BassBod

For me it's all about logistics and transport- I work a lot, parking is rarely close by (in cities) and also venues often aren't big enough for the old stuff. Increasingly I find that sharing transport saves costs, but this means more gear in each vehicle, so smaller and lighter means easier. One observation - once you get used to lighter kit, the old stuff feels heavier! I've still got my favourite SWR and Bag End amps and cabs, but I'll only drag it out for very specific gigs.

NAD report done........

Nice shiny front, but its showing a few small scratches already...

[attachment=219482:IMG_1551.jpg] I've had this for about a month now, so here's the brief report. I was really looking for a small power amp, but when this came up it got me thinking - I always found the Trace Elliot GP11 preamp easy to work with, and essentially neutral if you ignored the slapswitch/preshape. But those old heads are generally way too heavy and bulky for my typical work. The Retroglide is a modern small power amp with a simple 12 band graphic eq. That's it really. If you like the sound of your bass, use the eq to fine tune it to the room...if you feel the need to add drive/distortion then use a pedal or don't buy this amp. I've used Sansamps or Aguilar/Sadowsky pedals for years and like to change them to suit the gig. The Good Stuff. Its very simple. Its plenty powerful. It stays cool (cold,really!). It isn't super light, it may only be the metal case, but it feels like it will stay put and can be handled without having to be very careful. The input clip light varies in intensity, so you can get an easy feel when setting up a sound. No noticeable compression - play harder and it gets louder. Not so Good. The fan is always on, and you can hear it in a very quiet room. Not intrusive in any gigging environment, but could be an issue in a studio or theatre. No DI ground lift or pre/post selection switches. Not used the DI yet...and I'm sure its electrically clean, but just not having these will upset those engineers that like to complain about amp DI's. I'd really like to see a transformer DI provided (like the old GP11) but its probably too expensive. Only one Speaker socket. The online manual lists this as a dual Speakon/jack, but on my amp its just a Speakon connection. I know you can power two cabs by connecting them to each other...but it would be good to have two outputs. The power switch sits under the mains connector, so its a bit of a fiddle. Ashdown can't currently provide a matching case or bag, although they said they will have one later in the year. Overall I'm very happy with it, although I've re-named mine the Romford 800..... BB

Will do, but worth mentioning that Thomann were selling the R800 pretty cheap (£479?) last week 😜

No idea...but I've recent;y got a Retroglide 800 and its luverly....in a 1984 way...

The bass centre may have imported some, but I've never seen one here. Search on Talkbass..there will be some info there. I seem to remember the pickup systems were passive/a bit basic.

Yes.....

An Alembic really needs a pro job - not quick or cheap. You can take the electronics apart easily (they use push on connectors) and all the hardware, but be careful with the pickup casings ( there are two screws underneath to set height, and two more to lock the pickup in place - easy to over tighten and break the casing) I'd be talking to JD or Tom Waghorn..

Get on the inter web, look for Real books...or the iReal Pro app - also, anything you want to hear seems to be uploaded to UTube these days - how much time have you got??? If you need more specific bass line info them look for transcriptions, there are plenty of people putting them up. Have fun

What Rich said...do it, you'll get paid and have fun watching drunk people fall over. 😜

Be persistent, name them and point them to this thread. All their initial responses will be standard issue, just to put you off and make you give up. The damage to your goods is significant, and that means serious neglect on their part. As a community there must be a lot of money spent here sending stuff around the country/world, so we need to know which couriers to avoid (I know its a long list!) No bubble wrap in existence would have saved your cab...

Tossers....

Nice.....really nice....

When I looked about a few months ago, it was only the Allparts Tele neck which combined one piece/walnut stripe and square end. Other than that, it was custom made.

I've been using 2 TKS 1x12's - very impressive and very light. They also have a bit of voicing, but it's well balanced. Not as unforgiving as some of the "flat" response cabs I've had.

I recently used an Allparts Tele neck - excellent, give them a call 😎

Yep, east Brizzle..happy to help 😎