Grand Wazoo

Well there is an element of truth in the fact that old seasoned timber resonate and responds much better to the touch and feel, than a fresh cut one with all the sap and glue stopping it to vibrate as good as the one where the glue has shrunk and the sap is all dried up, evaporated, whatever. Add to that the REAL road worn appeal and you have all the ingredients for a very desirable instrument. To me people buying new relic'd basses are fooling themselves because they are only paying for the worn out look but without the mileage and real timber ageing effect that I have mentioned. You just ain't getting the real thing, are you? So yeah you'd be a muppet to pay £3000 for a Fender Custom Shop relic'd job. Just ask a concert violin soloist how much he is prepared to pay for a 100 years old Stradivarius (we are talking £70-80 thousand average, by the way) and then you get an idea as to why to a professional orchestra violinist spending that money is essential to their job.

[quote name='gafbass02' post='1215223' date='Apr 29 2011, 06:58 PM']And to be fair Thomann made it all very easy. [/quote] Yeah but... now people down here realized that Thomann was breaking their legs and started to figth back, now you can get it cheaper in UK free of delivery charges: [url="http://www.effectpowersupplies.com/ibanez-promethean-p5110-combo-1131-p.asp"]http://www.effectpowersupplies.com/ibanez-...ombo-1131-p.asp[/url]

[quote name='eude' post='1215010' date='Apr 29 2011, 03:20 PM']Nice to see the little Promethean getting some well deserved love. I seriously can't get over how good they are! I'm surprised the uptake hasn't been much greater, but they'll get there for sure if they continue in the same direction, 'Mon the Prometheans! Eude[/quote] I've had mine since August 2010, gigs, rehearsal, but mostly it lives with me on the ship, never skipped a beat, and with the added bonus of the aux input makes it the ultimate companion for the "travelling" or "practicing" bassist. You get quality, portability at no compromise whatsoever to sound and feel. What the reviewer said it's true that you can get an incredible array of sound settings for such a small amp. The graphic eq can be be switched on and off and the vibe control it's like pouring "gold top" milk on your coffee, hmmmm very creamy! (anyone remembers gold top milk?) p.s.: for all the non believers out there, I have hooked it to both a 4 x 10" and a 1 x 15" and it was amazing, you'd think it was a much bigger and expensive rig. I don't mind telling you that stuff that won't cut the mustard, doesn't stay long in my house. And this amp together with my Ashdown Drophead, and my Mark Bass CMD102P are all keepers.

