BruceBass3901

Hi everyone,

My band have been working hard to get a feel-good track recorded during this isolation, which was a very steep learning curve for a lot of us, but I would like to share this with you:

For those that are interested (and let's face it, you are on a bass forum, you probably are!) this was my own handmade Jazz style build with DiMarzio UltraJazz pickups through my CTM300 and ABM810. My recording method was very low tech, so you probably don't get the best representation of the sound in the room, but it does the job!

2 hours ago, fretmeister said:

I love the idea of them, but the fan puts me off.

How loud is the fan noise? Can you hear it at TV watching levels?

As has been said, the fans are 'present' but far from obtrusive. You notice when you turn the amp off that there was something there, but when doing anything actually involving the amp, the sound of the fans is totally lost. And they are certainly needed; my CTM300 gets nice and toasty.

1 minute ago, Merton said:

I am! The music playback isn’t half bad at all, the bass works great, the recording function is dead easy and works perfectly latency-free. Very happy with it for the price. Not sure the wife is as happy with me making noises though....

Stop talking the damn thing up @Merton! I'm resisting getting one as a practice/recording kit with a bonus of a decent speaker for my tablet.

I've had the Line6 G30 unit for several years now and never had any issues with it. Wish I had gone for the G50, only because the construction was a little more robust, but my G30 is still unbroken and fighting fit.

4 hours ago, franzbassist said:

I see Guy Pratt's brace of CL310s from the last SFOS tour have appeared in the B-stock pages.

I do wish you hadn't said that...

1 hour ago, Taylor beach-blues said:

That pale tolex is well smart  !!

That is absolutely gorgeous. And here I was thinking my chrome faced CTM300 was a bit special!

I'm not particularly hopeful that any of the gigs we had booked until September/October are going to go ahead. Most in April and May had already been postponed, but I should imagine we will have guidelines through the summer regarding social gatherings as others have said here. I reckon a lot of the pubs and social clubs we normally play at will be having a hard time once this has ''cleared up'' and I don't know if trying to organise gigs will help or hinder that... Could convince people to come out, or might just be an extra cost for them to have us play to an empty room. Either way, we'll take it as it comes, being cautious and law-abiding in the process.

My trumpet player has had it, and while he isn't a young chap, he certainly isn't what I would have considered to be at risk or vulnerable. From what he has told the rest of us, it is a truly nasty and vile thing to get through. He is still recovering.

1 hour ago, Merton said:

🤣 should I be offended or worried that I’m so transparent 🤣

 

Well I see your regular comments in the Ashdown FB groups, so take it as being a known Ashdown Addict 😉

FWIW, once I worked out who you were (mainly but rig pictures) I was disappointed to learn that you are not in fact a bass playing meerkat.

Back on topic, those B-Socials have peaked my interest.

Just now, walshy said:

Same tolex, white piping and black grille. Same spec as his just...less! 😂 

 

That will look wicked smart. Although, that tolex with the white cloth would look very sharp 😉

My CTM lives on top of very beaten up ABM810, but sounds great through the ABM610 as well. 

2 minutes ago, walshy said:

Think I’m going 6x10, I deffo don’t need 2 8x10 like Nate! 

Is it ever really a question of need? Would 2 810s not 'spark joy' with that CTM?

EDIT: And are you going for the classic black grille? Or maybe the red or white cloth?

12 minutes ago, walshy said:

Some great things up for grabs and I bagged the Nate CTM300 thanks to Andy 😁 Can’t wait, even ordering a matching cab in same tolex😂 Means my CTM100 is up for grabs now though. Bloody good amps and derive is excellent too!

What cab did you go for?

4 hours ago, la bam said:

Well, I'm moved a few things on, and reshuffled a good few things and managed to snare an ashdown ctm300 for a fantastic deal.

Hopefully itll give me everything I need for this type of role.

Best of luck with it. I love my CTM300 and reckon it will work perfectly for what you want. It has a pretty 'baked in' tone, but by god is it a good one.

Play with the pushbuttons, particularly the Shift and Bright buttons, to get a bit of sculpting going on. I have seen a few posts around recently saying to crank the Bass, Mid and Treble controls and then just uses the pushbuttons to suit the room. I haven't given it a go as my ABM 600 is my go to for gigs.

If you want bag loads of clean volume, crank the master volume all the way up and set the output with the gain control. If you want a bit more dirt, balance the two.

Enjoy it!

35 minutes ago, Quilly said:

I actually bought one from Merton there before Christmas and it’s a gem of an amp. Had an LB-30 many moons ago. Great sounding amp but don’t expect a clean tone at gigging volumes. I think the CTM100 probably has the best of options 

I was eyeing Merton's one as well, but sadly reality struck and my music-fund had to take a hit.

Keep me in mind if you decide to shift it? 😉

I'm not at all surprised to find Merton sitting pretty in this thread 😅

I was very tempted by the LB30, but sadly it sold before I could decide.

