DGBass

I did a support gig back in the late 90s for a US band called 3D House Of Beef and those guys knew all about sub bass. A lot of their tunes were played at around 30 BPM and the bass was also tuned to drop D. I recall speaking to their bass player to ask him what he was using on his board and his main pedal was a DOD Meatbox. Never heard anything like them since and to get the best from it I suspect you will need amplification that can cope with serious low end. The 3D House Of Beef guy was using a full SVT 8x10 rig with additional 1x18 subs 😲 Their album 'Low Cycle' is a good indication of the sub bass tones a Meatbox can do.

The Ironstones had lots of good things going for them that I couldn't find in pups twice the price. I know it should always be a secondary consideration but they also look good and fitted perfectly without the need to file the scratchplate or reposition screws. The slightly raised 70s style pole pieces are also a nice authentic old school touch and the pole piece / string alignment was perfect on my Jazz. There is also no brash branding you find on some replacement sets so the upgrade is quite incognito visually.

If you are looking for a 70s tone to match your bass you could do worse than check these out. https://ironstone-guitar-pickups.co.uk/the-ironstone-jazz-bass-pickups/ I have a set in my USA standard Jazz and they sound brilliant and way better than the stock custom 60s it came with. They give a very balanced and round tone, lots of clarity and sound especially good with flats imho. They arent noisy either compared to the original fender pups. Very competitively priced as well as being a UK company.

One thing I've noticed with some GK amps is that the input sensitivity is quite high and having the input gain anywhere above 12 o'clock can actually overdrive the stage causing a weird fizzy distortion that sounds like the speaker is blown even at low volume. It can happen with a passive bass easy enough. The trick is to back of the input and use the master. Not saying thats what you have but might be of interest to try if the combo isn't already in its return box🙂

I have the 1x15 GK Neo cab with tweeter and its essentially the same speaker box spec as the Legacy 1x15 combo. The horn works very well in my cab, doesn't hiss or fizz and is quite controlable using a knob on the back. I'd be inclined to send the combo back for either a replacement or maybe something else. It sounds like the amp isn't quite working as it should🤨

It doesn't have to say Fender on the headstock...but in this case it might as well😉 Beat up 1980s Sunn Mustang made for Sunn by FMIC. Weight 4.7kg and an 80s Fender USA P-bass neck profile with a 7mm slab of rosewood on it. Loudest passive P-bass i've ever met and probably the heaviest.

A bit of the same as usual with a bit of something ( relatively) new. What started as a quest to find the smallest lightest and cheapest giggable amp box with the most watts has morphed into a fairly wholesome setup. The band are back rehearsing after a break and looking forward to some gig action in July. Used this setup tonight at rehearshal and it performed perfectly. Same cab ( a faital pro loaded Musicman ), a GP12SMX stereo pre-amp and the tiny lightweight 1U air cooled Harley Benton GPA-400. Loud enough for a small pub gigs using one channel but where it shines is in bridge mode( 400watts @ 8 ohm). Another unique feature I haven't seen on other stereo power amps like this is a basic EQ where you can cut or boost bass & treble quickly on the fly without messing around on the GP12SMX. Very handy if you have a dull or boomy venue. It also has a very neutral and clean class-D sound with the EQ at the default 12 o'clock setting so I get the sound of the GP12SMX in all its glory.

Yep there is no law against doing either. It's up to the individual. Personally I come from an age where setting the input a bit higher to maximise the pre-amp signal( I blame those Trace Elliot LED's on my GP11 and the VU meter on my ABM's for that) and not cranking the master. I'm really interested in getting hold of an SVT3-pro now just to see how it actually works.

While the B2RE and SVT3-Pro do share a lot of design features like multi core connector plugs to link pre-amp and output sections they do also have slighty different layouts. If an amp is suspected of not be performing as expected and if its new, i'd contact the retailer or return it. If it was bought used, a visit to trusted tech is always worthwhile just to make sure its as it should be. Most fairly modern 300-500 watt solid state class A/B amps should be capable of sufficient loudness and power levels without having to run pre or post controls anywhere near full up to get a gig ready level of output 🙂

I missed a chance to pick one of these up the other week after a closing venue was having a house backline clear out. It sold for £50 and was in perfect working order. The guy who bought it was the only person who had transport big enough to take it away at the time and thats mainly why he got it as well as no one else offering anymore than £50 for it. Great cabs and as awesome sounding as the 8x10 while being comparatively lighter and easier to move around. We are still talking elephants weight wise though🙄

