Bass Culture

Sorry if this is a semi-hijack of this thread but I've just won an AH300SMX on ebay which I'm really chuffed with (aside from the send level knob on the back getting broken off in transit). Would there be any merit in changing the valve in it or were the original valves good enough quality as is? Thanks, Mark

Dear All, Are there any Warwick bass amp users out there who can comment on the Pro Fet 3.3 for me? I'm changing back to an amp & cab set up from a combo and have ordered one of Alex's excellent Compact cabs. The budget's not too big for the amp at present and I've seen the 3.3 available for less than £200. I've no experience of Warwick amplification at all and was wondering if anyone would care to share any thoughts about the quality and tone of this amp for me! It seems to be well enough specced - 4 band EQ, compressor, tuner out, DI etc. etc. but how well does it do the do ? Thanks, Mark

[quote name='Linus27' post='537076' date='Jul 10 2009, 10:16 AM']I wonder if its my old one. My one had some bad damage just below the nut. The bass fell over on stage and down a pit. It was in its gig bag but the damage was still done. The crack went all the way through and run down the neck, I think starting from one side moving into the centre. I had it properly repaired by Nova Guitar Centre in Guildford and it was fine ever since. I also think mine had a thumb rest as you suggest. I can't for the life of me remember where or who I sold it to but it would had been around 1996 - 1998 ish. I would love to see some pictures of it, especially where the repair has been done so i can confirm if its my old bass.[/quote] Folks, Thanks for all your input. I'm away for the next week or so but when we get back I'll try and post pics. I appreciate your feedback. Mark

+ 1 for the Manchester/Wirral/Warrington posse - I'm in Chester. Hey, Steve (Soar) - does Birkenhead really qualify as 'The Wirral' - ha ha!? Hope all is well with you. The LE plays like a dream since the work you did on it. Mark

Hi All, Can anyone out there advise as to the value of a 1981 Ibanez Musician that is being offered for sale by a friend of a friend? Being in my mid-forties I'm quite familiar with these basses and, in their day, they were probably seen as on a par with the better Arias - SB 1000's for example. I seem to recall Sting using one for a while too, so they were good quality and popular. Anyway, one's potentially come my way and I'd appreciate any advice from anyone who's more familiar with their value than I as to whether the asking price is reasonable. Here's the seller's description: [b]The Ibanez is full scale, 24 frets, abalone inlays, ebony fingerboard, neck thru construction, active 3 band eq, the works for a live or studio bass guitar. The neck has been repaired and inspected by KGB, it plays great, no issues, lots of marks but then again, it is 1981 and a solid bass guitar.[/b] If I knew how to post a link to the jpeg attachements in the e-mail I've got I could post pictures too. The damage to the neck looks as though it could have been quite bad - possibly as break all the way through just below the nut. That said, if it's been properly repaired (and I guess that's what you'd need to take a chance on) it could end up stronger than it was before the break. Someone's also added a thumb rest just above the neck pickup - I don't recall them having one originally but I could be wrong. Anyway, the seller's after £275. Is this this too much, reasonable or a steal? Thanks, Mark

Hell of a price, BB! Mine was £1,500 brand new and even that didn't seem unreasonable at the time. If you ever want to sell I'm sure I could cobble together £501 - tidy little profit that! Mark

Thanks both for your comments. Etienne and Rob - it was a pleasure doing business with you both. Mark

I've used a MB SA450 paired with two Aguilar GS112's for the last three years now. I went for thr SA450 over the LM because of the variable DI out gain and the semi-parametric mids. As others have mentioned, a decent stomp box tuner is pretty useful - I've got the Korg one with the brushed metal case; can't remember the model. Anyway, for me this set up is brilliant. It's plenty loud enough for rehearsals with just one cab and at gigs I tend to use both and tilt the whole lot back. I don't use the VPF filter at all as I don't tend to do any slapping but I've always found the VLE filter pretty useful. I may change my cabs soon, not because there's any problems tone-wise but simply because I'm lusting after one of Alex's Barefaced Bass Big Baby's that he's presently got on the drawing board. If it wasn't for these I think my GAS would be pretty much sated by the MB/Aggy combination!

