dmccombe7

Kind of obvious now that i see it. Bit of a "DOH !!!!!" moment there Bet you all laughed at me Dave

Must admit that when i read the OP i took from it that other commitments like young family and new job / work commitments meant he was struggling to find the time to play bass and it made him sad that he wasn't able to do what he used to and from his own description of bass being his identity. Other things were pulling him away from who he thought he was and he was sad for that. Maybe i've misread it ? Sometimes other commitments become more important in life. That's just facts of life. We can go along with it but if it makes us sad maybe we should step back and look at what's more important in our own life. I guess that's what i did after a long break from playing. I'm not sure its anything deeper than that. Sometimes we just need to put our hobbies to one side to be successful in life. By being successful i mean being a good father and husband for his family and being committed to your career. Dave

Sorry to say i don't know. Tried googling but came up with Bang & Olefson power amp company ? Any chance you could explain for us older idiots like me. Dave

Good point on the FOH thing. Our PA is a QSC lightweight rig and it certainly isn't short of power, depth or oomph. As others have said it has to be down to either under-sized bass rig or EQ. That's why going wireless was great for me because i could go out front and have a decent listen to the overall sound rather than mostly my own amp. I have a bad tendency to turn down my own amp behind me to balance the on stage mix. When we use backline that can be an issue for the guitarist at the other end of the stage who struggles to hear me. Now i go out front, have a listen, tweak my EQ as required altho its almost always flat or just of the centre zero point on bass and amp. Depending on bass being used i sometimes cut the mid a touch and with others i boost the bass a touch and i literally mean a touch from 12 o clock to absolute max 1 o clock if boosting anything and 11 if cutting anything. At your next rehearsal try using a long lead and listen to the full band from out front and tweak from there. Obviously if going thru PA then your sound guy should sort out any issues. I've used other bands bass rigs and thought bass sounded weak and top ended on stage to go out front and the sound guy has added the depth and bottom end. Maybe its down to the low end cabs used ? Dave

I think i know what you mean with the sound "thinning" the higher the volume. I always put that down to the fact i was standing directly in front of the cabs and the higher volume was throwing the sound further out past me. ? That's with a full MB rig and a GK MB rig altho it was the small MB200 which is not a high volume amp anyway. I did notice it when i used my Genz Streamliner 600 thru my Berg Neo AE112 cabs but when using same amp at same settings thru my Berg HT322 heavyweight cab the tone was full and never thinned. Could it be the speaker design causing the problem. I can only talk from my own experience. I've heard other bass players using lightweight gear and it was in no way thin when ramped up but i was sitting in the audience directly in front of bass rig. Dave

I reckon i could do it for £300 if you do the session for me.

Not sure i can afford to do it for less. Oh well its your gig.

Take a break and enjoy the time with your young family. It won't be long till they are both at school and then suddenly grown up. Family always comes first. Many BC'ers will relate to what you are going thru. You can always get back into playing again in a couple of yrs when the youngsters are a bit more grown up and things settle down for you. Add that to a new job and you have a lot on your plate at the moment so take it easy and enjoy the time for what it is. Unless you are a pro bass player relying on the gig money then its a no brainer. Take a break for a couple of yrs. You'll be more relaxed about things and it will all come back to you with a GAS vengeance like you've never had before. Wish you al the best mate and at the end of the day we are always here for a blether. Dave

Tried the new Terror 500 thru the new 112 cabs in Guitar Guitar with a P bass and it sounded pretty impressive even when turned down to lower volume after the shop guy set it for me at deafening volume. It had plenty of depth and was a rig i might have gone for myself. I think our very own @karlfer put together. Maybe he can shed some light on it. If i remember right that was around or just over your budget for amp and 2 cabs..........i think. I had the OBC115 & 210 cabs but they were heavy cabs. Tried a mates ancient Orange all tube bass head thru his 810 Hartke cab in his studio and it was a fantastic sound but he said the tube amp was a bit delicate and unreliable so he use the Hartke HA500 head live. Dave

Me too. I need to run thru our full set list at least once a week between rehearsals. We dropped a couple of songs in Jan and decided to revisit last week and i was completely lost. Had to sit and have a listen thru first before i could even make a stab at them. I reckon its my age tho. You've no excuse @ubit

Never really heard the Glockenklang amps. Do they sound similar to anything else ? I had a Berg AE112 (x2) cab set up and it seemed to lack something i couldn't quite put my finger on. As you mention maybe the 212 cab would have been better. Berg cabs can be expensive tho. Dave

We had ours last week in an 8 bedroom private house that has a very large function room where we played our first gig last year. We all made a few mistakes but the passion, drive and silliness of 70's Glam Rock was all still there. Most of the songs we did were still good enough to get away with at a gig. Usually the re-arranged endings were the main issue. I was pretty happy with it and back in on Wed again. Dave

I found with the Markbass that it doesn't have a lot of on stage oomph but it seems to sit very well between guitars, keys and drums allowing it to be very clear in the mix. I've heard a few people say the same about the Markbass LM3 v Mesa D800. Dave

brilliant and i think maybe that's the solution. We all sit down with a nice toasty and a wee cuppa.

