Musky

I've got a Bass Machine head, and though I've not used it for years I love it's basic sound - very in your face and aggressive. I've got a review of it from International Musician somewhere which, being written by Stephen Delft, was very biased towards the technical aspects of the thing. Off the top of my head, I can tell you it's about 180W into 8 ohms, and despite the name it was also designed with guitarists in mind - the eq centres were a bit of a compromise. The passive (and interactive) rotary tone controls weren't particularly intuitive either, with (I think) the bass control having a flat response when set on 10. Mine cost me £275 in 1983, which was well down on the full retail price. I'll try and dig out the review, but it'll probably be early next week before I can. It's been a few years since I saw one on ebay (mainly because I haven't been looking) but £125 seemed to be the going rate.

Not really. These things are quite sought after, as the early Hiwatts were pretty much based on the Sound City amps of the time. Just the transformers are worth very good money, likewise the valves if he replaced them with Mullards. I'd guess people are bidding in the hope the the output tranny is still good.

[quote name='Krysbass' post='75553' date='Oct 17 2007, 01:20 PM']The Mr Big solo is a firm favourite of mine - I frequently borrow bits of it for warm-up exercises or mindless noodling. I’ve always really liked the tone he got on this (particularly the studio version) – anyone know what gear he used?[/quote] EB3 into a Marshall stack was his usual setup.

[quote name='andy67' post='75504' date='Oct 17 2007, 11:44 AM']YOU SAY USED TO? something happen to change your mind?[/quote] Not really, I'm just not as fanatical as I used to be. Times change, tastes move on. He's still a great player though.

I used to absolutely love Andy Fraser. The bass solo on the live version of Mr. Big was the only bass solo I've ever heard that - IMHO - actually worked as part of a song, and not sounded like fret w*nkery that the song could live happily without.

[quote name='colda' post='74981' date='Oct 16 2007, 11:06 AM']My rack 'head' consists of a Behringer V-Amp, a Behringer compressor/noise gate and a 600W (2 x 200W into 8 ohm) power amp I have a Laney RBC115 and am looking for a Laney RBC210 (or poss. RBC410 8ohm) to complete the stack but alas finding the correct cab is proving difficult. My mind has now started drifting towards selling the rack and simply getting an RB7 (2x10 300W combo thing) and just using the 1x15 as an extention cab Financially this would not make any notable difference and as I'm not using the effects on the V-amp and the cab simulation lives on 'tube pre-amp' it seems that the biggest thing that I'm going to lose by doing this is the joy of flashing lights Has anyone else 'gone back' from using a rack/stack setup? Will I regret it if I do?[/quote] I can't comment on the Laney, but plenty of people on here are using combos for portability, if nothing else. I use a Workingman 15 for just that reason, and although it sounds nothing like my Trace VA350 and 4x12, it was never intended to and it gets the job done. I don't think it's a backwards step going from a stack to a combo - I'd love an Ampeg B15n, which a lot of people reckon creates some of the finest bass tones available.

[quote name='chris_b' post='74968' date='Oct 16 2007, 10:38 AM']As I understand it, at the moment Pete is not working. There is a WAL owners forum somewhere on the web, don't know the name, where you might find more info. If you have a crackle it might be corrosion in the barrel of the socket. I had that. Get some very fine sandpaper (very, very fine) and clean up the inside of the barrel. I don't know if he is still there, but Paul Herman used to work with Charlie Chandler, at the shop in Hampton Wick. As an ex WAL worker he might be able to help. Failing that any good repair man should be able to fix the problem.[/quote] Paul Herman is taking over the production of Wal's apparently, though he's got his work cut out upgrading Wals electronics to current safety standards and other work commitments. The part needed is a switchcraft 13 jack socket.

Electric Wood is no more, dissolved at the end of last year, and Pete Stevens is effectively retired due to poor health. [url="http://thedudepit.com/simplemachinesforum/index.php?PHPSESSID=ceea59a9e48e79abc17c390d07e46298&topic=645.0"]http://thedudepit.com/simplemachinesforum/...amp;topic=645.0[/url] All very sad really.

Selling your gear? You mean ALL your gear? Having a clear out is always a good idea, but I'm not sure I could live without anything at all. I didn't play in bands for about 3 years and as a result scarcely picked up a bass in that time. But I still felt the need to noodle every now and then. Then I got back in the saddle and joined another band, which I'm sure wouldn't have happened if I'd sold all my stuff. If some income from bass is important right now maybe you could be a bit more pro-active about looking for students or a covers band?

