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The GAS is always greener


JapanAxe
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I am the lucky owner of a lovely hybrid bass head, with a valve pre-amp and Class D power amp. Recently I had to carry out a repair on the pre-amp, and it got me thinking about other amps - could an all-valve head be EVEN BETTER?

For a while I had been ogling an EBS T90 Classic on Absolute Music's website. I had a gig in Longham on Tuesday night (only 3 miles from the shop), so Mrs Axe and I drove down early and I took a bass and cab in to try it out. It's fair to say I didn't feel the love; it sounded quite nice, but was a bit hissy, and I didn't think it went loud enough before running into distortion - I tried it in their big Live Room, you can't really tell in a demo booth! No sale.

Then I toddled off to my gig. My own rig sounded truly wonderful ;)

So no more amp GAS then? No, I'm now thinking about building/repairing/modding a 'big iron' conventional transistor amp...

And that, folks, nicely demonstrates the illogic of GAS :)

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5 hours ago, visog said:

Not sure of your logic. GAS always strikes... if you've got 'the one bass' it pops up with your effects... or amp. I'm just chiming in because of your cool thread title, "The GAS is always greener"

That's the point, there is no logic to GAS. I have a killer amp and cab yet I still find myself browsing eBay and the BC Marketplace for another amp!

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The way I see it, the only way to properly try an amp out is to play a gig with it. It's highly unlikely that I'd get a chance to try out all the stuff I'd like to so the only way is to buy them, try them out and then keep or sell. I've got lovely stuff but still peruse the F/S section for stuff I have absolutely no need for. It's my only real vice though since I don't drink much or smoke or go on holidays.

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On 13/10/2018 at 00:13, JapanAxe said:

That's the point, there is no logic to GAS. I have a killer amp and cab yet I still find myself browsing eBay and the BC Marketplace for another amp!

We all do. There should be a GASaholic help group

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3 hours ago, Japhet said:

The way I see it, the only way to properly try an amp out is to play a gig with it. It's highly unlikely that I'd get a chance to try out all the stuff I'd like to so the only way is to buy them, try them out and then keep or sell. I've got lovely stuff but still peruse the F/S section for stuff I have absolutely no need for. It's my only real vice though since I don't drink much or smoke or go on holidays.

That's an utterly brilliant justification for GAS! Just off to enquire about a big f-off head that might still be for sale...

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29 minutes ago, TrevorR said:

Let's not talk about the results of the blind bass test or the valve vs class D amp heft test at the SE Bass Bash... it was quite the revelation. Quite the depressing revelation...

Oh yes, please do, for the benefit of us 'northern' folk. I'd be interested to hear the results

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1 hour ago, MoJo said:

Oh yes, please do, for the benefit of us 'northern' folk. I'd be interested to hear the results

OK... you asked for it... so the results were...

  • all different types of basses basically sound like bass guitars and even we couldn't tell the difference (and usually couldn't even identify our own bass),
  • valve amps don't particularly sound any better or have any more "heft" than Class D transistor amps, they all sound perfectly fine.

It was all very depressing! LOL! 🙄😁

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4 hours ago, TrevorR said:

OK... you asked for it... so the results were...

  • all different types of basses basically sound like bass guitars and even we couldn't tell the difference (and usually couldn't even identify our own bass),
  • valve amps don't particularly sound any better or have any more "heft" than Class D transistor amps, they all sound perfectly fine.

It was all very depressing! LOL! 🙄😁

Not for me. It reinforces my choice of a cheap Vintage V4 and a Class D Rumble 500v3 :lol:

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9 hours ago, TrevorR said:

OK... you asked for it... so the results were...

  • all different types of basses basically sound like bass guitars and even we couldn't tell the difference (and usually couldn't even identify our own bass),
  • valve amps don't particularly sound any better or have any more "heft" than Class D transistor amps, they all sound perfectly fine.

It was all very depressing! LOL! 🙄😁

OK, so no need for me to snag a used big-iron Class AB head then. D'oh!

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On 15/10/2018 at 17:15, MoJo said:

We all do. There should be a GASaholic help group

GAS is indeed a terrible thing. I look at the basses for sale section here almost every day. I don’t know why as I have as many basses as I need, & I haven’t seen anything for sale in a long while that i’d want in preference to what I already have.

Just done a straight swap on a cab, but that doesn’t really count. In fact the last thing I bought was a used 6 string acoustic........ my bad.

Buying & selling is part of the bass ‘hobby’ for me, so a little frustrating having no need to do that at the moment. First world problem mind! 😆

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4 hours ago, Wilco said:

Buying & selling is part of the bass ‘hobby’ for me 😆

+1 The pleasure of the chase, and acquisition [rpt].  A couple of times I have bought The One, only to sell and buy again, because I can't bear the thought of the chase ending. 

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4 hours ago, Wilco said:

.......Buying & selling is part of the bass ‘hobby’ for me, so a little frustrating having no need to do that at the moment. First world problem mind! 😆

Yes, a bit of buying, selling & trading is how I've come to learn what I like best - by way of basses and amp gear.
It has taught me a lot, and GAS is a huge part of that... even though one of the lessons has taken me around full circle ;)
But even going full circle, and getting back to where you were a few years back is a journey - you come to appreciate why you like "bass A" or "bass B", amp A etc

Really like the title of this thread :) :) :) 

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13 minutes ago, lownote12 said:

+1 The pleasure of the chase, and acquisition [

Absolutely right -  massive endorphin rush on the purchase - I've bought 2 guitars and an acoustic bass in the last fortnight because they were bargains not because I needed them. I've owned and sold much better quality guitars than all 3 of these  previously. 

GAS would make for an interesting psychological research study.

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On 16/10/2018 at 11:39, TrevorR said:

OK... you asked for it... so the results were...

  • all different types of basses basically sound like bass guitars and even we couldn't tell the difference (and usually couldn't even identify our own bass),
  • valve amps don't particularly sound any better or have any more "heft" than Class D transistor amps, they all sound perfectly fine.

It was all very depressing! LOL! 🙄😁

Pop down your local chemist and buy a pack of these - you'll soon be back to thinking that the gear will make a difference and the GAS will be back :)

purpose-of-placebo-pill.jpg

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