dmccombe7

Its just a shame Bowie didn't get that recognition when he was alive. Adelle has a great voice admittedly but she always comes across as false with all the tears and the "oh i can't manage to sing this because i'm so upset" crap that she does every year. Get over it Adelle. George Michael had a few good songs but he wasn't that good or that influencial and what is that crap all about with Beyonce. Lets be honest here she and her management team would stab her in the back to gain the award so stop trying to kid everyone to get the sympathy vote. Been done too many times now to have any effect on sensible people. I didn't actually watch the program, just the news highlights this morning, as its all back slapping friends of friends that enter it, run it and get the awards or nominations, Closed group IMHO. As i said Adelle has a good voice but she knows it and has been living the life for several years now so awards ceremony shouldn't be a surprise. All for the cameras crap telly. Far too many award ceremonies these days. Everyone giving their friends a wee pat on the back for doing their job basically and its a job they all chose to do because they enjoy it. Jings i'm sounding like a bitter and twisted failure now Dave

This is my first review i've tackled so hope its ok. I bought the OBC115 Cab from a fellow basschatter and have to say from the outset it has more than surprised me. The cab was in virtually new condition with Orange cover to match. Its the black version which means you don't see any scuffs the way the Orange cabs seem to show up. I've been finding that my existing amps or cabs don't appear to have the depth i'm looking for now that i'm playing in a Blues based funk / rock band using a Fender PJ. So far the test is at home in the bass cave and will find out later how it sounds at a full band rehearsal. Bass was set flat with centre balance between PJ. TRACE ELLIOT GP150 SM This is the main Amp i have been using with a TE 2x10 cab. I left the EQ as it was with a smiley face set up on the graphic and no contours selected and the EQ balance flat centre point. The sound was very low and an amazing depth to it. There was a lack of high end tone with the current settings. I then put EQ flat on the graphic and found that the tone from the cab was far more balanced across the tonal range and there was enough bottom and top end to play some slap and pop styles. Not ideal but it works ok. The cab provided a nice warm sound from a deep low E to a high G on the 12th fret. All clear but sounding rich and warm. GK MB200 This is my small portable back up ampand with everything set flat on the amp i had a usable tone but needed to boost the bass a little and cut the Hi Mid leaving the Lo Mid and Treble as they were at 12 o clock mid point. Switching the amp contour ON i found the low end was very booming and altho might suit some styles it wasn't for me. Setting the amp up with these settings produced similar tone to the TE above. Nice warm tone across the range with clear mids. MARKBASS CMD 121 COMBO (12" cab was unplugged to give just the amp and 115 cab) Started off with everything set flat and the VLE at 10 o'clock and VLF all way OFF. The cab sounded pretty good but a little too much hi-mids. Tweaked the EQ by backing off just the Hi Mid a touch and was able to use just the VLE to get some really nice warm tones from the Markbass. The higher end EQ didn't have a great effect on the cab or tone. However it was giving me that warm even tone i was looking for. MARKBASS CMD 121 COMBO (with 12" speaker connected) This took the overall tone to a new level where the top end was bright sharp and crystal clear yet the low end from the 115 was providing the lw end depth i was looking for. This set up would suit most styles of music in my opinion. GK1001RBii This was probably the biggest surprise. I normally use this am with my Bergantino HT322 cab and EQ is set upflat with just a touch boost on BASS control. The Contour is usually set at 10 o'clock and the BOOST set 12 o'clock. With these settings i found the cab to be very bottom ended and a little muddy even tho the EQ is minimal. The top end was very thin while the bottom end muddy and boomy. Decided to take Contour OFF altogether and bring EQ to flat. Left the BOOST at 12 o'clock. With the amp running flat the tone across the range was far more even and producing some nice warm, rich sounds. Taking the BOOST off gave it a warmer sound altho in my opinion a little dull Ideal home settings were EQ flat, Contour and Presence OFF and the BOOST back at 12 o'clock and that gave me a nicer overall tone. To round off i actually thought the Trace amp had the better sound with this cab at the lower home volumes but that may change when things get ramped up. The range off the cab is quite impressive for a 15" and i would have to say that 2 off these cabs would make one helluva sound with most amps. Afraid my Ampeg SVT4 Pro is not working at present and that would have been the ultimate test for me. Perhaps the nest step for me is the Orange tube head AD200b. I can see how that and 2 115 cabs would be a pretty powerful sound at higher volumes. Bit of an odd review using different amps but was trying to show how the cab compared with different heads. I will see about updating a bit after rehearsal next week. Hope this helps. Dave

