Ed_S

I have the passive version of the ART (Z-Direct?) somewhere kicking about; I was playing sound-tech as a last-minute favour to a mate a few years back and needed another DI, but I knew it'd ultimately be out of my own pocket so got the cheapest thing at the first shop I could get to. It's sturdy enough, has all the features you'd expect (maybe even some you might not given the price) and it's a lot less noisy than some I've used. It doesn't get much of a look-in these days because I've picked up various Radial units over the years, but if I had to use it I wouldn't be worried. No experience of the Samson (though I've got a couple of their mic's and they've been fine) but at the lower-priced end of the market I've used Behringer's DI20 and DI100 units, and neither sound as good to me as the ART. That said, they all sound a bit flat compared to the Radial Pro-DI and Pro-48, which aren't massively expensive themselves and would be my recommendation to anyone wanting a decent DI.

New top-scorer for me; the house amp at a venue we played a couple of weeks ago turned out to be a Stagg CA-100B/115 and it is easily the worst amp I've ever ended up trying to play through. Was an all-dayer with short changeovers and nowhere to store kit, and I was on public transport anyway so just thought 'sod it, I'll play through whatever they're providing'. In the end, after a coupe of mins trying to find a tone that was loud enough without being fuzzy and on the edge of feedback, I just turned it off and went with a clean DI and a bit of bass in the monitors.

A definite +1 on being surprised that the LMIII and 4ohm 104HF are running out of steam - I have an old LMII, a new style LMIII and an LM800, and whilst the LM800 is very likely capable of a bit more volume, I've certainly never been in a position to test the theory in practice! To my ears, compared to the LMII/LMIII the LM800 sounds a bit less rounded, a bit more 'snappy' and can sometimes even feel just a bit clinical; I would say that whatever has been done to the power stage in the newer LMIII heads, the amp as a whole still has more in common with the LMII than the LM800. On that basis, you may find that the LM800 caters better for your requirement to put a hole right through a much bigger sound not because of the additional wattage, but rather just because of its slightly different delivery.

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1439143395' post='2840375'] If you can scrape together another 50 quid, This would be ideal. You may of course get them cheaper 2nd hand. http://www.gak.co.uk/en/mark-bass-mini-combo-cmd-121-p/4276?gclid=Cj0KEQjw9JuuBRC2xPG59dbzkpIBEiQAzv4-GxoElMF_fQsR3fLzldkJuQ6p7FUSg6w21h8nHSQzy1caAuNh8P8HAQ [/quote] Yup, the 121p is where it's at for me - absolutely great little combo and you can always add the NY121 extension later if you feel the need. It's plenty loud enough on its own, though.

[quote name='VTypeV4' timestamp='1438887145' post='2838466'] Nice vintage Peavey setup there, Ed! Best of both worlds with a modern cab too.. [/quote] Cheers! I recently re-valved it all with Svetlana Winged-C 6L6GCs and [font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#282828"]Electro-Harmonix 12AX7EHs as both the Classic Series 60 and the TB Raxx still had their original Peavey valves installed and I figured that the time was well overdue to spend a bit of money on them. Read up on production valves and decided on the cleanest sounding ones, then went with all 'premium selected' and a 'balanced' one for the power amp phase inverter - not sure if it makes any difference but it was about a tenner more across the entire order so thought what the hell, I'll allow myself to be pulled in by the advertising! Sounds really good, anyway - plenty of bounce and more clean headroom than before, with just a bit of subtle grit when pushed.[/color][/font]

Mine's just the single 60, but still hangs with a loud metal band when you put it through an efficient cab. Good score!

I got my G30 when they first came out and I was still using a 6U rack rig, so it was easy to hide the receiver in the back of the rack and it was great to be able to take the front and back covers off, plug in one speaker cable, one mains and one XLR for DI if needed, strap on the belt pack and just play. Plus the rack tuner I was using at the time had an input on the back which I used for the wireless, but which was defeated by the input on the front so I could keep a cable on top of the rig as a backup and if anything went wrong with the wireless, just plug into the front and bypass it. Nothing ever did go wrong... These days I generally use a combo which is smaller than my old 6U rack and just plug in using a cable, so the G30 lives on my pedalboard (nothing fancy - wireless, tuner, compressor, sansamp) which gets used when I have to plug into a provided rig. They're the gigs where I think it's probably best to be isolated as much as possible from any potentially dodgy equipment, it's most useful to be able to get out front and hear what needs to be tweaked as a result of running into somebody else's gear, and generally it's most cramped on stage (which is why everyone's been told they're playing through the provided rig in the first place) so there's a greater chance of getting tangled up. I say go and get yourself one!

