Musicman20

Who cares if it's British? What exactly are we proud of? I have zero British pride apart from the fact we have a deeply bizarre sense of humour and we do have fantastic music. A lot of 'British made' gear isn't even made here! Shuker are one of the rare one offs. I'm currently in the USA and I heard one American couple (clearly affluent) explaining to their children that England was cold, dark, wet and depressing. The more I thought about it, the more I agreed 😂. They said it was super expensive, and it is.

The DB212 is my favourite bass cabinet. I've tried a lot. It's glorious!

I've recently seen a Musicman Caprice (a 4 string passive bass) for £1900. £1900!!!! I know this is insanely high as I've been following or EBMM gear for years. Initial RRP (shops can discount this) was £1650. 6 months or so back. I am well and truly out of the new bass / guitar / amp / cab game until the prices sort themselves out. I am certain most sane people will be doing the same. Brexit has ruined the market IMO.

Nice fret less! Chances of getting a rebate in the UK is low.

Are they aware of the misprint on the pedal? Very Apple-looking package which is no bad thing at all.

I bet it's a great amp but it needs more general use demos without gain.

Wow, I sold my similar rig (top notch condition though) for £1900 ish.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1475441866' post='3145985'] They are the 'greenest' guitar maker however....! [/quote] We pay for their status!

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1475447197' post='3146043'] Under EU regulations they are classified as being 'made in Germany'. However a degree of construction is carried out in the, much cheaper labour market, of the Czech Republic which isn't far from the German HQ. I'm not sure it makes the slightest difference in quality of construction but it always feels to me that it should be detailed in the product specs. [/quote] That's bizarre.

Apparently there is a $200 off in the USA for the range. Lemme guess, it won't happen here.

Having a 'distributor' is just not worth it IMO. Direct sales to shops, minimum orders, cut out extra fuel/staff/storage. With a distributor, you pay a premium for them to basically store products. Most of them do not have the aftercare they should. I've experienced this on many occasions in the UK. They just seem like they are doing you a favour when you contact them. They wouldn't exist unless we paid extra, so why don't they act helpful??? I won't name and shame, but this whole idea of peace of mind doesn't really hold up. Genz sent me things over and advice for free over the internet. Great after service. We act like USA products are made on the moon. It's 2016 - we need to get with it. A Mesa Subway is thus: $699 from Sweetwater. Tax on top? It's not that much. Not sure. In the UK, $699 is £535 and that is with post-Brexit pound. I realise there is NO way we could pay that...it just doesn't work like that. UK price - Showing as £875 from a few places! In the USA, that would be $1135. Ridiculous. I'm off to the USA soon and I might bring back one micro amp.

Maybe they have been spending the last 5 years making sure the Mexican factory is producing great work so that they can, as noted above, use it for their 'top of the line before American Deluxe and Custom Shop' type basses. I had a Fender Deville 4x10 guitar amps some years back. Mexican made. To be fair, the fit and finish was good. One of the speakers was either faulty from the factory or it developed with barely any use, and it took a lot of messing about to get it sorted. It did sound pretty decent....too loud and heavy for a guitar combo though. Fast forward to 2014/15 ish, and I want to buy a good clean Fender again. I ended up buying a Fender 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb, and it is absolutely superb. The tone is stunning, and the fit and finish is extremely good. I am very happy with it. Guess what? Mexican made! People are choosing it over the American made 65 Deluxe Reverb! Lines are blurring now...

My 5-6 year old Big Al 5 SSS is killer!

[url="https://blog.andertons.co.uk/guitars/darkglass-microtubes-900-andertons"]https://blog.andertons.co.uk/guitars/darkglass-microtubes-900-andertons[/url]

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1474469898' post='3138246'] That is interesting - especially as they are more expensive on the pedals than Bass Direct are. [/quote] Unless Andertons' pedal stock was post-Brexit price rise? Hmmmm

https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/MICROTUBES-700/bass-amp-heads/darkglass-microtubes-900-bass-head-amp Interesting...cheaper!

With technology today, no one really needs a huge amp and huge cab, including guitarists. Bassists can DI with a pedal of their choice and guitarist can move on to either super small rigs/combos or similar options to the bassist, tailored for guitars. I would never buy a large rig now...and I've had great experiences with a few bands just using a Sansamps into the PA with no IEMs.

[quote name='Opticaleye' timestamp='1474388891' post='3137609'] The Quilter uses an uprated (for bass) power module based on QSC's K series power amp. Also ok for 2.5ohm use (2ohm if not pushed to extremes). [/quote] Good point.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1474380422' post='3137514'] Yep, i believe that the D800 and at least also the Magellan800 state that in their specs, both use the same (...ahem... ) ICE. [/quote] Does it appear that Genz left the minimum at 2.7 ohm/800W, and Darkglass somehow learnt how to cool the module to drive it to the extreme for 2 ohm/900w? Hmmm. It is also stretching into the realms of pretty expensive micro amps. I would have thought these types of amps would start to become a little cheaper over time, (despite inflation and Brexit) as almost everyone is now targeting the world of micro amps! At that price I'd opt for the Mesa. It could be that these are hand assembled in Finland? EDIT - It seems Andertons have these for £769 and they are $999 in the USA....so actually we get a fairly fair price here.

It also says the module is 2.5 ohms stable on the spec sheet for the ICE module.

Perhaps, as alluded to above, they will simply have a lower end Mexican Standard and a higher end Mexican manufactured 'Professional' line... I have 2 AS basses from post 2008, and they are both great. I have a Road Worn Flea Bass and a Baja Telecaster, both Mexican manufactured. Both instruments have an extremely high build quality, and I am a fussy buyer. The only let down is the gig bags, but seen as though I bought both before recent rises, (the Baja was a very good price) they are good 'value' for what they are....and I don't see them as any less compared to the AS basses I have.

[quote name='Sparky Mark' timestamp='1474319781' post='3137175'] I'm not sure that I entirely agree that the 2012 and later are any better than 2008 through 2012 American Standards. I have a few examples of these vintages and the only significant difference is the custom shop pups fitted since 2012. The standard pups that were fitted from 2008 to 2012 are slightly more modern sounding (clearer and hotter output) whilst the custom shops are warmer old school. Both sound great and I wouldn't have a problem with using either. The hardware, other than the latest machine heads have remained the same since 2008 to date. The fit and finish has been excellent since 2008 and the USA high mass bridge with through body stringing option is as good as any. The cheaper cast and BBOT bridges fitted to non USA Fenders just don't have the same build quality (probably sound just as good though). For me the most desirable Fenders are the USA standard series, not the higher specification deluxe/elite models that they have released through the years and I am sad that Fender might be ceasing production of this iconic series. [/quote] I'd say since 2008, the American Standard basses have been much better than previously. The 2012 inclusion of Custom Shop pickups was no doubt just a refresh, and in fact, the build quality and stunning cases you used to get with the American Standards tended to be focussed until 2008-until recent years. When they went back to the standard rectangle cases, that was a disappointment.

The best bet would be a new American series overhaul with more 'vintage' appointments, eg 50s/60s colours.

The Orange is much darker and grits up quickly. Very 'thick' rock tone. The Streamliner ca add grit, I real shines as sounding like a high end tube pre-amp....and will be able to offer clean pristine yet warm tones.

So essentially, it is one of their pre-amps from their pedal range (well, a combination) with a robust power section? Like the TH500....