chriswareham

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1469611018' post='3099660'] I've tried Ampeg 8x10 in studios and found them a little dull sounding. I def wouldn't put up with the weight and size issue for one, If anything i'd go down the route of 4x10 cabs. Lighter and more manageable and for smaller gigs just take one cab. I looked into the Ampeg 4x10 cabs a few yrs ago and got some great insight from fellow BC'ers. The one i would lok at is the HLF cab. I've heard a few in bands with Ampeg SVT heads and they were pretty full sounding. I've moved into the Markbass rigs now. Played thru a MB 4x10 and 1x15 rig and it was stunning. I have found that a lt of the lightweight cabs don't seem to pack that punch and depth that an Ampeg 4x10 cab does. I remember talking with JTUK about it few yrs back and seems others have similar opinion. Can you maybe borrow some other bass rigs to try before buying. Friends or even your local bass shop might loan you second hand ones to try out at gigs. Dave [/quote] The two 4x10 (or even two 2x10) cabs approach is a great alternative to the fridge, which is actually four sealed 2x10 units internally. I effectively run mine as two 4x10s anyway, since I bi-amp to separate a clean bassy sound from a dirty treblier one.

Hooky is one of my biggest influences. I can echo what others have said - try to play as many Joy Division or New Order bass parts as possible to build up a sub-conscious memory of the styles Hooky uses. I have a few JD tabs here: http://www.chriswareham.net/jdtabs/index.html Paul Raven was actually a very versatile player, and could fit into a number of different styles of band without necessarily sounding distinctly similar. See his work with Prong for example. However, on Killing Joke's Night Time album I'd argue it's mostly about his tone. He was using an active bass, and it sounds like a lot of compression was used in the mixing of the album. The Eighties bassline is a bit of an exception though, and actually sounds quite like something Peter Hook would play. As for Hooky's style, it's often about playing quite high up the neck with plenty of chorus on. You can nail that tone exactly with an Electro Harmonix Clone Theory pedal (the current model is very close to the sound of the original ones that Hooky uses). As others have pointed out, it was the limitations of his equipment that encourage him to play in his "lead bass" style, since he couldn't hear himself very well when he played around the first five frets on the lower strings!

White pearl gets my vote :-D

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1469541762' post='3099196'] Or, even better, he could have done this: [url="http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Other%20music%20related/Great%20Guitars/12390899_926283197460157_1096815431975292569_n%20Jack-PCs%20conflicted%20copy%202016-03-18_zpsdmtjc0wu.jpg.html"][/url] [/quote] That needs its own thread.

[quote name='FlatEric' timestamp='1469516532' post='3098854'] These (generally) are great basses. I have a Pro and an 830 (the 830 has Grover tuners, like this one) and both light my fire. Not a lot of money but great players and a great tone from the original pick-ups. Someone grab a bargain!! Cheers. [/quote] I have a HD-830B, which is the model with a DiMarzio pickup. Someone had replaced the DiMarzio with a Seymour Duncan, but the original pickup came with the bass so I refitted it. There's now a pretty comprehensive set of pages about Hondo on the Samick Wikia site: http://samick.wikia.com/wiki/Hondo It makes it much clearer which models were made in Korea, Japan or Indonesia.

[quote name='M@23' timestamp='1469557262' post='3099374'] How?! That's amazing. I had a 2009 KA and with the back seats down could just about get my 2x12, flight case and bag of leads in! Plus it had an annoying boot that was sunken so everything had to be passed over the lip to get it in. I'm 6"4 so had to have my seat back though. [/quote] I'll have to take picture next time. I fold the back seats and passenger seat down, then slide the 8x10 in on it's side so it's behind the folded forward passenger seat. The rest of the gear then goes on the driver side. This is the older style of Ka rather than the current one (mine's a 2001 reg one).

I don't understand the people saying an Ampeg fridge is hard to transport. Negotiating stairs with one yes, but on the flat theyre easy to wheel along and mine fits in a Ford Ka along with two amp heads, a flight cased pedal board and two bass guitars.

Another Hondo, this time a very good condition Fame series: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hondo-Fame-SERIES-830-Bass-Guitar-White-Hard-Case-/201628899011

Beautiful restoration! Did you source new corners for your cab? I have 140 and 370 Acoustic heads that are in dire need of some new ones!

Ah yes, cats and carpet covered amps. Not a good combination if you like your gear to stay pristine :-)

(Re)build diary!

Trace Elliot BLX 80. Pulled out of a skip at the local recycling centre and still going strong. Must be lead lined judging by the weight of it though.

