dan670844

If you really want to do this, which these days if you have a good transformer based DI on your amp it really isnt that necessary unless you have an old school amp that has a nice cab. I assume you do, then it is best need to use a side address mic with a large diaphragm like a KSM32 or PGA 27 as unlike guitar amps you need the mic away from the speaker a bit. You will have to control your dynamics aswell as most speakers sound sh*t when pushed close up......

I hate to be controversial....... but the London music scene is f@@cked, its mostly a bring your own fan base, in shoddy venues with poor sound, that are usually empty, apart from the other bands and their mates. There are some exceptions to the rule, but in the main that is it... don't be fooled into anything different. You would be better off doing some research and find venues that have people in them that really want to see new live music. That you didn't bring along yourself. There are a couple of places in London but not many, better off looking elsewhere like Bristol, Newcastle, Brum, Cambridge, Cardiff, Oxford. There are much better venues in towns and cities elsewhere, where you stand more of a chance of building up a genuine new fanbase. The London scene needs to reinvent itself. In order to do that a lot of these sh*tty venues need to die..... it is happening but it is a long and protracted painful death!!!! Better off to find a promotor who likes your stuff before you venture down here, then you will get into the better venues and stand a chance of collecting a few new faces.... in fact without promoter support you are really wasting your time and will end up broke and annoyed. Arrgh everything needs to change, music is a credible career and in order for it to thrive everybody needs to make money, bands, venues and promoters. No one does.... most especially in London. You will shell out a lot of beans for no gain I think...

I think here is reflective of the rest of the UK at the moment. There seems to be a great malaise over everything, particularly in the music industry, a lot of people have just given up or have had to go further afield to make ends meet. At the moment it is hard to make a decent living from it. At every level, things are very wrong. I know particularly in London, venues are struggling to find bands and punters. But all this nonsense about bands having to bring people to the venue is nonsense, they need to be full in the first place. It all needs looking at I guess the lack of interest in it all of it is reflected on here. We need a strong counter-culture to come along before we all turn into pipe and slippers nay sayers.... And don't criticise any of the sponsored gear on here however valid professional and articulate that comment was....

Way I went, class D just cannot deliver the transients that lead to a thick meaty bass tone and to me Neo speakers just sound weird and not forgot the amazing tone you get with a valve amp.... And who said you have to carry this stuff, those little foldable sack barrows do the job nicely......

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1426549442' post='2719322'] Is it maybe a technique issue ? Lighter gauge strings ? Lower action ? [/quote] +1 on this might be worth having a look at the technique, Your fretting hand should be relaxed, wrist should be straight, if your fretting in the right place then the pressure on the fret board should be very low almost zero. You could be aggravating an injury by practicing scales every day, have a break for 5 days. Having said all that nothing wrong with slotting a jazz neck onto one of your 'cisions its a common thing to do and is reversible should you want to sell. Those warmouth necks fit like a glove.

Nothing will sound like a valve amp.... To keep valve purity you could go Ampeg V4B or Ashdown CTM100 through something from Barefaced as their cabs a very sensitive and light so you will get the same volume out of the 100watts they both put out. Both these heads .aren't that heavy. The new Mesa tube bass stuff will deliver and its lightweight, but not on price. Ashdown 550spyder (UK one) with some low end compression is the closest I have heard to a clean tube amp, but they are quite heavy as they have a huge transformer. I would say even heavier than the above but not as heavy as the AD200 There is the Markbass TT500 and TTE800 I have not tried but they are supposed to emulate a big tube amp from the 70's, streamliner or veyron might be worth a look also. As someone else said you will not get the dynamics and the weight behind the note with class D stuff, because a switch mode power supply just wont deliver the high transient current and that valve tone is coming from a physical thing, the valves and the output transformer.... Another poster said go and try them before buying, totally agree on this point. I am not sure you will find what you are looking for without having an all valve rig. I have been through this and come out the other side I have a CTM300 and if you think your AD200 heavy try one of them!! I the tone of this amp to me just cannot be bested. I wish I would have bought a CTM100 as in the real world this is plenty loud enough. All of this for me was solved by buying a lightweight old school sounding cab and a foldable sack barrow.................. I don't carry anything the amp stays in its flight case for transit, and its amazing when you use a stack barrow everyone seems to help to lift it up stairs. When I carried the amp myself no one did!!! and mine weighs 40Kgs....

