Lozz196

Our guitarist can’t read music, and isn’t particularly good at knowing where, for example a C chord is on the guitar. But show him the riff once/twice on bass and he’ll play along comfortably and doesn’t need to be shown it again. From there he’ll develop his solos. I’m not really sure how for the set up we have if reading would be of any benefit.

Agree, I was quite shocked when I heard an isolated track by John Deacon of Queen, what sounded clean, warm and rounded in the track was quite harsh and driven in comparison on its own. A bit of drive really helps make the bass sound bigger and more present.

This is a very good point, it`s rare that a band delivers its best work on its first album - ok a few do, Never Mind The Bollocks, Appetite for Destruction spring to mind - but usually a band has to mature, such as Queen/U2/Oasis etc. It seems to me that the music industry now wants instant mega-return or they`re not interested. Which is a shame as I just wonder how many non-instant-hitters there are that had a killer 3rd or 4th album in them around that we`ve never heard of. I reckon it`s time for electric guitars again - it seems to be a cycle, electric guitars for a few years, manufactured pop for a few years, repeat, repeat. The manufactured stuff has been around long enough now, lets get some yobbos back on stage playing live and not playing the fame game in the way that the companies would like.

From what I can see, at £500 it makes you significantly poorer, but marginally taller.

What type of strings, flats or rounds, if rounds nickel or steel, from there some places/brands will stand out. I use Warwick Red Label Steel Rounds - generally about £9 online, and they last about two months.

Yeah, we (Knock Off) were in Club Casbah on the Friday, 2:30ish

Great set list, where are you guys based, would love to see a band playing all of those.

Me too. Currently got 5 and still check the bay & the tree every day for them.

I’ve had TIs, Chromes and Cobalts, and my findings were that the TIs were easier to eq than the others. I think the Cobalts were the brightest of the bunch but they still sounded like a flat wound no matter how eq’d. Whereas the TIs seemed to take whatever was given better.

I’m now on my third RM500. Bought one, moved it on, realised the mistake and bought another. Then Ashdown made the EVO II version which is half the weight but more importantly has a matt finish control panel rather than shiny, which helps on stage no end. So I got one of those and I find I use it more and more recently. On our mini tour of Germany I used it even though I had my flight-cased ABM600 with me. The stages weren’t big enough to demand the weightier sound of the ABM and the RM handled itself fine. They really are great amps, the only improvement I’d have would be a pre/post DI option.

And add in a Seymour Duncan Hot Stack for the bridge. Hum-cancelling, big sound.

Funktastic!

I’ve had a good few 210/115 set ups, all have been great. So I recommend two 210s. Why I hear you all ask, well the reply is laziness. With a 210/115 set up each cab is likely to be voiced differently so your sound is made up of two items that if either are missing you can’t replicate it completely . Whereas with 2 identical cabs you can use just one for rehearsals and smaller gigs, adding in the second when needed. Jus makes life that bit easier.

I’ve had the RM500, the PF500 and the Tonehammer. For me the RM has much more warmth and depth to the sound, but also due to the - imo - better eq options it can sharpen up better. That said the Tonehammer is a very old-school sounding amp, and the PF500 delivers classic ampeg tones. My preference is the RM but I’d be happy with the TH or PF, only one I’ve no experience with is the Genz. I also found the Barefaced 210 to be quite relaxed on the top end so would make sure the amp I went for had high and high-mid adjustment.

Depending on wattage and availability between £50 to £80 I’d say.

Fender Rumble, Ashdown Perfect Ten, Ampeg BA108, any of those will be fine. Check the ‘bay and the ‘tree for used.

Which one, do tell, just love an Ashdown purchase (even more when it’s not my wallet taking the hit).

That would be my first port of call. I’d check out the Original range as well but I’ve been so impressed with the RM separates that I’m confident they would be my choice in combo form.

If I were in a band where I only played pubs/only ever used my own rig I’d have a (lightweight) combo. As it is I use so many different rigs/cabs it’s amp head and preamp/D.I. pedal for me.

There’s a thread on here about it but if interested get in contact with Ashdown Service dept (number on website) they’ll sort - I think it’s just new different value pots from memory.

The indispensable bit of kit in my set up is the Tech21 Para Driver v2. I can get the sound I want from my amps but given that I often use shared/provided rigs it’s easier to always use the trusty PDv2 irrespective of what rig I’m using.

There’s also a mod that Ashdown can do for the CTM to make the eq even more flexible.

You’re such a (very good) poser Tim, that’s a cracking pic

We’ve been advised to try IEM, and without tracking through all 70+ pages could someone advise if they’ll work for us please. We play on multi-band bills, sometimes headlong, sometimes not, sometimes soundchecking sometimes not, with 15 minute changeover between bands. Is it doable, and if so in easy layman’s terms how would we do it?

Agree, they do sound very similar to Rotosound steels but I’ve found them to last at least twice as long.