Osiris

That's an interesting observation, @Lozz196. Which cabs did you find had the ice-pick high end? I personally found the opposite with my rig - the speakers were fine once they were paired with another amp or a pre-amp bypassing the SMX one. That was a pair of the original Trace branded Kevlar 15's and a horn in the combo, which was dialled low or even out altogether.

Just received a signal splitter box from Mark in another easy peasy Discreet deal. To echao all that has been said many times over on this thread already, he's a great guy to deal with, funny, kept me informed every single step of the way and the package itself was secure enough to survive the coming apocalypse. Cheers, Mark!

Likewise, I've been there, seen it, still got the T shirt that is about 3 sizes too small for my middle aged spread and saggy man breasts. Like you I had completely lost all interest in being in a band or even making any music on my own. In fact it's happened to me twice over the 32 years or so since I first started playing bass. What killed it off for me on both occasions was people; either not pulling their weight and wasting my time as well as that of the others who were trying to make the band work, or other people with their various neuroses; arrogance, back stabbing, ego, drama queenery, etc. There's no cure for being a thingy, as Bron son of Bron says . Anyway, a different set of reasons to you but the same endpoint, so I completely empathise with your current situation and get the fact that you think it's all behind you and is never going to happen again. On both occasions I went through it I did eventually come out on the other side and get back into music, but the second time took about 6 years before I was ready. My advice, for what it's worth, would be to liquidate some of your unused gear and take the family on that holiday. It sounds as though you need it more. The sight of the unused expensive jazz bass is kicking you while you're down so move it on out of the way, it'll be one less thing weighing on your mind. But I would suggest that you hang on to enough gear to noodle/jam/gig with so that in future if that pilot light ever reignites, as mine did, you are able to jump back in without necessarily having to buy a load of new, expensive gear (although if you're as bad as the rest of us you will anyway )

I had an SMX rig for several years, made up of a 250 watt 1215 combo and 1153 cab and I could never get a sound out of it that I was happy with. Unfortunately I was not in the position to be able to replace it until about 10 years or so after I'd bought it so I had to live with it. A lot of guys on here love the Trace sound, but I could never get it to work for me. I found that it was gutless and under-powered and couldn't deliver any bass or mid frequencies with any conviction, in my experience. Whatever you did with it - and there are a ton of tone shaping options on the SMX - there was always that ice-pick top end thing going on that I just could not get rid of whatever I did with it. Trace gear has a reputation for being punchy and powerful, but my rig was neither. On a good night you could get a mediocre sound out of it, the rest of the time it was just top end clank and not much else. I grew to hate it with a passion. After about 10 years or so the pre-amp developed a fault and I ended up using an original Bass POD as a pre-amp going straight into the effects loop return and all the missing low end and mids were suddenly available and that omnipresent sharpness to the treble was gone. And as for Trace watt's being twice as loud as everyone else's, err, no, not in my experience they're not. Likewise I'm not trying to derail the thread into a Trace bashing fest, but if you are struggling to get a sound out of it that you are happy with, as I did, then maybe try using an external pre-amp pedal with it? Or even ditching it in favour of another amp altogether if that is an option?

But I don't work in accounts. Now who's misquoting, eh? And the only thing Freddie and I have in common is the leotard.

Not sure if that's at least partially aimed at me but while my comments may ostensibly be despondent, they are an honest and realistic appraisal of typical the pub audiences I have been playing to since the 80's. Yes, certainly some notice what we're doing but in my experience they are very few and far between. As bass players we may not be comfortable with this especially once we factor in the endless hours and amounts of money we've sank into our paying and gear over the years, we want them to appreciate it as much as we do. But invariably they don't. The counterpoint to your position is that you risk overestimating your own importance as far as the punters are concerned. To them you're just a bloke in the corner of the pub playing a guitar

All aboard the @Al Krow magic roundabout once more In my experience, the audience are usually more concerned about what they're having to drink next rather than the presence and quality - or not - of any low frequencies emanating from the band.

