BassAdder60

My Hercules stand arrived broken that I ordered and the store just said they will ship a new one. Great service and quickly reacted to the problem. Again hassle for me but it’s the new normal. In fairness a lot of damage happens in transit as we all know. Quality checks on goods before shipping doesn’t happen and I suspect returns don’t get checked either !

I have been known to use most of the big name stores for ordering guitars, amps, effects, etc etc from Andertons, PMT, and many others starting with G ! All of them have sent out damaged or B stock like goods sold as new goods. All of them handled the issues quickly and professionally but naturally hassle for me. I now accept online purchasing is a gamble ( mainly as many goods are returned so technically not “ new” anymore for the next customer. If I order a bass, an amp or cabinet I ask that it’s a factory boxed new stock and not a return and this has reduced the issues. I would say on average over the last four years 60% of the stuff I’ve ordered has arrived marked, damaged or faulty ! The joys of online shopping!!

Was that with a Jack socket on side of bass like Ray34 ?

How does the Boss WL20L perform with the Ray34 active bass ?

The Orange LBT is a great amp and so are the Ashdown RM series Avoid the Ampeg PF range as they I believe still suffer from shutdown issues The GK Legacy range is nice ( Polar sell on EBay at low prices )

Dam I would of purchased that !! The cab I mean

Sell the SVT !!! I had one and they are lovely albeit very heavy

Even my brand new ABM600 EVO IV which I recall was nearly £700 I had to swop the preamp tube as it was crackly. I popped a new JJ ECC83 and it’s perfect.

I had the RM800 EVO 2 and it was a fine amp Apparently ( mine never did from new ) if you have too much input gain the needle goes hard over to the right as expected but the light change to Red ! I could never make this happen even with everything maxed so I suspect mine didn’t work as designed They are very close to the ABM heads in tone and with the right speakers sound wonderful I found mine sounded fuller with ported cabs ( the standard compact series etc )

The old TE cabs had plastic vent bungs that allowed you to block the ports

I would try the CTM100 but after trying the Ampeg V4 I don’t think 100w is loud enough for me Ideally I need a good 200w clean tube sound The CTM300 is a crazy high price so that’s not going to happen either ! A full tube amp is a wonderful thing but you really have to love it as they are so heavy and need regular servicing etc

I agree .. although my PBass sounds pretty dam sweet too. Normally with an outside event like this we would use the organisers PA rig with everything miked up. As it was a charity event we had to use our own PA 1000w per side rig but we don’t mic up the full kit or DI the bass etc. The Ashdown rig sounded great and carried well into the field and the mix wasn’t too bad ( heavy hitting drummer ) The Ray34 was a nice match and everything just worked No worries from booming rooms or windows rattling !!

Played an outside event yesterday with my ABM600 and two 210H cabs No PA support needed and it sounded fantastic ( volume up to 12 o clock ) loudest I’ve ever had it !! The sound on stage was superb

Not how I play them !! I prefer a clatter free sound as it suits the fast rock I play at times

Putting 50-105 on my Ray34 has transformed the bass to a more balanced sound across all four strings No more weak G/ D strings Thanks to Lozz for the suggestion

Pop to your local bass / guitar store They often throw away old amp boxes etc

This only works if you have perfect frets and no high spots

Learning how to adjust the bass regarding intonation, string height, pickup height, neck bow ( truss rod ) etc is a valuable skill to get a poor or mediocre instrument play nicely to how you wish it to be. I learnt many years ago as a guitarist and everything from fitting strings correctly to action is a very important thing to learn. My test on my bass is if I can play Iron Maiden gallops finger style on the E and A strings without clatter etc I’m set where I like it !!

+1 for dials

Easy bias adjustment would be a welcome feature