I've read an interesting side to side review between the Ibanez Promethean and the Genz Benz 3.0-310T on this link: [url="http://melodyvalley.ca/bassplayersunited/2011/04/gear-review-ibanez-promethean-combo-5110-vs-genz-benz-3-0-310t/"]http://melodyvalley.ca/bassplayersunited/2...-benz-3-0-310t/[/url] ----------------------------------- Ibanez Promethean Combo 5110 vs. Genz-Benz 3.0-310T With manufacturers shocked at China’s latest moves into cornering and capitalizing the market for the magnet material Neodymium, speaker and amp makers are now scrambling for a dwindling supply and dealing with skyrocketing prices. Rumours are spreading fast that the speaker market will not be supplied with ANY of it as China clamps down on production, with all of the current supply going into medicinal and industrial uses. Now may be the last chance for a while to get into one of these micro-amps before they are discontinued or made substantially heavier by going back to ceramic magnets. We thought it would be a good time to give our review of two of them; one with a neo speaker, and one with a ceramic speaker (but who’s extension cabinet has a neo speaker). Genz-Benz 3.0-310T List Price - $999.00 Street Price - $799.00 Specs Shuttle 3.0 head: 3 bands of EQ with semi-parametric mids 3-band signal shape circuit Tuner out Headphone jack Aux. input Limiter circuit LED status indicators Speakon and 1/4″ speaker outputs Full XLR direct out interface Cab: 10″ neodymium woofer and soft-dome neodymium tweeter with attenuation control The cab is a Birch-ply, with heavy duty vinyl covering 175W as combo/300W with ext. cab Protected corners Metal speaker grille Dimensions: 14″W x 15.5″H x 11.75″D Weight: 18.75 lbs. as combo (16 lbs. for cab, 2.75 lbs. for head) Design & Features Shockingly light, when you pick up the Genz-Benz Shuttle 3.0 – 10T, there feels like there couldn’t possibly be anything at all inside this thing; it feels like an empty birch-plywood box with a handle on the top – incredible! For it to be a bass amp of some substance is really quite amazing, especially for someone who grew up slogging an Ampeg B15S (the BIG one – 60 watts!) with an Altec 15” speaker in it (well in excess of 100 lbs, and back-breakingly awkward for one person to lift) back in the day. I could walk five blocks to the bus with this amp, especially in the over-the-shoulder bag available as an option: you truly could have your bass in one hand and your amp in the other. It has some nice features, such as the removable head, the tilt-back function of the cab, decent tone controls, bass boost, mid scoop, treble boost. There is good metering with LED’s, lots of pro features on this little thing. I did find the lettering on the controls to be very small and fine and hard to read, no big deal once you get used to it, but possible a problem on dim stages for your first few gigs. The design itself is really quite utilitarian, nothing really fancy, everything for the purpose of bass amplification and with little or no elements of style. I found the handle/amp fastener to be quite ugly from the first time I saw this rig, and I immediately thought that, being made from brittle plastic, ‘this isn’t going to last long’. Time will tell, I guess; the amp is so light, it will probably be OK, it just doesn’t LOOK like it will. Not a great looking unit, serviceable, but generally very well made. Sound Well, there’s GOT to be some tradeoffs, and this is it. While it is touted as being a pro amp, and has quite a lot of output for the size and weight of the rig, the sound of the Genz-Benz can only be described as ‘anaemic’ and ‘scratchy’, closely resembling the ‘SWR’ zero-bottom but super clean and sterile kind of sound. I found myself reaching for the tone knobs immediately, adding a TON of bottom on the bass control (almost maxxing it out, actually), dialing in 75% low mids, bass boost on, and had to roll off a ton of treble and wished there was one more tone control, as I still had that nasty high-mid scratchiness that I have come to associate with neodymium speakers that I would LOVE to have gotten rid of, but couldn’t. While this sound would ‘cut-through’ in a band situation and with a moderately loud drummer, I could never really get a sound I was comfortable with, something that sounded like a bass, and that would definitely affect my playing in a bad way; it would bug me the whole time I was dealing with it. Love the portability, I just hate the sound. Well, perhaps hate is too strong a word…I hate practice amps: those things are truly horrible. This is a long way from that, lots of power in that little box, but still NOT a sound I could learn to love. Plugged in flat, it was scratchy, harsh, extremely trebley, just plain nasty, with pretty much NO bottom end at all. Sounded like a bi-amp system with the sub-woofer missing and the treble on full-blast. The amp was good enough that I could EQ some of it back, but I could never quite get there. Too bad; I LOVE the size/weight. The sound….well…nah! Conclusion I play MTD American 635-24 basses, fretted and fretless, and have delved into high-fi bass sound since the late 70’s, having sold my last Ampig, and at one point in my bass playing life, I owned a rack-mount, tri-amped bass system weighing in at close to 500 lbs. I currently own a Berg IP112ER stack, with Summit Audio tube front end gear, and have used Lexicon Multi-effect units since the early 90’s, so I’m not into the ‘retro’ sound, having grown up being STUCK with that one farty, fluffy, woofy underpowered sound. I love clean, clear, deep, punchy, crisp, bright and LOUD bass, with tons of dynamic range. I truly believe this is the golden age of bass, with SO MUCH good gear available; the Berg system I own right now is the BEST sounding rig I have ever heard and owned, and is also one of the smallest. That being said, it is still a minimum of two pieces, a 4 space rack, weighing close to 50 lbs, with a single-twelve-and-a-tweeter self-powered cab weighing about the same, and I would LOVE to have a little practice amp for teaching in various locations and for rehearsals – the proverbial bass-in-one-hand-amp-in-the-other. Have we got there yet…er…I could probably get by with the Genz-Benz, maybe, I certainly appreciate the astonishing light weight and teeny size, but I have to EQ the crap out of it to get a serviceable sound, and by the time I’ve done that, the peak light is freaking out, and there is very little power or headroom left. The cabinet, I think, is to blame, just not being voiced for the kind of bass sound I am after – studio monitor clean, with deep bass but with punch and a nice crisp, focussed top end. I couldn’t quite get there with this amp…close, but no cigar. I wanted to really like this amp, desperately, but just didn’t. Clean, clear, quite loud, certainly light and portable, just NO bottom end. 12/10 for portability, 6.5/10 if you include sound in your adjudication. ------------------------------------------- Ibanez Promethean Combo 5110 List Price - $933.32 Street Price - $699.00 Specs P500H Head: 6-band graphic EQ AND bass and treble controls Peak limiting circuit ‘Vibe’ control changes tone from vintage (HF rolloff) to modern (scooped mids – bass treble boost) bass tones 2-way Clip Indicator Auxiliary input (1/8″) Balance line out (XLR) Phones out, tuner out (1/8″) Footswitch jack (Mute/Vibe) Detachable P500H head puts out 250W with the combo, 500W with an extension cab