dc2009

[quote name='xgsjx' post='1299909' date='Jul 11 2011, 02:16 PM']Markbass might not be to everyone's liking, which is why you should try before you buy. Although saying that, I tried countless combos & amp/cabs before buying the MB without trying it (thanks BC). If you like the sound of your 1x18 & want something to comliment it, another 1x18 is your best option, but like dc2009 says, there's not that many 2 ohm heads (EBS come to mind, so I'd check them out). If you're gonna change cabs then a good 1x15, 2x10 (or 2 2x10s vertically) will give you as much bass as your 1x18.[/quote] See I'm gonna disagree, cos this is all personal taste, but IMO a perfect stack is a 1x15 (read 18 if you want they're just more rare) and a 4x10 (or a 2x15 and an 8x10 if I was a stadium player ). So to my liking I'd advocate a 4x10 with your 1x18, but obviously this conjures the 2ohm power section problem, though definitely check out EBS for some professional quality bass gear, this is again all personal choice. Go to a decent store if you can, they'll help.

Saw him playing for Dio a few years back, he was rocking out at the back and seemed quite good, musically and for the show. Won't watch this now as I'm at work, but will check it out later.

[quote name='pantherairsoft' post='1299610' date='Jul 11 2011, 08:58 AM']Boom - Transport sorted![/quote] Said transport fancy helping me out as you pass SW london? I'm in Earl's Court (or near enough). I can of course get train/public transport to wherever, though this prevents me bringing along anything like as much gear.

Edit, just realised your cab is a 1x18, if I were you I would consider selling it and getting a whole new stack/half stack. Reason being it's a 4 ohm cab so you will struggle to find a head that can handle a 2 ohm rating (there are some but they tend to be huge power amp sections for which you'd want a preamp and a higher power rated cab most likely), and IMO you [b]need[/b] something like a 2x10 or ideally a 4x10 to compliment a 1x18. The other benefit of this is that you could possibly get a cab and head from the same manufacturer, which typically work better together than a b*stard child mix and match like I've got

[quote name='xgsjx' post='1299614' date='Jul 11 2011, 09:10 AM']That seems very strange that it's short on power. There might be a problem with it (or one of the cabs) as "short on power" is not something I've come across on mine or anyone else's. I use the MB 2x10 combo & it's probably the loudest 2x10 combo (or any combo) I've ever played through & that's at 8Ω. If the OP is using a 4Ω 18" he's gonna be moving a lot of air. The VLE & VPF are not to everyone's taste & both do different things. I like the VLE for taking away a little of the "HiFi" sound. A wee thought I've had, is the head going through TC & Hartke cabs together & are they different sized drivers? Also is it the Hartke aluminium cones? Mixed cones (size, construction, etc) can have negative effects as they put out different sized soundwaves which affect each other. I'd try changing the head in the rehearsal room & see if that helps, or try just one of the cabs with the MB head.[/quote] I will add that I'm not a fan of Markbass in general, I liked the first one I played and have disliked all the subsequent ones I've tried. I was in the bass gallery the other day and got put through a markbass, got asked to be put through a different amp for the other bass i tried and just got put through a different one! Not the guy's fault, they were friendly and nice, I probably should've said something I guess. As for the specific problem. I'm unsure as to which cabs are in use (one of the Hartke's is broken I think so not sure on that) but I'm fairly sure it's now through a paper-coned tc 2x10 (or maybe 12), and an aluminium-coned hartke 4x10 (the transporter IIRC). Fairly sure the head is a little mark 250 or something similar if that model doesn't exist. It's not overly short on power but I can end up cranking it to 7 or 8 in practice, we have to practice fairly loudly due to the guitards belief that the drummer should smash the skins into the middle of next month (sigh) but I still expect a bit more headroom from the thing. I'm never overly impressed with the EQ section and the VLE was just a no-go for me, the VLF was usable but not a feature I'd be fussed about paying for IMO. It's unfortunately not my practice room (uni), so I don't fancy leaving my trace head there, and even less fancy lugging it there every single practice. I also find that even with the hartke alu cones my sound isn't all that bright either. I also think the rig struggles with the B string more than my own rig, though this may be the fault of the cabs rather than head. I know these are all my opinions, but I also believe that even if Markbass are good which many more people probably think than don't, they are a little pricey for the product, I've heard good things about orange value for money, and I would seriously recommend Hartke's new or old range. The older HA's had a huge EQ section, and provided you [b]DON'T[/b] get the 3500 model, you will have an actual tube/solid state hybrid section that sounds superb. If you prefer simplicity over a huge EQ section then I can advise getting the new models which as I recently heard Dave Ellefson say are 'great because there's no messing about, bass, middle and treble, 'what more do you need?'

