Sean

20 minutes ago, cetera said:

Oh I'm sure it will

I'm bringing my Japan-exclusive ebony board one so it'll be interest to compare the two. 

I've not got quite as many miles on the clock with my Monaco as @Pirellithecat but I dropped @stevie an email following my first full rehearsal with it and I'll post that below. 

You can read my previous posts on this thread for context but what you can't see is the journey. I picked up a BC112 recently as a stop gap and I also used a Mesa Walkabout (without the amp in it) while I was waiting for the Monaco. Stevie exceeded expectations with lead time estimates and must be commended for that. The BC112 (I won't go into the history but I'm sure most of you are familiar with it) was a huge step in the right direction and I spent a lot of time A/B/C testing it against other cabs. 

I've now got the Monaco and have done one full band rehearsal and have two gigs over the coming week or so. Based on just noodling at home and the rehearsal with a Class D GK (not my main gigging amp but close enough) I sent Stevie an email on Monday. It goes like this...

Hi Stevie
I used the Monaco at a full rehearsal on Monday evening. I used my backup gigging amp, the GK MB Fusion 500 Class D and that's near enough in sound to my #1, the Fusion 550 analogue beastie, for comparison.

The difference was night and day compared to the now-departed TWO10. There's an extra dimension there now.

Xxxx, the guitarist commented that he could hear all the sparkle and grit of the Spector [Euro 4 with EMGs and LHZ-03] as well as much tighter low punch. Xxxx, who is a pro drummer and runs the studio sat through a few songs and got very interested, asking if I was playing through a PA top! "What is it!?". She also said that if she could hear bass like that at the jam nights she runs, life would be so much easier. They use an old Peavey Nitro 410.

Some changes were needed, as expected with the amp. I tweaked my Treble and High-Mids back from 1-2 o'clock to flat. It's like I'm not forcing the amp to compensate for the tonal limitations of a "coloured" cab and lack of high end definition anymore.

One thing that I had to tweak quite a bit was my chorus. I've got an Aguilar Chorusaurus (analogue) pedal, which needed some reigning in. It's like it's come alive now whereas before it seemed like quite a subtle pedal [at the settings I was using]. I use chorus on about 10-12 songs out of 24 currently and with the Monaco has made that much more transparent to the point where I'm dialing it back. I found that I came right back on the Intensity (like an HP/LP filter setting) and the ratio (wet/dry blend) knob. It makes sense inasmuch as it was always there but now the Monaco has the capability to make those higher "chorused" frequencies heard whereas they were just lost before.

It'll be doing its maiden gig on Saturday at a venue that has a low ceiling and is acoustically challenging so, it'll be a good test.

All good so far. Actually, beyond what I thought possible. My advice to anyone buying one would be to make sure you set up your signal path for it first before gigging, it's such a radical change that most people's settings will need some revision. Although, that's coming from a tweeterless TWO10 user, so it's a big shift in spec/tech/design.

Hopefully, there are some useful nuggets here that might help others. I'll give you some more feedback after Saturday's gig.

All the best
Sean

I intend to do an update after the bank holiday weekend by which time I'll have gigged it twice in very different venues. 

18 hours ago, chris_b said:

 

OK. . . .  a few years back, I did buy a Thumpinator, but either it was broken or I didn't have a problem in the first place, because I didn't see or hear any difference.

With and without a Thumpinator would make an interesting comparison for a Bass Bash. 

I've got a Microthumpinator v1 and a v2 that I can bring along. 

18 hours ago, cetera said:

Having owned this beauty for a fortnight now, I have to say that it not only looks stunning, but plays beautifully and sounds just like a good Spector should! 😎

I'm impressed with the onboard Darkglass Legacy preamp too - a decent attempt at a Haz clone for sure...

I'd love to try that EMGx + Darkglass combo if this bass makes it along to the bash in November 🙂

Good News - Guest Update

I have confirmation today that Matt Gleeson of Monty's Guitars has agreed to come along and do a chat, demo and Q&A session on Monty's bass pickups. He'll also be telling us about Monty's future bass products (really exciting stuff) and will be listening to all your feedback on needs and wants regarding bass pickups, preamps and anything else. There'll be some Monty's booty in the raffle too.

