Leaderboard

Real. it’s the body, the sound, the feel....the sweat, the pain, the expense, the awkwardness, the difficulty....but oh the sheer joy!

For obvious reasons, there's always a steady stream of topics on here about amp/cab pairings. Obviously, this issue is by definition subjective but I particularly wanted to flag up how totally chuffed I am with my latest Mesa-cum-Barefaced rig. When the amp arrived on Wednesday, I first tried it flat through my pair of BF One10s - but the sounds were a bit too dark/vintage/moody. So I hooked it up to my Super Compact - and KERRPOW - instant gratification and grinning from ear to ear! Since then all I've changed is to dial the high mids down to between 10 and 11 o'clock and bring the voicing in at 9. To put my comments in context, I'm playing classic covers and my bass is a Maru' Elwood 4a with Haeussel P/JJ with Delano 2-band. I'm not posting this to suggest that it must be right for everybody just because I like it, but to endorse a couple of things that others have already said: the Mesa is an incredibly good amp; and you won't get that excessive 'darkness' that some complain if you pair it with the right cab. Along similar lines, seem to remember McNach reporting that his 800+ (with additional high-pass filtration and bright controls) sounds great through his pair of Two10s.

Baggage handlers would be dying in strange, almost Final Destination type "accidents" if that had been my instrument.

I like to leave the negative comments so everyone can see the poster for what they are. At least they care enough to post a comment. I enjoy the whole process and that's all that's important for me. If other people like the music that's a bonus. If they don't, there's plenty of other music on the net they will enjoy.

I would be going to a different retailer next time! What an attitude to customers

I can see how the poor design leaves that chunk of wood vulnerable. I'd point out to them that if you had caused the damage then you would have just bolted it back together and sent it back under the distance selling rules and they'd be non the wiser rather than highlighting the problem.

I actually think the headstock design is nicer on this than that of the original it's drawn from.

I am your Grandad............

Mine turned up half an hour ago, quick tune up and straplocks on balances nicely on a Comfort Strapp. I ordered a case with it, the headstock just about fits, which I suppose is just enough really.

It's good for spotting and thus avoiding posture problems too, i.e slouching or playing with badly bent wrists, the kind of thing that can cause health problems, bad backs, carpel tunnel etc.

Yeah... I hate it when threads are ruined by discussion, too.

Ta Ped, gosh I look popular....

Thank you very much everyone for the advice! I have managed to source a second-hand SR300 I'm looking forward to getting started with it. Saxondale

I've owned a Euro4 and a couple of Legends, so already very much a fan. Have underlying Spector GAS constantly. Only one thing to do about that, really.

Just to clarify, I’m not the horse referred to in the OP’s title....👍

What makes old *anything* more desirable to some people / more valuable / worth preserving? In a word I’d say it’s ‘heritage’. Today we can generally manufacture products to a far higher standard than in the past: be it dining tables, buildings or even bass guitars. What we can’t do is imbue these items with history and heritage and authenticity... only time can do that. And that’s ultimately what the antiques market is based on. A skilled joiner can build a Victorian style table to the exact same standard as his Victorian counterpart; just as a skilled luthier can replicate a ‘66 Fender Jazz right down to the pickguard screws. But the items will have no true heritage. And heritage is something we humans hold dear - not just in dining tables and bass guitars, but throughout all of our many different cultures. You won’t boil the value of heritage down to a clear and convenient answer in this or any other context (suffice to say it’s part of the ‘human condition’). But it makes for a fun discussion

That's what I tell the missus.

I thought magicians weren't supposed to reveal how their magic works...

Got one on order with the new SL-2

Agreed. There is absolutely no reason why a guitar of this quality should have anything like the issues you have photographed. I would send the guitar back on principle. Even more so if I received that sort of message about it 'never being perfect'. Nonsense. Ibanez UK would probably like to hear about this too.

Probably! But I don´t like 10´s. Twelves and even better - 15" is the perfect match for me. But I´m not looking for amps/cabs. I´m totally home with my gear. It´s still lightweight compared to the Sunn 300T and 2 JCM800-cabs.

Have to agree with the above, it looks amazing. Well Done!

You'd still be criticised; you just won't know what that criticism was, that's all..!

Fact is, it's hard to go out and buy a really bad bass these days....now in my day, when men were men, (in the 70's) the cheap basses were awful and some of the big names were a bit dodgy too!

'Sgood for oneself, though, even if they're never seen by the unwashed masses. Seeing and hearing how one plays can be quite a surprise. It's worth doing, if only for that, and, whatever the 'quality' of the technique used, it's a benchmark for when it's wanted for public consumption. I use my Logitech webcam, which has a built-in mic. I convert to Youtube format using VideoPad, but there are on-line converters, too. No expense involved, and the 'quality' is easily good enough for my poor playing. Good experience, though, and very instructive. Have a go..?

