molan

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.

[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1387137790' post='2308600'] Yeah, it is a bit bunny boiler [/quote] That's what I think. The Twitter thing is really odd. It seems like band A have much more of a following and band B are trying to somehow directly associate themselves with band A to maybe get some of their 'fans' to go and see them as well. It's all really odd. Plus band B are really pushing themselves as being "something a bit different", lol.

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1387141729' post='2308708'] Sorry if I've missed it but what kind of gigs are both bands doing ? [/quote] Mostly funk - sometimes funked up versions of rockier material. First band are good enough to get a paying audience. 2nd aren't but are trying to get function and corporate type bookings.

Even more bizarrely the 2nd band regularly re-tweet stuff from the first band - really very odd indeed!

There's a particularly good covers band I know that take reasonably well known funk and soul songs and cover them with a bit of a different twist and feel. There's now another band who are basically covering the songs the covers band play - right down to the same arrangements and feel! The second band often go to watch the first band play in order to cop the arrangements properly (obviously a lot of them aren't available to buy). They also tend to make out that they are playing their own original arrangements because, of course, not many people have actually heard the first band's versions. Apart from finding ithis all slightly odd I wondered if this makes the latter band effectively a 'tribute' act to the former

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1386943374' post='2306669'] I don't despite that the U5 is a good piece of kit... but I would wager that a lot of that tone shaping was coming from the desk still... and of course, the fingers! Where did you see them? Aren't these guys playing at your daughter's wedding? [/quote] I can't say how much of the tone was coming from the U5 but Nick is a fine player It was a big ball at The Great Room, Grovsenor House, Park Lane. Should have been with Alexandra Burke but she couldn't make it so Lamarr took the first set. It was the full 12 piece band, seriously impressive. We can only afford half of them for the wedding, lol.

[quote name='mike257' timestamp='1386719868' post='2303800'] This is it really - I've used a U5 in the studio and it sounds great. To really get the difference at a gig though, it'd have to be a big enough room that the audience are hearing much more from the rig than they are from the stage and also be a good enough PA to reproduce the signal with sufficient dynamics and clarity. [/quote] I saw a band, The Sway Orchestra with Nick Owen on bass, with precisely this setup last night and it sounded seriously good. U5 DI into the PA and a little 2x10 cab on stage as a monitor. Top notch PA and at least 1,000 people. Sway are one of the very best functions bands in the country - rammed the dance floor from start to finish!

Lehle make the best switching pedals I've ever heard. They aren't cheap but build quality is fabulous

DB751 through a pair of GS410's is possibly the best live bass sound I've ever heard Normally I'd say it's th player that's making all the difference but I've heard the same guy through a lot of other rigs and the GS combo was by far the best!

I keep hearing problems with these I know someone who had two of them fail on him in one night! There's an Ampeg dealer who simply won't stock them any more because they keep failing. Let's hope the newer models hold out better. . .

I've loaned stuff to people in the past and never had a problem. If someone asked nicely I'd happily loan something to them. I guess I would keep an ear open to make sure it's not being abused and would keep a close watch on settings. Not so sure I'd be keen on my gear being used at a jam night with a succession of different people coming and going though. I had a friend with a Trace rig that was sometimes used for jam nights. He 'painted', with Tipp-Ex, little lines on each of the controls showing 'maximum' settings. Anyone caught going over these settings was immediately kicked off stage. Off course this is a bit extreme, and people could probably get around it by using push buttons and stuff, but the simple threat of something happening seems to work most of the time

Needs more clavinet

Parcelflight are super efficient and have the advantage over many couriers of being able to insure for much higher values than many other companies.

The DB750 is a cracking head. Plug it in, turn it on, wait for the little blue standby light to stop blinking and play - simple as that. No fuss, no fiddling with eq and it just sounds fantastic

The mighty Wounded John Scot Cree: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5HGNkq56iU

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1386084465' post='2295498'] On this theme/debate/impending row over whether very high-end basses are worth the premium over more mainstream but still very respectable quality bases like the O.P lists as the alternatives to the Fodera, there really is no easy answer. I have owned in the past and do own now esoteric custom -made basses and they are wonderful things , but are they more fun to play than an off-the-shelf production bass? No , not really. Do I play better on them ? No, definitely not. For my own tastes , I can get just as good a sound and just as much pleasure from playing a nice standard Fender bass as I can from playing a custom bass that costs three or four times as much. Most really expensive basses are just different to good quality production instruments, not neccesarilly better in practical terms , and I say that from the perspective of someone who is in a position to play any bass he wants., be it a Fodera or whatever. [/quote] This may be a case of 'well you would say that wouldn't you' but I've just got home from a gig where I played one of my Ritter Coras. I can honestly say that I have more fun with this bass than any I've ever owned, my playing is way better than on anything else and I've never had so many compliments about my sound. It's a pretty expensive bass but, for me, it's in a totally different league to my '63 Fender J (which in itself is a great bass). The only hing that's come close to it was my '86 Fodera, which I also gigged regularly, but the Ritter feels even better to me. Just an absolute joy to play. In fact I love them so much I've just bought a Roya and ordered an R8. It is entirely possible that I may need to seek professional help. . .

I really like them. I use one with my '63 Jazz, just seems to fit and balance better than anything lose on this particular bass.

[quote name='thebigyin' timestamp='1386246737' post='2297613'] Personally I think someone who is naturally gifted will always be better than someone who isn't, even if you put in the hours ect....naturally gifted people it just comes so easy to them....that's my view anyway....just try to enjoy your instrument and do the best you can! [/quote] I've seen it work both ways - impossible to generalise. I've met people who were incredibly naturally gifted who simply couldn't be arsed to play much and threw their talent away. Conversely I've known 'average' people who've worked and worked at their craft and ended up both more competent and, maybe more importantly, happier than the naturals. NB - I don't think Scott Le Faro is an example of someone who just happened to be naturally brilliant. With his background it would have been a bigger surprise if he wasn't musically gifted

I'd always put one in when selling and always assume I won't get one when buying - saves any potential disappointment General view for me is that they're so cheap and I have so many of them that it's not really much of an issue either way.

If you're after an Aguilar type tone (as per your Tone Hammer and because they provide Paul Turner's live sound) then the closest I can think of would be the Monique referenced above. I know at least one gigging pro that uses Aguilar almost exclusively but has switched to Monique for some smaller gigs and recording. They really do sound amazing. Pretty expensive over here but the cost is all in the quality of build and circuitry

I know someone who has one - he's got a zillion basses so may be persuaded to sell. I'll give him a shout and see what he says