I think these are really strong songs. What's really nice to hear is that's there's no over playing (or singing) too and everything that's being played makes a real contribution to the strength of the song. I can't really comment on the quality of the recording/mix as I'm only listening to it on tinny little speakers at work. Suffice it to say it sounds fine to me though! I think I'd be pretty happy with myself if I'd recorded those! Mark

My wife bought me one for Christmas. I'm a newbie to multi-effects but the guy in the shop recommended the Boss unit over the Zoom B2.1 as he said he thought it was more suitable to use live. I do think it pays dividends to spend some time with the manual before you start tinkering. And then spend more time setting up your own patches. Of the factory presets there's an awful lot that I personally wouldn't use. I don't think the Synth effects are up to much but I've got no personal experience of others to relate that to, just the fact that they are a bit too unsubtle to fit comfortably in anything I'm presently playing. I'm starting to get my head around the use of the unit now and in memory mode - the mode they suggest you put it in for live use - one of the pedals is 'active' at all times, so you can't have it without a patch being in use, a dry signal in other words. Unless I'm missing something, which is a distinct possibility as, as I mentioned, I am very much a newbie with multi-effects. A patch can consist of no more tham EQ settings though so it seems to me that, during the same song, unless you engage in some VERY nifty footwork, you can swap between no more than three patches - one per pedal. This is fine for me as I wouldn't expect to need any more than that and swapping banks between songs only seems to take a few seconds and a patch itself can obviously be made up of more than one 'effect'. There may be others though who might find this not enough. For me I'm really enjoying using the pedal a lot but I can see me setting up no more than about two or three banks of patches which I'll use live with my covers band. If I start playing more original stuff I think Imay end using a few more than that though. In short, I think it's great! Mark

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='359647' date='Dec 20 2008, 03:43 PM']Got it for £710 inc. Warwick flightcase. It was on sale here for under £600 i think (found the original owner on here). Was gigging with it last night and will be again tonight, it's lovely! My two "must own" basses were a Zoot and an original Tobias. I still find it amazing you can get a second hand luthier-built british bass for fender money. The bad news is i'm never selling it! Anyways, here's some porn!:[/quote] Mmm, lovely - I feel like Homer looking at a bag of doughnuts! Incidentally, I wonder what's happened to Mike Walsh and Zoot? His profile is practically non-existent since he sold The Bass Merchant.

[quote name='Sarah5string' post='358089' date='Dec 18 2008, 05:00 PM']I've got a laney RBW300 combo with tiltback. 165w and can carry it's own at practices and small pub type gigs. Nice chunky sound too.[/quote] Ah, Laney. Now there's something I'd not considered. British too, aren't they?

Folks, Thanks for all your replies. I suspect you're probably right in advising to try and work with what I've got rather than change a set up I am otherwise really happy with. That said, just asking the question has got me thinking wbout what I'd change to if I were going to. I'm not that familiar with GK stuff but I think I might pop into The Bass Merchant when I'm down in Colchester for Christmas. I think they've probably got the GK, SWR and Hartke Hydrive combos in stock so I might give them a blast anyway. I think might also try one of those X-section keyboard stands, and just raise my whole set up off the floor to nearer ear level - I'm 5'4" so it shouldn't too much! Thanks for all your suggestions - keep 'em coming! Cheers, Mark P.S. Lemmywinks - I think your avatar contains my dream bass...

All good advice - thanks. I may still want to go down the combo path so please pipe up with any suggestions of you have them. I'm quite impressed with the spec on the SWR Workingpro 12 from what I've seen. Does anyone have one? Would it be loud enough for (small) gigs? Thanks, Mark

Hi All, I'm thinking of changing my Markbass / Aguilar GS112 (x2) set up because I always end up being right on top of it and have to turn up too loud for the rest of the band to hear myself properly over the drums. I love the sound but I just can't get the set up angled up enough to fire more towards my ears. So, a reasonably powered combo which tilts back seems the way to go. Ideally it shouldn't be too heavy either. I'd like to stick to 12" speakers - or speaker - too. Anyone got any suggestions? I see the new Hartke Hydrive combos look pretty well spec-ed and are pretty reasonably priced too, ny the looks of things. Anyone care to wave a flag for any others? Thanks, Mark