fretmeister

Why are Ashdown amps so much more expensive to buy them directly? EG: The ABM 600 is £749 direct from them, but as low as £619 in other places. What's the deal there?

The Helix is my interface and soundcard. It's also my home practice rig with a pair of Yamaha HS7. I do have Native as well but I like the rack and the foot controller for 'live' tracking.

I've just had a look at the specs of the RCF 745A Impressive! Only 1kg heavier than my Barefaced Super Twin and of course it has the power amp built in too. I've been thinking a little about getting the HX stomp as an easy pedal board set up and the RCF looks very good for that. My Helix is a rack version and it's a permanent part of my home studio so I cannot be arsed to pull that apart to take it anywhere.

I do cut the lows sometimes if the room is a bit crap or the stage is a hollow sports hall tonal disaster. I was thinking about the OBP-2 for that purpose.

Reggae band. No. Muse covers. Yes, absolutely necessary. The set list decides the issue.

I do amp first with the bass at centre detents. Then I use the bass to tweak for the room / songs as needed.

I’m thinking of swapping out the preamp in my Ibanez EHB and a thought occurred. Even in a bass with a 3 band I hardly ever use the mid control other than as an extension of the treble to knock down the high end. On a 3 band the Q of the treble is usually narrower so to get a proper “passive tone down” sound they both have to come down a bit, whereas the wider Q on a 2 band doesn’t need that. So… with that in mind. Im thinking of Aguilar. The one that cuts and boosts. Anyone done that to an EHB?

This. I have a trad rig because I play in a band that doesn't have a PA at all. If I went back to the rock band thing my Helix would be in the PA / monitors.

Stop them! Drugs will be cheaper!

I use a Line 6 unit for magic shows. Works very well.

Quick update. Have done 2 rehearsals now. Once with the Mark Bass and once with the Tech21. The T21 seems to suit it better. I’ve swapped strings to DR Pure Blues and I really like them. A fuller less twangy sound than the Prosteels. It is one of the comfiest easy to play basses I’ve ever tried. It’s a real joy to rip all over the neck. Very pleased. Pickups. I thought I would be happy with them. But when used in anger in the wall of noise of a big band they are a bit crap. Flubby at the bottom and the mids are wrong to cut through all the brass and reeds. To get the sound I really wanted was beyond both the amp and the bass controls and I needed to use my EQ-200. Then I got it sound very much like the demos I’ve heard of the Aguilar DCB pickups. The EQ-200 allowed me to sort the lower mids, cut a little at 800hz, boost a little at 1.6 to 6khz and stop the low flub with a tiny 30hz cut. I think I’m going to spend the money on the Aguilars. The bass itself is very much worthy of that expenditure. Changing pickups is something I’ve done on most instruments so I kind of expected it as I’m really picky about them. It’s just a lovely bass to play. No wrist pain ever, and at only 7lb even my surgery addled body has no complaints. I might even get another one for flatwounds!

I like the plastic knobs! They might be cheap but they are really light weight, and that will do for me.

I’ve been listening to sound samples. The Aguilar DCB sounds nice but doesn’t have the single coil tones I tend to go for. In an ideal world I’d have EMG J but that would need a fair bit of routing, and with the quick connector I don’t know of routing deeper would interfere with any body chambering spaces. I’m now actually wondering whether to get a set of Nordstrand single coils. I’ll have to email them and ask for a quote. Hopefully won’t be too expensive as they make the perfectly fitting ones anyway for the other EHB models.

Has that Ibby been modified? it looks like there is tape on the pickups in the bottom right edge if the bass was pointing at the sky. Pickup swap they didn’t want to admit?

What is the correct Aguilar model for an upgrade please? I think I’m going to do it too.

I’ve never used my PC to set up the spectrum!

I sold 99% of mine when I got my Spectrum. It just does everything! Brilliant pedal.

All of them. Just arrange them well. Like Phil X’s band. Loads of 3 piece versions of big tunes.