It would have looked lovely next to my chrome ABM600 and chrome CTM300, but sadly the LB30 I think will always be ''the one that got away'' for me and my Ashdown collection.

The 427 would be a lovely rare beast to have, but something with that much grunt is just too much for me.

Now... if a Spyder 550 head was to emerge from the shadows, I would jump on it in a heartbeat.

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1467069200' post='3081033']
The Ashdown Hyperdrive is the most disappointing pedal I have ever bought. I kept thinking that I'd eventually figure out how to dial a sound I liked into it, but I just ended up not using it at all. And it takes up an awful lot of room for nothing.

They were still being raved about at the time. But then, as soon as I got mine, there's been barely a peep since. I feel like I was conned!
[/quote]

I was disappointed with the Lorenzo Hyperdrive when I first got it, so flipped it pretty quickly. Not long after, Ashdown posted a video with James Lorenzo showing how he dials it in, which really opened my eyes to the possibilities. I got another one soon after and have found it great to get a mid-focused distortion that really cuts through

I've got the DiMarzio Ultrajazz set in my Jazzbass which I just love and sound great in my ska band, so I sort of trust that the Model P will do the job. But PlungerModerno is totally right; I can change things around afterwards!

Definitely going to ensure the body is able to accommodate the P Retro so that I can have a pretty versatile bass.

Thanks for the advice guys!

I would love to get a proper vintage sounding pickup like the Aguilar P 60, the Fender Custom Shop '62 or something custom, but for now (having listened to a few demos and shootouts) I think I will try my luck with the DiMarzio Model P I already have.

I'll also look into getting a set of flatwounds as I normally use Bass Centre Stadium Elite Stainless strings, which sound great but I would like to give the classic P Bass thump a go as well.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1467148686' post='3081562']
My fave Precision pickups are the Fender Custom Shop 62s that come in post 2012 Precisions as standard. I have them in all of my Precisions which are alder body/maple neck, and the sound is just great, real fat n chunky, but can be sharpened up without becoming too shrill.
[/quote]

Thanks Lozz,

I'm hearing quite a few good things about this pickup. I may have to look into finding one!

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1467147482' post='3081551']
Hi BruceBass,

Good luck with the build. What sort of sound do you enjoy? Do you like the Jamerson deeper tone or a more aggressive, Musicman type sound?
[/quote]

Thanks Grangur.

I enjoy both, but do tend to lean towards a slightly more aggressive sound. I currently have a DiMarzio Model P left over from another build but I was concerned that it would be a little too agressive sounding (based on opinions of those that use it for rock/metal) for my ska band.

Hi everyone,

I'm in the last stages of preparing for a P bass build and I am in need of a pickup.

I have very little experience with P basses generally as I have normally favoured a Jazz or Stingray style, but I now find myself looking to fill the P shaped hole in my stable.

I know that a lot of people will say that this is totally subjective, but I don't really have a starting point for this, so could do with the advice of the ever-mighty Basschat community!!

The bass will feature an alder body with a maple Allparts neck (for those that are interested) and a single P bass pickup in the standard location. It will mainly be used in my Ska and 2 Tone covers band but will likely see a bit of everything, so a versatile pickup as opposed to a 'one trick pony' would suit me better.

I have also yet to decide whether I want this bass to be passive or active. I will probably rout the body to allow for a preamp such as a John East P Retro to be mounted at a later date, so for the time being, consider this to be a bog standard passive P bass with a single volume and single tone control.

Can somebody please point me in a good direction?

Many thanks!

Looks awesome Merton!

I'm going to start gigging my CTM 300 and ABM NEO 210 setup next month, but sadly my CTM is flightcased so the cab will have to be sideways

I have one of the sealed NEO 210s and it is a cracking cab. Nice and punchy, very loud and very easy to lift. I've been singing these cabs praises on here recently in other posts and that is because they deserve it.

I've got the newer ABM NEO 210 cab, which is sealed and rated at 1000W and I have to say that it is a truly fantastic sounding cab. Very loud and just a fantastic tone.

I was previously gigging with an ABM 610 cab and I think I can say that it blows it out of the water both in terms of tone and volume. I would recommend these cabs to anybody looking for great tone and great maneuverability. They are great lightweight cabs that have definitely not compromised on tone or volume.

I've gigged my ABM 600 EVO IV and ABM NEO 210 setup quite a few times since my previous post and can safely say that I am noticing more body and heft to my tone compared to my ABM 900 EVO III. This comparison is still being made with the same bass/string combo and playing similar sized gigs with identical PA setups.

I think the EVO IV has just taken everything that was great from the EVO III and just given it a bit more oomph. A truly great sounding head, and the NEO cab is stonking as well.

I can vouch for the ABM 600 being a cracking head and that is what the bass player for Death Cab for Cutie is using these days.

I can also recommend the ABM NEO cabs. They have stacks of volume and great tone on tap.