I think they should reissue this: For a laugh.

This from 10 years ago is relevant

Bassnotchat

My recoding amp, also my pride and joy. Sounds amazing with my flats loaded P and flats loaded J. A 1965/1966 Ampeg SB-12

The LH500 will put out 350 watts into 8 ohm. As long as you don't push the volume to 11 you should be OK. If you start pushing the cab to its limits you should be able to hear when it''s getting stressed. What cab did you buy? My advice is to get a 500 watt amp and start saving for another cab. 2 cabs will sound much better than 1 because you won't need to push either very hard to get a good sound.

Very sensible. You can always keep your GAS on a low flame by trying out any amps you get a chance to. That also has the side benefit of giving you an idea what might work for you in the future. There is plenty of great gear out there to scorch your bank balance one day.

No worries sounds like yours will be a bit more interesting than mine anyway

Leaving it on all day should be fine, it’s essentially the same power supply technology used in thousands of devices that are switched on all day long like cordless phones and set top boxes. Check everything one thing at a time. Could even be a dodgy cable, that would be the most likely explanation given what you said at the end. I thoroughly recommend the Behringer cable tester btw!

Well the TC 208 can connect up to an extension speaker, giving you 250 watts in total, positives being a 1x15 and 2x8 giving a (probably) fuller sound due to more speakers. Only downside is pairing different speaker sizes can sometimes not work too well - especially if not the same brand. That said, I`ve always lucked out and never had an issue with it myself. Worth taking a punt on that, you can always send it back if it didn`t work, providing you chooese the right seller and return within their specified tim.

Agree totally - very highly regarded basses.

This is just based on my personal experience and I'm in no way disparaging EUBs, but unless you absolutely don't have the space, I'd go straight for a DB. EUBs definitely have their place and you might get one at a later date if you need the portability, but the satisfaction of getting a sound out of a big acoustic instrument is hard to beat.

I've only done two videos. I mic'd up the amp with sm 57 and recorded the sound via interface in Ableton software. I then mixed the bass sound with the backing guitar track and did all the compression and mastering. I placed a digital camera in front of me to record the motion and sound. When I imported the bass sound and video into movie media maker I muted the sound on video and synced the two together.

For rock and metal, you can`t go wrong with a SR300, the newer one with the powerspan pickups. Ibanez are generally really well made, good sounding instruments. I have an SR750 and it`s a great bass but a good bit more than your current budget.

Dean would fit your price range and musical interest too, good value for money.

They're kinda like more expensive TKS S212's :-)

Hey everyone I wanted to share this cover I just released - I layered every part from this HK 7-string bass, drums, bass, keys, vocals etc - everything is all one instrument! Feedback would be appreciated. Cheers - Adam, Hop Pole Studios

The 'Recorder'.... is there really anything worse?

I can’t abide that horrible affected ‘cute’ voice used by many singers, quite often at open mics and on supermarket and mobile phone ads. It sounds like they’ve swallowed a duck call. Just sing in your own voice, man.

When I start recording a video I always snap the G string onto the figerboard. All cameras have their sound recording on and I record the proper sound for use in the video on Cubasis. Doing this gives me a point on the sound track from each camera that I can line up in the editing software. I then group all the tracks together so I can't move any of them out of sync and edit from there. It's a bit like the use of a clapper board used in shooting a film for cinema. Nothing really more complicated than that for me.

Whistling. Every second advert seems to be soundtracked with plinky ukeleles overdubbed with this anaemic hissy hooting. Makes me want to amputate lips with a rusty razorblade.

And here is one. Andy's creation which is now my go to bass. Nearly a year old now and I have to say it has settled superbly. Dropped the action and a tweak on the trussrod- Sweet. Has an amazing range of sounds. Both pups are switchable Parallel, series and single coil.

Majorettes! I don't know, or care, what instruments are involved but that whole clanging, tinging, stomping noise that foreshadows the appearance of the 'orrible little batton twirlers. Terrifying.

I'm completely self taught and sometimes feel that if I had received lessons then it may have limited my playing I play open strings, mute with both hands, don't have a clue about scales & modes (I couldn't even tell you what one is) but I play what feels right within a song. If I want to show off by taking a drink of water during a song, or change a setting on my amp and have to play open strings to achieve this then that's what I do. In my band we try to stick to the original keys so for Superstition I flick my detuner to D as it sounds dreadful starting on the 6th fret of the A string. It requires more movement than playing it in E or using a 5 string but it in itself creates an effect as I rush up and down the fretboard from fret 1 on the E to fret 6 on the A