DirkThrust

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='813166' date='Apr 20 2010, 10:20 PM'][size=3][font="Book Antiqua"][b]I never got so much of a thank you message neither in a pm or here. [/b][/font][/size][/quote] Hmm... Bad manners and taking the piss are fairly normal on here IME

I'm seriously considering that ABM500. I sold mine in a brainstorm and have regretted it ever since. The best sounding amp on planet earth. It's certainly seen some action though it says it's been refurbished. Do you know what that actually involves Pete?

My first bass was a Gibson Ripper bought for £180 from Telecoms (now Nevada) in Portsmouth around about 1980/81. Amp was a Sessionette combo which was IIRC a 100w 1x15. Can't remember what happened to either and I certainly don't reminisce fondly about them.

[quote name='rainus5' post='808343' date='Apr 16 2010, 01:03 PM']My cab is 4 ohms.[/quote] Ah Unfortunately that means if you you added another cab it would create a minimum load for the amp of less than 4 ohms and the magic smoke would escape from your amp. Unless you want to replace your present cab with one rated at 8 ohms you are stuck with the single cab. Edit I'm assuming that the SVT450 will not run at less than 4 ohms. Some Ampegs will. Maybe someone will correct me on that

[quote name='rainus5' post='808294' date='Apr 16 2010, 12:31 PM']Hi everyone. I'm newon this forum, and looking for some advice.... I'm currently using an Ampeg SVT450H head with a SVT410HLF cab. It's perfectly adequate for most of the smaller gigs, but now and again we play some slightly bigger places and I push it to the limits. It would be really good if I could have another cabinet which I could add-in for the bigger gigs, to move some more air... However I have no idea if this is possible as I know very little about matching up impedances, power ratings etc. The cabinet has 2 speakons, but does this mean I can add another cab? And if so, what can I add? Grateful for any advice you guys can provide. Thanks in advance....[/quote] The Speakons are in Parallel so you can connect your head to one and the other cab to the other. Assuming that your current cab is 8 ohms and the minimum load for the SVT is 4 ohms then you can add any cab providing it's 8 ohms. If you like the sound you get at the moment then add another the same. A lot of people would add a 15 under it but it won't necesarily go any lower than your 4x10 and the end result may sound considerably different to the sound you get now. Only you can decide if you like it or not

I don't know why people don't like them. Maybe it's the yellow drivers. I played a gig with two other bands a few weeks ago and we were expected to use the supplied backline which was an LM2 and STD104HF. It sounded very good to me. Really clear and punchy.

I would say that the Barefaced is by far the better of those two cabs you mention. The Mini15 is quite a good little cab with a tight punchy sound but would struggle on it's own at gig volume. I used to use one with a mini48 and it works well as one of a pair. There's an interesting review here. [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=358077&highlight=shootout"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.p...hlight=shootout[/url] I've got the Midget's big brother the Compact which is more than adequate on it's own for gigging even with quite loud bands although we don't play huge venues. I'd think the Midget would be adequate for gigging from what I've heard but I haven't used one myself.

[quote name='4 Strings' post='797720' date='Apr 6 2010, 04:25 PM']Relicing is to put lice back where they were, for example, in my barnet. If a verb is to be made from the noun shouldn't it be relicking[/quote] Yes. As in mimic and mimicking. I don't want lice in my bass

Don't let your current situation discourage you. I've gone through periods like that when nothing seemed to go right and the only other musicians I could find were crap or arseholes or just timewasters. That's the nature of the beast unfortunately. Keep checking all the sites like Partysounds and Musofinder and your local freeads. You probably will have to audition with people you don't know which can be a bit nerve racking at first but even that gets easier

I wouldn't stress about it too much. As long as it sounds good then it doesn't matter what colour the drivers are. It's a competitive business and manufacturers are always trying to cut costs, especially at the budget end of the market. If Ashdown could save 50p per driver by buying black ones instead of blue ones they would have and I would expect that somewhere it'll say the spec can change at the company's discretion.

A budget of £400 isn't going to buy much in the way of a lightweight rig and I don't think changing out the drivers is going to make an appreciable difference if the combo is over 100lbs and something that heavy is going to have a very limited resale value. I would rackmount the head and spend your budget on a lightweight cab. There's a couple of stonking neo 4x10s in the for sale section now - Epifani UL410 and a Markbass 4x10. IIRC those DBS heads were supposed to be really good sounding so definitely worth hanging on to it.

