dannybuoy

Yup, valve amps aren't necessarily less reliable than solid state - never had an issue with my AD200B, but my Orange Terror Bass recently died on me.

I've thought about doing just this but with a reverse P - live the motherbucker idea though!

Looks legit. Those are notorious for using 4-string Jazz pickups which do a poor job of picking up both the low B and high G at the same time!

I prefer the original too, I like the bass boost it adds as you roll off the treble! The greasebucket is good if you just want to tame the harsh treble without affecting lows if you're say using a pick and rounds, but if you're using flats and want that old school Motown sound, the original circuit where it's at. I bought a greasebucket-esque Precision wiring harness from Kiogon, tried it out but ended up not using it. I've been meaning to list it with a bunch of other items but if anyone wants it, PM me!

I was this close to buying the CTM100 that was up here for sale over Xmas, probably for the best that I missed the boat as my wife and neighbours are having a hard enough time as it is with the 15W! She doesn't understand that it needs to be loud to sound its best! Going to start looking to join a band again soon though, so I may pick one up at some point.

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1388429896' post='2321925'] I would say my BB424x. [/quote] BB1025X for me! Had plenty of basses but my BB415 was always in the top spot, until I got this. Better pickups, stiffer neck, better bridge and a cool scratch plate. These are the only 5'ers I've ever felt comfortable playing due to their narrower spacing at the nut.

Disappointing to hear it's a solid state pre, but it sounds great as it is, it's like a hybrid amp done the right way round! Even though the LB30/CTM30 is all tube, the LB I had a couple of years ago sounded very bright and brittle compared to this, not helped the fact it had no gain control. The 15 is perfect for bedroom/studio use, I would consider getting a CTM100 for rehearsals/gigging in the future. Anyway, I took it into PMT today and couldn't reproduce the crackling issue at all - it had been getting better since day one and has now almost disappeared completely. The noise levels were the same as their shop model, ie pretty quiet but not silent with gain at min and master at max, and getting very noisy with the gain cranked. Bit of a wasted trip in the end, but good to know that mine isn't any noisier than it should be. Might try some replacement EL34s down the line but happy with the stock ones for now.

Going tomorrow!

Yeah, the MiBass was a very dirty amp with the gain past noon, but in a good way. Like I said, it instantly reminded me of the SFT which is my favorite drive pedal. I'll return the amp either this afternoon or tomorrow morning depending on when the wife returns with the car! Definitely seeking a replacement CTM15 though as I'm very happy with the sound.

Indeed, it won't be as boomy as a ported 15. They're getting rave reviews these cabs and I'm hoping to audition and maybe buy one later this year. And I agree with the point above - some 2x12s and 4x10s have more lows than some 15s, it's down to the driver and box design more than speaker size, so try not to listen with your eyes!

In fact this video has me wanting to try another Stingray style bass. Great vintage tone.

[quote name='Immo' timestamp='1388666466' post='2324492'] Ok, I'll try switching the wires, that may help... But anyway, right now I'm considering ordering a balance/blend pot with PUSH-PUSH switch (my entrusted shop has only blend pots with that switch, so I'd give it a whirl) whenever my salary arrives. Will rewire everything to V-B-T configuration with PUSH-PUSH wired either to be: [b]a. [/b]a quick phase reversal switch [b]b. [/b]series/parallel switch [b]c. [/b]on/off switch for an entire bass [b]d.[/b] tone pot bypass Dunno which option would be the best. Either way, first I'll check whether the whole PU configuration would work correctly in V-B-T. Will keep you guys posted. [/quote] I would go for option B! A - out of phase just sounds bad. B - sounds cool on a Jazz so should do here too. C - possibly but you already have a volume control. D - sounds like a good idea, but I reckon it would make it sound too bright and thin - it will sound bright enough as it is with the 500K pots.

I'm not sure if just removing the tone pot well have the same effect, but I tried a toggle switch to bypass both the volume and tone pots in my P Bass once, and it made it sound way brighter - too much in fact, I preferred the sound of it stock.

If you like the Berg NV sound but want something more modular and with a bit more top and bottom end, I would seriously be looking at one or two NV115s!

Just to confirm, I don't have crackly pots, it's just the amp sounds like crackly pots are being turned whilst it's warming up. With gain and master maxed, the noise it creates is unbearably loud, even with no bass plugged in. Hardly any with gain set to minimum though, which is where it sounds best. I may well pop back to the shop tomorrow to try their one out again!

Do you know of any other similar bands worth checking out?

Like it! Especially when the bearded dude gets up and shouts incomprehensibly whilst trying to pull his shorts up to his armpits!

Dave Swift's playing some kind of singlecut monstrosity. What happened to the Dingwall Super P?!

[quote name='Mudpup' timestamp='1388530674' post='2323211'] Nope Lineup is pants [/quote] Doesn't matter, it's worth a watch for Haim's bass face alone!

After getting an Ashdown CTM15, I want to go back to tubes. So I want to try out an RH750, TTE500, and Jule DeMonique for the lighter options, and a CTM100, 100T, Mesa Prodigy and Matamp for the full tube options. And either a Barefaced 69er or Bergantino NV115 to go with it! Oh and a Jack Casady bass. Not much then...

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1388491806' post='2322542'] no mate, I reckon it'd be even more 'too much'! I'd be having powerscaling fitted to the AD200b so I could render the volume knob useable! [/quote] How easy is it to fit a power scaling switch to an AD200B? Is it just a simple switch to remove a couple of power tubes from the circuit?

My Orange Terror Bass bit the dust recently, so I dropped it into PMT in Cambridge for them to send back to Orange for a repair. Whilst I was there I tried out a couple amps to use a replacement. I almost went with the Ashdown MiBass 2.0, it had a great grindy sound very similar to a Catalinbread SFT pedal. But then I tried and fell in love with the little all tube CTM15 and ended taking one home! I'm not currently in a band so a practice amp is all I need, and this fits the bill perfectly, perched aloft my pair of Ampeg SVT210AVs! I've noticed a couple of issues though that I didn't notice when playing the demo unit in the shop: - When I first turn it on there's quite a lot of crackling that disappears after 30 secs to a minute. It sounds like the crackling you get when turning a dodgy old potentiometer. It's not as bad today as it was yesterday so maybe this is improving the amp burns in? - It's pretty noisy, not bad with the gain all the way off, but as soon as you nudge it up the hissing gets very loud. - The sound with the gain all the way off is warm and bassy, I can crank the master volume and be happy the sound this. However, as soon as you increase the gain, it seems to really over-emphasise the treble. Clank city, which can only be dialled out by turning down the middle and treble controls on the amp or the tone control on my bass almost all the way down! I've tried replacing the 12AX7 preamp tube with a Gold Lion reissue I had lying around, which seemed to make a small improvement to the sound but not to any of the issues listed above. Would the amp need re-biasing if I replaced the EL84s and if so is this something I could easily do myself with a multimeter? I'm thinking of popping back to the shop to compare it to their demo unit again to see if these issues are real and not just down to the wiring in my house etc, but it's quite a drive away from here. If anyone has any advice here it would be much appreciated - anyone here with Ashdown CTM amps suffer from the same problems?

Another vote for the Yam! I love BB's, and prefer the sound of a Precision pickup to a 'Ray any day! Depends what you prefer the sound of really.

Non traditional options (if it's a P sound rather than P look you're after): Yamaha BB2025X/BB1025X/BB425X: MTD CRB 5: Reverend Mercalli: