DGBass

would that be brand new amps or potentially used/second hand amps and is there a particular use case eg home recording/practice or studio session? New amps without any cooling fan at all will probably be small output amps where cooling can be done with a big enough heatsink or by using the casing itself. Larger amplifiers these days do tend to rely on fans as its more efficient and much cheaper than having large blocks of cooling fin made from expensive alloy. Some manufacturers have always understood the need for a measured mix of quietness and cooling. Thermostatically controlled fans that only kick in when the amp is working hard are a great feature. Thats not as common as you would think but gaining more popularity. For example, Ashdown now thermostatically control the fans on their ABM range (they always have actually ) but only recently with an automatic switch on feature when it reaches a certain temperature. Warwick have been doing it for many years eg Profet bass amps which have massive block heatsinks and you really need to be using them hard to get the fan to switch on. Gallien Krueger are well known for thermostatically controlled fans that only engage under high power situations on their Backline and RB amps. They also have this feature on their brand new Legacy and Fusion heads. I still use an old GK Backline 125w head for home use and recording (great pre-amps). It has no fan at all and is whisper quiet. Just a huge heatsink that can cope with 125W. I'm sure there are many more amps that have thermal switch on fans but I can't think of any modern class D stuff generating a reasonable amount of power than don't rely on cooling fans. That's another class D conundrum, you can shrink the amp size into a small case but it still needs cooled. So you end up having to use small diameter fans that run all the time and at high revolutions. Some tube amps dont have fans but large ones often do as an aid to normal convection cooling( eg SVT). Worst cooling fan noise I ever heard was on Peavey T-Max I owned years ago. Great amp and super powerful but the fan sounded like a rusty old bag of spanners while running and it was on permanently. Could still hear it at gig volumes.

Yes same here and onstage sound is also to an extent irrelevant for me as I (choose to) wear strong ear protectors because of the high spl in my corner. The bass onstage is more feel than what any mids might be doing or can be heard doing. I guess i'm lucky to have been using the same basses and cab for nearly nine years and that's allowed me to fine tune 'a sound' i'm happy is doing the job out front for me and doesn't distract the rest of the band or have the audience gritting their teeth. I've recently ordered a wireless transmitter so I can go out front and check what the bass sound like at a distance. That was mainly because I changed just one item in my signal chain recently and despite me thinking it was EQ'd the same as before, it didnt sound the same. Different kit, different tone. It was an unintentional over abundance of mids that caused the problem. I might be pleasantly surprised or deeply shocked at what I hear out front when I get to use my wireless setup although I hope its the former. And here's hoping the wireless doesn't change anything either. If it does sound naff out front, then I'm sure someone in the band will be happy to twiddle a few settings for me. They're all a helpful bunch in that respect🙂

I've never been a fan of the low mids are where its at thinking and have theories about where that saying originated. That being said and not wanting to court extreme controversy, its a fact in my experience boosting them gets you heard out front. But not always appreciated. And it might sound naff on stage. I've tried similar experiments at rehearshals and usually the band comment on the growly and sometimes farty sounding low mid honk that results. For the most part I boost low frequencies and scoop the lowish mids for an old school clean thump as it suits the classic rock covers we do. I've often had folk come up to me and say after a gig that the bass was just barely audible but more than anything they could feel it coming up through their bar stools and see it rattling the glasses on the table. That apparently i'm told is not so common these days amongst pub and club bands. Tales of growly and prominent bass tone that carries little weight seem to be common nowadays. Perhaps thats a symptom of modern times where we've all never had so much choice with lightweight gear and tone shaping devices to tweak the most from our setups. Everyone obsessing over the 'T' word and how they sound when how the bass feels in a live situation to an audience and sits in the overall mix might matter more? Most people in an audience don't care about how the bass sounds and care even less about bass rigs. They do notice more if they can feel the bass and/or dance to it - imho. I use a single large folder horn cab with a big reasonably decent excursion driver and a reasonably powerful amp. The band have a 2k largely vocal pa with some acoustic and kick drum through it so our amps are doing all the backline. The bass works the low end of the spectrum and I boost between 60-180hz, flat by about 340hz and then cut anything above that except for a little boost around 2khz to add a nice click to my flatwounds. Granted, i'm using a lot of power just to keep that sort of sound clean but it works well with a P-bass which has just enough natural mid content to still be heard. Also and importantly it leaves a clear sonic slice of the spectrum for the guitarists who dont boost any bass frequencies on their setups at all. It works well. With a proper PA support, I have to back off my usual low end settings a lot because it upsets the sound engineers when so much low end is coming off the stage. So whats the answer? Well there probably is no easy answer and its all a sonic compromise. Maybe its time to dust off the old Trace elliot 1518 full range cabs, get back to feeling the bass and be able to boost lower frequencies knowing the cab won't complain because it can take whatever we throw at it. The natural mid tone of the bass can then surf on top of a silky smooth and clean low end wave without so much as a growl being heard. And if one (1518) cab isn't loud enough or struggling to cope then get two as is often advised on BC😉 You'll also need some accesories for that kind of solution eg a van and optionally a roadie! You will sound great though and growly low mids will be a thing of the past unless you choose to have them.

