molan

[quote name='M@23' timestamp='1387921552' post='2317319'] Edit: the one Molan, above, is referring to is this one. It is pretty chunky due to the ports, 26kg on my scales too. And is a bit awkward getting through a tight doorway. [/quote] It will, just, fit on the front seat of a BMW 3 Series Coupe - I agreed to deliver one once and managed to squeeze it in

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1387782871' post='2315484'] If you bought it new & you haven't abused the combo, get in touch with where you bought it & ask them to fix it (for free of course). Do this before you start opening things up yourself. [/quote] Good shout. Opening up a cab or head can void a warranty. UK MB warranty is 2 years (although I'm not sure if this is transferable to a 2nd owner). Initial repair would lie with the retailer but if they are unhelpful then the UK distributor are brilliant on warranty stuff. I can put you in touch with them if it is a warranty issue and the retailer isn't a lot of use

I think the Berg would be my choice. It really is an outstanding cab and can cope with almost any situation. I've used the other MB212 (called the Club I think) and I thought it was nice and surprisingly loud. Pretty big and heavy though. The NY has the compression horn which moves it up a notch from the piezo equipped 1x12 NY. I've not played through a Vanderkley but I heard one live and it sounded a bit 'harsh' to me. Could have been anything though, amp, PA, player technique etc.

I had two tickets to see her at the Jazz Cafe - I couldn't make it and offered them up here and via a FaceBook page with 6,500 followers. No interest whatsoever, literally couldn't give 'em away

[quote name='Steff' timestamp='1387736196' post='2315060'] What are the chances of someone from the UK buying this bass from the US owner, then bringing it over and now selling it? I wouldn't report a listing on gumtree as fraudulent just because the same photos have been used in an eBay auction 3 months earlier... There's a lot of people selling cheap due to a changed financial situation. The price paid would have been around £2k right? I bought an used Alembic Epic fretless V on here 3 years ago for £600 and it's rrp is 6000 dollars... And I can assure you every bit of it was genuine. [/quote] After shipping and VAT plus duties you're talking £3,500. No-one is going to offer up a £2,500 drop. Plus it was a used bass at £3,500 so any big hit of depreciation had already been taken out of it.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1387746235' post='2315207'] You wouldn't be in 'Sales', by any chance, would you..? [/quote] Nope, never have been. Pretty much always worked in 'customer service' - very different approach

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1387741529' post='2315148'] Not the item with the highest margin..? [/quote] There's no point in trying to pull the wool over people's eyes and to attempt to flog them whatever is worth most, has highest margin or is simply something we'd like to shift. Just leads, in the long term, to unhappy customers and a feeling of mistrust. Honesty is always the best policy

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1387733647' post='2315019'] I would say though for cabs... how do you do blind testing in the shop? it's different to a live occasion... I'ld love to give it a try though! [/quote] Just make the customer sit with his back to the cabs and then have a sales person on hand to swap from cab to cab or speaker to speaker. We actually did it with a pretty big 'name' pro player recently for amps and pre-amps. Worked out which cab he liked first and then swapped back & forth between heads, power amps and pre-amps. Took two of us to 'disguise' what we were doing but it was really helpful and he realised that his favourite sound was actually from the head he already owned He hadn't actually bought his one with him but we had one in the shop and thought it was the best 'base' point to work from.

[quote name='6feet7' timestamp='1387714417' post='2314781'] I can see an extreme break angle on a fender but on a Gus it's a gradual curve over a ball bearing, nothing like a traditional bridge at all. If it can't do that then how can it be wound round a tuner without breaking? [/quote] Is it tapered beyond the nut? If so it'll be much thinner than at the bridge. A tapered end is much more flexible. I'd imagine it's also a more 'rounded' curve on a tuner.

