Lozz196

Pretty much any Precision works for me. My faves are the US Standards, 2012 - 2016 Series, but I’ve gigged with Squiers and been fine. I’ve been through the journey - ahhh, X-Factor speak - of replacement pickups/bridges, high-end cabs etc only to realise that a stock Fender Precision and my Tech21 Para Driver are all I really need for me to be happy (along with fresh steel roundwound strings). Amp-wise I’ve been through many makes and realised that Ashdown are the brand for me, they’re a lot more affordable than many others but are great sounding, hard wearing, a good company to deal with, and an hours drive if I need something repaired. I’m glad I’ve bought/sold loads of gear, it was great fun, but I don’t need to go looking anymore, my current gear is what works for me. Additionally I have been surprised to see that many pros are happy with much lesser instruments than we would expect. A good deal on the Punk/Oi circuit seem happy with Mex Fenders or Squiers, Epiphone guitars etc and a great many are happy to use any amp that is provided, confident that they’ll get a sound that works for their band.

Makes perfect sense to me

So recently I`ve had 2 dead A strings in packs of Warwick Red Label Steel Roundwounds. Contacted them as although I buy in bulk and had other sets which I could nick the A from, this left me short on full sets. This was on Sunday btw. Sunday evening I received a reply stating they would send out 2 replacement packs - I would have been more than satisfied with just 2 A strings alone - which arrived today. Quality customer service imo, and the fact that my message was read and replied to late on Sunday really adds to it, a company that looks after its customers.

Yep, brilliant mics, and not just for the price. I find them crisper and less nasal sounding than SM58s.

2" for me, use Jim Dunlop nylon ones, if they`re good enough for Duff McKagan they`re good enough for me - well it`s as good a theory/rationalisation as anything else I spose.

A bassist I know has one of these and it is incredibly powerful, and seems to be voiced so that whatever anything else is going on it will always be heard. Really cuts through the mix.

Barefaced customer service is excellent, I`m sure they`ll be able to offer some advice pretty quickly

Very interesting Mark, I do use a preamp so have to back off the input gain on my Ashdown ABM600 a good bit, but to get the best sound I have to be hitting the red in that VU meter, much like what you describe above.

Def Roqsolid for covers

You should like those, great set-up imo. Bizarrely on the RM the pre-shape is on when pushed in. It gets very confusing.....

You did have the Pre-Shape button in, didn’t you? Bizarrely that switches off the scooped setting of the ABM, rather than engaging it.

Def sounds like flats to me, a great simple but effective bassline.

The theory is add in the same cab again, it`s usually a guaranteed way of making you smile.

I`m not at present, have an ABM410 plus an ABM210 which is dragged out for the big gigs. Previously I had two RM210s and they were very good, not much difference in sound to the ABM cabs in all honesty, a little less low-end but the core sound was very similar.

I may well be adding to my RM range, my ABM cabs are becoming a little bit too much for me now, so thinking of another batch of two of the 210s, which were great.

In a contrast to my earlier in-jest post, if I actually thought about it from scratch about what I wanted from a bass I`d be hard put to describe anything other than a Fender Precision, my only real points I`d put would be accurate tuners that held tuning, body chamfers to make it comfy, and no neck-dive. I do also like the idea of in-built tuner that has been mentioned.

I was gonna suggest Behringer XM8500s - get a couple for under £50, and seriously good mics they are too.

And remember, the type of wood affects the performance

Having had both the 350 and the 500 I can only wonder at how loud the 700 will be. Think this is a good move so that people can get cleaner headroom from the Tonehammer, as it is an amp that generally is gainy/driven when reaching higher volumes.

Strings. Four of them.

I just hope it`s factual, and that the actors have been chosen wisely. In Sid & Nancy the guy chosen to play Johnny Rotten had a scouse accent. Kind-of made it unbelievable from there on really.

Yep, wouldn’t do to have this - and the grass-cutters in summer - on the roads between 10am & 4pm, that would just be common sense.

The 50 is the stompox version, so fits into a pedal-board etc, and I think it has different cable length simulation settings, whereas the 20 is two little bugs and only simulates a 3 metre cable. I`ve been well chuffed with my WL-20, one of my better purchases.

They do a version where the receiver is a standard BOSS sized pedal as well.

Small and compact wireless system = Boss WL20 to me. Two little units, one plugged into the bass, one into the amp. No mains power leads, no on/off switch, you simply plug one into the other and they pair automatically choosing the best available frequency. Charge `em up overnight, but each full charge lasts for at least 5hrs - think it`s 10.