DGBass

Will the replacement driver be covered by warranty if you install it yourself? Just saying, as some manufacturers will sell OEM spare parts but insist an "authorised" repairer fit the part to maintain any future warranty claims.

Rehearshal for a second rock covers band project went reasonably well tonight. This was to resurrect the old band I played in that fragmented earlier this year after our drummer sadly passed away, and our vocalist left. We have two rehearshals before the first gig together with the new drummer and new vocalist. They are shaping up well and getting to grips with the 36 covers they have to learn for a 3 hour show. It's the same lineup from our other blues/jazz project. We did our first gig last week as the blues/jazz project with a different setlist and a much more relaxed and quieter setup. Tonight, I used an old 1980s Fender Sidekick 100B amp at rehearshal and it actually sounded really good and held up well with loud drums and a cranked Sessionette 75 watt guitar combo. It will work well in the blues band, but I've realised for the rock covers band I'll need to dust off my ABM setup which I haven't used in a while, as the weekend gig coming up will be a much busier venue and traditionally a louder and more rowdy gig. Now where did I put my ear protection?

The fuse holder on these amps have a handy space to stash a spare fuse. I never leave home without one, luckily so far never needed a spare. If its the input fuse that's blown, swapping it with another of the same rating( usually a T4A 250V anti surge on ABM600's - it will say on the back what your version has) and type will give you an indication of what might be the issue. If the amp powers up normally, it's likely something to do with the mains supply that blew it in the first place. If the replacement blows, its likely you have a problem with the amp. The modern transformers on these amps rarely give any problems, it could be a shorted output device(s) on the output circuit board if the input fuse is blowing instantly. ABM's are easily repaired, and Ashdown UK have great customer service. It would be well worth calling them up to have a chat with about fixing your amp.

I've tried modelling pedals and just never liked sounding like someone else's preset or my own modded version of one. I see their worth, but I use very little in the way of effects nowadays. Last few gigs in particular have been Bass -> LMB3 -> Amp. And thats it. One thing i've leaned towards is using smaller amps to mitigate gig monitoring systems and probably more for the benefit of my hearing than anything else. For the most part its really just my bass and the amp, and I kind of like the raw sound of my bass direct into a small amp set clean. By small amp I mean anything less that 150 solid state watts as that seems more than enough for pub gigs. I've also tried a dedicated power amp ( A Behringer 200w per channel/400W bridged type ) into one cab. One channel was sufficent for small gigs and bridged was even more flexible. However, I needed more front end EQ/signal to drive the power amp which just complicated things more at the very front end. The Bass -> LMB3 -> Amp( up to 150watts ) really has been a godsend of simplicity. As mentioned already, most amps have the flexibility of useable EQ, and still have a send/return to just use as a power amp if needed. And, if your modeller fails, you can still plug straight into the amp and probably hear what your bass actually sounds like as the Gods of Analogue/True Bypass intended🙂

I'll be using this setup at a low volume easy going blues gig this Thursday. The cab is a regular feature for rehearsal and small gigs and has proven itself with a few different amps. The little Ashdown class-d head was a fairly recent purchase as a back up/home studio use only but has worked really well with the R210 cab in particular. It's not my first class-d amp but is my first Ashdown class-d head. It's simple to operate and easy to get a usable tone from. Very reminiscnet of the MAG/Electric Blue pre-amp sections and i'm guessing might be like the Rootmaster heads although I havent tried them. The killer feature for me is the shape button which is just like the one on Ashdown ABM's. It gives the amp a surprising punch and low end presence. There's a curious master volume that goes up to 27 but around 13 or 14 is more than enough for a small pub sized room. Lovely warm fat tone and so far no sign of the class-d auto compression and limiting I usually associate with class-d stuff. I think its 300 watts but sounds about the same output wise as my TE GP7 SM130 head. Obviously one other bonus is that its very light.