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1387730127' post='2314957'] The ideal cab showroom would have all cabs hidden behind a scrim, so that you couldn't see the cabs you were trying, you could only hear them. Said showroom wouldn't stay in business a week. [/quote] A few weeks back we sold a cab to a customer by making him face away whilst we plugged in a variety of different cabs whilst he kept playing. He walked away with a Bag End 1x10". Not at all what he was looking for when he came in We sometimes give people a selection of basses to play and refuse to tell them how much they cost. Did that recently with a batch of Fender J's and the customer bought a Mexican with upgraded pickups ahead of a stock USA model. It simply sounded better and played just as well. Blind testing is definitely a good idea when it's practical

It's really easy to check the internal speaker wiring. Remove the baffle screw, lie the cab on its back, remove the speaker and you can see all the connecting lugs and see if it's any those causing a problem.

I spoke to the owner of it in the States when it was on eBay, at the time he wouldn't ship to the UK

Resurrecting an old thread - I got to play one of these for a while today and it sounded really nice Lots of depth and went really loud without breaking up. Although Alain C is more renowned as a solo player I thought it sounded great with a classic vintage P bass, tone wound right down, and pumping AC DC riffs. . .

[quote name='mickster' timestamp='1387657828' post='2314380'] [url="http://www.labella.com/products/760fs/"]This[/url]. The regular ones are not for thru body. They do a different version of their flatwounds specifically for thru body stringing. [/quote] I once spent about an hour chatting to the senior La Bella string guy. He couldn't stress enough that their regular flats should never be used on any bass with though body stringing. They're simply not designed to bend at such a sharp angle and, even if they don't break, they can have some issues sounding very dead because of string twisting. This doesn't mean the standard ones aren't great strings, you just can't have an extreme break angle on them.

Spent some time playing through the Alain Caron Sig combo today. Really quite liked it. Very loud and a lot more natural depth than a CMD121 (which you'd expect from the bigger cab).

I've played a John Paul Jones Sig and really quite liked it. It was a bit 'marmite' though. Some people thought it was nice but others weren't so impressed. I know this can happen with most basses but this one seemed to divide people a bit more than usual.

Designed by chiropractors I don't actually know why they are so heavy. ATS in Italy make great isobaric cabs and they are really lightweight.

I've used La Bella flats several times. Never had one break on me though. Are you stringing through the body? La Bella have a special series for this and don't recommend using their regular flats for through-body stringing (although I have known people to do this).

I used to own a Jerry Donahue Signature Strat - it was identical in every way to the one he played. I know this because it was his personal one and he sold it to me himself

[quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1375064636' post='2156315'] To the point -- I think using a signature instrument is as lame as being a member of a celebrities fan club or having Star Wars bedding. As for Fodera -- they're the most well made crappy sounding basses you'll ever play. [/quote] Oh no, it's another Lowender attacks expensive basses thread You're wrong by the way. . . Again . . .

Obviously the blatant lying isn't acceptable but, working now & then in a retailer, I know that handling warranty claims with some suppliers can be fraught with problems. Some won't take stuff back until the dealer can 'authenticate' there actually is a problem (this isn't always as easy as it sounds). Others prefer you to use your own local repair man if possible to avoid high postage costs. Some just don't reply to either calls or emails for several days. Some insist that the customer delivers the item to the shop first and then that the shop sends it to the authorised repairer (adding incremental costs and time delays to the process). All this can slow things down and cause lots of undue stress As it happens I had to handle a warranty claim today and it's been, so far, a perfect case of how things should be done. Customer emails shop to say there's a problem, shop contacts UK distributor (not the manufacturer because it's not UK made), distributor directs customer to online site where customer fills in all the relevant details and explains the problem. This then generates a returns shipping form and customer liaises with shipping company for the item to be collected at an acceptable time. Whole process from start to finish took about 15-20 minutes Just hoping it's a quick fix or that a brand new item is sent as a replacement if it's a major issue