[quote name='GRAHAM SG1' post='787661' date='Mar 27 2010, 09:29 AM']Hello all you bassists out there I have just joined this site and think its very good . I have recently bought a Marshall MB 4210 and am disappointed with its volume level, I played my first band rehearsal with it last night, we are a 3 piece rock/blues covers band, the guitarist uses a 30 Watt valve amp and the drummer is nearly 60 years old, so we are not a really loud band, I had all volumes on the amp up to maximum and the amp was only about the same level as the other two, this gives me no extra headroom should I need it, for a 300 Watt amp it is not very powerful, is this right for this amp or could there be a fault with it, either way its going back for a refund and I will have to look for something more suitable . I must say that the amps actual tones are very good, its just the lack of power that bothers me . My bass is a Gibson SG faded so I dont think the guitar is lacking in power. Has anyone on here experienced a similar problem with this amp and what would you recommend I replace it with, I have thought About the Ashdown MAG 300 2x10 combo . Thanks in anticipation [/quote] I think the first thing to do would be to check that the amp is not faulty in any way. Can you take it back to the shop and compare it to another one? I haven't used that particular amp but all the reports I've seen suggest that the Marshall MB series are pretty good budget amps. If everything is Ok with it then I don't think that swapping it for another budget amp will gain you much. The MAG is probably a better combo but ultimately it is still a similar power and config to your Marshall and won't be appreciably louder. It could be that a 2x10 combo is just not man enough for your band. For more volume add more speaker area. Either a 2x10 or 1x15 extension cab. If you like the sound of the Marshall and just want more of it then get a Marshell 2x10 cab which will probably give more volume and punch than the 1x15

[quote name='mikeselfinflicted' post='787198' date='Mar 26 2010, 05:02 PM']i'm starting to think it might be a case of shi**y cabs and a bad eq not bad to my ears but in a full band situation so tweaking must commence I'm getting a Tech 21 landmark 300 in a week or so and in hopefully a month or 2 an Aguilar gs4x12 if that doesn't work i'll just disconnect a couple of their valves!!!!! just hope the tech21 sounds good thru the ashdowns till i can get the gs4x12 any opinions on the tech21??[/quote] It seems to me that you may just end up paying out a lot of money and not really gain a lot by doing this. While the Ashdown MAGs are budget cabs and not known for their mid presence the MAG600 is a decent enough head and I can't see that swapping one 600w head for another will be much of an improvement. I think yo should be looking at the speakers first What is going to get you heard against those Boogies is more pronounced mids rather than just absolute volume. The voicing of the cabs is going to be critical and the ultimate mid-hump monster is the Schroeder 1210 or 1212. I would look for one of these used. It'll cost you £300-400 and if it's no improvement you can get your money back by selling in on. They're 4 ohms so you'll get the full 575w out of your MAG. It may not be the perfect solution but it could give you some idea of the direction you need to go in. Alternatively the Barefaced Big One as already mentioned has a dedicated mid driver and properly designed crossover so will be much stronger in the mids than your Ashdowns. EDIT: Just re-read your last post and you are getting a 300watt head!! This will be a step back IMO

[quote name='mikeselfinflicted' post='785412' date='Mar 25 2010, 02:28 AM']i'm thinking of changing my whole rig to an ashdown ABM 8x10 and a AMB 500 evoIII[/quote] I've always liked the Ashdown sound in a fairly sparse mix but the way the ABM heads are voiced isn't ideal for cutting through a wall of bass heavy guitar noise and changing from 2 4x10s to an 8x10 is a sideways move.

