ChrisJaxon

The Rumble 100 does me for rehearsals as well as small gigs & jams. Has plenty of low end at all volumes and good tones. My main rig is also Ashdown/Barefaced.

…..and the odd Jam cover....! (Or The Who...)

Enjoy a little light disco!

I was quite pleased how the old Shergold sounded in this recording. Great song too! https://youtu.be/8OLNas2CmCk

Holy moley...... Yamaha bass guitar, https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/yamaha-bass-guitar/1368493735 Price: £80

I know it is not quite an ABM, but this is an RM420 plucked from a combo and put into a MAG case, on top of a Super Twelve. Sounds sublime. Whats more they match exactly!

I have DR Fat Beams on my Yammy BB735A and they sound immense, great feel and fantastic tones. I have Chromes on my Yammy TRBX605FM, and guess what....they also sound immense! I enjoy playing both and to be honest, out front nobody notices the difference!

I have a Shergold Marathon from 1978 and the maple neck is very stable. This is the story from a visit to Norman Holder's factory back in the day: "The maple for the necks comes into the country at around 18-20 per cent moisture content, and is kiln dried down to 10 per cent by the importers. When it arrives at the Shergold factory, Norman stacks it and leaves it entirely alone for a minimum of six months - he's absolutely rigid about this rule since a customer pushed him into using some too early, and ended up with a slight bit of movement in the wood." I have to say it is a lovely neck, with an abominable (but light) piece of obeche for the body. It sounds great though!

I use a RM800 and Barefaced Super Twin, really can't go wrong. Fabulous sound. Horribly loud!!

A black 425 which did not sell on fleabay and has been relisted. Astonished! https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/273994433728

At University from 1978 I was an avid keyboards player, (classically trained pianist) and played some great gigs with a bank of keyboards, synths, piano, organ etc. Then I had to spend an year in a bedsit in Germany as part of the Uni course. Whilst there, I missed the music so I bought a beaten up Framus jazz bass, with black nylon wound strings, to give me something to do. With no amp in the bedsit, I just learned to play acoustically, plucking along to songs on the radio. When I returned to Blighty, I sold the Framus for almost nothing (I obviously had no idea what I had in my hands) bought a spanking new Ibanez Roadster, and joined a new wave pop band. The keyboards were also sold to finance this bass obsession (still have sellers regret selling a beautiful Vox Continental organ) and I never looked back. Totally hooked. I think the classical piano training in my youth paid dividends understanding the backbone of the music and song structures, which gave me a leg up.

Me playing my 1978 Shergold Marathon in 1981 (after losing 2 stone from a trip to Syria and a serious dose of shiny shiites) and latterly this year at a local blues jam. Note the respray! I could not live with the crazy paving of the natural blond any longer. Eagle eyes may also notice I gave it a wrist chamfer to avoid shutting off blood supply to the hand.

I bought a wireless transmitter/receiver just to see how I like going wire-free, from AliExpress. For £24.76 including delivery I thought it was a low risk experiment. About 10 days later it arrived (no customs folly), and by jingo the thing actually works, and works well! OK the battery on the transmitter only lasts a couple of hours, but for noodling at home it is great. And OK when initially pairing it knocked out my home wifi for a bit, and occasionally it knocks out the Smart meter for a while (at 2.4gH), but I can put up with that! This is the thing; https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1000007368484.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.77184c4d3sq4bH And I see the price has come down to £23.36! But I would be very wary of a major purchase, no matter how enticing the advert looks...!

This 615 is active only, no passive mode. AFIK!

Yep brand new. Seen it in the flesh. I have had 2 basses from Mickleburgh and always had a good deal. I was tempted....but now have a 735!

Mickleburgh in Bristol have had a 615 in stock forever and every now and then they knock the price down. Very interesting price...See here: https://mickleburgh.co.uk/shop/yamaha-bb615-bass-guitar/

I just fitted some Ultralites to my Squier Jazz and used plumbers white tape to enlarge the bushing. Works a treat.

Thoroughly recommend the RM heads. I currently gig with an RM800 EVO, got it slightly used from a BC'er, been using it for about 18 months, never a hitch. I can get everything I need for every occasion from it, and it is far too loud! My backup amp is an RM420, but I have not had to use it for yonks, before that i used a Mag300. If you can, jump at the chance to visit HQ! I am sure you will be delighted with the 410 combo, you cannot go far wrong with the offer you have.

There is a slight hum when hitting the mid blend spot, yes, and on toward the bridge pup. If you listen for it. But nothing really invasive. Typical of the pup type I guess. Mind you, I never need to have any amps at full tilt either so it is never really evident. The only time I had real hum on the 735 was when I strung it with tapewounds and had a grounding issue! That was quite annoying. The bridge pup hum is not so noticeable that I would want to swap it out with a twin or stacked coil, I would be too concerned about altering the great tone. But it is something Yamaha could have eliminated at the outset, without adding much to the cost, for sure.

Yes I kept the inverted B bridge, never changed it. Yamaha must know what they are doing with this setup.

I actually bought the 735 slightly used at a great price on 7th April 2018, so it is a year with me. I had not realised it was its birthday the other day! Before that I had a 425X and a 424X, both which had to be moved on to other eager BC'ers. Both were widely gigged and had me BB-hooked. The 735 is a real step up from the 42*, such a full and controllable sound. I think it has taken these 365 days to really get to know the 735 and what it can do. Of course I have been through the ritual of trying all types of string, from black tapewounds (grounding issues!), Fat Beams (far too lively for my needs!), La Bella flats (lovely and deep, maybe a bit too thumpy) and finally settling on Chromes which seem to give the best of all worlds for what we play. I cannot imagine playing anything else. Who wants a Fender when you can have a 735?! And the B-string is perfect. Shapes up the neck make for very relaxed playing, with no tonal concerns.

I was in 735A heaven on Saturday night. We played a large hall for a group of dance classes who wanted to strut their stuff to a live band. There was even a glitterball! I played passive all night, blues and blues rock stuff mostly, the RM800/Super Twin were set up to sound very SVT/fridge-like, and despite the size of the hall the RM volume was only at around 5%, as you can probably see if you zoom in. I love my 735 with Chromes, it is such a well-designed instrument and sounds lovely. I rarely use the active side when playing live as I can get everything I need out of the amp setup. It also makes it a lot easier to adjust tones with minimal fuss, just a half knob to turn! No fire extinguisher needed that night, thankfully!