Great review as i've only recently tried Orange gear and have been so impressed by it its fuelling my GAS no end. Just the price that puts me off but you get what you pays for in the end. Just bought an OBC115 and its quite a surprising cab. Lots of low end depth. Afraid my lightweight gear just doesn't provide that proper speaker depth. Yrs ago i was always a 15 & 12 custom cabs ot 15 & 2x10 custom cabs to get best of both worlds. Fair impressed with the Orange 115 and might start lokng at a matching 10 or 12 cab. Eventually top it off with that AD200b head. Tried the head thru a Hartke 8x10 and as many have said it just works. No tweaking required. The tone was just right from the Orange head. Warm, deep and lovely clear mids that allwed it to cut right thru the mix. Dave

Not sure if you've made your mind up yet but i just bought an OBC115 on BC and the sound is quite astounding. Very low end with lots of depth. I did find it lacked on the top end so if you're into slap and pop style not so good. I'm currently playing in a blues based funk rock band and this cab fits the sound perfectly. I've tried it with TE GP7 150W head, GK MB200, GK1001RBii and Markbass heads and the TE suited it very well with no tweaking of EQ required. Markbass much the same with minimal tweak. Both the GK amps i had to tweak a bit to get good sound. The 1001RBii i virtually had to take everything back to flat to get best overall tone from the cab. Guess that's a good thing. Then tried it with my Markbass combo 12" with Orange cab. That gave it everything. Great high mids to top end and that amazing low end depth from the Orange. I like the sound on its own but depending on style of music i would be playing would maybe add a 12 or 10 cab to offer bit more high end. You can see from my equipment list the types of amps and cabs i'm comparing against to hopefully help you understand my opinions. It is quite a heavy cab. Not a one hand lift but probably its size makes it a bit more awkward. 24" wide but compared to my Bergantino HT322 its nothing. All in all it would depend on your style of music and playing whether it will suit. Personally i love it. Dave

Well done and that's what its all about. Dave

Just returned from Perth after meeting Grant to buy his Orange cab. Grant was fantastic and offered to meet me rather than drive all way to Dundee. He even offered me £20 for fuel. Top class guy. Price was agreed beforehand on Basschat so rather than offend i asked if he would mind giving the money to his son who was with him. Hopefully we all had a good day out of it. Had a great chat about amps and cabs and how we have both tried the bi-amp route and still seeking the nirvana of sound altho i think Grant may have found his with his Fender Bassman head and Barefaced cab. Cab has unbelievable depth and low end. I am so chuffed with this. So far i've tried it with my Trace Elliot and GK MB200 heads and it sounds amazing. Looking forward to trying it with Markbass and GK 1001RBii heads later tonight. I can highly recommend dealing with Grant. One of the nicest guys i've met thru BC. Dependable, quick to reply and very obliging. And his cab is in virtually new condition. Thanks again Grant, very much appreciated you meeting me at Perth. Dave

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1486674194' post='3233800'] It's nice enough music of it's type, but what does a second drummer add to it? [/quote] Stereo

Surely the soundman should be dropping PA off to hear your backline and adjust FOH to similar sound. I occasionally have to tell sound guy that there is something not right and he adjusts to suit what i want. Of course he may change it back once the gig starts Dave

My Ampeg is a tube pre-amp but i also have GK1001RBii and Markbass rig. Its a TE GP7 SM 150 but its an old one and the cab is a very very old one. I think the tone thing is sorted now as i've tried it with gramma board and its a lot more stable tone and now has a bit more depth. I do remember that guitarist sat on the edge of the cab at one point and it changed the tone so it may have been the floor that was causing tonal issues. Have tried combinations of amps to cabs to amps and have tweaked the EQ on the TE amp to sound more like my Markbass rig. That may have been the prob. With PJ bass i found i had to cut the Mid frequencies a bit and boost the bass a touch. I had been using the contour buttons as well and think i was bosting mids on graphic but cutting with contour buttons. Someone had mentioned to me in an earlier post to leave the contour buttons and work of the graphic and that has given me a fuller sound thru the 2x10 cab. Hopefully it will sound better next weeks rehearsal. Failing that it will be binned and something more up to date used as a rehearsal amp. Maybe an Orange 15" with Terror head if i can find one. Thanks for replies Paul. Gonna try the Gain up higher too and see how it all sounds. cheers Dave