Cab: Front-ported 10″ subwoofer rated at 250W High frequency dome tweeter with passive crossover Tilt-back system Metal grille speaker cover Weight: 28 lb. Dimensions: 12-4/5″ W x 13-1/10″ H x 14-1/5″ Design & Features Substantially heavier than the Genz, the Ibanez Promethean is still very portable at 28 lbs, but certainly a bit more of a lift – wouldn’t want to do 5 blocks with it; 2 or 3 would be doable, but I’d need a rest (once maybe). This is due to the fact that it is not a neo speaker in their cabinet, but a conventional ceramic one. But from the car to the rehearsal/gig/teaching session, fantastic! Light as a Feather (quoting one of the greatest jazz albums of all time). And the Ibanez is a beautiful looking amp, in fact, I would say the nicest looking combo on the market, better than stuff twice the price or more (Markbass, Epifani, AER et al). The cab is beautifully done in a glossy spray bed-liner type coating, and the amp itself is a glistening brilliant deep-red enamel finish that is just gorgeous and is absolutely first class. One minor nit-picky point – I personally would prefer recessed black rubber O-ring surrounds on the knobs, just for a little contrast and for lack of slip on sweaty, hot stages, but talk about nit-picky, the Promethean is a BEAUTIFUL piece of kit, looking far better than it’s price point; it’s an absolutely gorgeous little thing. GREAT tone controls, both with the standard shelving bass and treble controls, as well as a superb bass-focussed graphic section a la the Trace-Elliots I have loved so much in the past – brilliant! There’s a bypass button for the graphic, with an LED, and this is the BEST way to visually see where your tone controls are at AT A GLANCE even on the darkest of stages, and whether they are engaged or not. Fantastic, and thanks for bringing these back; and in an amp at THIS price point, totally amazing, Ibanez! Also, the overall layout and visual display on this head is fantastic, especially considering this is Ibanez’ first foray into serious bass amps; up to now, they have done nothing but very bad very cheap practice amps. The head layout and design is fantastic, and I love the way they have four small thumb screws to lock it into the recess in the back of the cabinet, yielding clean, clear surfaces that are not going to snag your pants or ruin the back seat of your car (another mark against the Genz-Benz). Now if they had only recessed the knobs themselves…ahem! The ‘Vibe’ control is very much like the VC thingy on the Markbass amps; it progressively rolls off the treble and institutes just the slightest bit of grind into the sound, if modern hi-fi ain’t yo thang. Roll it all the way the other way, and you have a bit of a mid-scoop coupled with sparkly treble and slightly deeper bass – cool! AND, they’ve put a switch on it so you can set up a solo sound and INSTANTLY bypass it…they’ve thought of almost everything. The cabinet, similarly, looks totally pro, modern, and FANTASTIC, and have the handy tilt-back function with a twist – it’s rubber coated handle will not likely rattle ever! The top-mounted handle is nicely recessed, so you can put stuff on top of the amp without causing problems. And no sharp edges anywhere, so again no snagging on car seat fabric (Genz…are you listening? Your tilt-back handle would be TERRIBLE for that!). Also, I personally like the front end port, so you can get some of the air coming out at you, helping to flap your pants and kick you in the shins, which…well, we’ll get to that. Sound For something this small and light – FANTASTIC! I actually couldn’t believe it. This is one of the best sounding amps on the market, regardless of price, size weight…the Ibanez Promethean NAILS IT! Amazing! Punchy, deep, crispy, bright, great NATURAL midrange (the hardest and most expensive thing to do in audio), and with the back pickup only on my MTD, I only had to dial in a teeny bit of low end to get the sound I was after. This amp displays not the slighest bit of boxiness, and has great dynamic range. The Promethean felt SUBSTANTIALLY more powerful than the Genz, actually in a different league totally, inspite of the fact that it was actually significantly cheaper and only rated at an extra 80 watts. This is THE bass sound I am after, and that I believe most bass players will respond to very favorably, certainly MUCH more so than the Genz IMHO. And with the powerful tone shaping tools they’ve included, I could EQ in everything from Family Man Barrett to Jaco, still have headroom to spare, and be able to switch it all off instantly. It would also be great for pretty much everything, as it is studio-monitor kind of flat – you could plug in a string bass (and have enough EQ to deal with feedback – boom issues), acoustic bass guitar (same deal here), vocals, keys, accordion, saxophone, pretty much anything and it would sound good…this is just a great neutral platform. It is truly a Great Little Amp, with a capital G. I also had the chance to play it with it’s companion 10” neo extension, which is quite a bit bigger but substantially lighter – what a massive little rig! Ibanez have really done this right by putting the Neo speaker in a substantially bigger and more heavily ported box to get that low-mid punch which most neo’s are missing (replaced with, usually, fluffy, woofy, useless low end ‘chuff’ and scratchy, nasty, harsh, nasally, bright upper mids); they have voiced this thing right, to go with and to enhance the sound of the ceramic driver in the combo amp. And SUBSTANTIAL volume to go with the great sound – this mini-stack could keep up with all but the most out-of-control drummers. The Genz felt kind of underpowered to me, I’ve got a feeling their watt numbers are slightly fudged, but this thing FELLS LIKE a true 500 watts…great sound, lots of EQ available and you’ll still have some headroom and dynamic range left. Fantastic. Sorry to rant on like this, but for about $700.00, this is the best deal in the bass world. I have played combos at twice the price that I don’t like as much. Conclusion All in all, sound, size, style, layout, Ibanez has got a major league winner here, including even an 1/8” aux input for your iPod/iPhone for practicing, also a major plus. One BIG omission for me, but it won’t be for most bass players…no effects loop…bummer! A compressor would be nice to have in that circuit, and I personally am such a purist in signal paths that I REFUSE to put effects in line (in the front end of an amp) – you’re preamping a preamp by doing that, in case you don’t know…and you’ve just preamped all the noise that your effect unit makes…not a good thing. Effect loops are for EFFECTS, kids – use ‘em! But there is so much GREAT stuff happening here in the Promethean, that is not really a deal breaker. To wrap up, the Promethean 5110 is an absolutely BRILLIANT amp, first class engineering, amazing sound, features, portability, and a gorgeous, stylish, elegant and sophisticated exterior. This is a $2,000.00 amp in a $699.00 package…maybe I shouldn’t say that, as Ibanez might put the price up! Does it sound as good as my $7,000.00 Berg/Summit/Lexicon stack? No…but, a lower volumes, it’s close…really, really close. And for $699.00 street, the rest of the bass amp world should be cowering in fear. I want two so I can run stereo. 9.5/10. If they had only put recessed rubber O-rings on those knobs…an effects loop. At this price, as close to perfect as you can get.