Personally I think the shape button on an ABM is its raison d'etre and there is enough leverage on the entire EQ to still get a good clear tone without things getting muddy. I haven't played through a Digbeth but curiously with the shape disengaged on an ABM, that sound is reminiscent of the older Laney RB stuff I used to own, and a quite clean and powerful mid presence, dare I British solid state sound. If the Digbeth has any of that ancestry from the older RB amps then they might sound not unlike and ABM with the shape off 🤔

Tonight's rehearshal went much better than expected. It's the only one we could fit in before our first gig together as a new lineup this Thursday, and was the first time all four band members have jammed together. There are reasons for this as rehearsal and gigging has suffered a few setbacks of late. Sadly, my drummer buddy who was an ace tub thumper passed away unexpectedly a few weeks back, and then our long time vocalist left the band shortly afterwards. These things happen. Positives though are that with a new drummer and stand in vocalist, we didn't sound too shabby tonight. Although we are admitedly a bit rough around the edges, we are confident we will be able to put on a good show. I've also slimmed down the gear further of late as its mostly been low volume and quiet blues/jazz types weekday evening shows i've played. As tonight's jam was also a sort of dress rehearshal, I got a chance to put some miles on a recent purchase, a tiny lighweight class-d Ashdown amp to go with my well proven and gigged Laney R210 lightweight cab. Very pleased with the sound, much like a MAG with an ABM shape added in. There was no amp sliding around on the cab either for such a small box even at high volume.

There was a time where I always brought a full repair kit including soldering iron, tools, spare parts, valves, jack sockets, guitar and bass strings, plectrums, batteries etc and I was the only one in the band who had an old Boss TU-12 tuner. I recall one gig at the Cathouse in Glasgow where I repaired several guitars owned by other bands with mostly dodgy jack sockets and leads in one evening. Needless to say my TU-12 was passed around everywhere with everyone until one day it wasn't returned. I have also been the PA provider in past bands and rarely ever got any help or thanks for doing so. Things aren't so bad these days. I only jam with folks who have their own tuners and ken how to intonate their instruments. I've found that people who know how to setup their instrumetns are mostly gear savvy as well and look after their rigs well. My only "extras" contribution these days are the stands for the small powered PA speakers brought by my buddy. Everything else is for my setup alone and whittled down to bare minimum for lightness and fully checked prior to every outing. I wouldn't say I was a professional player, but it's not difficult adopting a professional mindset when it comes to my own gear, and doing my best to not be a burden to my bandmates.

I do like custom shiny Les Paul guitars, especially with Marshalls. These days though, its Fender strat style guitars with an effects processor direct into a desk/PA or a vintage Fender amp, either solid state or tube. As long as I can get a Fender style tone that is all that matters. Past glories... and more currently a humble Sonic Squier Strat + GT100

I think the Big 24 is one for the well heeled BF fans. The one in the pic is also a customised version ( special grill cloth) so its gunna be even more expensive than the web page sticker price. Still, it is an inordinate amount of money for a bass cab and probably far out of reach of the man in the street bass player doing gigs at the Dog & Duck on a modest equipment budget. However, if you want high performance and have the bucks then why not blow over two thousand pounds on a cab? You'll need a decent amp to go with it, no point in sitting your old Mag 600 on top, so maybe another £2k-£3K for the amp and of course a top of the range bass and your in for ten grand easily. Has anyone ever posted a "who has the most expensive rig" thread?. I'd hazard a guess that there would be some BF kit mentioned. I do agree that prices in general for ALL musical equipment manufactures are increasing ever more and its not a dig i'm making at BF. Their cabs have always been relatively expensive imho and will therefore be more affected by rising costs to their business if they choose to maintain the high tech crafted in Britain ethos they have built their business on.

I suppose it depends on what kind af amp head you have, eg metal case or wood case. And where you are in the world. Here in the UK i've found this supplier to have a good selection of small rubber feet for metal / flight cased amps or big chunky ones for cabs and wooden cased amps. Some of the smaller feet can also be had in several different heights. Most of these are also screw mounted as opposed to stick on. https://www.penn-elcom.com/flight-case-hardware/feet/rubber-feet

