CliveT

The Markbass JB Players School combo has the [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Mark Bass Blackline 250 head and it's meant to be very good. Not tried one yet but meaning to soon.[/font][/color]

You may be able to pick up a used Trace Elliot Commando combo for that price.

Unless you can talk me out of it I'm about to pull the trigger on a Markbass JB Player School combo because I think it's the best thing out there under £400. I did think about the Fender Rumble 200 but I think the Markbass is a better quality build, with a good quality head and will stand the test of time. I also thought about the TC Electronics BG250 but worry that for the price you get the gimmicks of the tone print but what's the basic combo like? Does anything else come close?

I know these 2 combos differ, the Players School one has a 15 inch speaker and is only 150w without an extension cab, the CMD 121p has a 12 inch speaker and tweeter, and is 300w without another cab. But, is it worth spending the additional £200 on the CMD 121p?

I've used the older 100w version for nearly 20 years now. It's basic but gets the job done. It has a passive tone stack like the old Fender amps so remember that a flat eq is roughly 0-10-0 (bass mids treble). I usually use this setting, with none of the buttons engaged, or all the eq's at 12:00 and the mid shift and bright engaged which sounds very similar to flat but a bit more presence. Volume wise I use it next to a drummer and is loud enough. Even on large stages as a monitor it's fine.

[quote name='nick' timestamp='1400510521' post='2454470'] Had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Goodwin last night at the Thekla in Bristol, my friend plays guitar in his band. Great gig, cracking songs and the band was good, drummer Bo Walsh, in particular was steaming. Jimi took time to have a chat afterwards, lovely humble bloke, very nice to my wife... He was using a precision into an SVT CL . On his pedal board was a Wampler Ego compressor which I think was on most of the time, BOSS LMB-3, EHX Bass Big Muff. [/quote] Thanks for posting this. I wanted to get a look at his pedalboard when I saw him but didn't get the chance. Loved the fuzz tone he gets. He used to use a BOSS ODB3 so interesting to hear he's using the Big Muff now

I tried these and really wanted to like them but for me they were just too dead to be like rounds, but without the tone and feel of a good flat. I ended up with Chromes on my fretless which seem brighter than the half rounds, and just get better with age.

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1396013404' post='2409022'] Wonder if stringing it arse backwards actually contributes to the tone? [/quote] I doubt it. Jimi has a great tone though. Saw him a couple of weeks ago on his solo tour. He's on good form.

[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1364320063' post='2024859'] So I ended up getting the Commando 12 from a very nice guy over in Upminster, I picked it up today. Apart from a small scuff on the front grille it's in brilliant condition, and sounds every bit as good as I thought it would. Tone is a weird thing and everyone has their own idea about what's good and what's not, but for some reason this thing just nails it for me. I got it for what I think is a really good price. It's actually quite a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be, so I'm glad I went for the 12 instead of the 15. It's a pretty big combo, have a look at the photo of it sitting next to my Bassman TV15 for comparison - it's almost the same size. I'll see how I get on with it over the next few weeks, if I'm still loving it, I might have to consider putting the Bassman TV up for sale, something I never thought I would do... (Sorry about the crap phone pics). [attachment=131169:Trace Elliot Commando 12.JPG] [attachment=131170:Trace Elliot Commando 12a.JPG] [/quote] I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the TE Commando and the Bassman TV. They both have the same passive tone stack I believe so how did they compare?

The Korean Squiers really are very playable basses. I have one and played a 2 hour covers set with it recently. Due to cutting down on my basses it is up for sale is anyone is interested in the 'basses for sale' section of Basschat: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/212051-early-fender-squier-jazz-made-in-korea/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/212051-early-fender-squier-jazz-made-in-korea/[/url]