[quote name='Dave' post='74621' date='Oct 15 2007, 03:13 PM']Well I've just found a schematic for the sweet sweet innards of this amp, and it suggests there should be 3x ECC83's inside, so maybe I need to look into this further. I did open up the back of the amp when I purchased it, but obviously I don't really know what I'm looking at, as the EL34's were obvious and clearly marked (and appeared easy to remove as there were held in place by spring-loaded plates) so I can only assume the ECC83's are well covered/hidden because I didn't see any other glass-valve-looking components within the amp when I removed the backplate. I guess I was hoping for instant Marshall valve-tone goodness when I plugged in my bass and it simply wasn't there, so am looking for any suggestions what I can do to get it. Maybe this is simply the wrong amp for the job or maybe I need to get it looked at by a professional who may be able to help. A couple of places in the Birmingham area have been suggested to have valve amps serviced, so maybe I need to give someone a call and book her in for a checkup. But if you DO have any other suggestions of things I can try, then please let me know. Would the use of an active bass make that much of a difference in comparison to a passive one playing through an overdrive pedal with the volume set to 11?[/quote] The ECC83's may well be hidden inside metal cans, but they are there. They are interchangeable with 12AX7's which are basically the same valve. If you look at that sticky you'll soon spot that they all have different characteristics, which may get you some way to the sound you're looking for. I'm a little surprised you can't drive the front end hard enough to get some overdrive with your pedals, and I would have thought that they should be able to match the output of even the Precision Deluxe's 18V electronics. What kind of volume was the guy you saw playing at? It might be that what you heard was power amp distortion.

[quote name='Dave' post='74487' date='Oct 15 2007, 10:57 AM']You're right from what I've heard/read after enquiring on the Marshall website. I know it's specifically "for bass" because there is a JCM 800 "For Lead" and a JCM 800 "For Bass" (and it's actually printed that way on the front of the amplifier). It's apparently all in the EQ section. So I tried running my Fender P through three of my overdrive/distortion pedals, increasing only the VOLUME and NOT the gain/distortion knobs to see if I could make the amp sound dirty, but no luck. I've got a Marshall Guv'nor, EH Pi (Russian version) and EBS Multi-Drive and could not get the amp to overdrive with any of these cranked to 11. I must admit I didn't turn up the master volume of the amp very high (to stay in the neighbours good books) but then you said this should not be necessary to get the dirty tube sound as it was all about turning up the input signal. So if you have any other suggestions to help filthify this squeaky clean sounding amp I'd really appreciate it. Don't get me wrong, it is a great sounding amp, but it's just not behaving in the dirty manner I require, ha-ha.[/quote] What pre amp valves have you got in there? It might be that fitting some higher output valves might sort you out. Take a look at the Preamp valve comparison sticky - judging by brycebites comments, maybe Groove Tubes 12AX7M's might do the trick.

Cheers guys. I was hoping he might have gone into some detail about his gear, but it seems that it isn't that kind of book.

Clearly some people here have, as it's now doing the rounds as part of the Basschat library, courtesey of elom. For those that have read it, I was just wondering if Guy Pratt had anything interesting to say about a Status Matrix prototype he once had? Or mentioned it at all. I'm sure he must have had some input into it's design.

Blimey - gone already! Edit: Ah no - just a 3 missing from the link. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110179731093"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=110179731093[/url]

[quote name='shaundixon666' post='73124' date='Oct 12 2007, 12:31 AM']Ah my bad :wacko:[/quote] Not at all. If he's lowered his reserve this time it could be a nice purchase, so thanks for the heads up!

He's relisted that one - failed to meet the reserve at £200 before. There was some discussion of it here [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=6098"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=6098[/url]

Very strange. I didn't notice anything untoward with the listing. Maybe he used keyword spamming in a white font?

This guy has been sticking up loads of auctions up for this bass but without actually naming the seller, presumably in an attempt to coax a refund out him. There's a thread or two about his previous ads about somewhere. Looks like he's given up on getting his money back though.

Ohm were a mid eighties budget brand. I used to have a tiny ported 1x15 which was quite decent and very portable - I've looked for another in the past without any luck.

That bass is way too clean to be a genuine '57, so it's got to be one of the reissues. If it's got a neck date of 04/25/57 the guys been busy with his John Bull printing kit! Edit* Just checked the provide.net site, and it seems that in 57 Fender were only pencilling in the month and year on the the necks.

There was a thread about these a while ago. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1216&hl=performer&st=0"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...former&st=0[/url] The long and short of it: Elom bought his from the States for $560 and one sold in Switzerland for £439. So at a guess £350-£450 seems the ball park.

Not bass related, but Pete Townshend used to swear that there was a synergy between certain guitars/amps that surpassed anything you could get out of them in different combinations, The example he gave wasn't what you'd imagine either, being a Gretsch/Vibrolux (or something along those lines). For bass it'd have to be Precision/Ampeg. Though you all knew that anyway.

[quote name='bassbluestew' post='70292' date='Oct 6 2007, 01:07 PM']The thought of playing with a "strap on" leaves me filled with dread, for reasons too numerous to mention.[/quote] That sentence has just conjured up all kinds of unpleasant images in my head...