scrumpymike

+1 for Bass Soul Food

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1501673218' post='3346428'] A sack barrow isn't much use for stacking them though. I think my V8 was only a couple short of 30kg and it sat about four and half foot off the ground. [/quote] That calls for some personal 'heft' (and a safety net).

Post script: I sold the AH500X for a nice profit and have been gigging my beloved 300 replacement ever since. (It's only worth a single hernia compared to the full double its predecessor was capable of.)

Here's my TE story (having a useless memory, I've had to pull my complete set of Bassist mag's to help me place the action). So, it's April 1999 and there I am reading my Bassist mag on a return flight from Germany. The young guy next to me suddenly pipes up (in an American accent): "Hey, are you a bass player?" Turns out that he is too and we get chatting. The mag is now face down on my lap revealing a glossy, full-page ad on the back cover for an AH600SMX and 1048H cab . 'Rumble in the Jungle' is allegedly what it does and it's made by a company called Trace Elliot Ltd. down in Maldon, Essex. My buddy points to it and says: "Awesome!" Turns out he's no longer gigging due to other commitments, he's got a TE AH500X that he's not using - and he lives 10 miles away from me in North London! Ten minutes later, I've bought the amp for £300 A few days later, I've actually got it - and I love the thing. It's basically 2 x 250w amps in the same box and you can switch between mono, bi-amp and stereo modes - and how cool is that UV light strip on the front! Soon, I'm gigging it through a 4 x 12 and 1 x 15 stack, my band-mates can't get enough of it, and there's a small line of punters wanting to talk to me about it after every gig (I exaggerate, but only slightly). So, we're all living happily ever after, until suddenly 'the giant' falls ill, and has to go away for surgery. F*ck, what now!? A quick phone call to the Bass Centre in London reveals that they have a used AH300 SMC GP7 and that will tide me over, so I'm straight on to the tube heading for Wapping. I get the thing home and hook it up with some trepidation. My initial reaction with everything set flat is mild disappointment - and then I hit the pre-set switch, and... Bammm!!! I've still got the amp (maybe not for much longer) - and that switch still does it for me. Hope you haven't all fallen asleep (sorry, I'll get me coat)

I'd recommend your friend takes an informed guess based on a bit of research/advice and spends say two-thirds of his budget to buy one of the excellent used head/cab offerings FS on this forum. Not much lost if he's not totally happy with it and he'll have some cash left to change something. Best bargain heads seem to be the stuff that's not necessarily flavour of the month but known to be good (e.g. a TC Elec head that's not an RH).

Why haven't you listed a Markbass? (I make that 1hr:08mins!)

I used an old Mustang (rescued from a skip!!) with flats and it sounded just sublime.

Can't really disagree with that. I think that I'd be going for the Mesa D800+ but IMHO their UK pricing policy fits neatly into the 'rip-off Britain' school of marketing. Not so with the Magellan 800 and it's likely that my hard-earned money will be going to that nice Mr. Genzler

After a lot of online research, review reading and video watching/listening for this and similar amp heads, I'm liking this one a lot! I play covers (mainly '60s thru '80s) and original material (from electric folk via folk-rock to 'world music') on a variety of basses (active, passive, electro-acoustic). My current gig-amp is a trusty TE AH300 SMC GP7, which does a pretty good job after much experimentation with control settings. I'm using a range of BF 12" and 10" cabs, which are keepers. The only pedal I own (apart from tuner and volume) is a Bass Soul Food. Anyone know of any good reason why I shouldn't go ahead with the Magellan? The dealer has a 7-day return with no questions asked policy (I would pay the return carriage), so trying it out at home will be cheaper (and much better) than a try-out in the shop.