[quote name='bumnote' post='785074' date='Mar 24 2010, 08:07 PM']While I agree with your sentiments, it will only work if we are prepared to pay the additional costs of an instrument made in the UK or the USA. We already have the situation where a CIJ fender is highly regarded in terms of value for money versus a US made fender. What about the lakland skylines, G&L tributes, and the new music man[men] range. I would like a Bob Glaub but I cant afford £2K plus for a us one, but I could probably be tempted by a skyline. Its not just instruments, how about Dyson, Hoover, Computers, Cars etc, the consumer is always going to buy on choice, quality, and price, and if we dont tick all the boxes the consumer will buy elsewhere. Im sure if we all wrote to Ashdown and said we will buy your products, pay more for them, but only if you make them in the UK, they would do it. But we both know inthe real world they will loose out on sales to competition, not enough people will pay the premium, and the market will determine the price. i remember the Im backing britain campagn in the 60s, started at colt international at Havant. Under EU law we are not even allows to do that anymore. Bah Humbug.[/quote] I wouldn't for a moment suggest that someone should buy something solely because of where it's made. I said consumers should take an interest in where it's made. All else being equal then make a decision based on country of manufacture. This isn't just about basses or amps but everything we buy. When I'm in the supermarket I buy British produce that's in season. I recently had to buy a baby bottle steriliser. There were 2 brands on the shelf. One Chinese made, one British made and they were exactly the same price. Consumers have enormous power and if they changed just 10% of their buying habits it would make a huge difference to our economy. The argument about price is a whole other subject. If getting something for the lowest price is the sole criteria for buying it then we will usually lose out to the Chinese or eastern Europeans because we can't compete on labour costs, but people will always pay up for quality or perceived quality. Your example of MIJ Fenders is an interesting one because Japan is not a low wage economy, and yet they produce a high quality product at a lower price than the USA. How many people buy BMWs at a premium price when they are not better cars than Fords. We manufacture a lot of stuff in this country, and the only way we keep doing it is by having a competitive edge whether it's quality or inovation or image. Clearly if a product is inferior or more expensive then people won't buy it. The car industry is a good example. Until the credit crunch hit we were one of the largest car producers in Europe yet our roads are full of BMWs, Renaults, Citroens and Volkwagons. The motor industry led Germany and France out of recession because Germans buy German cars and Frenchmen buy French cars yet we've got factories turning out perfectly good Hondas, Toyotas, Nissans, Vauxhalls and Jaguars that no one is buying. To say it's all a lost cause and not bother to take an interest is a self fulfilling prophecy. There is a significant trickle of offshored manufacturing coming back to the UK and that will probably increase as wage inflation happens in China and eastern Europe. There is no law against being patriotic although European law prohibits taxpayer subsidies giving a competitive advantage to industry.

Reliable guy to do business with. I didn't actually meet him but my wife said he was a very nice man

[quote name='Merton' post='782031' date='Mar 21 2010, 08:11 PM']Re. your 2nd point, no, but I sensed it coming Re. your fitst point - absolutely. But if the amp I want happens to be "Designed in the US" and "Made in China" then what choice do I have? [/quote] Fair enough, but the thought that within a generation the major economic superpower in the world will be China scares me enough that I won't buy any high value item made there.

[quote name='Merton' post='781984' date='Mar 21 2010, 07:37 PM']Doesn't matter where it was made as long as it makes the sounds you want and doesn't fall apart. Made in China/Taiwan/Thaliand/Korea/HK etc doesn't mean it'll fall apart quicker than anything "Made in the UK" - think British Leyland I use a "Made in China" bass amp with a "Made in the UK" cab and all is lovely in the world.[/quote] It matters a very great deal where it is made. The only way we will stop the slide towards having a third world economy is if consumers take an interest in where stuff is made. I don't know what the OP's reasons are for asking but he hasn't suggested that anything made in Chine/Korea etc. is crap.

[quote name='xgsjx' post='772202' date='Mar 11 2010, 10:27 PM']I think it's probably a lot easier for bands to play good rock music than it is to play funk or jazz well as a band. That's not a bad thing, just getting a good funk or jazz sound is a difficult thing to do in a pub.[/quote] You beat me to it. One of my greatest frustrations is playing with musicians who don't even understand basics like bars and beats in a bar. Trying to communicate something to our drummer who can't think much beyond basic 4/4 is like trying to teach a pig to yodel, yet he does a surprisingly good job of not too complicated rock and pop music.

I've tried to get together a band to do it many times but I just can't get the musicians around here, even just a basic drums/bass/guitar/keyboards/vocals setup. What I want to do is 1970s funk/disco like Chic, Sister Sledge, Rose Royce etc. but I've found that drummers and guitarists in particular who are up to it are virtually impossible to find. Rock and Indie is so popular because it's relatively easy to play.