Hear hear, I haven't been on here for ages as I was getting pretty tired of the equipment manufacturer bashing, everybody has the right to like their own particular brand of stuff; everybody's taste is different. On here however, Ashdown receives a particularly hard time. I love their stuff, most of it, only things I didn't like was the early Mag cabs as they seemed to lack in the midrange department. But they where a worthy attempt at try to get some low end in the lower end of the bass amp market. I think for the money Mag heads brill, they are very dynamic and have a great adjustable tone and power. The new mag cabs for the money are good and have lost that woollyness that everybody complained about. Ashdown have something for everyone, the Uk made is proper high end stuff and up there with the best, particulary, the GP12 style, the UK ABM and the Valve stuff. I use their valve gear and love it, nothing sounds like it for the money, its ultra reliable but more important has been designed so that even numpty like me can look after it, change valves and bias etc. So no expensive trips to the amp doctors. I also have to say their customer service is second to none...... I commend them also for trying to being innovative, they do not follow they lead in innovation. Which is great, for a relatively small company, they do not always get it right but when they do, they get it very right. Everybody else seems to be offering more of less the same things with varying degrees of success. I don't think we should be bashing any amplifier maker, lets just say we don't like it and find what we do like. How all these manufacturers make money and more importantly develop their products, with the amount of money that most are prepared to pay for an amp is pretty outstanding work from everybody. Back in the day I remember when I bought my first High end amp a Trace GP12SMX and RM300, It was series money topping £2K. Inflatation dictates that high end stuff should be more expensive it isn't...... For the record this device looks very interesting, if you bother to look at the specs of it and what it can actually do, it is actually good value for money.....

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1400962967' post='2458701'] I could be wrong but I think the DD are alnico and the Fender pups are ceramic magnet which I've read is what contributes to the brittleness... [/quote] sd's are defo alinco, they are great and wouldnt swap em out, my fender designed have a harsh top end and have an attentuated low end, they sound like a mexi jazz pup. Which i hate. i am just going to get the guts ripped changed to alinco v and the bobbins rewound with formar.

Well things move on and they essentially have not. They were the in thing in the early 90's, but they are old hat now. I have used the latest offerings. The essential characteristics on the old SMX and series 6. Was their big dynamic range and punch. Which has not been carried over to the new stuff. IMAO its wimpy compared to the older stuff. People that were using their stuff have moved on. SWR, Eden, GK took the idea and took it forward. Ashdown have taken a lot of the established users as well. I think their stuff, with celestian drivers. Which is probably what artists get. Is pretty decent. Its sad, but not the only good amp brand that has gone to the wall recently, names like Genz for example. Its a small industry with a small budget........... Room has to be made.

I bought A VM J V Maple / maple for £220 off Ebay. Not a mark on it. It had a bit of a wonky set up and some high frets. But after a set up it plays great and the quality fit and finish is really very good. The body is supposed to be a two piece, down the middle, but I cant see a join at all. Mine is the lastest version with Fender designed pickups. I think the duncan designed ones were better. They have a brittle top end. So they will go. Only problem with the maple/maple V is it heavy. But its as tough as old boots, would be great in a bar brawl....

[quote name='plunkrock' timestamp='1399656478' post='2446437'] My Squier Jazz is BEAD, sometimes AEAD. Had to widen the nut and fiddle around a bit but works fine, my low B is .145 [/quote] This is exactly what I need to do. I tried a Squier VM jazz V the other day though that had been luthiered and I was mightly impressed. But I dont need another bass!

Cheers all thanks for the help! Dan

Hello Dudes, Has anyone attempted this? I am doing some work which requires a low B. Just wondered if the Jazz can take the strain of this. Will obviously get the nut recut and set up properly. Probably go 130 on the B but hard wound flats to keep it taught. I have quite a few 4 string jazzers and would rather do this than hit a 5 string. I need it to sound Fender Jazzy. I have a 2010 Fender Mexi Jazz which I intend to do this too it has a Gotoh 201 and Bare knuckles PUPS. I just cant get on with 5 string jazzers. Yes I could go out and buy any number of great 5 stringers that sound like a J. But I dont want to sink any hard earned on this project as its just to get something done.

Dont sweat dude if you like it and everyone says it sounds good do it, you need to factor in what colouration your cab is having on your sound as well, I use a 2x12 and a 610 both have plenty of low. Both boxes contain celestion green labels 12 and 10s respectively, they are very punchy speakers but lack a bit of low mid and also bite around 1-2khz so I add around those regions. This makes a very punchy solid tone and the speakers are very quick which I love. Maybe actually you are just evening things out, by Qing up like this you are taking some of the low mids, or boxiness out, that I find some 15s have. Simliey face Eq isnt new it mimics the Q profile of a Fender Dual Showman, tone stack. Playing bass through one of them is tonal heaven. This is basically what a Alembic FX1 rack mount is and what trace elliot where trying to sound like with transistors back in the day. The q will cut through nicely with a bit of horsepower and with a bit of warmth (drive) in the preamp. Not a problem with this type of Ampeg, they dont tread lightly and a preamp isnt hifi clean. They are great enjoy! but if you tried your head with a sealed ampeg cab, it would sound the b@@@@ks

Depends what you mean by value..... Cheap or value or for money? I like the Aguilar DB112 its expensive, but a great 12 tone and records amazing, it also quite loud but with linerarity. I think for what it is it's excellent value for money. Downside its very heavy! wizzer 12 is also a great cab, good value for money! I havnt tried barefaced cabs the specs speak for themselves for the money great stuff..!