One thing with buying a used 1x12 tube combo is that good ones will still be quite pricey. One industry standard is the Fender Blues Junior, its 1x12 and 15 watts but loud enough for gigging. Most amp techs will also gladly service and repair Fender stuff. I've owned and used Marshall DSL401's, Peavey Classic 30, Laney VC30 and LC30, all great sounding 1x12 all tube combos but all suffered from the same issues as they got used and its mostly heat fatigue. This causes pcb dry joints, metal fatigue in the tube sockets and dried out components. The Peavey Classic 30 for example is a nightmare to service, just check out the online repair videos for them. I gave up on small tube stuff a while ago and decided to adopt the convenience and reliability of solid state combos. Personally, I like Fender tones and found some really nice almost vintage solid state stuff that Fender made in the late 90s that can be had relatively cheaply, sound great and are excellent pedal platforms. When you consider the average 1x12 30 watt tube combo could cost around £175 to re-tube these days on top of the cost of the combo second hand it makes sense to me at least to go solid state and invest in an amp modeller pedal or a good effects setup for all your distortion tones. That will also be much more controllable for home use. The Fender solid state combos I mentioned from around the late 90s and 2000s are eg Fender Princeton 112, Fender Stage 112SE, and the little brother Champion 110. The USA made ones if you can find them are the best but the Mexco made ones and Indonesian made ones are just as good. They are built as good as the USA tube Fenders of the era. I owned a Stage 112SE and it sounded superb but was deafeningly loud. I currently use an early USA built Champion 110( had four of them, 2 MEX and one Indonesian version, all excellent) and like the tone of the smaller 10 inch speaker. It's also 25 watts but is crazy loud and giggable, and works superbly with a Boss GT100. Its also super portable, has a true spring reverb, and is twin channel, clean and crunch. There are tons of small modern tube amps available these days which may also be worth considering. I had an Orange Thunder 30 tube head and it sounded superb, had variabe output selection to use at low volume and didn't suffer from heat fatigue as the tubes were on top of the circuit board and not hanging under it as lots of 1x12 combos have. A head and cab might be well worth considering as well but like any rig, that's more to carry and may cost more initially.

Something else to consider if you are planning to replace with a new driver, and while not as sonically important, is whether whatever driver you choose will actually fit the existing cutout hole in the speaker box. For example, the Faital Pro 15PR-400 won't fit these types of TE combo cabs or the standard similar 1153 cabs. The cast frame basket on the FP is decidely larger than the original pressed steel Trace Eliot branded Celestion speakers. The Faital Pro does however work perfectly as a drop in replacement to the bigger 1518 TE cabs. The FP might fit your cab with a bit of woodwork ( removal ) to increase the cutout size, however the front mounting flange is also very much deeper which means there is precious little space between the speaker and the grille. A large cone excursion might actually contact the steel grille. The SICA/JENSEN driver mentioned also has a slightly larger basket diameter and mounting circle than typical Celestion or Eminence pressed steel baskets. Lavoce interestingly have a wide range of pressed steel basket drivers in traditional and neo magnet configurations and these are much nearer or similar to Celestion dimensions. I was wondering why Ashdown suggested the Pulse 15 and one reason may have been that it will probably drop right in the hole and the mounting screw holes will line up. There may be other Celestions or even Eminence units that might be more suitable sonically and will fit( sorry can't suggest any!). Basically, not all 15 inch drivers are the same size🙄

I had a hankering after the Traveller 151P cab as I like 1x15 cabs but at the time they were out of stock everywhere. I then got the chance of picking up a 102P cab and it turned out to be a fantastic choice. Small, light and incredibly punchy. The tweeters on them are kinda average imho, but I don't use much tweeter anyway so it wasn't an issue. Performed flawlessly all the time I had it doing pub gigs along with an LM3 head. It was the most portable and capable rig I've ever owned and did great old school tones. Still wondering why I sold it on. Might have been the yellowness?

White Ray and White P. The Ray is sadly no longer with me. The P is my go to bass at present.

A combination of B15 & SVT. I looked at the settings and the BA combo was set to Preset 2 ( -12db cut @500Hz). The ported 1x15 cab was quite thumpy sounding. The variable horn on the combo seemed to add an edgy top end that I'd associate with an SVT. The studio also has a Class-D PF350 head but I struggled to get a usable sound from that by comparison.

I couldn't find a thread that specifically answered the question I am about to ask. Also, the reason I ask is that even though I've played through a number of Ampeg rigs and amps over the years, I've never actually owned an Ampeg setup mainly due to the crushing weight and portability problems a classic SVT rig would present for me, and thats the rig I've always wanted to own. One other reason I ask is that during a rehearshal at a local studio just recently, I played through an old Ampeg BA115 HP combo. It is alledgedly a 220 watt combo with a 1x15 speaker and a variable compression horn tweeter with L-Pad attenuator. It has a 5 position preset tone switch and curiously with my Precision with flats plugged straight in I was able to easily get that tone I've heard on so many records and at so many gigs that sits just perfectly in the mix. Its a solid state combo with no tubes but the little preset switch has straight out of the box great sounds. So, do you need and SVT head and an 8x10 to get That Ampeg Sound? and does anyone get that sound without using an SVT rig with anything else?

