dmccombe7

Thanks Sean for your fantastic descriptions. Gives me a general idea of how you use your set up and how that differs slightly from my preferred tone. Thanks for that. One other thing MJW Taranis ? Never heard of them but just googled and they look tidy but not knowing enough about them i wouldn't buy one without trying it first. Dave

I'm afraid I've only listened to youtube comparisons. Not been able to find many amp heads in local shops in Glasgow to do a proper comparison. I've tried the VK cabs when i visited Bass Direct to buy my Dingwall and they sound good, sounding very much like the Berg cabs i've had over past few years. I have my Berg HT322 that will never be sold. Its the best cab i've ever come across altho its no lightweight. Not actually seen or heard a BF cab in real life only on Youtube clips and they do sound very good but would never buy one without trying it first. I just have a notion for Mesa as its something i've never tried. Saw Cetera use his Mesa cab with Dressed To Kill but band were thru PA so no real idea what stage sound was like. Not sure what amp he was using at the time. That's as close as i've been to a Mesa. I'm not really looking for options but more curious as to why people like them so much and what their preferences are with regards heads and cabs. The more info i can reap the better if i do decide to go for Mesa rig. I would probably buy the amp first and try with my Berg cab and then all things being good look at the lightweight Mesa 12" cabs and then sell on my Markbass rig. Dave

My mates a fanatical ELO fan travels down to the London gigs and pays the extra to be up front in VIP areas kind of thing. I mentioned your band and he said you were the best of the ELO tribute bands he had seen and highly recommended seeing you. That's quite a compliment from him as he is a music fan and goes to gigs almost every week from ELO to Bowie tributes to Stranglers to some of the 80's synth pop bands that have made a revival last few years.

I've got 15" 12" and 10" cabs that i can use as a mix and match if you like but i'm finding the 12" cabs are more the ideal speaker size for me. Combines a decent low end depth with reasonable mid to high end clarity. I don't use a treble heavy EQ so 12" just seem to fit that bill better. Listened to some of the Mesa review VIDS on youtube and altho not much in it i can hear the difference between the 12" & 15" cabs but their 12" cab is so sweet sounding and that's the Subway range with the D800 amps I could see me trying that rig out in Guitar Guitar if in stock. Listened to comparisons of M6 Carbine against D800 and tone does seem very similar ie they both have that lovely warm smooth but clear tone that i like. Its a lot of money for D800+ and 2off Subway 12" cabs tho. Think its circa £2500 so might need to sell off some gear first.

Yep me too. Columbas Jazz from my Mothers mail order catalogue. Not a lot of choice in 70's. From memory it was ok but i didn't know anything about setting up a bass so maybe i could have had a lower action etc. My mate still has the bass and his daughter learned to play bass on it. It went from fretted to fretless and back to fretted again. She has moved on to an Overwater bass altho she is playing in orchestral type situations having gone thru proper music training at Uni.

Ok grandad PS Can you lend your Grandson £5k for an old bass

So you've met my Grandad then

They are a reputable shop as far as i know. They helped me out last year when i was looking for a wiring diagram for a specific guitar and manufacturer didn't reply. I had never used them before but been there a few times and know of them. It was just on the off chance and they were very quick to reply where they sent an email to manufacturer and forwarded me the diagram within a day or 2. For a shop i hadn't bought from and they didn't know me i have to say i was impressed. Think they'll replace it without issue. Dave

Bungee cords will keep it stretched out with creases when hanging

I remember you saying you were gonna trial that but had completely forgotten all about it. To be honest its been that long since i played Jean Genie i can't remember how i played it. I'll need to go back thru this thread now.

Maybe you're just that good at hiding mistakes maybe the band didn't want to embarrass you I'm getting a bit carried away now but its odd that the band never noticed. If anyone they should have. Give them a row for not paying attention to what the band are playing. That'll teach em Does this confirm how important bass is in a band ?

Or nobody watches the bass player. Sorry i'll collect my coat on the way out. Dave

Good buy at that price.

