Sean

17 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

If at all possible, if anyone has a 12-string bass they're prepared to bring along, I'd love to see how my XB Driver handles it.

I'm on standby to bring mine too.

56 minutes ago, SimonK said:

 

I've got a Warwick which needs the intonation adjusting but am scared of German reverse screw threads if you fancy having a look?

Bring it along. 

I'll have one of the best guitar techs in the UK with me on the day, so it'll be in safe hands. 

One thing I learned the other night was to consider using a chart if the song arrangement is different from the record. 

Mr Blue Sky by ELO. 

Sit me down with cans on and I'll reproduce that line every time playing along to the original without any visual aid or chart or anything. Playing it with just a drummer, two guitarists and a singer, in an audition scenario, you lose a lot of your cues and, unrehearsed with a very different arrangement, it's easy to drop the ball. 

In retrospect, I should have said that I'm going to use a chart to stay on track as I know the song but not the arrangement. The end of the song was played differently, which was a surprise and that's just something you have to deal with on the spot. The other songs were very guitar based and had simple arrangements so there were no issues. 

On 13/10/2025 at 14:15, MacDaddy said:

Will there be someone doing setups?

 

What do you need setting up? What needs doing exactly? 

I was going to do set ups at the SW Bash but there was very little interest. 

4 hours ago, DynamicK said:

So I did a bit of rewiring, soldering a bunch of new earth wires to the pots.

Also soldered the bridge pickup again. 

Got sound out of the bass.

I've ordered a new cap for the tone control as that also doesn't seem to be 100%.

If I do want to replace the pots is the standard :  CTS 250K ?

No.  CTS pots might not be what you need. 

It's important to measure the diameter and length of the shafts. CTS are large and generally suitable for USA-made instruments. Bourns or Alpha are alternatives that are different sizes. 

I have a vintage high end Yamaha that recently had new pots and I went for Alpha because they were the same size as the originals. If I fitted CTS, I would have had to have reamed out the holes and that would be absolutely off limits on such a treasure. 

As usual, the answer to the question is, "it's depends".

I saw this at the bash on Sunday, I used to have one. It's being sold by a gent that knows amps inside out (literally). This is a bargain gem. 

Good luck with the sale, Tony. It was great to meet you in Taunton. 

On 11/10/2025 at 17:53, HeadlessBassist said:

@Misdee is absolutely correct. It's a late 80's Overwater Artisan, a slightly downsized, single pickup version of the Overwater Original.

 

Here're the specs from a 1987 review...

 

OVERWATER ARTISAN BASS

PRICE£599

BODYmahogany

NECKmahogany

FINGERBOARDrosewood

PICKUPone humbucker

CONTROLSvolume and tone; coil tap switch

COLOURSblack/red/blue/sunburst

Interesting strap button location. 

2 minutes ago, Rigetto said:

 

Yessir! 

You don't want to know how much I payed for this, it was a steal!

 

Very nice indeed! 

If you ever need to find a new home for it, you know where to come 🙃

3 minutes ago, cetera said:

 

Can I get an "Amen"?!

Amen. 

GLWTS

I think a better thread title would help loads 😉

Worth mentioning too is that I had that experience where I thought I was loud enough and they were telling me to turn up. I think that is a rite of passage with these cabs, isn't it?

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."?

13 minutes ago, Beedster said:

….but of course, if you could get the same from that £454.80 amp you would…

 

Which is why it still makes more sense to repair it than to buy the cheaper option. And the great thing about many tube amps is that you’ll be able to keep doing so, not always the case with solid state 👍

 

Owning a big tube amp’s a bit like owning a big dog, you might get lucky with the vet’s bills, but you probably won’t 🤔

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😉  

On 13/10/2025 at 13:08, Sean said:

Currently my Mesa 400+ is away for repair, expensive! 

 

 

 

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

On 09/08/2024 at 10:42, BassAdder60 said:

Hi folks 

 

Any users of the WD800 on here and how you rate it compared to say other top end class d amps ? 
 

Does it lack in anything particular or is it about as good as it gets without going for a full valve amp ?

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. 

On 13/01/2023 at 09:11, Rigetto said:

Thanks for your contribution mate.

 

I'll let you know guys.

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.