Yep meant 10 and 12 o'clock I've googled and found the effects return socket can cause loss of signal. I've cleaned the connections and tried it and sounds better in house. Will try next week at rehearsal. I've also found that the tone change might be down to rehearsal room floor. Its wooden upstairs and i have a sneaky suspicion the guitarist was moving across next to my cab when tone changed. ?? Might be grasping at straws here but gonna try my Gramma Pad at rehearsals and take another amp to do some tests. Might be a combination of the bad connection and room conditions. More testing required. PS I'm not a fan of TE gear for some reason. It always sounds quite clean and modern to me without that warm depth i lie from my Ampeg. Dave

I have a 2nd hand TE amp that seems to suffering volume and tone loss during 3 hour rehearsal. It seems to come and go. From an almost flat sound with a touch of low mid boost and the contour shape smiley face button selected. Gain at 12 and master around 10. It has a nice full sound that drops out to quite a nasal sounding mid tone and the volume drops enough so that Master is adjusted up to approx 12 to be heard. Rest of band are not changing volumes or tone. Will then return to previous setting on its own and comes thundering thru the mix like a train. I've tried different cabs ie 2x10 TE cab and Peavey 4x12 but appears to be the amp. Has anyone else experienced this kind of problem. ? Dave

Murder On the Dancefloor - think its just Guy's bass line that makes it but it is a very cheesy disco song.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1486129700' post='3229453'] I'm a professional salesman, done it for many years. Steve is right to some degree. You need someone to go out and meet the landlords or club managers etc but it needs to be the right person. Steve says "gobby", what you actually need is someone with the confidence, to do the meetings with a stranger, not necessarily "gobby". It's very easy to fall into the trap of going round loads of places and spout out a practiced script of: "Hello, I'm Wayne, I'm in a covers band, we play AC/DC, Stones, etc etc, etc, We're better than most others round her and we're getting started, when do you have a night free that we can do a night for you?... pause for breath." The problem with this is Wayne, bless him, hasn't asked any questions. A good salesman listens more than speaks. (God gave you 1 mouth and 2 ears, and there's a reason for this. You don't learn as much through talking.) Go into see the manager: [b]Wayne: [/b]Hi I'm Wayne, I'm with XYZ Band, we're just getting started in the area, we think we're good, but I wonder, can you help me please if you have 5 mins? (Folk are naturally helpful, they don't think they want to be sold to, but they like to help) [b]Manger:[/b] No, I'm up to my neck in it. [b]Wayne[/b]: OK I can appreciate that, when would be a good time? - Get an appointment. Or [b]Manager[/b]: Yeah, sure. What can I do? [b]Wayne[/b]; Well I know there are a number of bands about and I see you do live music. If you were looking for a new band, what would you like to see in that band? What sort of music? [b]Manager[/b]: - Now he tells you what you need to know. [b]Wayne[/b]: OK, cool. Just out of interest, of the bands you have here, mentioning no names, are there anythings they do, or don't do that you like, or don't like? I guess, what I'm really asking is what is it in a band that, for you makes the whole deal work well for you and The Kings Arms? [b]Manager[/b]: - Now he tells you more of what you need to know. [b]Wayne[/b]: Cool, That's really helpful. Many thanks. We're a band that does that kind if music, and we can make sure we don't get-loaded / $h@gg the bar staff / play too loud, as we have our own limiter etc.. delete as appropriate. If we were able to deliver what you want, when would your next available night be? [b]Manager[/b]: well we're now booking for April 2026.... [b]Wayne[/b]; Cool, we should be ready about then, can I give you some info, with our web page/ Farcebook / Lemonrock / Soundcloud... ? Hopefully that should work better than spouting and getting nowhere. Good luck [/quote] Could you be our Manager Excellent reply. Dave

I assumed it was picking hand from comment "from knuckle down on my picky aches" but not exactly clear. ? Dave

