are a fantastic example of a modern punk band with superb presence and attitude.

I've always bought amps secondhand and never had a single issue, I guess it only takes 1 going wrong to make you wary though..

Wow, these things have got me lusting hard! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV96QHlvI1s

Dunlop do good nylon picks.

It is indeed Lozz, I think they normally give guestlist to anyone who's played for them previously so have a word and get in for free!

Still a few more opportunities to come see the skurv before the end of the year. 07/11/15 - Deptford, Birds Nest w/ Emergency Bitter & Sweet Jonny 18/12/15 - London, 100 Club w/ The Business, Infra Riot, The Gonads 19/12/15 - Brighton, Bleach w/ Bar Stool Preachers, Asbo Retards, Demon Smiles 27/12/15 - London, New Cross Inn w/ Peter & the test tube babies Its fair to say if you're not into punk then probably best giving it a miss!

[quote name='Ashdown Engineering' timestamp='1445350899' post='2890793'] You didn't have enough headroom because you didn't have the input up high enough and subsequently not enough signal to the power amp... [/quote] Good to know anyway, is the same true of the ABM Evo III?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1445159910' post='2889135'] This is a major point about the shape button. It's basically like a contour control in that it'll cut your mids and boost lows and highs, i.e. give a scooped sound. BUT, (on my ABM EVO II at least), THE SHAPE IS ACTIVE WHEN THE BUTTON IS OUT, NOT IN. This is counter-intuitive of course, but with this amp at least, if you want to be heard live the Shape button should be IN to provide NO scoop. Perhaps this is why so many people claim they have problems with Ashdown amps and why they're seen as 'woolly' or 'muddy'? Possibly, as the default position of the Shape button provides a scooped sound. To be quite clear, if you want an unscooped sound with an ABM the Shape button should be IN. Then the EQ section works as it should. [/quote] That is good to know, I tend to trust my ears when setting up but this should help with getting to grips with the amp I've bought as a replacement.. An ABM 500 Evo III, I'm excited!

2 of the last 4 basses I've bought have had knackered truss rods, one private, one through a shop. I got a replacement on the shop bought bass, no such luck with the private purchase so you could say I'm pretty wary now.

[quote name='Ashdown Engineering' timestamp='1444426279' post='2883267'] Hi Bassix, Bit of confusion here it appears so I thought I should try to help. So firstly to clarify - 'pushing the input volume more than i would have liked' can you expand a little more on this? What was it causing the worry about turning the input volume up? A bit more info on the input gain on the Rootmaster.... If you ever played or saw the old MAG amps they had Passive and an Active inputs so as such unless you had a freakily high output bass or very low output bass most users would have the input level around halfway, However the Rootmaster is very different as there is a single input jack as opposed to the passive/active inputs on the old MAG. Therefore this means that the single input control on the RM has to cover the entire spectrum of what was covered by the pair of inputs on the old MAG. Therefore the input gain is designed so that if you are using an ultra low output bass, take a vintage P bass for example you will need the input gain almost all the way up! If you are using a monster 24v active bass the input gain will be set right down low almost off, then the vast majoity of regular out basses will most likely sit between halfway and 3/4. This is how the amp is designed and you should have been able to hear the front end clipping if you were driving it too hard and if you were lacking volume I would hazard a guess you weren't. The RM amps can run with the input all the way up all day long with no problem but you should hear and see on the VU if the input was too high. Hope this helps. [/quote] Thanks for the information, when I tried in the shop the staff said that it could be pushed more than other gear at the input to maybe 1-2 O'Clock which I duly did at practice. I had the volume maxed and the input at 3 O'Clock with the "Shape" button unpressed to get heard against a guitarist and drummer. Admittedly this was at 8 Ohm so I wasn't getting full welly from the amp but I thought (perhaps incorrectly) pushing it any further would be unwise for the long-term health of the amp. Perhaps this is an educational issue but to be fair I like to have headroom to move into if required and there wasn't that at 8ohm.

If anyone is interested this is where I bought it, over £100 cheaper than the next best. http://www.musik-produktiv.co.uk/ashdown-rootmaster-420.html

[quote name='Merton' timestamp='1444385600' post='2882740'] The RM800 has power in bucket loads, it's insane. The input stage can be pushed harder than you think (assuming no crazy EQ/sub/comp settings) so I wonder if the 420 just wasn't being driven hard enough at the front end? [/quote] The chap at the shop said that you could but I was having it a 3 O'Clock to make it heard which felt too much to me. [quote name='0175westwood29' timestamp='1444388828' post='2882794'] At 8ohms I can maybe see why it was struggling maybe if you got a couple of 210's I think you'd be fine get the load to 4ohms [/quote] The problem with it is the gigs I play I generally bring a head and plug into someone else's cab, the thought that it wouldn't be sufficient based on someone else's cab was too much for me. I'm sure at 4 Ohm it'd be fine but I couldn't guarantee I'd be getting that.

If memory serves it went through a 300w 410, it just about kept up but that meant maxing the volume and pushing the input more than I would have liked. I didn't try the abm evo, I was thinking class D at the time, at the moment without bass head, if I had the money I wouldn't hesitate to get the rm800.

I bought the 420, adored the sound against A LOT of other amps in the shop so bought it online for a ridiculously good price. Took to it to band practice at 8 ohm and it just couldn't cut it so it went back.

The budget is about £200, given that it won't be used a massive amount as the majority of venues provide a 410/610/810 I cant really justify a greater outlay. Most of the gigs are DI'd also but I want it so in a worst case scenario I would be able to chuck it in a car/taxi and the show will go on.

I've given up on getting a lightweight cab within my meagre budget but I'm still looking for something reasonably transportable. With this in mind I'm looking for a 1 cab solution, so, would a 115 or 210 be sufficient to get a decent sound? If so, which would provide the "better" option? I'm sure people will come back and say get both, however this isn't really an option from a space perspective at the moment. Parameters are I play in a punk band with a precision, generally looking for it to handle pub gigs and small clubs.