There'll be a couple of Monty's-loaded basses for you to try out and we'll be offering a pickup fitting service on the day if anyone wants to buy some and get them fitted there and then. Donation to charity £TBC for pickup fitting. 

We've agreed to do the demos through a couple of different amps (full valve, hybrid analogue, Class D) using an LFSys Monaco @stevie so that we get as transparent and as full a sound as we can from the pickups.

On 31/07/2025 at 18:47, Dood said:

 

There was this one time.. oh, no.. wait.. NSFW... 

 

What would folk like from a mini-clinic / talk / nerdy ramble / tech lesson / theory and technique  teaching workshop? 

What about a chat on the practical use of compression for the gigging bass player? Some compression chats can get overly technical and alienate some folk. 

Lovely piece of kit, fair play. 

I know Treharris very well. Lived on Perrott Street as a kid. 

Anything that's not a Spector, Mesa or GK. YFKI. 

There has been a development 🤠

I'm going to keep it under wraps until 15th September 🤐. Just because I'm un poco supersticioso 🤫

Although it's a trek for me (Gloucester to Guildford), I use Surrey Amps aka The Amp Hospital https://surreyamps.co.uk/ 

Stan and Jack really know their stuff and are always so genuinely intersted in your gear. Just brilliant all round and a pleasure to deal with.

8 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I have a reasonable spl app on my phone. Itsy not be spot on but it does useful comparisons.

 

Alice Cooper at an arena gig about 20m from the main pa. About 97dB peak.

 

Typical bands in my local club at about 10m from the pa  90-100dB peak.

 

Average levels about 10dB down.

 

The band who needed their valve amps hot to get the right tone - over 110dB.

 

I suspect it reads high, but seriously, no pub/club band needs to be louder than Alice Cooper.

Print off this quoted post, hand it round to those that need their "penny drop moment". If the penny doesn't drop, or if there's no penny there, wave goodbye. [Don't say "goodbye", they won't hear you.]

I bought another one recently and it arrived with a weird issue. Max sorted it out straight away, no fuss, just on it and returned it within a couple of days. Fantastic service. 

The v2 of the MT is designed to velcro to the underside of a pedalboard so it doesn't need its own footprint. It's always on so it's fine under there. 

I'll be taking mine to the SE and SW Bass Bashes if anyone wants a demo.

If it's not a band where you can have a sensible discussion about things like volume, then it's not a band to be associated with. 

I was approached to join a band that I'd seen play live a couple of times and politley turned them down because they always played way too loud. 

16 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

You'd hate me.  My 'redundant' fingers have worn substantial grooves in my basses just above the scratchplate.

I probably should have said "fretting hand".

I'll edit that now.

5 minutes ago, Jack said:

I get that it's awkward and slow but is it actually unhealthy? 

I guess that's one of the questions that is answered by "It depends."

People earn a living and play some great lines with techniques that make me pull a face, good luck and all power to 'em, but I'll be listening to them, not watching their hands. 

My main bass-related irrational fear/prejudice is technique-related. It obviously stems from a fear of RSI (repetitive strain injury). It's bassists (or should I say "people who play bass"?) that just seem to use their index and ring finger (of their fretting hand) to play and their little finger flies around all over the place.  

There's a few variations of this that I just can't even watch. It makes my joints ache just looking at it. I can't watch a Jonny Dibble video for example (there's just something about the way he plays, it goes through me like fingernails down a chalk board) and there's a band I'm going to see later this month where bass duties change between two members of the band during the set, one has what I call "correct form" and looks like he was born playing bass, the other one looks like he'll be in need of a hand physiotherapist and a prescription of anti-inflamatories before too long. 

I've not been yet but have always had first class service on the phone from people who value your call and are a pleasure to deal with, unlike other retailers that I am forced to deal with. 

I've done a return to Andertons and it was easy and was refunded very quickly. They're aware of the expectations of punters and seem to match up to them. 

I have to collect a couple of my amps from The Amp Hospital up the road from there soon and will pop in as part of the same trip. 

The part ex service seems to look pretty decent too. The way things are going with the second-hand bass market, I think I might have to try it out.  

On 24/05/2025 at 20:25, Bluewine said:

This probably is more for you guys that are over 60 but not necessarily limited to that range.