Of all the expensive basses I've played or owned a Wal has been my least favourite by a huge margin. Universally heavy (although I have played one lightweight one), quite a few have neck dive, generally uncomfortable to play and I've always struggled to get a decent sound out of one without fiddling for ages with the onboard tone controls. I'd wanted one for ages having seen and heard Mick Karn with Japan and getting my hands on one for the first time was probably the biggest bass playing disappointment I've ever had Maybe I've just been unlucky and only seen a bad batch of them. I definitely wouldn't buy one without spending a lot of time trying one out.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1387329375' post='2310873'] Oh! So I'm not alone in disliking the tweeter in this otherwise fantastic combo? How did you disable it? Does it entail anything other than opening it up and unplugging it? I have no idea! But if it's not complicated, I'd like to try disabling it too. It just adds a very fizzy high end that I find irritating. [/quote] Rather than just unplugging the tweeter I sent the wires from the amp direct to the 12" driver in order to bypass what I assume is a crossover (it may just be some sort of protection circuit for the tweeter but by bypassing completely I thought it would send the full signal to the main driver). Sounds nicer to me anyway

[quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1387226674' post='2309668'] Interesting stuff guys! No one saying they're an abhorrent pile of crap yet anyway! It's good to hear about the CMD121Ps, because I'm potentially looking to change my rig for one of those and a NY121 in order to have something even more compact and portable. I actually went to Bass Direct on Saturday, specifically to try some genz benz heads with Bergantino and Vanderkley cabs (and fully intending on walking away with something). Although they sounded incredible, I ended up feeling like maybe they weren't that much better than what I've already got, and perhaps the difference didn't justify the amount I would have to shell out (despite being told that markbass cabs/speakers are horrifically bad). I was hoping to find something much more portable than what I've got, but actually it wouldn't work out that much smaller and I would need 2 1x12" cabs (or one bigger 2x12") plus an amp. It was really nice stuff, but I dunno..... I think there's something I like about the Markbass sound, I find it to sound very natural, with just the right combination of warmth, puncb, clarity, and bottom end. When I got to thinking about it, a GB Streamliner 900 with two Bergantino CN112s would cost me £1749. A CMD121P and NY121 would cost me £1164, and be more compact. And I don't have to worry about damaging the head or pulling it off the top.... I think I'm answering myself here! [/quote] At home I have a CMD121P combo (piezo tweeter disabled) with an NY121 cab and also an Aguilar TH500 head with a Berg AE210. They sound quite different but I like them both The lower cost option is definitely the MB route but I love the form factor of the AE210 for gigging. I find it a really good height and it almost seems to disappear on stage where space is often cramped. Although the MB is narrower it's also deeper and taller & feels a bit bulkier on stage. Obviously this is all a bit academic to anyone buying new stuff because the Berg isn't made any more. The CN212 is a killer cab but it's just a bit too bulky for what I need. Where the MB comes into its own for me is transportability. The combo on its own is just great for rehearsing. I can sling it in the boot of a 3 series BM with ease and it's a simple one-handed lift to the rehearsal room. I've not gigged the MB combo plus ex cab yet because the Aggie/Berg unit is tried & tested but I might give it a blast on Friday In terms of the Streamliner plus CN112 route I don't find this a a very pleasing combination. I much, much prefer the TH500 with the CN cabs and the MarkBass heads tend to work well with it too. To my ears the Streamliner can sound a bit squashed and mushy and the CN cabs accentuate this because they are relatively clean and dynamic. Could be just me of course, lol.

Partially depends on whether you want the hassle of a pedal plus larger and heavier head or a simple one unit solution. Even a used TH pedal is going to be about £150 and a good used TH head about £550. If you can wipe out a lot of that price differential by selling the Ampeg then you'd end up with, in my opinion, a much more usable, smaller, lightweight package. The TH heads seem bullet-proof too (which can't be said about the SVT7). The pedal does offer a switchable distortion option but if you're not going to use that then it's just a pre-amp.