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I really love the classic look of the Ashdown CTM300 head but unfortunately it's just not in my price range at the moment. To tide me over until I can save up a couple of grand, I decided that I'd try to at least achieve the look of the amp even if I can't get the sound of it right now. I've spent my spare time over the last week building this new case from scratch for my ABM 500rc Evo iii and I'm really pleased with the result so thought I'd share it here. 🙂

Here’s my nearly finished (I might change the bridge)of my mec fender precision,,sonic blue paint by @discreet with newFender 63 precision bass pick up pure vintage,and it sounds unbelievable,very please

Isn't this forum great? - 5 pages of friendly discussion about one of the finer details of bass playing 🙂 I put Olympias on my '82 JV Squier about 18 months ago. They get better and better - rather a 'sticky' feel to begin with. I would say they're medium tension - weights are 45.65.80.100 The big thing about flats for me is that they're so versatile - If you're playing with fingers then digging in changes the sound substantially - but then they also sound great with a pick. Or pick and palm mute for the Carol Kaye Beach Boys sound? Or play with light thumb and palm mute for a real DB sound. Only thing they fall down on is slap - but like I really care....😁 Here's my bass. Had it from new in '82, converted to a PJ in '83. It's turned out to be the most playable and versatile bass I've ever owned. And it's done some serious bass miles in the last 37 years - I'd be lost without it.

Been looking for one of these beauties for a little while now. This suddenly appeared on Ebay. Best neck ever and serious tonal palette. Loving the 18v preamp.

We opened for Michael Monroe (Ex Hanoi Rocks) at Club Academy in Manchester. I even bought a new flowery shirt!

Good article here? https://www.bassplayer.com/gear/flat-world-a-roundup-of-flatwound-strings

I agree with the site owner, sort it out Ashdown!

This is still on guys! All proceeds going to Nordorf Robbins.

Here's my flats experience for what it's worth... Ernie Ball Cobalts currently on my Fretless. Jury is out, I hadn't played them in nearly enough before I went out to gig with the bass and it didn't feel great but I think they've settled a bit now. This isn't a P bass though so I'll move on... TI flats. Had them on my P Bass for quite some time. They sound good but they are very low tension and light. They aren't my preference but I've kept them back because I think they'd sound great on a Jazz bass... I just don't have a jazz bass right now. These felt really light because I was previously using... Roti Steve Harris signature flats. They are HEAVY. Thick and solid feel under the finger. I was wincing as I wound these on my bass fearing the neck would snap. But the tone! Big, clear, full sounding strings that will go on forever and ever. I like these a lot. But my favourites are... Fender flats. For a P bass they're my perfect match. The right amount of tension, really good balance in terms of clarity but also a little bit of grittiness for digging in or playing with a pick. At their price you just cannot go wrong. I can't see me going back to anything else until I get bored once again.

I did the same with a knackered Kinsman combo I got for 99p on eBay, amp was fine but the rest of the amp was totally crushed (well it was made from what looks like pressed cardboard and sawdust!) and the speaker was shot (or just bad to begin with). Looks to be the same generic amp as yours. Still need to reshell it but it works brilliantly and I was able to reuse a lot of the screws and feet to keep costs down: Speakon/jack combi socket looks wonky but that's just the perspective, these seem to be predrilled for a jack socket but you can easliy widen it for a Speakon. Ended up costing me a total of £6.77 to have a micro head!

Here’s the cab so far............😀

I know a lot of users have had great success using pitch down for half step and whole step detuning on gigs which not the same as ‘simple octave up or down’ it’s certainly proved to be practical and usable on the gig and ultimately a more useful implementation of pitch manipulation although maybe not something everyone will find useful. My guitarist uses it all the time as a virtual Capo with great success and it seems to be the views of many other uses real world experiences especially on this site. I should really qualify this quote as it was pounced upon and interpreted in a way which suggested I think the stomp can do ‘any sound’ 🙄 People buy the stomp for many reasons and with different expectations. The stomp is unlikely to nail ‘every’ sound one might need but what it can do is offer a massive palette of tones, colours and I/O options for the gigging player and home studio. It also allows those interested in doing so to recreate many different and varied tones be that classic sounds or new takes on classic sound. It also allows for the wider community to share settings so those with zero interest or desire can maximise the pedals benefits with minimal time spent with their nose in a manual. While there are some limitations it’s generally accepted that it’s a good option for many looking for multi fx to be their only unit or to compliment an existing set up. With some time invested and having an understanding of what one wants it does offer lots from a myriad of routing options to conventional and unconventional tones. In terms of what it offers for the price/features/ease of use it’s a great option. I have owned a stomp but ultimately I’m quite content with my humble pedal board for my gigging needs but certainly enjoyed playing and using it, discovering how to maximise its potential within my recording and gigging set up. I briefly owned a second stomp but that was super cheap and only really bought to flip for a profit. In saying that the amp and bass I bought with that cash are giving me much joy! Some folks just enjoy buying kit because it looks nice, fills a space on their pedal board, to simply say they have one or it covers ‘price of admission’ to specific groups/clubs etc and that's grand as we’re ‘experts’ on what we like...not necessarily experts on the gear we like. My last point is I was implying that if one wanted to recreate the SH1 preamp/drive pedal, a relatively simple eq/and drive with 4 or 5 basic controls and a brite setting the stomp could likely recreate it or pretty much close enough that it would be worth trying or that the audience would care. If I wade into a synth thread saying you guys don’t know how to program a Hx stomp cause it can do anything I’m happy to be corrected but in the context of this thread and knowing the capabilities of the stomp I’d expect (an)other stomp owner(s) to have a touch of savvy and make the connection. If one wishes to compare a dedicated synth pedal's capabilities to the stomp be my guest but not every thread on bc needs to have mention of the Future Impact, the boss synth or whatever the current flavour of the month is.