I recently serviced an Ampeg B2RE for a fellow bass player who was reporting low output and a bit of unwanted fizz. The B2RE has the same 450 watt output section as the SVT-3. The SVT has the mutli valve pre-amp as opposed to a much more basic solid state pre-amp in the B2RE. Both have a very similar boost and cut range in their EQ structure. There were two things causing the low output. First was a multi way connector linking the pre-amp board to the output board. It had worked itself up at one end ( can't recall which end) but snapping it back into place and a bit of hot glue to retain it had a huge effect on the signal level. Also the output section has a tiny little screw on the base of the amp that grounds the rectifier for the amp to a heatsink plate. It's a really odd design and the actual screw had fallen out so only the weight of the power board was making poor contact with the chassis. Replacing the screw( a tiny m2.5 self tapper) and cleaning the ground plate turned it into a super quiet almost studio quality amp and a total gig monster when turned up. It was crazy powerful into just one 8 ohm cab after that. Even with everything flat and the graphic switched out, it didn't need the master at more than two or three with the gain around 1 or 2 o'clock to be shaking the room. I would have expected an SVT-3 Pro to be as powerful and more flexible tone wise. Just for info, the B2RE had been through the gig wars and had a few other vibration related loose parts . The 450w output section is a beast and super powerful.

I saw the cookie banner this morning and thought well yeah, there probably should be one for Basschat. Most cookie banners these days aren't very intuitive and the ezoic one falls into that category. The other thing with cookie banners is that some folks won't care much having to complete an extra step before login or while browsing the forum online or offline. Having some choice to reject cookies is always better than no choice imho so well done admins for at least looking into it. If it does end up being a permanent feature on here, a cookie announcment in the site news might be an idea to alay fears that the site has something wrong with it.

I'm sure street prices will prevail eventually as they arrive in the shops in numbers. Things always cost more when there is limited stock and are newly available in a particular market. In the watts per £ stakes, the TE1200 doesn't do too badly at +1🙂

i'm reliably informed TE1200 stock arrived in the UK last week but in limited numbers. Some have already been sent out to retailers to fulfil pre-orders but there are limited units available for anyone keen to order one. GAK are actually advertising them as in stock at the moment.

The BC cabs are actually well made and fairly light. They also had a really good ASD1001 horn and crossover assembly, same fitted in both the BC210 and BC212. The stock drivers though are fairly flimsy and I've come across a few of these cabs being sold because of burned colis/seized assemblies. A pair of eminence beta 10's would give you a tad more thermal headroom and a big increase in sensitivity which means you might not need to run the amp so high to get the same loudness from your cab. The xmax though isn't any better but with speakers you can't have improvements in every way and two out of three aint bad from the price of beta 10s. The BC212 is a much more interesting option for a cab. Pop a set of Eminence Beta 12A2's in it and you'll have cab that can deliver a fair bit of oomph. The K212 is a similar design to the old BC212 but rated 400watt @ 8 ohms instead of thew old cabs 250w @ 8 ohms. I've no idea what sort of drivers are in a K212, probably a budget Eminence OEM build for TC. The 212 you mention will almost certainly cope better with your settings but may sound noticably different. it may be something you can EQ and be happy to use.

Agreed. These Peavey era combos were a curious hybrid design with a lightweight class-d amp module but still with a traditional large heavy transformer in a heavy steel chassis amp head. The speaker was also a hefty trad ceramic magnet assembly type. If you take all that out, the actual combo cab is really lightweight. The class D modules were also quite unreliable and I remember at the time lots of these combos were sold off new at less than half retail price. if you got a good one, you were lucky. I used one for a spell with a retro GP7 SM150 rack head shoe-horned into it to replace a blown class-d one and it was even heavier but sounded glorious.

ahh...these are a little more difficult to get an exact manufacturers date. It's a Peavey era 715 combo. 200 watts rms class-D using Peavey's own design digital power module and a proper UK designed pre-amp by Trace Elliot's original primary designer Stuart Watson. Cabs are high quality lightweight poplar ply construction, speaker is a custom 4 ohm Celestion build 15-250 watt model. Cabs are ported and in my experience can handle much more power than the amp can put out. I'm making a guess based on your serial number but odds on it was manufactured June 2008. Only way for sure to find exact details is email [email protected]. Lots of people say Peavey service is second to none but in my experience its a bit hit or miss. Worth a try if it matters🙂

It depends to a large extent on what type of amp/combo you have as date stickers or serial numbers vary quite a bit over the years. Here are a couple of examples that might help. Above is an SMC 300 watt combo green carpet. The TO452 refers to the TE item or model code, not sure what the middle bit is but suspect it 578th amp built in the month. The last 3 digits 499 refer to April 1999. Earlier series 6 and SM / SMX amps usually have a giveaway sticker inside the amp head. In this case its a SM 300 combo built 1st June 1998. I'm sure there are more experts who know more about how to age a nugget of green and they will be along soon to assist! Might be worth posting a pic of your item as that would be a good start to working out when it was built.

