molan

I've owned a Key Factor and an Ex Factor. Great gigging basses due to light weight, general ergonomics, super slim neck and a great 5 position pre-set sound switch. My Ex Factor was my main gigging bass for a good few years, almost always played passive & swapping between the J & P type pre-sets depending on song. They do pop up here pretty regularly and have plummeted like crazy in value from a few years ago. I'd budget around £700 - £800 for a nice one. Maybe a little less if it's got a lot of battle scars & a more if you find a really pristine one or something in a super rare colour

Phil has everything apart from the AG500 (which has been discontinued now in favour of the TH500). Also has a few Bag Ends & DB series cabs (but not any DB112's as these seem to sell as soon as they arrive!). The Baggies are nice, very clean & punchy. Good as reference type cabs as they don't add a lot of artificial colour to the sound. They are all pretty weighty though. The powered cabs are great, 1000w super clean power amp and you just stick whatever pre-amp in front of them that you fancy. One nice option is just to use a little pocket sized Sansamp, or similar, as the pre which you can tuck away in a gig bag. The baby 1x10 is pretty cool, I've gigged with one of these on its own There's a couple of 'name' players I know that use Bag End as their 'real' cabs but don't show them on stage as they have endorsement deals with other brands. . . In fact the only time I've had a quick blast on the Carvin was through a Baggie 4x10 & a 2x12 at the same time - shop next door was closed & I had it jacked up pretty loud, had the roof seriously shaking, lol.

If you want to try the TH vs an LMIII through a pair of SL112's then Phil at BassGear can set this up (he has an MB combo in stock which ha the LMIII in it). I am covering for him on Friday and will be in the shop all day It's 45 mins on the train from Paddington and just 2 mins walk from Twyford station. I could bring my AG in as well. It's a full width 19" head but might give you a different perspective on sound. He also has a Carvin BX500 head in stock. Mid sized but weighs sod all and made in USA I think. I haven't had a chance to really try it yet but Phil likes it a lot.

I know I've said this before but, just to reiterate, the TH500 absolutely works at its best with the Sl112 cabs in my opinion. I agree it can sound a bit too mid range focussed with some cabs but I don't find this with the SL's. I had an MB Tube 500 until quite recently. Great little head but didn't deliver the musicality & warmth of the TH500 to my ears. I felt it needed much bigger, punchier, cabs to really sound best. My favourite combination for it was an MB 410 & a matching 210. Through 6 tens it sounded great and certainly needed at least the 410 to really punch its weight.

Have you tried this email address: [email protected] Should go straight to Alex Carter who runs the main shop

I had a Korean Spector fretless for a while, cost me about £85 and, TBH, I think it was over-priced

Excellent

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1339412228' post='1687969'] We already have it covered in the affiliates section. Anyone who has something to sell can post there. Maybe we need to rename it...? [/quote] I must admit that, as a huge buyer & seller of stuff, I never think to look in the Affiliates section here. Are all dealers allowed to post special offers or clearance items here? Only asking as I'm on the mailing lists for most UK retailers and quite a few luthiers and I rarely see any of their special offers listed here under Affiliates.

[quote name='1976fenderhead' timestamp='1339329083' post='1686831'] Thx, great info, again it seems like the SL's area great option if I go with Aguilar... [/quote] Whereabouts are you? You're welcome to try my TH/AG/SL rig any time. [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1339337428' post='1686992'] Love the retro look of the SL's..they have grown on me and I am sure the weight is a bonus but I use full size heads and I like them to sit properly on the cabs. Still thinking about a Berg for SL trade maybe..??? .... [/quote] I'd love to have my old AE 112's back again for a longer side by side comparison to a pair of SL's

Thanks for all these guys - some great suggestions in here. [quote name='Rayman' timestamp='1339354738' post='1687354'] We also funked up Word Up by Gun, with a slappy poppy bassline, again that worked pretty good. [/quote] Does that mean you turned it back into the original version of the song by Cameo