And Seventh Son, and writing the keyboard parts for someone else to play on a few albums, then playing keyboards on the last 6 Iron Maiden albums But you are correct, he is better know for bass playing (no sarcasm intended here)

I got a cracking bargain on this bass off a local guy who was shifting a load of unused gear. It needed a clean and some new strings but otherwise was set up well and all electronics are fully working if a little crap on account of being cheap parts. The stock pick up's sound grand and have that jazz bass thing especially with the new strings. Gonna change the wiring loom to some better pots with a proper 'sweep' across their range rather than 'on on on on on on off' but otherwise I'm quite chuffed. I'll be using it at rehearsal tonight and tomorrow with two different bands so looking forward to hearing it at volume! Plugging into my pedal board, (Tone Hammer DI and comppressor) the Tone Hammer it's really complimenting the sound and of course the new strings are adding to the crisp top end. I've tried a couple of other pre-amps with it but this is a great pairing for this particular bass - bumping the lo mids is giving it the right amount of oomph and I look forward to fine tuning that with the drummer later tonight. Been about 6 years since I've owned/played a jazz and it's a very familiar and enjoyable tone for £120! Certainly prefer this to a recent PJ i was using but hard to qualify why?!

Mrs S made the basic error of leaving me on my own with time to kill in Nottingham for the afternoon. I made the even more basic error of nipping in to Hotrox in Sneinton. They had this.... I wasn't going to buy it until i realised; a) that it is medically necessary as the binding on a 4003 is a bit sharp on the forearm, and b) that it will annoy Young Teebs. Oh, and; c) it is bloody lovely. Mrs S did the rolly eyes thing until I mentioned (b) then she understood why i had to get it. Of course, I've broken my one-in-one-out rule so expect some major activity in the marketplace shortly. Or I have a kidney if Raymondo's interested.....

It doesn’t get a lot simpler, nor effective, than this. One note, on the beat. What a groove... ...sampled incidentally from this:

Finally it's back! I traded this beast away several years ago and always considered it to be 'one of those that got away'... I think we've all been there, trading a bass and then suffering instant regret! However... finally after 3 years of failed attempts to get this bass back, the right sequence of trades has now landed this monster back in my hands. It's a Warwick Thumb Single Cut 6, a horrendously expensive thing if you wanted to buy it new (price tag is a shade under €8000). Warwick only made 120 of these and now only make them to order. These are heavy, but they are exceptionally good basses. The tone is outstanding and slices through any mix, the construction is immaculate. Pommele Bubinga top with USA ash body, flame maple neck and thick ebony board. Solid brass 'invisible' frets, MEC active/passive pickups and preamp. This one is near mint, with the flight case and Warwick folder. Very glad to have it back!

Frankly, I think everyone should now send you pedals and you could turn this in to a super blog Great work chap! Do more! It will be really useful!

Lots of rubbish talked as if the entire forum were down the pub, lots of really good helpful advice delivered with a side order of sarcasm, plenty of pictures of bass guitars, and a whole new way to spend time and possibly money. Welcome aboard!

Just showed the wife this link and she immediately comes down stairs with this, magic.

Hi Teebs, got my CT scan on 19th of this month and the follow up with the surgeon on 20th December. I'll keep everyone posted. Oh, and thanks for asking mate.

I've owned a couple of MIJ Fender Precision basses, more than a few Squier Precisions, had long term loan of a 90s USA P and also owned two JV Squier Ps. My motivation for buying, using and keeping gear is simply having the stuff I like best. Now maybe I was lucky but the two JV Squiers were better than any of the others. Fit, finish and playability. One was a very early Fender logo one was simply fantastic but it was the other one I kept for all sorts of reasons - one being the weight as it is around 8lbs on the nose. Had I found one of the Fenders to be better I would have kept that. Simple, really.

Sounds like Trigger's broom Dave.

Yeah Ashdown - what the hell?