This one was custom made for me by Chris May at Overwater Basses when they just had a small unit near Haltwhistle over forty years ago, and I've had it from new. It was gigged regularly up until the late nineties and early 2000's, and also did a gig near the end of 2023 just to get it out and used for nostalgia's sake. Last gig before that was around 2007. It's more or less a case queen these days as I'd hate for a punter to fall over it, which nearly happened on a few occasions. I do jam regularly at home with it, use it for recording, and its fully setup and gig ready if I feel the urge. I don't have a lot of photos from way back, but here are few taken sometime in the nineties. Suffice to say it has great sentimental value. As it is now

I've played through a lot of amps over the years but have come to appreciate what I have now as some of the best sounding and most versatile I've owned and used. These three are the most often actually used in my gear stash for different reasons, and my top three selection of currently used amps. The Ashdown ABM really is a swiss army knife of bass amps and I haven't been without an ABM now for over ten years. It's a tested design and taking the time to really get to know it's EQ will reveal a myriad of useable tones. It's also what I use for the louder gigs and it always delivers. The Ashdown Labs MK500 is also used during louder gigs and has the volume of the ABM but has a very much more refined Hi Fi quality. Sounds wonderful with my Player P-Bass with the five year old flats on it. Silky smooth clicky tones and it's also Hi Fi quiet noise wise, and even with the master on full it's difficult to tell its switched on at idle. The harmonic emphasis knob is a mysterious and wonderful thing. Not quite sure what it does but it makes everything sound great. The mid nineties Trace Elliot GP7 SM130 has been my most gigged amp of late as I've switched to mostly to low volume small bar gigs. It's never up more than half way and is more than loud enough. It's been a revelation playing gigs with only 130 or less Trace Elliot watts and the Ashdown's aren't currently getting as much use. The GP7 SM pre-amp is a wonder of simplicity to use and has so many great and classic tones. The EQ balance knob in particular has such a dramatic influence on the useable tones with even a small tweak.

I had the later green stripe stingray head and will buck the trend and admit I liked it a lot. It was way better than the equivalent HH VS Bassamp of the time in my opinion and louder/more powerful. 150 watts @ 4 ohms and around 100 watts @ 8 ohms. Built tough, solid and very reliable. Loud as thunder as well. The preset tone buttons were admitedly a bit hit or miss but its simplicity was its strong point. I recently bought one for nostalgic purposes and did use it briefly with a band. It sounded great and was very reliable. As with lots of stuff of this era, they were weighty. The Stingray combo I had was immensely heavy which is why I've now sold it on to some vintage amp enthusiasts who were much younger and fitter than I am. They loved it even though it weighed a ton. The drivers in these big reflex horn stingrays are very efficient Fane units with 3 inch voice coils. Very unusual for the time. The one I just sold was over 40 years old and all original. If a nice condition green stripe head came along I'd be quite tempted but I wouldn't buy the earlier silver face ones. Too old, and will almost certainly need a bit of servicing especially if they look a bit tatty and well used.

Not quite a weekend rig but it was the one of choice for a gig last night. New band time and doing some Jazz/blues fusion with a sax player, and as it was just a short two hour gig to a quiet weekday crowd, we played low volume so the punters could still talk when the band was playing. Worked well and I am enjoying the low wattage rig and sitting down while playing these days. Laney R210 200 watt/4 ohm cab and an old mid nineties TE GP7 SM130 amp, in limited edition green leatherette of course. Sounded fab.

a measly 10kg and its suitcase handle means its so easy to move around.