To my mind, the satellite tweeter box for the 801 would only make sense if the amp section had both filters. As it is, it only has the VPF, and it's the VLE that can be used to somewhat tame the tweeter in the combos that have them fitted but don't have an attenuator. What I'd really like is a matching 1x8 cabinet to turn the 801 into a modular 802 :-)

Purely personal preference here, and it's one that appears to put me in a minority, but I don't enjoy playing Markbass heads with Barefaced cabs as much as I do with matching Markbass ones. Obviously I can only base that on what I own (G2 Midget vs NY121 with the tweeter off for smaller gigs, or G2 Super Twelve vs CMD121p + NY121 extension for larger ones) and it could be because I owned Markbass gear before I owned any Barefaced, but a matching amp and cab sounds 'like a Markbass rig' to me, and something of that gets lost when I swap the cab out.

[quote name='Greg.Bassman' timestamp='1435871967' post='2813305'] Hey Ed. That's amazing mate, very assuring- especially coming from an ex ashdown player. Appreciate it mate! [/quote] [quote name='Greg.Bassman' timestamp='1435872381' post='2813310'] A lot of guys that I've spoke to about markbass gear all use active basses, does it matter that I only use PASSIVE basses? I'm currently playing a fender jazz. [/quote] No worries at all mate! As well as Markbass heads, two of the other amps I use with my 104HR are a MiBass 550 and an ABM 1000, so I'm still an Ashdown player when the mood takes me :-) I mainly use passive Fenders, too (currently tending to pick up my Aerodyne Jazz for gigs, so passive P/J configuration) and it all sounds good to me.

Is the special build because there are none left in the shops, or because there's a custom element to the one they're making for you? Hope you enjoy the 1000 when it arrives - I'm still glad I happened upon mine when I did!

I use a 104HR as my rehearsal cab and can't think of a time I've ever been unhappy with it. It gets used with a variety of heads (including a LM3) and all of them sound great through it. It actually replaced an Ashdown ABM 410t, and I used to have the ABM500 to match, so I know where you're coming from and there's no way I'd swap back! You'd probably find the low end a little more 'controlled' than you're used to with the ABM, but it's no less present.

Decided to treat my old Peavey TB Raxx and Classic Series 60 rig to some new valves since they were both still running on the factory originals. Went for a matched pair of Svetlana Winged-C 6L6GCs and four 'premium selected' Electro-Harmonix 12AX7EH, one being 'balanced' for the power amp phase inverter - figured I might as well try to do it properly. Took it out yesterday for an instrumental-only rehearsal while our singer's on holiday and it sounded absolutely huge; my 60W was hanging just fine with a loud drummer and two guitarists who weren't making any allowances, and either the new song we were working on is a really good 'un or I was enjoying the all-valve action more than I expected!

[color=#000000][font=-apple-system-font][size=3] [quote name='Naetharu' timestamp='1432905150' post='2786090'] Out of interest, what it is about the Markbass amp that makes you suggest that as the go-to practice amp? [/quote][/size][/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=-apple-system-font][size=3] To me, the Micromark is just a nice, even-toned amp with un-fussy controls and plenty of power, that's been built into a sturdy and very conveniently sized little box with a good quality speaker, and the whole thing manages to sound a lot fuller and louder than it ever 'should' to look at it. For the practice bit you get aux-in and phones-out with the ability to mute the internal speaker using a button on the back, and for playing out you get the ability to power another 8ohm cabinet and a really nice sounding DI-out to send to the PA.[/size][/font][/color]

[quote name='landwomble' timestamp='1432829394' post='2785413'] The corollary of this is if you insist on playing through your kit - I think you have to allow everyone else to play through it too. [/quote] I would venture to add "...or make your gear so sensibly sized and easy to manage that it sits in front or on top of what may already be there, takes no more than 5 minutes to set up and pack away, and just needs one XLR to the desk." That's my position on multi-band nights and I've never had any issues from sound guys.

I got one a while back. Have to admit that I bought it on a whim as a bit of a toy-come-curio, but came to actually quite like it for what it is. If I had any advice, it might be to consider the cab you want to use it with, as mine sounds a lot more pleasing (to me, at least) with my Markbass cabs than it does with my Barefaced ones. I think it could probably play a small / acoustic gig with the right cab, but I have other kit better suited to that job, so for my purposes it's just something with a slightly different flavour to the rest of my kit to drag out of the cupboard and jam with in the living room every now and then. Don't get me wrong, my stock suggestion to anyone wanting a nice practice amp is still "try a Markbass Micromark 801", even more so now they've come down in price so much, but if you're set on the HoTone you probably won't be too disappointed.

Just bought a job-lot of laptop memory from George, and am happy to attest to the fact that he's a pleasure to deal with! Cheers, mate!

