Rosie C

Hmm, fast wind 6-7 months... shortly after my last post we decided to put our house up for sale and make preparations to move to Ireland so the poor old synth has sat in a corner unloved until this week. I'm nearly at the end of recording my first album and in the last couple of days I've been using the synth a fair bit - soundscapes, jazz piano, drone notes, all kinds of things. Mrs C at the drum pads: For a retired computer programmer this is so much fun!

I have a friend who is similar - I played him a song I'd written - so it was the first time he'd heard it and he was playing along by the third line. A tremendous gift. After nearly 50 years of playing from dots I've been trying to play by ear for two years now and it is just starting to come... early days I guess!

I don't go to many open mics. The one above is a bit different as each person can choose to do a solo performance, or pick a song from a book the organisers provide for everyone to play together. Indeed! and playing fiddle while working out a harmony line from the guitar chords in real time is about as much as my brain can manage!

Eeek! I used to have one of the mains plugs that worked by removing a light bulb but only as a curio.

My iPad charger kind of has that...

I stopped taking my bass to our local jam night as it was just too much hassle - either lugging guitar+amp or double bass. Instead I've been taking my violin and improvising harmonies (sadly I do not take a good photo when concentrating on playing)

I received a Kala U-Bass for my birthday this year. Acoustic with internal pickup of some kind. It really is awesome. Having a much fatter sound than my bass guitar, I use [it] on those days when my back is too bad to contemplate lugging my double bass to a gig or practice session.

It was on my list and it's already arrived, though I'm not allowed to touch it for fear of eternal banishment to the naughty list. A Trace Elliot AH300 GP12 with 15" and 2x10" cabinets. It is sat in the corner of my practice room under a sheet and with just the occasional creak of the floor joists settling.

I found some purchase paperwork and everything was bought in January 2002, which might narrow it down. There was also a carbon copy of a TE customer survey and in "suggestions for improvements" the buyer has written "switch for light fascia light" so it seems likely it's not working because it is disconnected. I'll take it to my electronics expert friend for a look-see inside.

Thanks! Ooh, thank you. I did a bit of internet searching late last night and found this 15" cabinet on ebay which looks to be the same model as mine and the badge looks the same as your 3D printed one: Close up of the ebay cabinet badge: But this is the badge on my 2x10 and it is different. In fact it looks very like the badges on the new Elf cabinets so maybe it is a late model? Thanks for that, very useful and sounds right - I downloaded the service manual last night (which is when I discovered the 'valve drive' knob is connected to an actual valve) and couldn't find anything on the circuits powering a panel. I see some photos on the 'net of them lit up (see below) but there are so many different models it's hard to be sure which is which. Someone else's amp - of course there could be a blacklight behind the camera...

The badge on my 2x10" is riveted on but there are no holes on the 15". But then in that ebay listing the badge looks stuck on. Hmm... An unexpected bonus is the valve pre-amp. I wasn't expecting that and haven't had any kind of valve amp before 😊

Well I did it! We went to view an AH300 tonight. I took my fretless jazz to try it and it sounded fantastic! Lovely condition, and it came with original manuals, sales receipt and the pedal board. Flippin' heavy though. Sadly my partner bought it for me for Christmas so no playing with it for a few weeks. ☹️ I have a couple of questions - did the 15" cabinets not have Trace Elliot badges? There's no sign it ever had one. Also the electro fluorescent front panel doesn't work, the seller said he thought it was deliberately disconnected, so that's something to look at. Any suggestions where to start with that? Anyway thanks for all the advice and opinions, I'm very happy with it! 😊

Thanks @Chienmortbb Most of our gigs are open air or churches, etc. and the headset is fine. But we do a Christmas show of pre-1900 carols every year and the last two years that's where we've had awful feedback problems. This year I think I'm just going to rough it and go back to conventional mic.

We did the Fletcher–Munson curve in uni last week. I have to say you explained it better than my text book!

Indeed, and I've been looking for a project to justify a bit more regular bass practice 🙂

Cool transcription, thanks. I tend to be a 'nothing above the 7th fret' player but I'll give it a go...

Ah, this is the problem. The valve combo probably sounds awesome, but I really like the green/black aesthetic The amp is perfect, except it's probably a 6 hour round trip to collect But thanks for sharing!

It is a really nice little amp. I bought a Crush 50B later but the '10x power to be 2x louder' rule meant it was very heavy and not really much louder.

Amazingly that was my last job. We had a subsidised works canteen, everyone ate there and it had a really good atmosphere. Sadly I lost that job when covid struck and I doubt many companies still have a canteen.

For context - for the last two years I've been 'gigging' with an Orange Crush 25B practice amp (!) and I like its tone, it's very portable and it runs off a Jackery power pack without any issues. OK, I play double bass at church services, folk clubs and Morris dance outs, not hard rock, but it's done well and I was hoping the Elf combo would tick the same boxes just be a bit louder. You're so right about waiting to find exactly what I want - I was quite surprised yesterday when I noticed that the first internet link I'd saved was on 20th October, and I've really got quite frustrated that I can't find exactly what I want in a reasonable travelling distance for a reasonable price. e.g. The rig local to me was £500, elsewhere I found stuff for £150-250 but they would require a whole day driving - or an overnight trip for the combo I liked in Scotland. Fortunately if I buy a vintage rig, it will just be for the practice room, so I only have to load it out of the car once. I did look at smaller TE combos but I don't think there's anything which has that vintage look and is also giggable for me. NB: the Elf is a different thing - in parallel to looking at vintage Trace amps I've been thinking to build the Basschat 8" cabinet and use it with an Elf. So buying an Elf combo would be instead of doing woodwork.

Yup. I tend to agree. The amp and 2x10" I quite like and I could make an offer. But at the moment my other half is suggesting I get an Elf combo right now, and come back to invest in vintage TE kit next year once we've moved. Which makes sense as I can gig the Elf as well.

This rig is for sale near to me... https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/778666638472040/ Ticks a lot of boxes, but it is a larger fan-cooled amp. Definitely has 'presence' in the room though.

I did think about putting up a wanted ad. Still might. I used to have a Mark Bass smallish amp and separate GR Bass cabinet - they sounded great but I found it a nuisance carrying two things. My little Orange practice combo is great because there's just one handle. So the Elf combo would suit (or an Elf fitted to a modified BassChat 8" cabinet). But the Elf in the combo is different, so I couldn't whip it out and try it with a different cabinet.

Ah, so many options Most cabinets on ebay are 15" and wanting a 4x10 really cuts down the options. Plus the ones I see are in Scotland, Kent, Liverpool ... all a day's driving from here. I'm starting to think I'd be better off just getting the TE Elf combo... I can gig it as well as practice at home. But I started this hunt thinking of a £150 15" combo to rescue/restore but that's taking me in a completely different direction.