Yes indeed. It's something I enjoy doing and I also don't mind saying what it cost. Not everyone does like to reveal what their rig cost them. A recent new band project which was in effect a low volume jazz/blues fusion type gig playing sunday afternoons and midweek early evening gigs prompted me to look around for a smaller setup that didn't need to be high powered. I came across this little end of life Laney R210 cabinet and although i'm not a huge fan of 2 x 10 setups, I took a chance and bought the cab direct from Laney at a discount. It's proved its worth already and for the pricepoint it's just insanely good. Brand new, 2 x 10 with a switchable tweeter, rear ported and at 16Kg its only 2Kg heavier than an industry standard BF 210S with cloth front, and approximately a tenth, yes a tenth of the cost at only £99. I really couldn't have bought the raw materials to build a cab for that price. Ok, so it might not have the same high end performance but 200 watt power handling is more than enough for a small gig and it is absolutely giggable. I've gigged it and it works and sounds astoundingly good for its pricepoint. Amp wise I've used it with several different amps including a bigger Ashdown Labs MK500. It sounded great and performed perfectly. Currently its being used mostly with an old Trace Elliot head, a forty year old AH150 GP11 mk4 in perfect working order. Trace stuff was always the flavour of the month in whatever decade you can remember it being around. The Mk4 GP11 was just £50. So, a great little rig that sounds amazing for £149. The cab was modded from its stock 16 ohms spec to 4 ohms after being used a few times. I've no idea why Laney made these 16 ohm cabs ( 2 x 8 ohm speakers wired in series with a basic piezo tweeter circuit parallelled off the input) in the first place. That makes it even more flexible as a one cab solution with low wattage amps. I may bend and get a small class D head to go with it at some point as that would lighten the load even further.

Sadly, that type of sound is a dying breed these days. @Phil Starr was on to something when he talked about fashions and trends. The choice of speakers for compact high performance light weight cabs almost dictates the use of 10 or 12 inch drivers and that affects the tonality. Most 15 inch high performance drivers that can deliver a substantial "thud" or "thump" as I prefer to descibe it will need a certain cabinet volume to work efficiently and at their best performance. The reality is that 1x15 cabs designated as high performance aren't very compact. If that was possible, I'm sure we would have seen a compact lightweight 1x15 thread here on basschat that delivered a useable build plan to conclusion. If there is one I may have missed it? And that's why there aren't so many of them around in the commerical market. The only one I've found interesting is the Mesa Subway 1x15 and thats because of previous experience with the high quality of Mesa cabs. But it costs nearly £1000. I've gone the lightweight route and found that modern boutique 2x10's still can't emulate the mid sucking thump a good vintage 1x15 cab can. I'll admit I'm firmly routed in the past as far as thud and thump are concerend and use a 44 year old Musicman RH115 made of solid pine but loaded with a state of the art Lavoce Neo driver. It weight in at 23kg, is a one handed lift and has that old school thud and thump in spades. The point here is that maybe an old school cab is worth hanging onto just to get that sound and maybe a modern driver upgrade will help lighten the load and be less expensive than shelling out a grand or more for a modern 2x10 cab or a 1x12? An SVT 810 is around 64kg. I mean, thats weighty. You could easily shell out a grand or more for some of the recommended modern lightwieght compact cabs that are always mentioned in these type of threads. There is a lot of scope available in a cab that weighs less than an svt810. For example, you could pick up a good Trace Elliot 1518 cab for around £50 that weighs 39kg but will have thud and thump by the shedload. Neo drivers don't really make much difference tonally, its all about the weight. I sort of wish when recommendations are made for boutique modern lightweight cabs that folks wound prepend a recommendation with the line "if you have a grand or more to spare, why don't you check out x cab from y manufacturer. It keeps things real. I love that old school thud and thump, a p-bass with flats and a large booming 1x15 cab. You wont ever be able to emulate that with a 1x12 or a 2x10. Yes, you might be able to move as much air, but the tonality will be different. I've tried for years and never come close. Open to any recommendations though with potential costs attached🙂

I use an old Shure PGX4 system which was originally sold as a wireless mic setup. I use it for bass and it works superbly. It runs at approx 900Mhz (with a range of approx 50 metres line of sight) which in the UK is designated a carrier frequency for mobile phone providers but low power applications for commercial/medical and some other applications are allowed. It might be prone to mobile interference but I haven't had any issues with that so far. Mobile Operators using this band, usually called band8 support 2G and 3G which is on the way out in the UK. More modern wireless systems seem to use frequency bands in the wi-fi spectrum which will I guess be easier and cheaper to design as its fairly standard wi-fi technology. I haven't used a modern 2.4G or 5G wireless mic/guitar device so I couldsn't say if it might be affected by someone's wifi router in the vicinity. I'm sure the boffins will have taken that into account with selected channels to operate on 😐