Yes think you are right altho he only learns new songs at last minute before rehearsal or gig by sounds of it. Maybe a bit more to it than we realise. I'm no Dr Frazier Crane so its difficult to say exactly where the issue lies without really knowing the personality involved, however for a small fee i am prepared to listen to him over a few on line sessions. Shall we say £500 a session. Dave

Over the years for me i would agree with you that a new bass did give me a bit of a lift and in some cases a change of direction ie WAL fretless i moved into Jazz Rock. At the time i was still playing tho. Think the OP is in a different place at the moment. Seems to have a complete loss of interest in music, bands and playing. Dave

+1 on the ACS ear plugs. If your ears are ringing its not good. Protect them now. As you've mentioned Ashdown already i tried an Ashdown Spyder 550. Had a great rock tone thru the Ampeg 810 they had but i found the EQ was very limiting but still great for what i was doing at the time. Not an expensive amp either. I've tried the Markbass in rock and Prog and it was ok but not enough oomph. Gallien Krueger 1001Rbii was a pretty good amp but found it a bit sterile sounding. Takes time to find your way around the EQ. Very loud too. Gallien Krueger MB range i found too clean a tone. Not enough oomph either Did have a Genz Streamliner 600 that sounded really nice with a valve pre-amp. I would consider one of them as a back up to my Mesa head. I've not found any lightweight gear that does it all for me. I went back to Ampeg SVT4 Pro (far too heavy and unreliable) and now on a Mesa Mpulse 600 into a Mesa PH212 cab that gives me the old 70's rock tone i like. Quite fancied the Mesa D800+ or the WD800 (valve pre-amp) but that's silly money at the moment.. Tried a mates Hartke LH550 thru his 2off Hartke 15" cabs and that was really nice for a blues rock sounding band but as you know quite a heavy lot to lug around. EBS HD360 amps are pretty impressive and not too heavy. They do a 350 as well but i found the 360 had a few more buttons that i liked like a mute button.. Aguilar AG500 i found too clean and struggled to get a good sound i liked. Summary :- LIKED - Genz Streamliner 600 or 900, EBS HD360 MAYBE - Markbass Tube amp, Mesa D800 series, Warwick tube amps, GK Fusion amps NOT FOR ME - Aguilar AG500, Warwick (solid state too clean) GK MB series. Bit long winded but hope it helps. Tone and amps are all very subjective and the speakers being used with each amp will have a large effect on the sound too. Everyone has a sound in their head that they want to replicate live not forgetting the bass being used will have differed from your own. Dave

The fact you say you have no time might be ruling out playing at all, even at home. You might be thinking "why bother". ? If that's the case then i don't think a new bass will help in the long run. Are you actually missing being in bands, playing at home or the excitement that playing can bring or is it just sadness of times in your past when you had the time and playing was the most important thing in your life. ? Have your priorities in life changed ie family, work, other hobbies ? I guess what i'm really asking is "Why don't you have time" ? Who knows whether the answers you have might help resolve the issue. I gave up playing in bands for that reason. No time due to work commitments. I had no real interest in bands or even bothering too much at home. When i turned 50 i decided i wanted to get back into bands again. Maybe i just realised that i shouldn't live to work. It turned out to be a form of escape from work and i've been quite busy since in different styles of bands from rock to prog to finally a band i never thought i would be in......... a 70's Glam Rock covers band and its simply great fun with a great group of people. Think you just need to find out why you don't have that drive. Maybe its just time to walk away from it for a bit. Whatever you decide i can only wish you all the very best. Dave

Midsomer Norton ? Is that not where Det Barnaby keeps solving murder cases. You must be the last person in the village. Dave

Just realised its all bass related items. Apologies @Al Krow for going off topic. Dave

I did manage to learn Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick. Hardest part is the hand stamina required and remembering what bit comes next. Then moved on to @Bilbo music sheets for Jeff Berlin. Picked a really hard one that kind of dampened my enthusiasm for doing it so gonna have to pick an easier one to get a feel for his style of playing. Polished all my basses with Briwax on the Warwick Thumb NT and Dunlop polishes on all the others. I could have used the Carnauba wax on the Thumb but i prefer the Briwax which was recommended by Chris from McIntyre guitars in Edinburgh. Built all the plastic model kits i've been gathering from Xmas pressies over the past 10 yrs. They are almost all done. 2 more to finish. Dave

We were getting cross posts there for a bit but i get what you mean now. Looks like i've been doing it right after all.

What paperclip ? Nothing happens when i click on the one below this page where you choose files

But how did you do it as the file i tried was too big. Was HD approx 5mins worth. Dave

yep i washed the cars and when i went to polish them the sun came out and it was too warm. HONESTLY it was sunny up here that day. Dave