Bass Culture

I bought one about 3 months back for a Yamaha TRB 1004 I'd picked up. I'd say it was a pretty decent case for the money . The interior velvet is red and there's a nice leather trim on the top and bottom edges. I'm certainly happy enough with mine but I would add the proviso that we only gig once every month or so so it doesn't really have a hard life on the road. Don't know if that helps or not? Pip pip! Mark

I used to use them on my fretless quite a few years ago and loved them. I've recently discovered that La Bella do a similar range but (I think) they have a greater choice of gauges. I believe John Paul Jones used to use them but I could be wrong (hell, enough of this modesty - of course I couldn't be wrong!). Mark

My covers band, Sanchez, are playing in the S.U. at NEWI (North East Wales Institute) if anyone in the Wrexham area is looking for something to do this evening. Cheap beer and free entry - hubbah, hubbah. And you probably won't have to look at me - I think I'll end sandwiched in a 1 foot square space behind our singer and rhythm guitarist!

Much appreciated, Eude. Cheers, Mark

Eude, I'd really appreciate that. I was going to hang fire for a week or two anyway as I'll be down in Colchester in a few days time and was going to pop into The Bass Merchant to maybe try one of the GK combos. But, for me, the Fender seems to have an even more suitable spec. Definitely be interested to hear how you get on with yours. Especially seeing as I've read some stuff about the smaller GK combos which seems to point towards reliability issues. That said, I'm all too aware that the net is sometimes the biggest source of misinformation as well useful information, so that may be something and nothing. Thanks, Mark

I should probably start a new thread as this is a bit of a different question, but has anyone any experience of the new range of Fender Combos? I was looking at the Bassman 150 and that seems to have the kind of spec I'm thinking of - tilt back design, 150w output, 12" speaker and relatively simple control set. Any comments? Mark

Yeah, I'd noticed the price difference between the two myself!

Well you're all wrong because it's quite obviously... Jack Bruce - 'Badge' by Cream Oh, and Andy Fraser on 'Get Where I Belong' by Free And McCartney on 'Mrs Vanderbilt' too, come to think of it...

I was going to ask if anyone wanted to suggest anything other than the GK and MB combos so no, you're not hijacking at all. M

The 'B' Festival! I'd certainly try and convince my covers band to give it a go - I'm sure they'd be up for it. Mark

Chris_b - thanks for that. I actually use a bit of an amp stand to angle it anyway, but it's always going to be a compromise, to a certain extent. And touch wood, the amp has not so much as slipped so far, but I'm always a bit worried. If you're after a similar set up and you're in a hurry I know Mike Walsh at The Bass Merchant has got a very similar rig on offer as a 'special' at the moment - Little Mark II with a GS112 and a GS112NT for £999, I think. Er, so anyone heard the GK or MB combos at all?

Yeah - I'd kind of think that most amps coloured the sound to a greater or lesser extent. To exactly what extent the MB stuff does I don't know, I just know I like it!

Dear All, I'm reluctantly considering selling my Markbass SA450 and 2 x Aguilar GS112's set up as I really only need to monitor myself onstage, and would benefit from using a decent combo with a tilt back facility. Trouble is, the sound is just fantastic from my present set up so I'm a bit dubious about changing to anything else at all! I'll need something with a decent amount of bass and was thinking either the Gallien Krueger Backline 2x10 combo or the Markbass 2 x 10 combo. Anyone used either of these who could give me some idea of what they sound like? I'm not really a great fan of 1 x 15" combo's and am not too sure whether 2 x 10" speakers would give me the same weight of sound as I presently get from my Markbass / Aguilar set up. Sound wise I usually blend towards the bridge pickup about 80%, cut the treble and boost the bass, and the mids a little bit more, to give me a nice (to my ears!) tight, punchy sound that has a good deal of weight to it too. Obviously I'd prefer something that enables me to keep the same kind of sound. Any thoughts / comments etc? Cheers, Mark