Lozz196

A real tower of power if I ever saw one.

Another train of thought could be Elixirs - coated roundwounds. Due to the coating they don`t have that brittle out of the pack top-end, but they do stay remarkably consistent for a long time - I get around 8 months to a year on my home practice bass. The nickel rounds are even warmer sounding, plus feel nicer to play.

Further to my previous post I’ve utilised Garys skills a few more times recently and in each case great work on a good turnaround time at good prices. Cheers Gary.

Of the Baz/recent years material my fave is Suite XVI, some great tracks on that album.

It certainly looks great (especially on the 610) and I really like the "you are definitely getting the ABM sound, but it's clearer, tighter and with more definition at higher volumes" comment, as I found this difference between the ABM600 EVO-IV and the previous ABM500s, so seems Ashdown are giving a tad more clarity on the sound which is what I always strive for. Given I gig 10 times a year, if that, and many times don`t use my own amp do I need one of these, well no, but these comments are making my trigger-finger itch a tad. Also love the spotthevu hash-tag on the box, given that the amp has two!

Long time since I’ve had a valve head but guitarist in last band had one and it was treated as just another part of the backline, no special treatment and no issues either.

I had a Hartke HA4000 with parametric, had frequency and Q controls for both low and high mids.

Proving that monkey pox started decades earlier maybe?

They do get rather hysterical

In the past I swapped out the pickups in my Mex Precisions for Toneriders, which sound very similar to the Custom Shop 62s which are in my US Precisions. The stock pickups had more treble and less bass - on a Sansamp to get the sounds the same stock the bass would be on midday, treble on 11 o`clock, Toneriders bass on 10 o`clock, treble on 1 o`clock. I could have left them and just remembered these settings but in a gig situation if needing my backup I don`t want to also have to re-eq, just want to plug & play. Plus I`m more than a tad OCD so having gigging basses which sound the same is a kind-of must more me. And even then the sound just seemed more full & rich.

Maybe on the earlier stuff but as with most things once "the money" side of the business came in I daresay the record companies wanted something a bit more cultured.

I have the RM500 EVO-2, it’s the fullest sounding Class D amp that I’ve had. It’s very versatile, nice & powerful, and light/portable. Plus Ashdowns legendary customer service in the unlikely event of a problem.

I use the Shape on both my Ashdown amps, and on my Sansamp reduce the mids on the 500hz setting. Seems to suit a Precision in a rock type setting with hum bucking guitars.

Spex Pistols

Nice one @MattW I’ll bet that sounds awesome, those 408s are great cabs.

Does depend on the bass as well, it can be fine scooping mids on a Precision as they have a ton & a half of them.

Putting a bit too much on your roadies there @Franticsmurf

Agree, play an encore if asked for it, if you weren`t go back to the studio & practice a bit more so you play better at the next gig where you might then get asked for one. My thoughts were to always keep one of the best songs back for a possible encore rather than play all your best ones then the encore not being as good as the set that was before it.

Providing the band have a big enough fan base then new single to start the encore sounds good to me.

Must admit I`m thinking of this approach for my next overseas gigs - should I have any of course.

I reckon you`re right, I connected my TH500 to many different cabs and in a punk/Oi band never needed it on any more than 11 o`clock on the volume, and that was if on a very big stage - admittedly FOH was covering the venue, but if I`d had it at that volume in a regular pub sized venue it would have obliterated the volume of the rest of the band.

I went to see The Stranglers when Golden Brown was in the charts, great gig and there was a real buzz & energy in the audience that I - at 16 - hadn’t experienced at other gigs, even though I’d seen some other high profile bands by then. Was it the popularity of Golden Brown, who knows, but it was great gig.

The only 2 compressors I`ve used that I could really get on with were the on-board ones on a TC Classic 450 and an Ampeg PF500. Turn, set & go, didn`t detract from the overall sound, nice & easy. Every other compressor I`ve tried, be they pedals or on-board other amps I`ve not been able to get what I want from them.

My only experience with any of the amps listed is the Ashdown - the 500 watt version. Great little amp, very powerful, and the “heftiest” sounding Class D amp I’ve had. Would fit your list of requirements, plus based in the UK with great customer service so in the unlikely event that it develops a fault pretty easy to get sorted.

It`s certainly a lot more of a "cultured" sound nowadays. The playing style is unmistakable but the sound doesn`t reflect his earlier work for sure.