 

I'm 71 and most of the musicians I grew up with and started playing with are no longer gigging and have zero interest in it.

 

Share your thoughts and position on why you're still gigging and why you think some guys lose interest.

 

Daryl

You look remarkably good for 71, Daryl. My old man has that thing going on too. he's 88 going 68.

Anyway, to answer the question. 

I've always done it. It's a part of what I am. Not bass per se but playing live music in a band with other people. Bass is #1, though.  

Basschat is a source of inspiration, trying new gear, buying and selling, listening to new music, it all feeds the monster and gets me back out there. 

This year has been a series of steep learning curves with so many areas of bass, it's what makes me get out of bed. 

That's gorgeous 😍, properly stunning. 

Years ago I was front man and guitarist in a busy rock covers band and our bass player was "quite the character".

Though his drunken antics, during the break after the first set, he was banned by the landlord and escorted off the premises by a bouncer. I had to negotiate with the landlord to get him back so he could finish the gig. Conditions were that he had to ditch his stash and could only have a soft drink for the rest of the night and that unless we replaced him, we'd never play that pub or the other one they owned again. 

We never again played that venue (or the other one they owned) with that line up, but every cloud...

Those were decent venues and we didn't want to lose them, so the other guitarist and I put together a two hour acoustic set of material and ended up getting as many gigs as the full band. The next stage after this when putting together the next full band was me deciding to take on bass duties full time, which led me to finding BassWorld and the rest is history.

On 18/05/2020 at 15:18, Cestrian said:

I'll kick it off.  I always assumed Julian Cope was purely a vocalist and was aware that James Eller played bass through most of the solo work.  I saw an old Teardrop Explodes video recently and there was Copey playing the bass.  Further research revealed he was the bass player in The Crucial Three.  Anyone else surprised to discover someone started out as a bassist?

When I was visiting Matamp years ago, they had a one-off 400w Matamp that was commissioned by Julian Cope for live work. That was the first time I found out that he was a bassist. 

30 minutes ago, Rewbass said:

1. Markbass CMD 112 Little Mark 58R Combo

2. Scooped

3- Scooped, Old School and Flat

 

It looks really flexible. MB products are super versatile and you should be able to get pretty much whatever you need. 

The master volume on these Class D amps doesn't really add much colour, not compared to "older tech". So, it's really about shaping your tone with the pre-amp section. 

My starting point would be:

0. Set the master at a tolerable level for where you are.

1. Set the gain so that clipping light comes on only when you're  hitting the strings really hard, it shouldn't light when playing normally. 

2. Set everything flat.

3. Get to know that sound. That's your reference. 

4. Engage that scoop control and see if that gets you an approximation of what you want. 

5. Then add and subtract the other EQ one at a time in large "chunks", returning to flat each time so that you get to know how they affect the tone. Once you've got a feel for what each does you can dial in smaller increments either way until you get near where you want to be. 

When you get a sound you like, take a photo of the knobs. Use that as a reference. Take notes. Keep iterating. 

There's 1000 tones in there that you'll love but keep tweaking methodically and you'll find a couple that will be stand out favourites. 

1 hour ago, Rewbass said:

Is it right to push gain all straight as long as it doesn't clip? I usually scoop the gain much more than the master and I'm not sure if that is okay. 

Does it affect to the sound? and if it does, in what way?

 

Thnx in advance.

1. What amp is it?

2. What kind of sound are you trying to achieve?

3. What EQ does the amp have? 

I saw Lita Ford at KK's Steel Mill in Wolverhampton two weeks ago. She did her cover of the duet she did with Ozzy back in the day called If I Close My Eyes Forever the day after Ozzy died to a mainly West Midlands audience, that was emotional. 

Overall Lita still rocks and she rocks her red leather catsuit but he superpower seems to be spinning about 50 minutes of material out to 90 minutes. 

The highlight of the evening was her being joined on stage by Vixen to perform an all girls rendition of an old Runaways number. 

Vixen as a support band were very impressive and Ms Julia Lage (Mr R Kotzen's "other 'alf") on bass is quite the performer. Vixen is one of those bands from back in the day that has just one original member (the drummer) but it was good entertainment executed very well indeed. 

Mine, even with the HAZ-03 units in, don't like the 2.4 GHz wireless NUx bugs.