Call Proel, the distributors, I am sure they'll have a few knocking about since they often fit new amps to people's combo's (I know cause they swapped mine for a LM Tube) here are their details: [url="http://www.proelint.co.uk/"]http://www.proelint.co.uk/[/url] Alberto Curasi Service Department / Returns Tel: +44 020 8761 9911 Fax: +44 020 8761 9922 e-mail: [email protected]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1208155' date='Apr 22 2011, 11:49 AM']Fantastic, cheers. Did this come pre drilled for fixing to the body, and did it have a nut? I dont supose you have the model number do you?[/quote] No, there's no model number nor holes on these, see pic below: your choices are P neck J neck, rosewood or maple, that's about it! To drill the 4 neck fixing screw holes, you need to first position the neck into the pocket, get a small drill bit and start etching the 4 pilot holes, than put the neck on a steady surface (best held in place with a vice) and draw a square around the 4 pilot holes and a cross, as a reference, and then use the correct size drill bit to drill the holes "proper" and straight, I suggest you use someone's workshop with a drill mounted on a steady arm that will go down exactly perpendicular to the neck because the last thing you want is the holes to be wonky like the frets on me dingwalls. The neck comes with a nut which is pre-slotted but there's two reasons why that eneded up in the bin straight away, 1) cheap white plastic = crap, 2) you should know never to trust a pre-slotted nut, as it is best to cut your own slots over the correct strings alignnment taking into consideration the distances dictated by your bridge spacing and the pegs. I have used a Fender reconstituted bone nut better than bone in consistency and the correct colour too. see below: you can just about see the original nut in this pic Look if you are not confident in drilling the holes or fitting the nut, you really ought to take it to a pro, because you could do it more damage than good.