I had occasion to contact Fender UK a few years back about availability of a Fender Japan stack knob Jazz that was advertised incorrectly on the UK website ( said it was a lefty but wasn't!). However while I was speaking to them they said they often have Japan models in their UK warehouse that they import a few of each year. These aren't advertised and can sometimes end up as NOS models ( especially lefties ) gathering dust on a warehouse shelf. They offered me a 60s polar white torte pickguard, rosewood neck vintage tint lefty Japan Jazz that was the previous Japan model year if I was interested. I would have to place the order through a UK retailer and give them the Fender code as the retailer would otherwise be oblivious to any Fender Japan stock. Point is, it might be worth dropping an email to Fender UK and asking if they have any Fender Japan instruments on their inventory at present. You never know, there may be something interesting that you could then order via a UK retailer of Fender basses. They were quite approachable at the time I contacted them.

Yes thats about what you need to plug in safely to a UK supply outlet. As was mentioned, a retailer should supply you with one. I know retailers like Thomann for example automatically pick and send a UK cable for orders bound for GB. If you prefer getting one yourself they can be purchased just about anywhere these days online. I just recently renewed a few of my leads, this might give you an idea what to search for. Cable length is a persoanl choice, 3 metres works for me! The fuse tab on your amp in your photo will contain an equipment fuse, usually a small 250V 20mm glass type like below. Yours is rated T(means slo blo) 0.315A. You don't need to worry about it if its a new amp. These only usually blow if the amp develops an internal fault which is in my experience rare within a warranty period. 315mA is also unlikely to generate a raging firestorm if things go bad, so I also wouldn't worry about the internal fusing as its a normal safety feature of your new amp.

For me it would be the full ABM tube pre-amp thing in a lightweight smaller package with similar power. I don't think they've done anything yet with ABM level power and tube pre-amp tone in a small lightweight box?

2/4/8 ohm switching is available on quite a few modern class-d and hybrid amps these days eg. Mesa Subway comes to mind. From what I can see from manufacture blurb there isn't any power advantage running at 2.67 or even 2 ohms so it does seem purely a cab configuration feature. I'm probably not the first person who has expressed an interest to Ashdown for a class-d ABM or ADM if you like (Ashdown Digital Magnifier!) based around something like an 800 watt lighweight head with the all important ABM pre-amp in a neat modern rectangular lighweight box that will cope with 2/4/8 ohm loads. Impedance switching options also tend to appear where manufacturers offer cabs with 4 ohm options although I suspect the intention is to use just one 4 ohm cab rather than two or one 4 and one 8. Again the likes of Mesa offer this on selected subway cabs as do Aguilar on selected DB and SL cabs. Having two amps, a TH and an ABM is no bad situation to be in but which one will end up being the main and which the backup? I had a similar dilema between my ABM and an LMIII. Both good amps in their own right and although the LMIII was bought as a back up and was never needed, there were a few times its light weight got it the gig. My ABM won the day though and the class-d amp was sold on as it just couldn't deliver the same thump you get from an ABM. Ashdown might make 2 ohm capable top of the range amps( ABM's) at some point in the future but I fear I will likely be the owner of a bus pass before that happens😆

Ashdown's current ABM600 design is based on a 4 ohm minimum load recommendation and the whole output stage including the output board and components, cooling, thermal cut out switch, fuse values and transformer are geared for that. With most amps, exceeding design limits usually only ends one way, and thats an expensive repair bill. At a guess the first symptom that the amp wasn't happy at 2.67 ohms would be the thermal limit switch cutting in early dues to excess heat, something that i've never experienced on these amps run at 4 ohms. The transformer might also be prone to over current damage and thats if you didn't blow fuses first. They are quite strong amps and in real world use an ABM would probably run at 2.67 ohms at a reasonable volume for a short while at least before something would fail prematurely. There probably is a way to do it but I daresay it would cost a bit to re-design and build an ABM output stage that would be happy to run all day at 2 ohms or thereabouts. Definitely a question for the Ashdown engineers.🙂