The fasting showman

I think the immediacy of the sound is what I like about GK gear, the speed of the sound is what I like, not that I particularly play fast! It's what got me back into playing fingerstyle which to some extent I'd lost confidence with, it gives me a sound that helps me to play better somehow. Anyway I don't question it much, other than a blip where I switched to an Ashdown ABM (briefly) I'm 10 years into using GK and 6 years on the same 700rbii. Glad you like the amp anyway after all my doom mongering, shows how much I know!

Glad you like it, the whole series has some amazing archive footage including the rarest of things, a contemporary George Murray interview!

Much as I'm a big fan of GK gear, I use mainly a 700rbii and Neo 212 and I'm very happy with that setup, I've no experience of the Fusion 550 so I'll get that crucial point out of the way! I've long since gone off valves and I'm drawn to their solid state character but that's just me. I don't doubt that the Fusion 550 is a great amp, my concern would be over the sophistication of the (I think?) servo driven automation on the pots and the extent to which an amp that may now be out of production will be supported technically in the UK, you are heavily reliant on the distributors Polar Audio and I've had mixed experiences with them in the past. An obvious scenario would be the pre amp goes wrong, you're advised to get a whole new board- probably easy-ish to get in the US, but I can imagine it would be a real struggle over here. The amp would I guess be modular; pre board, power board and a torroidal transformer if it's like the RBs I have, the power amp may be the same as a 700RB I'd guess in a 550. I'm fundamentally happy with the gear I use so I've tried to drop on semi-broken amps to cannibalise (with the help of a local tech), I have an ebay £60 700rb with a good power amp transformer and preamp board and a £100 Backline 600 (my gig back up amp) that could be transplanted to an extent into my 400 rb iv. It's just parts I can keep in the garage that would be cheaper than getting something obtained from across the Atlantic with difficulty. Just my way of future proofing my gear fairly cheaply. Hope my post helps, more of an insight into the fact that with GK I'd personally either buy brand new production models or popular items second hand that are fairly commonplace, all due to the fact that distribution isn't the best in the UK.

Apologies for the slight thread derail, thanks for the original post. Just a heads up about the YouTube videos put together by Dennis Davis's family , if you search Tracing my Dad -Dennis Davis you'll find them. Obviously they have been put together by a grieving family rediscovering a musical career rather than a professional documentary maker, if you view them with that in mind you'll enjoy them if you are a Bowie fan; there's some great clips from the Isolar tours, interviews with Visconti, Alomar and incredibly a recent interview with none other than George Murray!

That's right, there's enough power to destroy the speakers but if you use your ears and are careful you'll be fine. I would make a point of setting the 4 string/5 string switch to 4 string, this will act as a high pass filter of sorts and will help to keep damaging low end frequencies from the speakers. I play a 5 string most of the time and use a GK 700rb; I always set it to 4 string and there's plenty of low end for what I want, my cab is a neo 212.

It seems post modernism is nothing new! The video isn't good but I remember Peel playing this every now and then.

Sniff sob...I used to have an original 800rb as you know Gary! Totally agree, I have used a 700rb ii for the last 5 years and it sounds great to my ears. I've recently dropped on a 400rb iv and it's good in a different way. Just wish they looked as cool as the old ones. As you have said, they are the amps I've settled after years of chopping and changing. Martin

I went from the RBH cabs to a Neo 212 and haven't looked back. I've no experience of the Neo410 but the 2x12 is quite mid forward so I have the contour knob on my 700rb at the midday position to counteract this. I really like the Neo 212, I always raise it to about a foot off the ground with a low fold up table; it's taken the place of my old 2x10 /1x15 setup with ease. My back gives me less trouble also!

I can't believe there's now two L5500s within 5 miles of each other, I'm down the road in Lichfield! Particularly if there was so few of them made, I've heard conflicting estimates.

What a great deal the OP got, mine came from BC'er Graham 1945 (thanks again Graham!) for a similar price. It's my favourite bass by far that I've owned and nothing has turned my head since I got it back in March 2016; it always gets compliments ,the sound not my playing, and sounds great whenever I hear live recordings of gigs and rehearsals. Mine is a Jan 1996 maple neck. I changed the bridge pickup to a 40J and it lost a bit of the pipe organ quality in the mid setting on the pan pot, it sounds more Jazz bass like now but with it's own character. It was translucent green but Graham had it sprayed black, it's gradually becoming trans green again!

Well said, that's exactly how I feel about my L5500! I wasn't aware of the existence of the MJ5 at all.

I've owned this for a long time... I need all the help I can get in the charisma department; I hope nobody is too horrified. Anyway, it sounds great for rootsy stuff. My G&L twangs and this one thuds and clicks!

You could do a lot worse than buying the Trace Elliot Twin bass head off BCer Ash in the Amps for sale forum. You can't lose money on it and it may help you decide which way you want to go in terms of circuit design etc. All the best, Martin

Just received a Boss OC2 from AJ; a great item, price, transaction, tracked post and everything! Many thanks, deal with confidence, All the best, Martin

Many thanks for a great deal on Pirastro upright strings, great communications throughout and great advice also. A pleasure to deal with. Cheers, Martin

Yes, i understood it to be a tele bass type 1 also, 'Root down' by Jimmy Smith being another good example of his sound

I believe he played on Bowie's Absolute Beginners single as well as playing for him at Live Aid, RIP

Chuffed to bits with the cab I bought off Colin yesterday, great transaction throughout. All the best, Martin

36 in total for 2019, 3 down on the previous year. I kid myself it averages out to 3 gigs a month. Almost! The bulk of the gigs were from a long term dep job I had that ended in September, August was very busy but December (when I should have made hay) was dire. All gigs were covers. NYE was a good gig at least. Oh, and a wedding gig in Sept with a band assembled for the day where I winged it on EUB for half the set, hopefully I got away with it; some nice wedding songs at that one rather than the usual play your standard set to the wedding guests. Remarkably for me I had 2 bouts of recording work I got roped into, nice to have your head patted as I thought those days were long gone for me. 2020 looking sparse at present but I'm working on it.... Happy New year to all, Martin

Hi, the number 406 rang a bell as my GK neo 212 has a P audio 406 tweeter, I think they are about £50. Worth seeing if it's the same item. Martin

Bought an Aria Bass off Peter and it's been a great transaction throughout; the bass is in much better condition than I expected given it's age and it was dispatched with real aplomb, bubble wrap galore! Deal with Peter with absolute confidence. Many thanks, Martin