I think it's precisely the point - whether it can be done on bass or guitar, most punters won't notice any difference and fewer still will care. Isn't that what you were trying to ascertain in your opening post on this thread i.e. what do we bass players bring to the gig??? I think that that part could be done on guitar with barely a raised eyebrow in the house. We as bass players may not like that but I don't think it's too far from the truth. You are right, we would notice and we would feel that the song suffers as a result if the bass was to not play on most of our sets. But I doubt that many in the audience would - and that's the point I'm trying to make. They might be vaguely aware that something doesn't sound quite right but they probably won't know what's amiss, nor really care. How many times have you seen people dancing to disco's where it's all sub bass obliterating the rest of the frequencies? There used to be a DJ in these parts who had an atrocious PA, not much going on below about 2 KHz, he was known locally as Trevor Treble, but he always had a full dance floor. Sound quality is not the punters priority, having a good time is. My opinion is nothing to do with having a low opinion of myself or other bass players, or to belittle what we as bass players do. It's an opinion built up from more than 30 years, and god knows how many gigs. We care, they don't. If other people have had more positive experiences than mine, then I genuinely envy them. Don't get me wrong, I still gig regularly and love every minute of it. But to Sharon and Dave (my deepest apologies @dmccombe7 ) it's not all about the bass...

Get your guitarist to start it at the next gig. I bet the number of people who notice can be counted on one hand. And fewer still will care.

I've been gigging pubs and such like for more than 30 years now and in my opinion the average pub band audience just want to dance and sing along. That's it. You'll get the odd muso and other bassists paying more attention than Sharon and Dave as they drunkenly sing and dance along, but other than that the punters see the band as a live disco and couldn't care less about your gear, your sound or anything else that we obsess about on Basschat. They just want to hear something that they know and enjoy themselves in their own way - which usually means tripping over the monitors while emptying half a pint of beer over themselves or whichever member of the band they are trying to request a song from.

According to the YouTube video I linked to above, the stomp has the amp and cab modelling that is missing from the HX. That's where your money will be going. Or not as maybe!

Except that DG M900 doesn't have semi-parametric mids The 3 selectable frequencies for each band do offer a wide range of flexibility but it's not as precise as a semi-parametric - if you're looking to control a resonant frequency in a difficult room that is outside the options on the DG pre-amp you may run into problems, you might get close but you may also end up having to compromise I.e. live with it or use a pedal EQ. A sweepable mid control allows you to precisely isolate the problem frequency. And as @Muzz said, the Genzler has the single knob, dual voiced contour control for the mids, voice A being a variable mid scoop (more subtle but infinitely more usable than most) and voice B which bumps the low mids for a warm, rounded tone that plonks the bass right where you want it in the mix. Set up your core tone with voice A or B, tackle any troublesome frequencies with the semi-parametric mid control and off you go. Simple, quick and all the control most of us are ever likely to need.

Both fixed frequency mid band controls and (usually) semi-parametric mid controls (those with a sweepable frequency range as well as a cut/boost control) have their uses. In my experience neither one is 'better' (whatever that means to you) than the other, they are simply different ways of controlling the critical mids. Fixed mid controls, be they part of a multi-band graphic EQ or 1 or 2 controls on the pre-amp, allow you to cut and boost the mids around the stated frequency centre for that control. If it's part of a multi-band graphic the range of the control (the frequencies affected) is usually quite narrow but you have the neighbouring sliders to help craft your tone. For amps with only 1 or 2 mid band controls the range is usually wider and has a more noticeable impact on your sound. Semi-parametric mid controls allow you to select the exact frequencies you want to control. While a single semi-parametric mid is ostensibly more limited than 2 or more fixed frequency controls, they allow you to isolate troublesome frequencies e.g. in a room where the bass is booming you can pinpoint the offending low mid and cut it. Likewise, in a dead sounding room you can find an upper mid frequency that gives the bass some clarity and definition in the mix and give it a gentle push. If you like the fixed frequencies that the manufacturer has chosen in their pre-amp design and they work for you then job done. If you want more surgical control to isolate problem frequencies then a para or semi-parametric control will serve you better.

Having having extensively gigged both a Mark Bass Little Mark 2 amp and a TC RH450, through my Tecamp 2x12 cab, I found that they are both warm and punchy amps. As others have said, the MB has a great tone with everything set flat, great as in it works well in the mix but isn't very exciting in isolation. The trouble I had with it though - and the reason that I moved it on after 2 or 3 years - was the centre frequencies of the pre-amp. Set flat everything was fine, but when it came to EQ'ing it for a room with difficult acoustics I found there wasn't any control where I wanted it - the bass EQ is voiced at 40 Hz which is handy for cutting low end rumble on wooden floors but there was no control over the audible bass at around 100-200 Hz ish, and I missed that. Likewise at the high end, the treble is voiced at 10Khz which is just too high to be usable in my opinion, for me control over the 4-6 Khz band is much more useful and usable in a live environment. All in my opinion and experience of course. The MB was replaced by a TC RH450. Someone is bound to wade in and mention the whole wattage fiasco sooner or later, if they do ignore it, the amp has plenty of power and volume. Moving on... I much preferred the EQ voicing of the TC, it has a 4 band semi-parametric which gives me tons of control right were I wanted it. Sure, you don't have control over the subby lows, but they weren't there obliterating the mix when I used mine. The drive circuit too is very good and adds a great dirty edge to the tone without getting fizzy. Oh, and the built in Spectracomp simply sprinkled fairy dust over everything and made my bass sound great! Both great amps, but as a sweeping generalisation I'd say that the MB EQ is more voiced towards studio work and isn't quite so usable on the average pub gig whereas the TC amp has all the control right where you need it down the Kebab & Calculator on a sweaty Saturday night. If you're veering towards the TC rig, I'd say you already have your answer