I know this thread is about P basses and flats but if you're not fully sold on the sound and or feel of flats but you want to depart from rounds.... Consider Tapewounds. The Scott Devine video on them and an ebay promotion led me to having Fender tapewounds on my P bass for a year. I even slapped a bit with them. Worth considering... Anyway, flats are good.

TBH from my experience burglars are unlikely to be connoisseurs of electric bass brands or any other instrument . A while ago we were burgled twice within two years and weirdly neat and tidy the perps were too! I had an American Telecaster and a Martin Dreadnought on stands and they weren't touched. They did take 2 laptops, the flat screen TV, my car keys, my wallet, my wife's purse, some of her jewellery and a Nikon camera. Together those guitars were more valuable than the haul they took

Like all of us, you are entitled to your view, but I’m not quite with you on the inferiority complex bit?

I'm sure you've paid a lot for a bass that someone else will think isn't worth it/sounds shyte/ugly/not their cuppa etc! At the end of the day, you didn't fork out the cash, you've made your point, you don't like Squier's, now just get over it FFS!

There's was only a couple of properly good studio albums after that. Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son. Fear of the Dark is where me and Iron Maiden headed our own ways, after nearly 20 years of them being one of the most important bands to me.

Non pas vraiment , c'est plus pour les occases qui sont bien sympa ici et comme il y a déjà quelques forumeur d'onlybass ! Je suis sur Talk bass aussi et est testé l'achat d'une peavey cirrus New old stock de 1999 , le mec la trouvait injouable mais n'avair pas changer les cordes qui avait 17 ans !! Mais LLLLLOOOOOLLLLLL !

One pub/party/wedding covers band and a blues/R&B band plus a variety of dep gigs. I can use the jazz with TI flats in every situation successfully. (I think so anyway 😉) It's a Mesa Walkabout and a pair of Barefaced Midgets in that pic. Frank.

@Ashdown Engineering get him!

Stick... no twist... no actually stick... ah f**k it might as well buy another one just in case.

We should probably drink lots of wine to celebrate I once worked in Paris at a factory and was taken to lunch by my french colleagues who each had a jug of wine to themselves. I spent the afternoon thoroughly sozzled as I was not used to daytime drinking. basse-chat I think he meant

'Need tuning' may have put people off!

It’s Burberry, to match my bass 😁

Sudocrem , is also very good for minor skin problems.

Depends on the type of class A/B amplifier.. If it's an all valve affair or has a valve output stage (Boogie 400+, SVT CL, CTM100 etc) then the answer is usually a firm 'no'.. The valves / output transformer need to 'see' an electrical load to prevent damage / meltdown. Some may have an internal dummy load / output mute to facilitate no speaker connection but this is not that common - check the spec. On the other hand, if it has a transistor output stage (as per Ashdown ABM, SWR SM, SVT 3 etc) then it will be fine - I used to use my old Trace 400SMX as just a pre-amplifier stage for recording many times. No idea what a sled is but I hope this helps..

Wrap the cases in cling film all over and several layers to stop any moisture getting in.

the Cornford is a Class A amp, right? If so, and that's the sound you like then I'd suggest sticking to other Class A amps rather than Class AB - particularly if you don't want the high gain options. There's been a real growth in small Class A amps over the last few years, as you can see from all the recommendations Your other consideration being weight, I have to say that for home use, an 8 inch speaker is plenty big enough. The obvious swap for lower volume would be to a Cornford Harlequin, but I think they still have 12 inch speakers so it wouldn't tick all your boxes (albeit that it would retain the sound you like) Beyond that, I'd throw in that while there are plenty of 5w amps, for home use that can still be pretty loud, so one with an option to reduce the output levels without simply turning the volume down (so that you are still getting that warm valve sound) is very useful. You could look at adding some sort of power attenuation, but that's not always an option for some combos - for instance I couldn't use one with my Marshall Class 5 unless I completely dismantle it so that the speaker isn't hard wired in. Regarding @NancyJohnson's modeller idea, while it's not the solution you're looking for, I would say that if you want to get some other amp sounds out of your combo, putting an amp modeller pedal in front of a nice warm valve amp works brilliantly - something like a Sansamp GT2 will sound excellent

yes, tbh, I am very happy with the EBs. Interesting to know what the Olympias are like but given the life of decent flats I'm happy to fork out for the EBs. Have a Fender set on a Jazz fretless and they are better than I used to think, at a very fair price.

Or get in literally any car Mrs. Lemmywinks buys. Pretty sure she does it deliberately.

Massively lucky for whoever jumped on that!! I wonder how long it'll take before it's in the classifieds at £900 😂

Persevere with Zilla. They're top quality and when I got mine a few years back, they were really helpful with sizes, speaker types and cloth and tolex options.

By the time he's cut holes in the side for the pickup, the idea no longer holds water.

Let's hope 'our friend' doesn't see this.