The only time I played pick was with a stingray back in the day. That was an originals band doing rock/rap/metal type material. Been a fingers only player since doing classic rock covers and i've found finger style works just as well with a p-bass or jazz bass. It's all flats I string with these days and I find its easy enough to get plenty attack on the strings with fingertips and digging in when needed. Tweaking the EQ helps as well, particularly high mids.

sent a pm with details. Hope that helps.

Must admit I've not come across a sealed MAG 210 cab before, not to say there isnt such a thing. Early ones usually have the port along the front( to the left in the first pic), later ones its two tubes at the rear. The last cloth front ones were also rear ported. The positives with regards to MAG cabs is they do almost the same as the similar ABM's and are relatively cheap as chips which helps budget wise. A tasty good condition one is probably not going to set you back more than 60-70 quid. A tatty one about £40. ABM cabs are better build quality. Meant to add, might be worth contacting Ashdown again and hear it from the horses mouth so to speak as regards cab recommendations. They did have an issue recently where their web customer contact form was broken and hundreds of enquiries went missing. Thye are aware of the problem and are working through back enquiries. A phone call would probably be worth a try to get in touch again.

Very nice pair of basses. I've noticed a few lefty player plus models showing up for sale now and in several different finishes. The light finish looks more cream ( i think it call Pearl) than the polar white of the standard bass. Suits the torte pickguard better imho.The Player maple necks are really nicely finished on these basses and the satin back is smooth and fast. The slim profile is also easy on the hand.

If its the front ported ABM 1x15 wide combo then its probably an older version, maybe an abm 300/300 evo or evo 300. ABM combos were rear ported from evoII on. Ideally as has been said, a matching ashdowm cab of the same vintage would be ideal as it would hopefully contain the same ( blue line sica ?) driver in it. Some of the early combos had Celestions or Eminence as well with the black cone. MAG deep cabs like the 2x10 and 115 are also a good match as they usually had the same drivers in them if its blue lines. The Mag cabs are the same width as well so stacking one under your combo wouldn't look out of place. Stacking on top of wide ABM combos is probably not a good long term propostion as that thin plank on the top is strong enough to hold a long chassis ABM but not much more. I always say if you can't stand on top of a cab/combo without any cracking or splintering sounds, you shouldn't stack on top of it 😆 Assuming a regular sized dude is doing the standing on top. A lightweight 2x10 or similar might not be so bad but if its not Ashdown then you might fall foul of different speaker efficiences where one or the other will be lost or dominate in the mix. And it will look odd. One situation where a mix and match might not be so crucial is if you just want an extension monitor cab at the side of the stage or in front of you. Any old tilt back cab might then be a useable proposition.

The best ABM cab I owned and used was an older rear ported EVOII ABM 210H cab. Very solid build and could go as deep and low as any 1x15 ashdown cab I've tried. Good mid performance as well. The very large old school 1x15 ABM ported cabs are good if you like plenty boom and there are a lot about s/h for not too much money. The only downside is they are BIG and not easy to transport. I haven't tried the current pro neo compact sealed cabs or have any interest in doing so and that was mainly because of being fairly dissapointed with the cheaper rootmaster sealed versions. Small sealed cabs are not really my thing tbh and 4x10's are far too much hassle to cart around. If I was buying new and it had to be Ashdown, i'd probably go for the current ABM 210H or the 115H. If budget was limited something like a used evoII MAG 210H would be a useable option as they do almost the same as the ABM version.

Regarding the wattage of your 4x10 combo, i'm aware of two versions of these early units. It looks like a Mk2 you have and i've seen ones with a PM2S output board( 2 x Hitachi Mosfets ) and a PM4S output board( 4 x Hitachi mosfets). The PM2S has a high voltage supply and gets about 150 watts at 4 ohms from the two mosfets however these were sold as 8 ohm combos so you'll be looking at approx 90-100 watts for the PM2S. Its a loud 100 watts though as the speakers seem very efficient. The extension speaker output jacks on the rear are also blanked off on this model as it was only intended to run at 8 ohms. I have one of the PM2S versions. The speakers in the PM2S version are Celestion TE C10-50L (50 watt) heavy magnet units. The PM4S version is around 150 watt as well and usually has at least one available extension speaker jack on the rear panel and can run at 4 ohms. The speakers are different on the PM4S version, I think slightly higher powered Celestions. The back panel is usually a giveawy as to what version you have.

