Conan

[quote name='MOSCOWBASS' timestamp='1427103531' post='2725679'] Reading all your comments here, have you tried and discounted the MB800? [/quote] I haven't. A few weeks ago, GK amps were definitely on my short list - but then (following a chat with a local BC member) a TC RH750 became available at an excellent price. It wasn't for me (too complicated!) but I traded it for my current TH500. Part of the problem is that I don't have a lot of disposable cash to spend on an amp. The GK500 was within my budget, but I was advised that the Aggie was "better"... This thread details some of my problems and decisions - http://basschat.co.uk/topic/255371-new-amp-dilemma/ I have never owned or even used a GK amp, so I am happy to try one, should one become available. Sadly I have neither the time nor the inclination to sit in a typical music shop and try lots of amps. Also, unless I could use them with my current cab, the experience would be rather pointless anyway! Hopefully this week I will be trying a Markbass F1. I've never tried any MB gear either, so that should be interesting! I'm starting to wish that I'd simply held on to my Hartke LH500!

Well, I got them all wrong - but I'm neither surprised nor upset! An interesting test, and this thread should be made a sticky due to the huge number of times that people say they [b][i]know[/i][/b] what a certain speaker size sounds like.... they can then be referred to this thread!

[quote name='M@23' timestamp='1426976066' post='2724431'] My TH500 is clean until gain or drive hit 2 o'clock. It's never clinical sparkly clean... [/quote] I think that's the problem. Some of us who come to the TH500 from very clean amps seem to find it "distorted". Of course, there are many other variables (the main one being our ears!), but there are enough people saying this to make it pretty clear that my amp is probably not faulty but characteristic of the "TH500 sound". For some it works, for me (and clearly Jazzyvee too) it may not. Such is life. What I am calling "distortion", some of you would no doubt describe as "warmth" or something else... it's all down to the words.

Erm.... it's a long story - but basically, no he isn't

I always assumed that the shallow neck was the main reason why most people bought Geddies/Geddy's? Surely adding a thicker (more P-like presumably) neck will affect the tone, but also the playability inherent in this model? It also lacks the Baddass II, which makes it a further departure from Geddy's original bass... Fender's choices baffle me sometimes...

[quote name='zero9' timestamp='1426773760' post='2721791'] I'd opt for EMG's. A good allrounder, and excellent for studio use, where low noise is key. These probably have less 'character' than others... [/quote] Not sure about that... they certainly have a character IMO, but not like other (less subtle) pickups. I love EMGs and have a set in my Geddy Lee J

I bought a Jack & Danny J bass last summer, predominantly as it was surf green! I was very (pleasantly) surprised at the general standard of components, fit and finish - and yet it only cost £119 brand new! I have gigged with it and would happily do so again. It has one of the nicest J necks I've played (allowing for the slightly rough/sharp fret ends). When I compare it to the rubbish I played back in the late seventies and early eighties I shudder at what we put up with!

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1426696801' post='2720950'] we're way out of stacknob territory here. [/quote] For some reason, I hear that in a John Wayne voice...

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1426859466' post='2722817'] ..which is the purpose of this thread, really. It's challenging the preconceptions that many of us have. [/quote] Exactly. There are no winners and losers in a poll/thread such as this - we are all winners really as our collective (and individual) knowledge will have been added to

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1426859392' post='2722815'] But surely what your ears tell you is the only important thing? It doesn't matter what size the drivers are so long as you like the sound and it's loud enough for your needs. [/quote] For some, yes. Others are interested in the technology from a more 'academic' point of view perhaps... The resulting sound is the bottom line of course, but how that sound is made/shaped is also pretty interesting and worthy of study for its own sake.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1426854276' post='2722726']Thankfully I'm blessed with a good ear hewn from years of playing and jamming with others... [/quote] Yeah - like Mark Knopfler!! I'd say that puts you in a slightly different league to the rest of us mate!

