molan

The Bergantino HD212 is a great cab but hard to find. We tried to order one recently but the wait list was too long so we had to remove it. The new CN210 is cool. Has a lot of the signature Bergantino Neo sound in a smaller, and cheaper, package than the CN212. I have the Berg AE210 which sounds huge but I'm seriously thinking of trading it for the CN210 simply be use it's about 25% lighter. Markbass cabs do tend to sound particularly good with their own heads. My personal favourite is the Traveller 210. A 4ohm one of these will cover a lot of gigs or a pair of 8ohms will give greater flexibility (but at twice the price of course).

The trick to owning most of the heads you've listed is to look for a 4 ohm cab. We have a customer using the LM250 with a Markbass 2x10 4ohm and it sounds great with plenty of volume. Handles all of his gigs without an extension cab quite easily. Going for the Blackline head would save more money towards the cab and they sound very similar to the LM versions. Plenty of dealers will offer a 'package' price on a head & cab combination as well

I don't have a copy of BGM handy. Can someone fill me in as to who the 'pretentious so called professionals' are that are being referenced in the OP?

I'll often play both behind and ahead of the beat, as well as on it of course. For me it feels like I'm either leaning back against the beat or leaning forward into it. I'd say I do more of the former than the latter and really like how it changes the feel of a song. My drummer can play like a metronome so that really helps. Every now and then our rhythm guitarist will spot it and it can confuse his timing so the drummer and I will work on it with him. I haven't read the article you've mentioned in the original post but are they professional musicians? I don't understand the 'so called' reference?

Aguilar pickups can be richer and warmer. Maybe the 60's ones would work for you.

Closest to a 'one bass fits all' instrument would be a 5 string PJ with an active/passive circuit (set for no loss in volume in passive mode) and a passive tone control that doesn't work in active mode. In a 'perfect' world maybe with a simple flick switch to solo either pickup. I've had this before and it let me go from bright active with both pickups to solo P mode in passive with tone rolled right off by flicking one switch and pulling up on a tone knob

I always think one of the nice things about the for sale section is that you can browse around and might come across something interesting you'd not normally spot. Subdividing would take this away and the section could get a bit boring. I think it would hurt sales numbers too.

APC will take anything. I've used them to ship 100lb 4x10 cabs in the past.

I know some serious pickup experts who say that a bass with EMG's will sound more of EMG than the core woods or bass design. If you like that sound then EMG's are great. However the signature time is very strong so if if you're not 100% happy with it then it's worth looking at other brands. Aguilar would be my personal favourites and they make a lot of of direct EMG replacements

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1429682774' post='2753825'] Hi Molan, What's that variable pickup position prorotype one like in BG? [/quote] It's kinda cool and works well We had it fully serviced by our local luthier to make the movement even smoother than original so it's fast to change position with the rotary selector. You can definitely hear the difference between positions. Definitely a useful too for recording and simply playing at home and hearing how pickup position can effect tone. Could work live in something like a function band format.

As someone who works part time in a bass shop I get to hear a lot of people trying things out. There's no real uniformity at all. Some people play recognisable stuff, some noodle around and some play very short sections all over the board listening for uniformity of tone and clarity etc. Very few people slap these days and hardly anyone plays with a pick. For a while we heard There's Nothing Like This by Omar a lot but that seems to have subsided now. It's interesting to watch serious pro players. They often have warm up riffs that they use before going on stage and they'll play these when trying a new bass. We have one regular pro customer who always plays acoustically first and then maybe just a few notes down on first three frets, across all 4/5 strings to see how they compare and then that's it. There's certainly no judgement of whether anyone is a 'good' or 'bad' player. The four of us in the shop are all of various standards of technical ability but never think of ourselves as being 'better' than someone. As has often been said here on BC, there's no real definition of what makes a good player.

[quote name='juliusmonk' timestamp='1429646662' post='2753683'] . As with many small builders, every instrument tends to be unique though, so worth checking the specs carefully [/quote] I've played quite a few W&T basses and think that Enrico Pasini is an excellent builder. As mentioned above, pretty much every one is a custom build and made to order so each one is going to be individual. Well worth checking one out if you get the chance

Barry Moorhouse at the Bass Centre can supply Elites. WestSide do Dunlop and Elixir (latter might be a bit pricey). D'Addario have a huge range and fantastic sales service in the UK. I've got contact details for all of these if you need them

If you like the Zon tone then a 4 string might also work - probably more expensive and harder to find than a Warwick though Some Spectors also work well for hard rock. If you are ok with fan frets then a Dingwall could be interesting. I've never been sure the fan idea adds that much benefit on a 4 string but if you're tuning down to B then it could be quite cool

[quote name='6v6' timestamp='1429548368' post='2752493'] That's a very kind offer, thank you. I'm not that far away actually (about an hour south in Hampshire) - so there's a reasonable chance I'll turn up with credit-card later this week to buy a backup. A loan amp would be great, but I gig too regularly to risk putting myself in this position again - I should really get a spare head after having this one fail. See what I did there, I turned the exploding amp disaster into a new-amp-day! Don't tell the wife! [/quote] The MarkBass distributor is based in Swallowfield - almost on Hampshire border I think. Not sure if this is where repairs are carried out though.

Time period on warranties and guarantees is a very grey area. Technically EU law says you have a 2 year period and English law actually extends to 6 years. However, there's an onus on the customer to prove the unit has failed due to faulty manufacture rather than some sort of user initiated problem or misuse - or even that it might have worn out in a 'reasonable' period. On electrical goods this gets harder and harder to prove after a 6 month period has elapsed. When it comes to claiming you can cite these regulations and it'll usually help to move things along a bit faster. The comment about the UK guys saying that they will look at local repair on a case by case basis could be because the distributors changed over a couple of years ago. If your head was supplied by the old distributor then I think this might complicate things a little. Where are you based? Our shop has a pre-owned LMIII you could borrow for a gig if you're desperate. Might not be practical if you are a long way off though

Looks like we're on holiday

Could just be $ vs £ strength. Lots of US instruments and amps/cabs are creeping up because of the unhealthy exchange rates.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1429431378' post='2751246'] Did the shop fob you off regarding the LM3 or did they send it to MarkBass? [/quote] The UK MarkBass guys are brilliant at handling warranty stuff. They take away all the hassle and handle everything very professionally.

[quote name='Old Man Riva' timestamp='1429355991' post='2750717'] I really liked Natalie Prass but when I listened to her studio stuff it seem incredibly tame by comparison - it's a shame as the live stuff has a nice edge to it. [/quote] I thought the first Natalie Prass song, Bird of Prey, was the highlight of the show by quite a distance. I've got the album and it's grown on me but, like a lot of people, there's a bit more edge and rawness to her live sound which seems to suit her voice and general vibe. Album version has fairly prominent strings but I preferred the horn arrangement on Later. Overall bass balance was Ok on my TV. Reasonably high end Sony in HD but not through hi-fi speakers. I could certainly hear some nice little runs Natalie Prass' bassman was playing

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1429350142' post='2750629'] DR stings always kept their tone longest for me, but I wouldn't say they sounded like new for months. IMO Dunlop Super Bright steel strings would be the ones you want to try. [/quote] I'd say Super Brights as well. Good strings, last pretty well and stay zingy and don't cost a lot.