[quote name='Hamster' post='1299484' date='Jul 11 2011, 12:20 AM']Can't you just jack a Porsche at gunpoint or something?[/quote]

That's a BIG budget. IMO the markbass heads are terrible, the VLE (some emulator they put in) is like a crap-knob to my ears, I have to use one at my practice room, not only is it fairly short on power but I'm never impressed with the sound using any of my basses, and that's through tc electronics and hartke cabs so it's not like the rest of the rig is bad. Avoid markbass would be my recommendation. Never had a proper go on an Orange but give it a try and see. I'd heartily recommend trying Gallien Krueger though, especially for that sort of money.

You'd be able to freight it for less than you think, try senditnow.co.uk I'd have to recommend a trace elliot (an old one on ebay/gumtree) over a peavey though. Better sound IMO, tend to have fewer things fallen off them/about to fall off them, and generally underrated power wise. I would also recommend the Line 6 Lowdown combo series, second hand they'll be cheap and even new they've come down a lot in price, a bit chunky but an unbelievably great range of sounds for the price. Plenty of people dislike amp modulation, but I can honestly say that this thing is capable of producing so many sounds as good as if not better than the amps it is trying to recreate IMO! Nearly bought one myself but went for a half stack instead.

You don't need an amp for an active bass rather than passive, but I have a rough and ready amp with a minor power supply problem at the moment, but when I get it sorted I'll probably be prepared to drop it down to £100 for someone whose done me a service in the past like yourself! It's a 200W Laney, PM me if you'd potentially be interested!

Only issue I've ever had is my nut breaking, that was easy enough to sort.

I'd love to book one for my band, ideally european, hopefully germany and scandinavia, though we're not averse to elsewhere, anyone got any good tourbookers that are still going?

senditnow are ok and cheap, but if something goes wrong be prepared for a mission, they don't have a phone customer service, you have to do it all through the post.

Been playing for 7 years, with not much playing happening between years 4 and 6. Highs: playing an amazing gig (only 250 people) but with everyone loving it and joining in, at a battle of the bands which we lost to a band who had about 40 people tapping their feet. Being able to pull off playing a piece that I have put great effort into learning, enormous degree of satisfaction. Playing in a band where I made some great friends, recording two EPs I was very proud of with these guys, and helping write some of it too (not just the bass). Finding a new band after a few years of not much happening for me. Lows: playing bad gigs. Losing the ability to play a piece due to lack of practice. Band I was very happy in releasing a swansong EP then disbanding due to university calling for half of them. The resultant lack of musical interest after this, lasting for around 18 months.

I bought a trace footswitch off Paul. It came quickly and was well packaged and does just the ticket on my amp. Very pleased with it and the service, don't hesitate to use this guy.

+1 for the rex brown sig

I'm just going to write this post, without any information, as you know what im gonna say

£150? Did you mug someone of it then give them that just because you felt a little sorry? Great price, no idea on the solution though, sorry!

[quote name='JTUK' post='1297814' date='Jul 8 2011, 11:12 PM']If we are soundchecking the band sound..we will pick a number that we aren't going to pay that set...[/quote] This.

I go for the intro to The Glass Prison by Dream Theater, uses all 5 strings, high and low frets, that 4th fret harmonic. Tends to be a good warm up for the hands as it uses all left hand fingers and involves some stretching for the right, as well as checking the bass out thoroughly fairly quickly. I also run this test on any bass I try in a shop, just to see how it does against the benchmark I have in my head. If you mean warm up, which I try and class as different to a sound/level check, then I play unplugged (or more realistically just with the wireless pack turned off), or with the mute button on the tuner pressed, no need for people to hear me going 0-1-2-3-4 up and down the strings over and over again

I played that exact overwater today at the bass gallery and was blown away by it, fantastic to play, amazing sound (even through an amp I hated), nice feel, only had one niggle which was that the pickups were marginally too wide for resting your thumb on and playing some of the higher strings (necessary to put thumb there if the B is used to let ring for example) but this is a rare option, might be very tempted by one of these at some point in the future

[quote name='charic' post='1297520' date='Jul 8 2011, 06:55 PM']I suppose the real question is how long till the Hartke hits the marketplace to fund some more GAS [/quote] Ahaha I'm keeping it, you'll see my amp on the marketplace soon though, or my cab at least will be up very soon! Truckstop, Ellefson's picking technique was unbelievably good, his dynamic control, oh sweet jesus.

[quote name='charic' post='1297072' date='Jul 8 2011, 12:40 PM']Hugely under-rated bassist. What combo did you win?[/quote] Hartke 5410c, or so I'm told :-)

All the advice I've ever heard has said learn what notes are where. That is what you should do, and it basically means (unless you're some kind of prodigy) that you learn them for a tuning and that's it. A sax player knows where his notes are and they don't change, same with every other instrument, and I don't think bass should be/is any different - if you learn where the notes are in whichever tuning you play in then that would be more than sufficient if you ask me.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1296738' date='Jul 8 2011, 07:34 AM']Dave is an awesome player, good stuff.[/quote] his technique was unbelievably good, asides the ease and fluidity and economy of his hand motion, the dynamic control was what made it so good. I'm going to have a proper pick bass session this weekend.