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1426858227' post='2722787'] A little point Conan has highlighted for all of us here that use speakon only gear is to invest in a Jack to speakon lead, it would have enabled a test with other cabs here, it would allow the use of a speakon head with some one elses cabs on a shared stage setup or emergency etc, it would allow if reversed the use of a speakon cab with a borrowed head for shared gigs, rehearsal rooms or half way through a gig if your head blows up and a friendly bassist lends you an Ashdown or something. Don't leave home without one! [/quote] Indeed! The bugger is that I actually own two such cables, but left them at home!

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1426730496' post='2721407'] I always know my parts, I'm always on time, I'm always equipped to do the job and I take quiet pleasure in getting things 'just right'. [/quote] This is what I aspire to. I'll never be Victor Wooten, and I wouldn't want to be! Pretty soon, I may not even be the best bass player in my house! My son is 17 and has a natural ear for music (which I like to think he inherited from me...!). He is predominantly a guitarist but has recently taken up bass too - he's good! Most of the time, I can play what I want and need to play - but of course I would like to be better. I just no longer have the time to practise and learn When I was 18 I used to play for 4-5 hours a day, and was a far better player than I am now, but I think my "taste" is more developed now so I know when [b][i]not[/i][/b] to play! I'm a hobbyist and will never be anything else (now). It suits me.

[quote name='dan670844' timestamp='1426849136' post='2722603'] And who said you have to carry this stuff, those little foldable sack barrows do the job nicely...... [/quote] Until you get to the stairs...

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1426848350' post='2722587']From what I've read you haven't been able to try the amp into another cab other than your regular one? [/quote] Not yet. But it is on my "to-do" list

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1426844941' post='2722514']Was I direspectful in any way at all here? [/quote] I didn't say that you were disrespectful, but you did come across as a bit negative IMO. Fair enough. Maybe my use of the word "criticise" was a bit inappropriate, but criticism can be positive too of course! I think, at the end of the day, no matter how exhaustive and objective tests like this are, there will always be some bass players who say "never mind the science, I know what my ears tell me". So I don't think there will ever be any final answers to this question. Which doesn't mean that we can't try, of course!

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1426846477' post='2722547'] I don't really understand this Conan.... [/quote] To be fair, I'm not sure you've been keeping up with everything I have posted, and I haven't necessarily posted everything that I know! I have had a number of PM conversations with other members on here. Making public judgements from a position of partial knowledge (and potentially harming my ability to sell/trade something) is rather unfair I am fully aware of what I need to do to (try to) isolate the source of the issue - but I am also aware that it may not be as simple as that. If you are suggesting that I would attempt to sell something that I [b][i]know[/i][/b] to be faulty, then I am saddened. Have you read my feedback on here? [i][b]I[/b][/i] never said it was faulty - it was other self-appointed "experts" who did that. Please don't jump to conclusions without knowing the full story

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1426812019' post='2722371']I'm assuming it's out of warranty so you can't get it checked over by the UK Aguilar people? [/quote] I traded it on here and as far as I am aware, the warranty is limited and non-transferrable. I have also been advised that there may be a capacitance/compatibility issue with the Big One, but I haven't been able to try his suggested solution due to the speakon only outputs on the amp and the fact that all my speaker cables are short and high quality...! Also, at the end of the day, I am frustrated by the interaction of the controls and suspect that this amp is just not for me. Such is life!

[quote name='JPJ' timestamp='1426781586' post='2721893'] I'm a luddite when it comes to loudspeakers :-) [/quote] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6f6BNp1q1Y

[quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1426772338' post='2721762'] If Matt doesn't want it, I'd love it if you're interested in an Ashdown CTM 300? [/quote] They sound great - but I have no cash to make up the difference at the moment... unless you are talking about a straight trade of course?

[quote name='Matt P' timestamp='1426768835' post='2721706'] Me me me! I might offer the f1 as part of a trade if you are interested? Matt [/quote] Ha ha! I was wondering how it would take you to pop up Matt! I'll drop you a PM and we can discuss options

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1426759768' post='2721563']So its a bit of fun but not actually all that scientific maybe? [/quote] So maybe, instead of criticising, you could design a test of your own that would generate valid results? Could such a test even exist or are there too many variables?