Lozz196

Most of the ones I`ve used to be honest, but mainly the ones with 10 inch speakers, and especially the 610. Not been too bad with the ones containing 15 inch speakers. I know speaker size isn`t an indicator of sound, but in general I`ve found that the TE cabs containing 15s seem to be voiced to be lower/less trebly. The 1x15 TE combos have been ok after knocking down those mids a tad, but a mate of mine had a 1x12 combo - no idea what range - and it seemed it just hit that spot where it was the dominant sound in the mix no matter what else was going on, and no adjusting eq would defeat it.

Ah, Ashdown amps, a conundrum if ever there was one. They really don`t get the kudos they deserve imo. Sound great in the mix, are easy to get a variety of great sounds from, and are very reasonably priced new, let alone second hand. Ok, some of the amps/cabs/combos are heavy in relation to some of the other modern gear that`s about, but when you hear the sound in the mix, well that weight is worth it, certainly to me. And they`re not stupidly heavy anyway.

From reading this in your position I think keep the two you helped design as prototypes, they`ll be irreplaceable, and keep the Jazz. Comments/sentiments like "kick yourself forever" show that bass really means something to you, and you may well come back to bass playing - like many of us on here who have taken breaks, keeping at least one bass is a wise idea, but given the design aspect of the other 2 I think they have to be kept as well as the Jazz. And taking a break, why not, I`ve been in that position, left music completely for about 4 or 5 years, didn`t play, go to see bands, or even buy any music, I just had no interest, like the spark had gone. But it came back, with some it never does, but don`t feel bad about wanting to take a break, nothing says we bassists have to be playing all the time, and buying and selling even more (well maybe some small print on Basschat does say the latter, lol).

Yep, I`ve found when using TE cabs that they are like ice-picks in that upper mid area. I`m fine with the amps, just the cabs but now I`m aware of what to do to get them sounding ok-ish - pretty much exactly how @VTypeV4 explains as above, well I`ll use them if needs must. But in all honesty I do prefer not to.

Two great rock basses there, Rik.

Nice set-up of amps there, Martin, am only slightly jealous 🙄

I think it depends on stage size Mick, on regular pub-size stages I don`t really notice much difference between my Ashdown RM-500 and ABM-600 (through the same ABM410 cab), but get on a bigger stage and the ABM shows its pedigree. I`ve used a fair few Class D amps on big stages and whilst they were loud enough there wasn`t that pleasing bigness of sound. Now it does bring into question that if an amp is loud enough for the stage, and you have a monitor mix as well, does it need that extra weight to the sound - well no is the honest answer imo, but to the "but do you want that extra weight to the sound" well that answer is yes.

I`m going to put this in capital shouty language, to emphasise it: DON`T USE PARCELFORCE, THEIR LIST OF PROHIBITED ITEMS INCLUDES MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS They`ll take your money for insurance, then should something happen to the item it was your fault for not reading their T&Cs.

I don`t think we underestimate ourselves, far from it, it seems that we all have a good awareness of what the bass is/does, which I`d hope would be so on a Bass Forum. It`s just that in general the bass is a support instrument, and sonically it`s easier to hear the notes of the guitar, so people are more aware of what the guitar does. I know in my band that if I were to just have a regular Precision straight to desk sound, and played the same notes but without the same aggression/attack the band would sound radically different, so I`m aware of what my contribution is to the overall sound - to be honest in a 3-piece there`s no real place to hide anyway.

Yep, we obsess over every tiny little detail but I`ve seen many pro bassists just turn up with a Squier (not JV I should add) Precision or Jazz, plug into whatever amp is there, get a workable sound at sound-check and the audience go crackers when the band play. As usually they`re singing along to the words, or yelling the guitar solos.

Pretty spot-on imo.

Awesome, just and a look at the gigs above and rather annoyingly am away for the ones I can get to - am sure I`ll catch you guys at some point tho, I`ll make it a mission on which I have to succeed.

The Melkweg is great, Ian, am sure you`ll enjoy playing there. If you`ve not played Amsterdam before a tip is don`t get taxis, they`re hideously expensive, and the public transport both to and from the airport is very good/cheap.

Now that`s a coincidence, my previous faves were Rotosound steel rounds. Tone-wise really not much in it at all, when completely new maybe the Rotos were a tad brighter, but as us long-term Roto users know that doesn`t hang around for long at all. Under the fingers the Warwicks are slightly coarser than the Rotos if that can be believed, took a couple of weeks for my fingertips on my fretting hand to get used to them. But it`s the life of them, I used to get 3, maybe 4 weeks out of a set of Rotos as I need the fresh twangy sound, whereas the Warwicks are lasting me about 2 months, and this has been through the summer with the hot weather and sweaty gigs that come with it. They`re really good for the punk/Oi type material, get a nice twangy grind from them, like I say not much different to Rotos really.

Either the Ampeg BA108 or Fender Rumble 15 will be more than enough for home use, I`ve had both and never used either of them at anywhere near full volume when playing along to music on my stereo/pc/tv.

Many of the punk bands on the scene have only one, maybe two of the original members. To me I`ve always thought that once there are no originals left at that point question keeping the name but even then that can be argued against. You could have a band where one original member leaves after a year, replacement does 14 years in the band, if the other originals leave it`s not like he hasn`t served his time and possibly entitled to carry on. The thing that cracks me up is the amount of bands that formed in 1977 as part of the punk explosion, split in probably 1979, then reformed in say 2015, and are saying they`ve been going for 40 years. Well not really, unless they`re like bears and been on extended hibernation.

Warwick Red Label steel rounds. Sound great and if I buy 5 or 6 sets at a time work out to less than a tenner a set including delivery. And they last about twice as long as my previous faves.

A low-cost solution would be to add in a Behringer BDI21 as Markbass amps are pretty clean sounding, and the BB2 incredibly so. Rather than change a whole lot of kit popping in an eq/DI pedal will still give the benefits of a loud, portable rig, but the addition of the old-school warmth, Behringer the cost-effective way, DHA VT1 or Tech21 VT more costly. The added benefit is then if you ever need to use someone elses rig you have a way of getting your sound to that rig via the eq/DI pedal.

And to be honest it would make sense, having the bassier response on the thinner strings, even out the sound a bit maybe.

Congrats, there certainly is life after 50, I`ve achieved more (musically) in my 50s that I ever did before. Got a gig in Munich at the weekend, flying there, flying back, never had those opportunities in anything i did previously.

That`s a very good point, and given the love that was around for the Bass Terror think Orange have made a sensible move bringing it back.

I can`t do that pesky Instagram stuff, pop a link on here please, Dan.

I`d just get the same again, I know what works for my current needs so no point trying with other stuff. If funds were limited I`d probably save a few quid by getting Vintage V4 Precisions but if unlimited funds, exactly the same again.

That all looks like a pretty decent, sensible backline to me. I`m pretty prehistoric, like to see amps etc, but I think that is the perfect blend - well certainly visually anyway.

I had similar when I dealt with them, bought a set of tuners and the bushes were slightly too small. I made an enquiry as to how much a new set would be and they said no charge, just posted them out.