stewblack

Regarding the shiny (impossible to read) front. Does anyone know if the new matt finish is a straight swap for the mirrored one? If so I might see if Ashdown can supply a replacement. Using masking tape and magic marker right now. It's not the best look.

I have an RM500 and really like the dirt button. Will any generic footswitch work for this? Or does it have to be the Ashdown one?

I left a band once, amicably (or so I thought), but in a state of extreme hissy fittery the BL sacked the rest of the band! To this day I don't know what that was supposed to achieve. He's since been sniffing around the singer, but as the rest of us are now together enjoying a new project he won't get far.

I don't want to spoil the surprise...

Utterly annoying and useless answer alert! It depends. (sorry) On my old Eden amp the tone controls were so amazing that I never touched anything else. On my Trace Elliots and Ashdown RM, pre shape, boost mids, done. On my CTM100 turn everything up full, slowly increase the gain until the singers glare becomes too much to bear. Generally I don't mess much with pedals at the gig, they're too darned fiddly. Set 'em up at home and unless it sounds dreadful in the room leave well alone. If I'm lucky I have a band member I trust. They go out and signal (in broad brush strokes) more or less; top middle or bottom) Usually it's just less bottom or more mids. Anything more nuanced and subtle would be pointless naval gazing on my part, especially in a pub gig where the guitarist will inevitably turn up throughout the set and no one in the room cares about the bass sound.

I too like this combination, only thing I add is the HPF. 1 pedal instead of three, and my other MS-60B set up as a whacky phaser. The B1 Four is in use as comp, pre and HPF on my main board simply because as an 'always on' pedal it slides under the upper row. I'm now going to have to side by side it with the MS-60B.

Worked for me right through the 80s In fact if you watch the Tadeschi Trucks Rig Rundown, Susan T still has her pedals battery powered and on the floor, no board.

Yep I saw a guitarist review a 412 and the speakers were worth more than the whole thing cost him

Well watch this space. I have an interesting new overdrive /fuzz pedal on the way...

Thanks Phil. I was hoping you might chip in. I have two pretty good light speakers in poor quality chipboard cabs and have been put off building my own cabs due to having no workspace. I may consider this a decent option. Bracing through the baffle in a 15" cab is doable. I have in fact doabled it once already on the chipboard cabs. I'll try one, if it works, rehouse my 10" speakers as well.

I'm just surprised given the numbers, they haven't made a huge deal out of the weight. Maybe these days people just expect a bass cab to weigh less that a bag of chips so the marketing folk deemed it unimportant.

Any Basschatters anywhere near Bath or Swindon... El Toro Music is hosting 'live' 'gigs' in his music shop. We did it on Saturday and it was so good to be out there and playing. Virtual tip jar set up and streamed to FB. So much better than a smelly pub with drunks yelling at you for songs you don't know, standing on your pedals and asking the guitarist if they can have a go. If you're interested look him up on FB and get in touch. Here's our set, complete with lockdown rust and some laughable bass mistakes 🤦🏼‍♂️

A little while ago Thomann released a range of cabs under their house brand. I recall thinking, they'll not sell many of these in the current market. Great lumpen 4 and 8x 10s when we're all shifting them for peanuts and buying lightweight stuff. Now I'm not starting a debate on the merits of their cabs compared with others. We know from guitarists who've opened up their HB cabs that the speakers inside were excellent and would have cost more than the loaded cab if bought elsewhere. In this instance I'm only interested in the weight. There are prices in my example but that was for another comparison I'm doing for another, different reason. I simply picked a bunch of cabs either labelled as lightweight or known to be so. Look at the results. Two things struck me immediately, the 8x 10 is heavier than two 4x 10s which seems illogical, and if the specs are to be believed these are (purely in terms of weight) competitive cabs to say the least. Not talking quality. Just weight. I'm not comparing prices or quality just weight. THIS IS ONLY ABOUT THE WEIGHT. Not quality. ... I am not saying Harley Benton is as good or better than Gallien and Krueger. Or Mesa Boogie.

A Bright Onion loop switcher. Oftentimes when shoving yet another pedal board together I think how much simpler twould be were I able to turn on the volume boost simultaneously with that pedal, or a little bottom end eq with thus or dirt with that. And so forth. I love my Tri Parallel Mixer. In fact if ever I see one second hand (at those rare moments when I have money) I'll snap it up. They allow these looping shenanigans with many simple options to help such as level control on each send and return, overall level control and dry signal level, tone pots on each loop, and phase switches. Sometimes however I just want a simple loop to give me one press for multiple pedals. Hopefully this is the answer.

Sorry, misunderstood your earlier post.

I shall have a closer look - thanks both. I don't wish to cast nasturtiums on the skills of the solderer at the Ibanez factory, in fact I can guarantee that they are better at it than I am! However I can stop things touching where they shouldn't.

Been at this game for decades, and I haven't a clue either! So don't over think or worry too much I'd you're just starting out. I am not (before I get jumped on) suggesting don't learn, don't ask questions - far from it. Just in the early stages keep it simple, learn the basics. Listen to the bass drum, lock in with that. Once there's a solid foundation you can start exploring the more nuanced stuff. And for every old fart like me there will be another one along with the exact opposite idea. Only you can distill the advice down to what works and above all what makes sense to you.

Jack, you and I are cut from a very similar cloth. The board I just built was a remake of yesterday's! There is no such thing as finished is there?

Does anyone actually sit down and plan their board out before building it? Or do you fly by the seat of your pants? Squashing pedals in wherever they might fit, only to rip it all apart again when realising the delay doesn't work first it the chain. Or does anyone still do it the old way and just bung the pedals on the floor?

I... I'm so sorry... I... I don't know what I was thinking

My favourite hissy fit story (and I probably read it here) concerned a drummer storming out of the band in a massive sulk before he'd packed his kit. I still chuckle at the image of him trying desperately to maintain his brooding, silent fury as he dismantled and bagged his kit, the embarrassed (by now ex) band mates looking on, either dying or trying not to laugh. Did he have to ask someone to hold the door for him as he very slowly stormed out?

This is inevitably going to divide us into those for whom it's an important issue and those who don't give a fig. Not sure me telling someone they're wrong to care about something will achieve any more than them telling me I'm wrong not to care. I think it's actually OK for us not to think the same.

I tend to work together with most drummers. Sometimes picking up on what they do and adjusting to go with it, other times they follow me. Don't always discuss it with them. Occasionally I play with someone and we lock in immediately, usually that means that we both share a feel for the songs. Other drummers I've grown into a kind of telepathic synchronisation after years of working together. There's another guy I've played with on and off who is in his own bubble, extremely creative and skilled, and I 100% follow him.

I'm an aging mod who loves ska, soul, punk, reggae and new wave. However, Lizzy was the first band I ever saw live, around the time of Bad Reputation. I clearly remember seeing them performing The Boys Are Back In Town on a long since forgotten TV show. Utterly stunned me. L&D is still my favourite live album (Vulfpeck at MSG a solid second), Johnny The Fox still in my all time favourite top 10 album list and Black Rose, for me, was their last great album. Some bands transcend all genre based consideration. I'd say Lizzy and AC/DC (Bon Scott era) exemplify this.