If you've got a spare grand burning a hole through your pocket it looks like there are still a few left in various shops waiting to be bought up. My only regret in owning one is that I have no real justification for the cost of (and nowhere to store) two of the ABM Neo 4x8 cabs, because I think a modular 1000W 8x8 stack would be a lot of fun.

We have storage space at the studios we use so the guitarists leave their gigging gear (each has a 2x12 cab and pre/power in a rack case) there, wheel it out for rehearsals and take some/all of it away with them if there's a gig where it'll be needed before the next rehearsal. The drummer leaves his cymbals and stands in storage the same way and uses the shell pack in the room. I'm kinda the odd one out as I use 12" cabs for gigs and leave my 4x10 in storage just for rehearsals, taking along whichever head I feel like playing on the day. We're not a professional band; we all have decent jobs that pay the bills and our lead singer is an F2 doctor training to be a surgeon so, given that it can be awkward to book gigs and rehearsals around her night shifts and exam periods, when we do get in the room together we want it to sound 'right'. Loaner equipment never did that for us.

I bought one for exactly the same reason; usually play a Precision and rarely have any issues but wanted a backup that wouldn't take up much room. Try to use it at rehearsal every now and then so it doesn't feel too strange to switch over to it, but it still takes a couple of songs to adjust. That aside, I often find myself thinking that for a cheap bass it sounds pretty damn good! Only problem I had with mine was that it wouldn't intonate properly in Eb tuning using the gauge of strings that came on it (the saddles just wouldn't go any further) but I bought the D'Addario heavy gauge set and they worked - just!

I had one that blew up, which sadly seems to be more common an occurrence than is ideal (I've seen two others returned to the same shop just while I happened to be in there), but that aside it wasn't a bad sounding little combo for the money while it was working. My main gripe was that the output was disappointing; I could get most of the way round the volume dial in the house and it needed PA support at an acoustic rehearsal in a decent sized prac room. I've always tried to be fair to TC and say that could have been because mine was obviously defective, but I've since played through another just to try out a bass and it seemed similar. I replaced mine with a MB Minimark 802 which is a singularly more impressive piece of kit, but then I suppose for the cash involved (when I got mine they were still small change away from £800 but seem to be a fair bit cheaper now) it should be!

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1425418376' post='2707212'] I've been thinking about this recently. I have a five string set with a .125 B, that aren't very old, I only replaced them because I won a set of Elixirs. I have been coming up against a lot of stuff in C, C# and D, that is proving to be awkward on my five string. How bad an idea would it be to put the bottom four from the five string set on my four string and tune the whole lot up a tone? I don't mind the strings being tight, I just don't want to turn my bass into a medieval ranged weapon. [/quote] That's the exact setup of my 'C bass' right down the the strings. It's a Squier VM P and it's not caused any problems to keep it in C/F/Bb/Eb. I added a badass and a quarter-pounder to get the feel and sound I was after, but didn't have to do anything structural other than widen the nut slots a little (cheated and unused an old set of the same strings as files so the sizes were perfect) and adjust the truss rod. Regularly gig with it and it's fine.

Markbass Micromark 801 is what I use at home when I'm not coming through headphones or studio monitors. Very nice sounding little combo, perfectly capable of playing a small acoustic 'coffee shop' style gig and they look to be a fair bit cheaper these days than when I bought mine.

Must be a couple of years ago I bought an SR505 that played really well in the shop but started to rattle once it settled in at home. I went to tweak the truss rod but it wouldn't move at all, so sadly it had to go back and I got a refund. Last weekend I noticed that somebody had been into the same shop and slapped the living daylights out of a 505, leaving nail marks in the wood as they went and forcing them to sell it as 'ex-demo with marks' with £110 off the price tag. So I ended up buying it again and this time seem to have a good one at a bargain price. You really have to look for the 'damage' and it plays just as nicely as I remember. Even more years ago I bought two BTBs - a 405QM in trans black and a 406QM in trans blue. The 405 became my main bass for a good few years, but the 406 was a soulless lump that got dispatched as soon as was feasible. Guess I'm saying there are good ones and bad ones just like anything else, but don't let that put you off!

I tried one out when I was over in Stockport at Sounds Great. I'd seen them on here and was curious, so asked to use one to try out the MM Sterling 5, which was what I'd actually gone to have a look at. Played it through a Markbass NY604 and thought it sounded really good; surprisingly loud and ballsy, to the point where it'd probably be fine for a smallish acoustic gig. I ended up leaving the Sterling (very nice but the wrong colour) and buying the Hotone so I didn't have to get back on the train with nothing to show for the trip! Shallow reason, I know. I used it for a while with my BF Midget for jamming in the house, but then ended up buying a Markbass Micromark 801 which is smaller and more convenient, so since then the Hotone has been in its box up the cupboard. Now you've reminded me that it's there, though, I might get it back out!