molan

Although I've just picked up a B15N for home use I wouldn't be without my Tone Hammer out of the house. I've tried quite a few class D heads and the TH500 is by far my favourite, especially with a pair of matching Aguilar SL112 speakers

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1345554257' post='1778748'] £326.21 from Thomann. (of course you may want to support the above as it's UK based and a fellow BCer) [/quote] Thanks EBSF - it's so hard to compete with Thomann, their 860 staff & massive buying power. As a consumer I obviously appreciate that they use their clout to drive prices down but it does sometimes seem like they've taken a run at a few UK music retailers by undercutting them substantially. I've yet to meet a UK retailer who makes much real money out of his business and I certainly know a few who are barely able to keep their heads above water Hopefully what you get by going through a smaller 'local' business is informed advice, first class customer service, after sales help, good part exchange offers etc. However, there are some UK retailers who offer hardly any of this and still bleat about being stuffed by online businesses. I'm afraid I have very little sympathy for them Anyway, apologies for the off topic meanderings - my only excuse is that I'm helping a good friend out (totally unpaid) who owns one of the good UK bass retail specialists so that he can have a short holiday However - I can say that the Stageclix units are great. There's one set up here for people to listen through & it sounds excellent.

[quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1345571845' post='1779012'] That's a damn shame. He is my favourite DB player, but I can only listen to about 5 minutes of that before it gets boring and I want to hear him playing an electric again. I'd be very disappointed if I went to see him live and he just played DB! Nothing new about him playing 5'er though, though it is the first time I've seen him with a 5 string Alembic IIRC. [/quote] He even had an Alembic sitting on a stand all powered up & ready to roll - just didn't touch it all evening It was a US Jazz club with two sets in the evening so maybe he swapped over in the 2nd set.

I've always thought of the 2x15 4ohm cab as the 'quintessential' reggae cab (on the basis that 18's are pretty rare!). I'm sure there's a zillion other cabs that can cover the tonal spectrum & room acoustics and all that other associated stuff are going to make a difference but there is something a bit special about a pair of, decent quality, 15's thudding away in a reggae setting. Thing to watch out for is that they can over-power everything if they don't fit the room acoustics well - although some judicious amp tweaking should be able to cure this. Some of those old Peavey Black Widows can sound great. A mate of mine had a 1x15, large enclosure, BW cab and he played a '76 P through it with a Peavey head and used to be able to get a great Jean Jacques Burnel tone from it. Given how little money these tend to go for it might be worth a try out with one for a while and see how you get on?

Sounds great & growly with a P bass, tone wound down, slight treble cut on the amp & a nudge on the bass boost. Amazing for a deep reggae tone but without the volume you usually need to get the right feel (not that I ever have the need for a reggae sound but just thought I'd share, lol). Lots of clarity if left neutral and using a Jazz bass & really good 'heft' as well, and all of this at decent home/studio volumes

I've seen a StageClix for £359 (maybe a bit less if you're paying by bank transfer or direct debit as this'll save on card fees). In fact, there's one sitting about 10 feet away from me right now

Another vote for Audacity here, I've used it for years & it's not only free but works really well

I know Phil has been in discussion with Carvin about not only attending shows but also about having an artist endorsee giving masterclasses etc. I'm actually in the shop today and just received a request for a quote on a Carvin - better get back to 'work'

Last time I saw him he didn't even touch his Alembic. Spent all evening on DB

[quote name='citymariner' timestamp='1345484664' post='1778049'] That looks ace! What kind of money do these go for then? [/quote] In really good nick you won't get a lot of change out of £2K. £1,800 -£1,900 is a good working estimate.

So, after having seen Ampeg B15's in several studios in Memphis & Nashville last year & reading about their history as [b][i]the[/i][/b] US session man's recording amp, I finally cracked and bought one today A good friend of mine, who's a seasoned session player, has one as well & it's his studio amp of choice - when engineers will actually let him mic up & not go direct! He also raved about them when I said I was thinking of getting one. It's a 1967 B15N in amazing condition purchased from Andy Baxter - who really knows his old Ampegs. Here's what he said about it: [i][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][color=#474747]All original other than Ampeg USA made direct replacement tubes. All round I'd say its the best I've had in stock. (I have had over 20 in the last 2 years) Most of the tolex is clean with only a few tears/ bumps and scrapes. The grill cloth is super clean with zero wear and tear. Everything is here, the light up logo, the chrome Ampeg logo on the front of the cab, the original speaker and dolly. The handle is original and in great condition. The latches work as they should with no issues. There is even the Ampeg certificate glued to the inside of the cabinet with the origional owner's name and address. Most importantly of all the sound is fantastic. This amp wont disappoint in terms of sound or looks.[/color][/font][/i] I have to say - he's not wrong It looks stunning, especially that light up Ampeg logo and sounds great - much more tonal variation than I thought it might have. Partners my old '63 Jazz really well. May be a little busy playing through it tonight. . .

[quote name='BassBunny' timestamp='1344703770' post='1768191'] Bass Gear are now a UK Supplier. They have Amps in stock with basses to follow. [/quote] I'm covering for Phil the owner of BassGear for 2 days this week whilst he's on holiday Hope it's Ok to post as I'm just trying to keep people up to date and not specifically trying to flog anything. The core Carvin business model is to make each customer's bass individually. However, with such a low 'installed base' in the UK it's near impossible for people to try one out so it's unsurprising that people won't order them blind = a bit of a vicious circle Phil is planning to get about 4-5 in stock for demo purposes (of course they will be for sale as well) so that people can really test them out and he can now quote on any of the Carvin range in any sort of custom spec anyone might fancy. I've spoken to the Carvin guys in the last week, on Phil's behalf, and they are really keen to put more effort into increasing their UK business. They now have a much better distribution hub over here that will stock a lot of the different amps & cabs (because these aren't made to order) with really fast delivery times. They do make some pretty impressive amps, amazing price for 'Made in USA' kit with valves in the pre-amp stage etc. A couple of us were trying a BX500 through a little Bag End 1x10 this week. Sounded huge for such a tiny little rig! I have to admit that I'm really quite excited to try some of the basses as well. I promise to give Phil a swift kick about these when he gets back from holiday at the end of the week

I read the headline of this thread to be: [b] [b][size=4]How hard to replace/find a finger?[/size][/b][/b] Was just about to say this was one of the 'odder' questions I'd seen asked on BC & that the only person I knew who'd, partially done this was Tony Iommi, luckily I re-read the title before posting[b] [/b]

Doesn't mention weight anywhere - as a previous Alembic owner I've discovered so many of them to virtually ungiggable because of weight and atrocious neck dive. This one ought to balance better than most and the headstock design is far nicer, IMHO, than the triangle design you sometimes see on Orions. They don't hold value well though. This would have been close to £3,500 new for whoever owned it &, if it's a commission sale or was PX'd, then he's looking at about £1,500 after only 3 years

Saw a post for this & it claimed there was bass interest as well as guitar. http://www.ukguitarshows.co.uk/ Not desperately impressed as their 'latest news' talks about who's playing at the event in February and the main headline across the top of the site is for last Feb's event as well!