chrismuzz

I hit the strings quite hard, probably why I avoid active basses

Also made by Tech 21, same as the SansAmp, is the VT Bass. Also worth a look in, and they tend to sell for around £90 used

I had to make this tough decision myself A few months back! But I think I came to the best solution for me. I'm a Passive player, I love the more traditional sound and feel you get from passive basses but also being in a metal band I need that tight, modern, more aggressive driven kinda sound. In my experience I've been able to use outboard preamps to get the active sound using a passive bass, but never been able to achieve a passive sound using an active! I think I made the right decision by going for the Programmable BDDI with 3 presets. that way I have my straight up bass sound, plus three 'active bass' kinda sounds with slightly different EQ and varying degrees of nice tubey gain The VT Bass is an amazing piece of kit, especially if you want the ampeg sound! I would love one, but I can definately do without it. It's got some awesome distorted tones, but my Sansamp, Marshall, and Big Muff are more than enough dirt for me! I've figured out with different combinations I literally have 12 easily accessable distortion/fuzz tones at my feet! What I would say though is if you DO go for it, go for the Deluxe version. You get a total of 6 presets, and you can get so many diverse and usable sounds you'll be glad of that! Even if you dont use the FX loop or DI they're handy as hell and a nice extra

Thanks chris! I'm definately pleased to hear that as I'd never fit TWO 4x10s in my tiny car

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1213411' date='Apr 28 2011, 01:11 AM']was kind of hoping you wouldn't ask, explaining is hard when tired. Basically, if you think of a 8 ohm 4x10 with 8 ohm speakers, it will be wired as two 16 ohm 2x10s in one box, so when you add a third 16 ohm 2x10, all three are the same, thus power distributes evenly. If you have an 8 ohm 2x10 and an 8 ohm 4x10, both complete cabinets will get an equal amount of power, so the 2x10 will be getting twice as much power per speaker than the 4x10, so it will be struggling whilst the 4x10 is coasting and drowning the struggling sounds out.[/quote] I'm thinking of adding an 8ohm 2x10 ontop of my 8ohm 4x10 so i'm a bit concerned to read this! Would the difference i power distribution affect the sound? my head is 500w and the 4x10 has 800w power handling, and i think the 2x10 has 400w if that helps

I'm another lover of the 6x10, it's front ported and has a tweeter so it works well for more modern styles, but still has the ampeg sound that I love. Almost considered getting rid of my current rig for one! Thankfully I played a gig with my own gear and remembered why i love Markbass so much

Am I right in thinking that passive tone controls only serve as a treble cut?

i treated the only Jazz I played just like my current bass. Both pickups and tone on max!

Personally, I really love the stainless steel Elites. very bright sound and they feel nice too!

If you want mids, i'd go for a Markbass head. They sound brilliant through absolutely any cab. You get a transparent sound and the mids are very pronounced. The filters are fun too! the VLE really does emulate vintage loudpseakers! Now that my bass has good pickups in it, I'm currently running mine with a totally flat EQ! I needn't even mention how stupidly loud they are. And the supposed gimmick of lightweight is just a nice bonus! MB heads always sell on here for between £200 and £500 depending on what you go for. If you can't find a solution with your Hartke i seriously doubt you'd regret getting a tiny yellow and black head for your collection

Yup

I personally liked elites, but for the b string I used a .130 gauge. I would probably try your preferred brand d'addarios and if the tension is still too floppy for your liking I'd try for something thicker, at least a .125 for sure

Have you ever tried using fast fret? If you put it on before playing it coats the string in a fine protective layer to prevent as much dirt and sweat from getting in the windings. As an added bonus you cna also use it to clean your strings to get back a little extra brightness.. and it lubricates them a little so they don't feel as rough to the touch, or as it says on the pot 'Lets you play faster'. It's only about £6 for a pot and it'll make many sets of strings last a lot longer. Well worth a try

If you can stretch a little more, I'd look into a second hand EBS Multi Comp. They're very highly regarded, very useful and sound nice and smooth. I almost got one myself but I heard they don't squeeze the f*ck out of your sound as much as the aguilar lol

You're famous Higgins! And it wasn't the band, it was eBay. Who'd have thunk it?

Haha, I know him! He plays for a band called Blue Origin Forgot about this listing! I reckon someone here should bid on him, it's for a good cause and he might come in handy

[quote name='Machines' post='1203164' date='Apr 18 2011, 07:38 AM']it's not possible to turn down anything but the treble on a standard pot (no centre point).[/quote] Call me stupid, but I never knew that! Cheers Machines!

Apparently they intended to use a cheapo guitar but there was a mix up I think it looks cool, but I wouldnt buy it!

Markbass F1 is my all time favourite head. Super loud, super portable, and the clearest, punchiest tone ever. Works well with any cab too! Used it with an svt 610 and it was a monster of all monsters) You can get them used for around the £400 Mark

And I will shed tears of joy!

God that's a terrifying prospect! I wouldn't do it myself, especially not on a fender. Good luck dude

I've actually got a copy of Guitar Hero: Metallica, for my xbox 360. I'll try to find out how to rip the tracks from it and send em your way to have a play with!

Congrats!

That's disappointing I was just about to go download it so I can take the REAL cd album out of my car. I can't bare to listen to it through good speakers, you can't pretend it's their fault the bass is inaudible