As pointy as I dared go in the 1980s. All points rounded tastefully to avoid having someones eye out. Still pointy enough though not to be able to stand up straight when leaning against a stack, or a wall etc.

I always use one of these. First rulle of plugging in anything at a gig. There was a time when I gigged big valve amps that I carried a calibrated earth loop impedance tester with me just to be super safe that I had a decent ground. It was a bit overkill but gave peace of mind. Most venues I play these days are pubs and clubs where they usually have to have electrical certificates of compliance for insurance purposes and wiring generally is very good. The little orange plug though is still peace of mind and if the supply is good and the ground checks out, I'm happy and haven't yet had any ground hum or interference issues coming out my speaker. My rack unit also has a slightly more sophisticated anti surge facility as well as a ground and supply check. I suppose next time you are at that same hall, ask to go back to your previous position and outlet to see if the hum is gone. If so its almost certain the other wiring where you got the hum is suspect.

I've been reading this thread with interest and it reminded me of a similar sounding setup used on an old Warwick ProFet 3.2 amplifier that I used for a time which had linear volume pots by design. I initially thought there was something wrong with it as the pre-amp and master knobs didn't behave the same as just about every other amp I had ever used. The ProFet had a clip led on the input and as long as I kept input position just so the clip led would flash intermittently or not at all everything was fine. That was usually around 2 or three oclock. The master was unusual as well and I'm pretty sure it was booming out all its power around one or two oclock but very quiet around nine or ten oclock when most other amps are getting noisy. These were notched pots as well so it was difficult to use the amp at low volume, one notch up was literally the difference between medium loud and full power. Changing the pots to smooth ones did help but I read that Warwick themselves sorted the issue in the Profet 3.3 with log pots. The older 3.2's never got much love but they were great amps once you understood them imho. If you've ever been servicing an amplifier and fitted a linear pot where a log pot once was or vice versa, you will realise how quickly a change like that can make an amplifier almost unuseable. For the OP I guess if you have a clip led, dont make it flash no matter what o'clock that is and I'm wondering if there is a manual for your amp with guidance on how to set the input and output knobs for best results? Fingers crossed the builder hadn't got linear pots mixed in with his log pots parts tray when the amp was built. 🤔

Rig of choice this weekend was a little old school, well more than usual. It's such a reassuring feeling having a wall of unstoppable power behind you. No power sag or lag, no auto compression kicking in when you dig in hard, and no running out of steam. Ever. Sounded great and not too shabby a performance for a 37 year old 250watt amplifier and a 43 year old cab. The P-Bass was on its first outing and I have to admit, the satin finish maple player neck was sublime. Very smooth, very slim profile, stayed in tune and has a fast low rattle free action. Very impressed. The bass also weighs nearly a full kg lighter than my USA Standard. Only thing I did notice was that the player pickup while not lacking in output seems more aggressive in the low-mid/mid department and is defintely not as smooth and rounded as its USA Standard counterpart. That's something i'll look into when time allows. All in a very enjoyable backline and the standby LMIII still hasn't had any gig time.

Some handy info in those early TE sales brochures, especially about features and specs of the older models. Thanks for posting @Sparky Mark👍

Jezz, if its your Ashdown MAG you are trying to do this with into a powered sub, there is likely two ways to do it. 1. Take a standard guitar lead and connect it to the tuner/line out on the amp and on the sub find the unbalanced line in socket( if it has one). Turn the levels right down while doing this then gradually increase the levels both ends. The tuner/line out is a fairly hot signal so don't over do the pre-amp volume or it might clip/distort the subs input. Gradually increase until you get the required levels from the sub. 2. The DI out on MAG's are as follows: 600 Ohms balanced, level -20dBu nominal. You need a balanced XLR cable to do this and plug it into the Mag then find the DI INPUT on the sub. Dont use an unbalanced XLR cable. It might even say on the sub whether it takes balanced or unbalanced. On your MAG the DI is POST pre-amp so is affected by the input volume and tone controls on the amp. Again turn the levels up both ends gradually until you detect output from the sub. Most subs will have the input socket labelled 'input balanced' or 'input unbalanced'.