At the time I bought the amp, early last year, there was no mention of the HPF in the manual or on their website. I've not looked since so it may be that they have updated their marketing information. But in light of some of the above comments it may or may not be a wise move though

Unfortunately I think you are right, I'd overlooked the fact that there are some titanically stupid people about

Around 18 months ago I bought a new Genzler Magellan 800 amp and was considering getting some sort of HPF to go with it, but before giving the credit card another good hiding I emailed Genzler to ask if the Magellan had any form of in built filtering. I very quickly received the following reply; Yes, we do utilize a High Pass filter with the MG-800. It is a very steep slope and set low around the 30 Hz range. This allows us to achieve a clean, solid and authoritative low end without potential flubbyness. This also helps with protection from over-excursion for speakers under high power situations. I hope this information is helpful. Best Regards, Jeff Genzler There you have it, straight from the horse's mouth! And I can personally attest to the weight and power in the low end of the Magellan, it has depth to the lows but it is controlled and never overpowering. And neither do my speakers complain either. Agreed @Phil Starr I'd also like to see those amp manufacturers that have some sort of high pass filtering built in to their amps stating it in their marketing and on their spec sheets.

@joescartwright Take a look at the Genzler Magellan 800, it ticks all of your boxes (ooh err). It's light weight, has more power than you'll ever need and it does some amazing old school tones; the quickest way to get you there is to set the single knob EQ curve to voice B and dial in to taste. EQ curve B progressively dials in all the useful mids to give a great retro sound that retains depth and clarity. Leave the rest of the tone stack at noon and possibly add in the drive circuit for some smooth, rich, low gain warmth. It's not full bore distortion, neither does it do the driven scooped mids thing, it's just adds some extremely useable additional harmonic thickening. More of my thoughts about it here;

Thanks for the offer, I may just take you up on it as and when I get a chance

Congratulations for getting Nobsound through the profanity filter But seriously, please report back your thoughts as it looks an interesting pedal for the money.

Cheers @PJ-Bassist. As with any new gear my advice is to always try before you but whenever possible, preferably with the rest of your own gear if you can. But this is invariably easier said than done. Having said that, the Magellan is an incredibly versatile amp and will produce pretty much any tone most of us are ever likely to need - That is unless you want masses of distortion in which case you'll want to run a pedal into it. But for great sounding, real world bass sounds you cannot go wrong. If you do bite the bullet let us know how you get on.

And another vote for the Genzler from me! I play similar stuff to you and it has tons of versatility through the simple tone stack, and the drive is a low gain jobbie, not a balls out distortion type circuit so you can go from funky scooped to a warm Motown vibe with just a push of a button (either on the amp or with a foot switch). More of my thoughts below;

I currently use either D'Addario EXL 160 & 160S, or Ernie Ball Slinkies in the nasty green packet, as they're the most readily available off-the-shelf sets that come in 50-70-85-105 gauge which is my preferred string size. Why do I think that NYXL's might be for me? Well, I've been playing for more than 30 years and have tried many different brand and gauge strings in that time, some cheap, some more costly. And I have come to the conclusion that the choice of string makes very little difference to my sound. No doubt this is anathema to a lot of people reading this and there is a lynch mob gathering at my door, but that's what I believe based on my own experiences For reference, I don't care for the zingy new string sound and I find flats too lifeless. What works for me are played-in roundwounds. I play them for a few hours at home until they lose the new string zing and then they are where I want them, nice and punchy and still more defined than flats but not as sharp as a fresh set. Then they're good for 2 or 3 years of regular gigging before they become too dead for my tastes. I play finger style more or less exclusively with an occasional bit of plectrum work. So, throw a set of NYXL's my way and prove me wrong

PM sent. Cheers