Yes the frets are exactly the same size as the ones on the CV they are vintage size ones. You'll be hard pressed to find a difference before and after in either feel or action.

You could have asked me, the mighty mite on my CV worked out wonderfully from this... add this... to get to this...

[quote name='bubinga5' post='1207780' date='Apr 22 2011, 12:55 AM']sorry that was very rude of me GW.. forgive me please... i was thinking why would a bad nut not make the rest of the strings dead..? but if its a tight B string nut slot,chocking the string... your quite right..[/quote] That's Kool & The Gang dood, you're aaaareeiit! None taken.

[quote name='bubinga5' post='1207768' date='Apr 22 2011, 12:40 AM']you wont like me for this but that is nonsense... [size=3][b]see i told you..[/b][/size][/quote] oh don't worry I won't hold it against you, you know me I don't give a sheesh kebab, but I gotta ask: you told me what exactly?

I would check the nut slots, if they are too tight they might deaden the sound, they should be just a little wider than the string. Also if your nut is a cheap plastic one, it is better to replace it with a better quality one, such as bone, reconstitute bone, tus-q, graphite. I am sure any of these will improve the situation.

[quote name='Tait' post='1207030' date='Apr 21 2011, 01:16 PM']Mate, I think there's something wrong with your camera. All your basses seem a bit wonky![/quote] If I had a quid for everytime someone's said that, I'd have probably made my money back on all them wonky basses by now

[quote name='machinehead' post='1206562' date='Apr 20 2011, 11:06 PM']Why not try the Seymour Duncan SPB3? Of course, I haven't heard the Fralin as a comparison, but I can tell you that the SPB3 sounds nice and fat but grindy. And the price is very reasonable. Frank.[/quote] I had one in my previous 50 Classic Vibe the blue one, I did like it a lot, but I want to try something else. Thanks, its ok I can wait that time. I mean its not as if i dont have anything else to play [url="http://s144.photobucket.com/albums/r200/xt660/Dingwall%20Collection/?albumview=slideshow"]SLIDESHOW[/url]

You wouldbn't believe this. There is a 6 weeks wait on Lindy Frailin pickups. Bloody hell I want a pickup not a Roll Royce!

My opinion.... [b]wouldn't touch them with a barge pole[/b] dubious far eastern provenance, rebadged with a name (Bass Collection) which is confusing to the public, if you recall Bass Collection in the late 80's early 90's used to make some very good Japanese basses that looked like Ibanez, made by the excellent factory SGC Nanyo Japan, these were built and played very well see pic below: However the ones that The Bass Centre is selling now with the same name have nothing to do with the Nanyo factory, they are from Indonesia, they are built as copies of Rickenbackers, Fender etc and I have found them to be poo, and very tacky too.