To be fair the vinyl banner isn't that heavy but quite durable and can be rolled up easily and kept in a tube container. When i use thelights i had 3 spots, 2 projectors and a lazer mounted on the crossbeam and it took it no problem at all. The side stands also have additional arms that fit half way down the main shaft to take an additional 2 spots on each side so plenty of scope there. Dave

Bass mate has joined with a rock metal band last year calle Burnt Out Wreck and they have done pretty well last year playing some major festivals and support slts. Ex- Heavy Pettin drummer doing frontman vocals. He's also in a band with ex-Rainbow vocalist Doogie White called La Paz and also a local Rock band called Crossfire. La Paz were good in 80's before Doogie went for fame and fortune and few yrs back they did a few gigs as mates and produced few albums that have done pretty well. Crossfire are a 3 piece rock band that doa lot of the local gigs and few lcal festivals too.

Cheers McNach that explains it and i get what you mean. Had a wee listen to some of your bands there. Nice rounded tone with URANG MATANG. Bands sound tight and looks like all having fun. Dave

I used the Maplin version of this altho it comes as 2 normal side stands that will also take the crossbeam if required. Otherwise they can be used at the side or front to side stage light rigs. https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/goal-post-stage-lighting-stand-gt62s

I used some cheap short to medium bungee cords to hook ours with. The fact they stretch a little takes up any slack in the banner too.

My oldest bass is my Warwick Thumb 89 i've had since new. To simplify my thoughts tho i'll stick with the Fenders i've had. Currently my goto bass is a Crafted in Japan Geddy Signature Jazz. It feels comfortable sounds like my older Jazz basses did from memory and the neck feels the same as my 80's Jazz, the main difference being the 80's one had pearl block inlays rather than the black painted ones. I do think the 80's bass was very slightly heavier but that could be down to the fact i was only 9.5st back then and now 12.5st so maybe the basses now just feel lighter altho my Warwick feels as heavy as it always did but i don't generally play it for long periods. I'd say these two basses have / had a similar build quality, no rough fret edges and all very smooth feel to the neck. Fret heights pretty similar and not too high. Action and set up i've always done my own and they are pretty much same as far as i can remember. Its possible the newer one has a slightly lower action but i am playing lighter these days. My 2017 Precision deluxe P/J however has a very different feel to it. The fret ends were noticeable and i had to smooth them off. The frets are slightly higher than my jazz too. Bass feels slightly lighter but not much in it. The pick ups on the P/J are good but i find the P pick up not as even tone across it as the J pick up. Its a hard thing to describe to be honest. My Geddy Jazz the pick ups are both pretty even across the range on either pick up. The general build quality just isn't as good as my Geddy Jazz. From my experience i'm not convinced that the more you spend the better the bass as my Jazz is one of my cheaper basses but its the one i always go to first. I'm also not convinced that the older basses will sound or feel better. I think this is more down to individual basses if we are talking Fender. Some older ones will no doubt be first class but others pretty poor. If you are gonna buy an older vintage bass then you really need to try it and have an open mind when trying it. Don't be blinkered by the vintage thing that older is better. I would try some of the newer basses first to get a better perspective on them. Having said all that i have to admit to the fact I've no experience of what would be classed as a Vintage bass ie 60's Fenders.

So the D800 doesn't compare with D800+ ? Does the additional EQ offered make that much of a difference or can you still get a decent tone form the more basic D800. A lot of people using Mesa gear mention that the flat settings on their amp gives them the tone they like. Is that not the case with the D800 range. ? I'm curious to know if using the same cabs with both amps did you use the same or similar EQ settings or did the flat settings on both sound the same. Dave

Few yrs back 2012 my wife did the art work and the local council Graphic Design / print Dept made a vinyl banner approx 10' x 2' for not a lot of money. Might be worth looking into your local council see if they do it. Here's the artwork she did for a tribute to Deep Purple banner rather than a full backdrop that's hidden behind a drummer. Had loops around the edge to hang onto the lighting rigs..

That's bad news when couriers fail to show. Wasted time off work for people

That's interesting as i have a Markbass 121 combo but never tried the head thru my Berg HT322. Think i'll try that tomorrow out of curiosity The Markbass combo is good but doesn't have that warm tone of a valve pre-amp in my opinion

Looked at the Mesa website and they now only have the D class and the full valve models. They don't appear to have anything in between. Dave

Had a Streamliner 600 and altho it had a nice tone i found it a little bit limiting and not a lot of variation from its EQ. Was using it with Berg AE112 NEO cabs. It may have been down to the cabs tho. Without being ridiculous about cabs i'm not too bothered about cab weights. Obviously their 810 cab would be out of the question. I'm using a Berg HT322 at 95ibs / 43Kg