A good friend of mine has been through a string of guitars & always has at least 15 hanging on the wall of his home studio. He has a few PRS's but his favourites for the past couple of years have been the Suhr Guthrie Govan models. I've heard these playing funky Nile Rodgers type stuff through to very heavy rock and they seem to sound great in any situation

A couple of friends and I are putting a little band together, may just be for jamming & rehearsal but might develop further depending on how we all get on Inspiration for this was initially stuff like Little Feat's Rock n Roll Doctor & Dixie Chicken. We then thought about rockier versions of soul & funk songs like the Stevie Ray Vaughn version of Superstition & the Chili's Higher Ground (although I could never play Flea's bass part!). Basically looking for anything that's essentially 'rock' but with a really good funky groove to it - all suggestions much appreciated

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1339267248' post='1686201'] I think Aguilar are making some very good cabs and I love my DB's.. Was tempted to try the SL's but not sure on the NEO thing as yet...and I have NEO 12's atm anyway. Ampwise.. try and find a Thunderfunk for a soul gig..but it will do clean rock. I don't have much use for the tube simulation but it is there for a touch of breakup. But the real clincher is the 4 band para set-up which makes set-up so easy, IME.. but also the Enhance and timbre are so good I hardly touch the semi P..but it is agood thing to have for those 'bastard' rooms People say the AG500 is close to the TF..and if so..then that will make that a VERY good amp, IMO. [/quote] There was a brief period when I owned a TF550, AG500 & TH500 and had a good chance to try all three back to back with both a pair of DB112's & SL112's I have to say that I found all three amps to be very good and each had some very distinctive characteristics. Simple summary was that I found the AG the cleanest, the TH the warmest and the TF the most 'coloured' (albeit in a nice way). To my ears the AG sounded best through the DB cabs, closely followed by the TF whilst the TH worked best through the SL's. The SL's worked best for me given the astonishing weight. I do love DB cabs but having something as light as the SL's is a real bonus for me. The AG gave a great clean tone through the SL's as well and I would have kept my original one but it was part of a fully matching chocolate brown rig that I didn't want to split. By chance I've just managed to pick up a black AG to go with my SL's so now I have the option of both the TH & the AG heads I did a bit of an exhaustive test the other week with my favourite four basses and each head. Whilst the TH generally had the edge with the more modern active basses I found that the AG was working brilliantly with passive basses. In fact I felt it made my old '63 Jazz sound better than I've ever heard it! If I had to have just one head I'd stick with the TH but, luckily, at the moment I can afford to keep both

I've been lucky overthr last year in that I've always been able to try any amp / cab combination in some detail. After all this testing I've really come tithe conclusion that different heads work better with some cabs than others. Certainly enough for me to decide that I would only buy an amp once I've found the cabs that work best with it.

I've tried one of these and it was as clear as a bell without a trace of hiss at all. I was able to make it distort with a very powerful active bass with all the onboard tonal options whacked on full. I'd never do this in actual playing situation though so it wouldn't bother me.

I've tried a TH500 with a Diamond optical compressor and it nailed the punchier sound really well. Personally I don't tend to use compressors much but if I did then I'd definitely go for the Diamond. Most 'musical' compressor I've ever heard. I have A/B'd a Streamliner vs a TH and thought they were both very good. It was the way the TH worked so well with the SL's that really clinched it for me though

Just sold a MarkBass LM Tube head to Andy & the deal couldn't have been any smoother. Really friendly guy to chat to along the way as well Now - someone buy his Ampeg cab from him so he can get a new cab to go with his nice new head. . .

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1339149705' post='1684316'] If you aren't on commission already... you should be. [/quote] I promise you I'm not Bassgear is a whole 15 minutes drive away from me so I pop in all the time for a natter & a play on whatever is in stock. I sometimes fill in for Phil if he needs to take a day out for collection or delivery - my favourite ever voluntary job