Two classic p-bass finishes from the late seventies I've always admired were the black/black/maple(JJ Burnel) and the black/white/maple (Dee Dee Ramone). I don't usually mess with standard options on basses however a chance came up to do so recently and I decided to indulge my inner Dee Dee Ramone. Lots of folks go for black/black/maple Precisions but not so much the black/white/maple option. It's even less likely to come up on a leftie. I won't moan about lefties not having the same choice of P-bass finishes as righties ( we dont! 😁) so doing one for myself was fun. Saying that I really like the end result and haven't seen another leftie like it. It's all bog standard Fender MIM and plays as well as any P i've ever played.

There was a time back in the day(20+ years ago) when it was mandatory to wear a head covering of some sort in my stoner rock band. Black woolly hats or skip caps were acceptable. Almost a hat I suppose. These days head coverings are purely functional to stop brain freeze 😁 No pic the hat didnt happen? I suppose so. The bass hasn't aged at all, everything else has. On another note, I was always impressed by Roger Glover's hat collection. He's the only bassist I can recall who got away with wearing a straw trilby in both Rainbow and Deep Purple. Nice.

Very solid bass amps, i've owned a GP7 and GP11 versions. If you get a chance to try it out, there are a couple of things to look out for which are mostly due to age/use. These are fan cooled and have a high quality metal 110v cooling fan. If the fan makes any clattering noise when its on, the bearings could be on the way out and replacements aren't easy to source these days. The amp also has surge protectors fitted across the mains switch, thease can wear out over time and normally there should be a quiet 'pop' when the amp is turned on heard through a speaker. If you get an almighty bang then the the surge protectors probably need replaced. Thats not difficult or expensive. Last thing i'd mention is the ECI ( earth continuity indicator ) light on the front panel of GP11's. As far as i know this was originally intended as a safety feature to let you know if you were plugged into mains supply with a bad ground. It should stay on if that was the case. In normal use it should flash briefly then go out. The ECI circuit can be a bit temperamental on these old amps and come on intermittently even if there is no earth fault. If the ECI stays on after power on, and its not a bad ground you can also get a fairly obvious clicking sound through the speakers that doesnt go away and the red light blinks. I've never come across an MKIII or a MKIV TE before and the GP7 and GP11 of this era i've owned matched the schematics for MK2 amps. That would put them in the early 80's age wise, perhaps 83-84 which is fast approaching a forty year old amp.

I've owned two of these over the years. First one was given to me for free by a retired player back in the late eighties/early nineties and was gigged for over a decade until I sold it on. The second current one in the pic was also donated by an old guitarist aquaintance of mine who rescued it from a skip around 2013. It was fully restored a year later and been my go-to cab since. Just makes a wonderful deep bass sound and currently at 23kg its not bad considering its size. The originals were 75 watt 8 ohm cabs ( RH115-75) and this one is pimped slightly with an 18mm baffle instead of the original thin fenderish spec 12mm one, a modern high performance 400 watt Neo driver and combi speakons to bring it up to date. I would agree, wonderful and fairly scarce devices these days with plenty life in them yet.

More a functional pimp rather than anything cosmetic. Changed the original string through only late 90s Fender bridge to a 2010 Fender Deluxe P-Bass version. Same base plate size so no real change to the visual aspect except that I can top load strings which is my preffered way to fit flats. and...purely cosmetic scratchplate change from white to black on my DeeDee project Precision bass.

Very interesting. Just tried this setting on my Backline 600. It does sound almost the same as bypassing the preamp completely by plugging straight into the return. Thats probably as flat as it can get. The return maybe has a little less lo-mid? Just curious now what sort of playing situation you would need an optimally flat voicing for?

I use a P-Bass and a Jazz bass, both USA models which weigh around just under 4kg each and been playing the p-bass for twenty five years and the Jazz for ten years. It would be fair to say they've both worn me down/ moulded me into the shape I am now. After a three hour show its not uncomfortable around the neck so much anymore as in my fingers and elbow joints. Playing gigs in moderation was a good idea initially but I found not playing as much was just as bad as I got out of condition. I use those squeezy foam balls as often as possible to keep my hands and fingers moving. There are days where i'll quite happily lug a Trace Elliot AH250 and a big cab to a gig only to wish I'd brought the Markbass when my joints start to complain. As for home practising, I spend time everyday without fail playing to keep my joints moving and i've also recently picked up a used MIM p-bass that weighs just 2.9kg to experiment with. A kg may not sound much of a difference but i have noticed the benfit of a lighter bass. I'll give it a try next gig to see if my American Standard stoop improves🙂