Posted this in the Jap crap thread earlier on and only just noticed this thread :-) Sorely tempted but managed to resist since I already have an Avon EB0 copy.

And finally a Hondo II Precision copy: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291810689337 There's been a few of these on lately, all in black, good condition and for about £195 BIN but offers accepted. I actually own on of these that I paid considerably less for and which had been upgraded with a Seymour Duncan pickup. Did these have Di Marzio pickups originally or are they from the more bargain basement Hondo era?

An almost mint Westone Thunder 1A. It's been up at what looks like a decent Buy It Now for a while, not sure why someone's not snapped it up yet: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172264391504"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172264391504[/url]

Been a bit quiet on here so I'll post a few things from my watch list. First up an Eros Gibson EB-3 copy. Almost finished, but it's a brand I've not seen before: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401150549831

If it's the same as the violin basses, then I'm guessing the original Verithins were completely hollow bodied, while the "Contemporary" series have a block of wood down the middle for a more modern sound. I love semi-acoustic basses, and now have GAS for one of these or a black Midtown Standard!

Google a firm called Hammond Hire. They specialise in restoring Hammond organs, Wurlitzer pianos, Rhodes pianos, and have done loads of work on my old synths.

Mmm, EB3L. I acquired one of these earlier this year: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/280502-ndb-early-1970s-gibson-eb-3l/ Suffers from terrible neck dive, but i don't really mind as it sounds fantastic :-)

To be honest, the SWR cabs are more practical as they're easier to shift about than the fridge. As for using a valve amp for the dirt, I'm planning on trying my modified Sound City 120 in place of the Acoustic 140 next week.

Are they order only rather than regular stock? If so then it could really be a reflection of the pound falling in value after the referendum.

Oh my God, that is my bass - the one I wish I hadn't sold. Just to correct something in the listing, it didn't have a new truss rod fitted. I had the worst "dings" in the body professionally repaired, new scratch plate, new truss rod cover (the original was missing when I got it) and the original truss rod repaired since it had become jammed and couldn't be adjusted. It was relatively light, but that's relative to my other basses which are quite heavy. Paul - if it's too heavy for you or you don't get on with it for ant other reason, then I'd love to buy it off of you.

This doesn't happen very often, but I'll have to correct Jon The Jolana D-Bass is 34" scale, and you can find a little information about them on my [url="http://www.rickenfaker.info/jolana.html"]website[/url]. I've owned two and deeply regret selling one of them. The first one had neck with a moderately wide fretboard, a little curving across the fretboard width (radius?) and very shallow width from fretboard to back of the neck. Lovely bass to play, and I can't entirely understand why I sold it. The second one had a much flatter fretboard, more like a Rick, and it was a much "chunkier" neck from fretboard to back of the neck. It was comfortable to play, but I found it much easier to move around the neck on the first one. Based on the differences between the two I had, I'd suspect Jolana hand made their guitars rather than using CNC machines. Either way, they were both very well made and had excellent hardware. If you don't get on with the one you've bought, please, please contact me as I'd love to have another one. I scan eBay listings regularly, but they crop up very rarely (and the Rick police get them taken down usually).

$5,000 is about what the original 360 and 301 cab cost new in the early 1970s, when the original list price is adjusted for inflation. I've read good things about the repro amps and cabs over on the unofficial Acoustic Control forum, but the Guitar Center stuff is just badge engineering - sticking the Acoustic logo onto generic Chinese built amps. The guy who masterminded the repro stuff is a bit idiosyncratic, but it's pretty impressive how he got the rights and managed to get them into production. Sadly he's been inactive for a while, which I understand is down to serious health problems.

[quote name='Westenra' timestamp='1466548842' post='3076785'] Are those acoustic amps really all that? [/quote] The 370 and previous 360 model were the de-facto standard for many top bands and often provided as backline at the big festivals in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were much more powerful than most of the valve amps of the day, considerably lighter and being solid state were very reliable. Acoustic used very good quality components, and actually offered a lifetime guarantee on them! They are very loud, and have a great tone but lack the versatility of modern amps. The 360 was actually just a pre-amp, with the poweramp in the accompanying Acoustic 301 speaker cab or cabs.The 370 combined the pre and power amps in a single unit, and the accompanying cabs lost the power amps. With two cabs the load is 2ohms, which the 370 was designed to cope with. I'm running my 370 and 140 into 4ohms (Ampeg) or 8ohms (SWR) but they''re still astonishingly loud.