peteb

Very commendable, but we are not talking about the status of the people who happen to possess a particular type of bass, more the status associated with the bass itself.

No, inverted snobbery is the attitude of seeming to despise anything associated with status or what is generally perceived as quality or, while at the same time elevating those things associated with lack of status or quality.

Exactly

What a charming recollection. Vicar, would you care to stay for another cup of tea, Frank's strolling down memory lane!

From reading this thread, inverted bass snobbery is the real issue here...

AJS & Tico Torres (the drummer) were a fair bit older than the rest of the original band.

I'm guessing that was the point - Beck going out of his way to make a public show of support for Depp

The whole point of buying a Handbox (at least for me) was as a compact / relatively lightweight alternative to a Class D amp.

I saw Terry Sless' Kossof / Free / Back Street Crawler tribute (playing mainly Free songs) a couple of weeks ago, with Rhino Edwards (Jeff Rich's rhythm section partner in Quo for many years) playing bass!

There is a Gigs section in the Performance forum.

Is that an Elrick bass?? Never played one but always wondered what they were like.

I voted for the Elf as I carry one in my gigbag for the same reason that you are considering getting one for. It is very small and sounds pretty good. It isn't really quite loud enough, but will get you out of trouble in an emergency. I wonder what the 280w Gnome is like, maybe a little bit of extra power might be useful? I used to carry a GK MB200 as a spare, but that was larger than the Elf (didn't easily fit in an iGig pocket like the little Trace) and was nowhere near loud enough.

Yes, there are certain tonal advantages to a higher action that you have to balance against playability issues. Every player is different and there is no ‘right’ way – it’s all about what compromises you make to get the right set-up for how you play. I took a bass for a setup to Chris Dobson (Alpher Basses) and asked him for a low action. When it came back it had an incredibly low action, which I thought was brilliant until I tried to play it in anger and every note choked out. I took it back to him and he said, ‘so you like quite a high action then’ Now, I’m not particularly heavy handed and my basses are generally set-up with a lower action than many of my mates, but compared to the guys that Chris works / builds for, I need a pretty high action. Similarly, Joe talks about having a low action, yet his bass has probably been set up with a similar or even higher action to mine, which in turn is nowhere near as low as what a lot of guys use.

Same here - I just leave it in my gigbag just in case (I also carry a DI). I have had a few amps go down over the years (usually at bigger gigs). Of course, this hasn't happened since I bought the elf but you never know...

Niiiice 🙂 Actually very fluent, great playing...!

From what I understand, there is a difference in how the amp responds when you play a note. It is far too technical for me and I am not going to try and explain it badly so people can ask questions I can't answer, but it kinda made sense (albeit on a superficial level) when it was explained to me . However, whether you agree with that or not, I'm sure that most people can tell the difference in sound and response between an all-valve amp and a hyrid amp with an A/B power section, and similarly there is a difference between a Class A/B and a Class D amp.

I’ve played a few Class D amps over the years and I tried out a lot of them when I bought the Subway. To me, the Boogie was by far the best sounding of the Class Ds (the Aguilar AG700 would have been in second place). But in real life gigging situations, it just didn’t quite work for me. As far as I’m concerned, it’s definitely the power stage rather than the preamp. I know how to EQ an amp, that isn’t the issue, it’s the response you get from the amp and as you say, the breadth or 'guts' to the sound. When I took it back to Bass Direct for them to sell for me a few months after I bought it from them, I was discussing why I was moving it on so quickly and Mark said, ‘it’s not just the sound of the amp, it’s how it delivers that sound’.

The Mesa Boogie Subway D-800.

I spent a lot of money on a really nice sounding Class D amp. It sounded great in a room on its own and when I did some deps for a not particularly loud R&B band. Unfortunately, it was completely lacking when I used it with a loud rock band with keys. I had to cut my losses, sell it on and ended up getting a Handbox R-400 (Class A/B), which has been brilliant. I've had a Class A/B LM3, not to mention a couple of combos with a LM2 head, all of which had been fine on stage.

I know they have their fans, but that's what I always thought Dunno about the newer ones.

I would say that there are a couple of Mesa Boogie class A/B heads that are up there, but the HB R-400 is certainly worth considering and doesn't cost a fortune. There are plenty of decent techs knocking around who can service / do any work on the amp if needed.

Do a few gigs at a reasonable volume and I would, personally, be quite surprised if you can't tell the difference.

I would still suggest looking at any s/h Bergantino cabs that come up. I have a 410 with ceramic speakers that sounds great with my Mesa m-pulse and doesn't come in at a ridiculous weight. The cab is very efficient and will be plenty loud enough, even for the sort of bands that you (and I) play in. Of course, if you get a cab with neo speakers, then it will be a fair bit lighter. I'm mainly gigging a Handbox R400 and a Berg 212 with neo speakers with the Zep tribute at the moment. That is a bit lighter than the Mesa & 410 rig, but still sounds great and is loud enough. As compromises go, it's a pretty good one! Edit: didn't see that you had already found the Subway cabs when I posted this...!