Not a huge fan of RHCP. Appreciate good musicians but just can't get into a full album of it. Bought Statium Arcadium and nope not for me i'm afraid. No taking away from fact Flea is a fantastic bassist and hearing this isolated lets you hear just how aggresive he actually is on bass in a good way. He must have amazing strength in his fingers to be able to keep that up live for a full gig. Hugely impressive. Dave

What approx age group are you ? March is your 1st GP appointment. Do you live on a remote Scottish Island ?? That's ridiculous. If i phone this morning 8-9am i get an appointment today. Have you been using your pinky as an anchor point on bridge or pick up. Possibly joint damage if there's like a 2nd knuckle. That could point towards athritis or similar. Joint conditions generaly happen to more mature people but can be seen in younger generation on rare occasions. My honest opinion and advice is to try and push your GP for a better appointment. Do they not have emergency appointments at short notice. Might be worth asking. Failing that you could go to A&E and suggest you've damaged it somehow and explain about GP appointment in a month. ?? Without proper examination by a professional its all just guessing really. Sorry can't help you more Dave

I just bought a Fender Deluxe Precision with the PJ set up and active circuit but no passive tone adjustment. It has the blend feature which i highly recommend. If you add the J to your precision make sure you get it done properly. I would stay with the passive bass as i think the active circuit is nice to have but its a bit overkill and a passive tone adjustment would suffice for me. I tend to run my bass and amp virtually flat anyways and with PJ set up just make small changes to the blend and it gives enough tonal variation to go from deep thunderous P to tight snappy bridge J. What's not to like. Wish i had bought one years ago. Dave

I went from Ampeg SVT4 Pro and Bergantino HT322 cab to more portable Markbass CMD121P and NY121 ext cab and it gives the Ampeg rig a run for its money. I've tried other lightweight amps but Markbass has a nicer tone and certainly cuts a full band mix far better than the larger Ampeg rig. Still have the Berg cab for larger venues or back up and either Ampeg SVT 4 when its working or my GK 1001RBii Tried a Markbass 4x10 and Nano Mark head in Guitar Guitar few weeks ago and it was pretty impressive tone with a Precison deluxe and Sandberg TM & VM basses. Deep but nice mid punch. Dave

+1 for Obbm here. Never had any issues with his cables ever and his service is outstanding and excellent value for money too. Dave

I've used them several times and recently bought a Fender Deluxe Precision from them. I can't fault them at all. I've even told them Thomann were cheaper and they dropped the price. No complaints from me but have to agree if its scratched and obviously been used that's pretty poor. Dave

I tried Combustion and NG2 18mths ago and found them pretty much feeling the same. The only differance was the tonal range with the NG2 having the Darkglass pre-amp. In passive mode it was down to pick up position affecting the tone. NG2 more mid punch sounding with the combustion more off an all rounder tone. Neck and feel same IMO. For a 5 stringer i thought it felt slim and so easy to play. Take a trip to Bass Direct and try them out. Dave

New Fender Deluxe Precision (just took 1st place as PJ has more tonal variation) Fender Jazz (just great to play) Warwick Thumb (specific tone but probably the nicest bass to play but a little on heavy side) Dingwall NG2 5er for any Prog gigs Dave

[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1485882446' post='3227487'] Personally there's not a lot to say about it I don't think, otherwise it's just a whole thread of "try this bass....try that bass because I like it". If you go down the 'off the shelf high-end' route, take your bass along to Bass Direct, Bass Gallery and/or Manchester Bass Lounge and try a LOT of stuff in comparison to yours. Even if they're a bit of a trip, they're all treasure troves, so worth it. If you go down the custom route, you have to ensure that the resulting bass will be as good as, if not better (hopefully better), than what you're playing now, otherwise it's a waste. Make a list of what you do like about your bass, and what you don't (and be critical). With any new bass comes some bedding in, especially after playing the same thing for 10years, but if you try for something that encompasses the things you do like, and fixes the things you don't, then getting used to it shouldn't take too long. Quite frankly, you may just find that you go with a really high-end Yamaha.....keep it in the family and all that. Enjoy Si [/quote] Good advice +1 for this Dave

Used to suffer from that right up to the aches / pains in forearms as if they were being over-stretched. I was a very vigorous player for many years. Took BC'ers advice. Turned up the amp, rolled a bit of the bass end and played a bit lighter. Took a little time to get used to it but no aches at all now. What i have found is that i now have more tonal variation from just using my fingers. Give it a try and see how you get on. Dave