Sean

I went to an audition in a rehearsal room today. Monaco, GK Legacy 800, Spector. All I had between songs was how good it sounded, what is it? never heard such clarity from a bass rig, never seen anything like it before. What brand is that? etc etc. I wasn't even using my pedal board, just the Comp4 on the GP5. I've always thought that Spector + GK is magic but add in a Monaco and there's the holy trinity right there. I don't know if I got the gig but the gear made people smile and I had a lot of fun.

That is absolutely shocking and should be rejected. It's damaged! There's absolutely no pride in that work at all. Did someone really look at that and say, "that's good to go, he'll be over the moon with that."?

Couldn't agree more. Obviously, I paid the pro forma invoice within 3 minutes of it landing. There's 100 years of gigging left in that amp if looked after properly. If Macca and Slipknot are still gigging them then there must be a reason...

The Brutal Truth About Owning Big Boxes of Bottles My 400+ has been in The Amp Hospital in Guildford. It costs £84 for an inspection and diagnosis. Then you get a full report and a quotation. Small repairs are done within the £84. Here's the quotation for the work. Note that there's no valve replacement in this cost. You can buy a very good high end used solid state or Class D amp for £454.80 i.e. the £84 plus the repair charge. Slipknot sends its 400+ amps to the same place. The work and knowledge of Mesa products is what you pay for. I'm sure that I could get it done cheaper but this is a relic and it needs the TLC that Surrey Amps gives. One thing is for sure now, this thing is going out gigging to earn its keep. The point of this post is, just understand what you're getting into before adopting one of these beasts. @Beedster @agedhorsefor interest, Chris, Andy😉

My advice to anyone getting misty eyed about valves goodness is, understand that, like cars, they have servicing costs.

It's modelled on the Walkabout, so that's the comparison for the WD-800. The Walkabout used a MOSFET power section. The newly released 800D is modelled on the 400+, which has a valve power section. The current range of Class D Mesa amps are very highly regarded by fans. The big advantages of these Class D amps is that they're not 30kg and they don't have huge servicing costs to keep them running over the long run. Valve amps aren't the "gold standard", they're just different technology. For many of us any advantage they give is "outweighed" by Class D amps' convenience. Yesterday I took my Laney 400 to the bass bash, it's 37kg. It's a behemoth of a thing. It takes some handling. Currently my Mesa 400+ is away for repair, that's going to be expensive! Mesa products are a gold standard whatever tech they are and, being very customer focused, Mesa makes very different flavours of amp for different needs. I'd recommend trying out the WD-800, TT-800 and 800D and seeing which ones suits you best. You can't go wrong with any of them, they're just different.

What happened? Did you buy it? What did you think? @Rigetto

What a brilliant day. My first ever bass bash. A big thanks to @scrumpymike and family for pulling it all together and also the rest of the team locally. Great to see so many basschatters from far and wide (Scotland to SE London) all coming in for the day. @Phil Starr thanks for the demo with the cabinets/drivers. Lots of food for thought.

The awesome Grainger Hades going through a Laney Nexus Tube 400 (8XKT88) + LFSys Monaco. I'm a big fan of a Spector through a GK + LFSys but this was next level. Look closely, there are 3 LFSys Monaco cabs and a Monza in this pic.

I've just booked a hotel for the Friday night after a gig. So I can go to the show and then return West, do another gig on the Saturday and then go home after that.

Mods, please can we move this to Repairs & Technical?

When I have one of these mystery faults, I plug in and wiggle each little part or connection until I get closer to the fault. Methodical trial and error to find the bad connection is the way to go. Keep us up to date, it's probably simple to fix but difficult to isolate.

This is a process of elimination without being able to get hands-on. Run the soldering iron over the connections on the pickups. Just melt the solder and let it set again. Sometimes a dry joint develops. Are the pots OK? I fitted new CTS to a bass today and the "common" leg wasn't connected properly. This can happen with use too.

Are you bringing a BC112 by any chance? If you are, I'll leave mine at home 😉

I used a few sets of Black Beauties and another coloured coated variant some years ago and they were fantastic for about one rehearsal and 2 gigs and then they just suddenly died. I haven’t been anywhere near DR as a brand since. I remember playing them for the first time on a Spector Euro 4 LX (with an East Preamp) and thinking “wow” but then at the following gig I thought there was a preamp problem but it was the DRs that had just given up being zingy.

I’m in.

Yesterday I was swapping pickups in my Valenti P and noticed a big difference in the build between the two P pickups. I've changed the pickups in the Valenti a few times just to have a change from time to time. What I've been chasing this time is high end grit and sparkle without losing any bottom end. My go-to chap over the last couple of years is Lee Laverack of Laverack Guitars, who makes Toltec pickups. He's based in Leeds. I bought a pair of Toltec J pickups a couple of years ago and they blew me away. Earlier this year I asked Lee to make me a pair of J-based splittable humbuckers for the BB1300 and worked his magic way above and beyond. The original Yamaha pickups weren't great but the bass is a peach and he did it proud. In the early stages Lee likes to understand what you're looking for in the sound, so likes a chat to establish what you like and don't like in a pickup. I've been playing the Valenti a lot lately and have found that it doesn't sound like I want it to these days. It's a PJ and I used to play it in a rock covers band, with two guitars, playing it mainly with a pick. I decided to have a conversation with Lee and see what he could do. At this point it's worth saying that Toltec pickups are very competitively priced compared to other handmade UK boutique pickups. The custom made (to my spec) P+J set I've just received cost the same posted as a P from other UK boutique makers' standard products. Here's the Toltec P (2) compared to the HotRod Thumper (1) that I took out. You can see it's much taller. The sound and character of the bass has changed completely. Lots of top-end and sparkle. it's a tall bobbin, overwound with higher gauge wire to bring out the dynamics and reduce the compression. It'll be at the Bash tomorrow and at the SE Bash next month.

Pretty much like the records. Solid drummer. Good audiences. It gives a good insight into who you're replacing and in this case, who he replaced. Lots of videos going back years. My #1 takeaway was on what bass to use at the audition, or rather, in my case, what not to use.

Well, after yesterday's exploration I think checking the band's social media and any YouTube videos should be towards the top of the list. I also got some trusted 3rd party input. What I saw/heard yesterday: 1. How the band ends some of the songs. 2. How close or not close to the originals they play the songs. 3. How your sound might fit (or need to be tweaked). 4. Areas for improvement and what you could bring to the band.

Those clever product managers, eh? Making them in different colours for different tastes. Cunning.

I've just got half way through re-stringing the 12 and the pair of ee octave strings are missing from the pack. Check your packs. This is the second packing error from D'Addario in a month.

It is said that these are very close in quality, playability, sound to a Stingray. All those MM basses are really off my radar so, what's the verdict with these Z7s? Are they up there with the ATK as a "Stingray Killer"?

It's back to £52. What's going on? Dynamic pricing!