[quote name='redstriper' post='1203908' date='Apr 18 2011, 06:29 PM']I look forward to seeing and hearing the results - will you fit period correct flat wound strings too?[/quote] Unfortunately I am not a fan of flats, though I've tried them many times I just can't bond with them

If anyone here knows my bad habits, you will know that one of these filthy habits is to mod Classic Vibe Squiers till they are hardly recognizable. Some become pillars of my collections other are moved on to the next thrill seeking modding season! - My Fiesta Red Classic Vibe is one of those that was very good to start with and with a new maple neck, a Lollar pickup, Fender 70 Reissue reverse tuners and cts pots and quality wiring, became so good that only over my dead body can leave my fleet. So now... without fail, my very good looking yet "mediocre-to-sh|te" sounding and average playing butterscotch P Bass is heading that way fast. I thought to myself I have already tried Lollars, Seymour Duncan of many kind, Vintage, Quarter Pound, Antiquity II, Stacked Humbuckers, the lot! So this time I've decided to try something else, unfortunately I've emailed Wizard Pickups and they are not doing a single coil tele type pickups nor are they interested to do one. So after many recommendations I have gone for a Lindy Frailin, the standard wind 6.5K not the extra hot one from 6K to 8K but I have gone for the split one, which is hum cancelling, one of the issues with these Tele basses is the hum they produce and I want to give this Frailin a go to see if it really does what it says on the tin. From the Frailin Site: [b][i]"Great single coil tone replacement for 50's and re-issues. Stock wind is 6.5K but can be wound from 6k-8k. Also available in "Split" version for hum- cancelling"[/i][/b] The one I am getting is quite similar to this one but it's split in the middle with two separate coils on the same footprint, should ber interesting. Also on order is a bone nut, a set of Vintage reissue tuners and bushings, also the usual set of waxed cloth wires, cts pots, switchkraft socket and shieding film. Average wait for all the parts is of about 2-3 weeks, but by the time I've finished with it I am confident this will join the ranks of the Fiesta Red Classic Vibe and become another keeper rather than a passer-by So far only a maple tug bar / finger rest has replaced the cheap hollow black plastic one

Vitage white perloid will awaken the dead on that bass. Word!

You rang? (said in "Addams Family" Lurch's voice) Sadly the most affordable Dingwall being the Combustion, does not come in a 6 strings and your next best thing for a couple of hundred pounds more is the ABZ 6 strings. as featured in this video:

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1201570' date='Apr 16 2011, 09:41 AM']That's the thing. The majority of fretless' are based on standard production bases, most of which don't have neck buckers and the only examples of fretless' with neck buckers I can find (apart from defrets to EB0s, Kramers etc.) are custom made basses and they are few and far between.... which statistically is to be expected. Did your LP have an actual neck bucker or a HB in the standard position?[/quote] Neck bucker and as if you are wondering it didn't sound anywhere near an upright, it was just gnaw gnaw with no note definition, it was so bad that you could fret an F on the E string on the first fret or a C on the A string and you couldn't tell the difference, take that to a band rehearsal and no one had a clue what was being played. I got so mad with it, I threw it in the log fire, that is a true story, it kept the house nice and warm for a whole evening.

Promethean all the way, haven't regretted a single thing about this small but big combo.

3 words: don't do it I had a mock gibson les paul bass which I defretted and the neck pickup sounded like sh|te, name me one decent f/less bass with a neck bucker.

[quote name='Linus27' post='1200892' date='Apr 15 2011, 04:09 PM']Hey thanks. I think that might be a bit bass heavy for my liking but I will give it a go.[/quote] How can it be too bass heavy, at 12'o clock the dial is flat and at 1' to 2' o clock is just barely over the flat setting. I could agree if you were talking about a bass with a ballsy preamp, but not a passive one like P bass, which actually needs that bit more of bass presence.

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1200927' date='Apr 15 2011, 04:34 PM']Much earlier it was mentioned and you seem to have found a solution...but disconnecting the tweeter, and potentially a crossover if there is one, is definitely worth a shout here to get a smoother old-school thump. Also, I personally think the Markbass cabs are excellent but rather forward and detailed sounding, so it's not surprising that if the strings don't give you the sound you're after you will really notice it on their cabs.[/quote] TIP: If you keep the VPF filter off the tweeter does not come into play, so no need to disconnect it

You are welcome to experiment with my settings below, bear in mind that I have the CMD102P (2 x 10") and that I have changed the head to a Little Mark Tube, but with the tube turned off it's exactly the same as a Little Mark II or Little Mark Combo head. Ignore all the controls with a big X as they are obsolete on a Little Mark II or Combo Head