Russ

If I use the high gain switch position, it gets very furry very quickly - can't turn the input gain above about 3 without it getting hairy. I'm using an active bass with pretty high output though. I'll keep experimenting. I've got the EQ controls all pretty much centred right now at around 5, but, again, I'll play with it some more and see what I can come up with. It's still early days, basically. EDIT: I dialled down the HPF a bit and dialled up the bass and mid controls, and left the shelving switches off. Kept the input on low gain, and it's much better. It is starting to shake the doors a bit now.

So I got mine yesterday. Only just had a chance to plug it in and put it through its paces. First impressions - it does sound like a Bass 400+. In that regard, job done. It's got that little bit of inherent dirt from the valve preamp, and a very similar character in terms of the overall frequency curve (a bit middy, but in a nice, smooth, detailed and slightly furry way). Here's a pic of it sitting on top of my Ashdown RM800 - you can get a good idea of its (small) size. Downsides? Sadly, it does seem to have a big one - it just doesn't seem very loud. My RM800 is louder when turned up to about 9:00 (see pic) than the Mesa is turned up to about 7 or 8. This is with it going into my Barefaced BTII (which can handle 1600W). Maybe I'm doing something wrong with it, but that could potentially be a dealbreaker - if I can turn it up to 8 in my house and not shake the doors off their hinges, then there's something not quite right here. The Ashdown is too loud for the house once it gets to about 11:00, with loads more volume to go. Which is weird, because they probably use the exact same ICEpower modules for their Class D power sections. I'll keep playing - will report back with more findings.

Gigged with Fury several times about 10 years back, but that was before Becky's time. Great band. Even had to share sleeping space upstairs from a pub in Coleford with them! Becky's a good player and a great bass ambassador, and she's brought them some valuable additional publicity.

Mine should be here on Tuesday. Gives me a few days to put it through its paces at home before taking it to rehearsal next weekend...

Harley Benton do a Brian May "tribute" guitar, which is supposed to be rather good, and better than the official models if you don't want to be dealing with all the fiddly phase switches, etc. They also do a bunch of "tribute" Strat-a-likes, includng a Hank Marvin one in Fiesta Red with gold hardware, and a Dave Gilmour one in black, with white pickups. They're all pretty cheap on Thomann too. I've not played those particular HB Strats, but I've played one of their regular ones and it's a bloody good guitar for £150. Basically, you could have a decent collection of tribute guitars for some of the UK's greatest guitarists for under £500!

When it comes to gear, especially amps, I like to be able to go with companies where I have a point person - I've been using Ashdown for so long mostly because I've known Mark and Dave for a long time, and I know that if I have any issues with anything that they've got me covered. Luckily their gear is good. Mark arranged tour support for me on a couple of occasions 20-odd years ago at no charge, and Dave has been brilliant when I've had technical questions about the gear. When I've flirted with other amps over the years, I've never felt like I had that level of support - I'm actually comfortable with the idea of using Mesa though, because we have @agedhorse here to speak to. Never underestimate the difference the personal touch can make. So thanks so much for that - you got a sale out of it!

F**k it. Broke out the credit card and ordered one. This I have to try.

My old one. It has to be said though, whomever decorated this rehearsal room in Sainsbury's colours needs to be humanely destroyed.

From my experience, they do have a noticeable seismic impact on the surrounding area. My neighbours hated me when I had the 400+ and the 1516! I just think that this head deserves a matching cab, complete with the Mesa/Boogie logo, the grid plate grille and so on, but in the Subway style - ie, lightweight and portable for people who don't have a big car and who value the integrity of their vertebrae.

Didn't click the link. This is Ellen, isn't it? She's phenomenal. I have a bit of an issue with kid YouTubers in general - it feels horribly exploitative most of the time, like their parents are trying to make bank from their kids (especially the likes of Ryan Kaji and his parents, where there's no talent or anything involved, just cute kids playing with toys). But Ellen and her dad both seem to genuinely love music - her dad's a guitarist and he jams with her in some of their videos. She's got a pretty bright future ahead of her, I think.

Mesa has a custom shop, does it not? Might it be worth having a word with them as an interested party? Personally, I just love the idea of a complete, downsized version of my late-90s/early-2000s rig that’d be a bit easier on my pentagenarian back! And Ampeg have made a mint out of downsized SVTs for years… just saying.

Temuera Morrison. Yes, I remember noticing that at the time!

Just saw this. As someone who owned a Bass 400+ back in the day (probably the best-sounding bass head I ever owned), I love the look of it and I'm looking forward to trying one out. Now, how can I persuade Mesa to make a lightweight version of the old 1516 cab? @agedhorse How about a downsized version, with 1x12”, 1x8”, 2x5” and a tweeter, with lightweight neo speakers? With the proper Mesa/Boogie badges, not the Mesa Engineering ones.

There's also the American side of 80s music - glam/hair metal, swingbeat, early rap, all that kind of thing, as well as all the stuff that was big on the eastern side of the pond. Regarding the image, yes, I agree - there was a lot of enormous hair, bad fashion and inappropriate makeup back then, and their photo spreads in the likes of Smash Hits and Look-In sold as many records as their music did. But the surviving bands from that era who are still out there playing their stuff are now the same old blokes as those who would be playing that stuff in cover bands, just with a larger costume budget. Duran Duran are all in their mid-60s now, with their audience not too far behind, and they're still selling out tours!

I must admit, despite being a hairy metal guy who's always played in originals bands, I've considered doing something similar - the 80s were my formative years, and Duran Duran, Thompson Twins, U2, Level 42, Depeche Mode, Queen, Simple Minds, Madness and Gary Numan sat happily in my record collection alongside the likes of Maiden, Motorhead, Rush, Metallica and so on. I've been watching a lot of videos of an Australian professional cover band based out of Adelaide called Hindley Street Country Club - they have a core of four or five members, bringing extra people in depending on the gig (backing vocalists, horns, etc). They do all the 80s hits from both sides of the pond, and they absolutely nail them. One of their singers does an absolutely uncanny Bowie! Their bass player looks like Lurch from the Addams Family and has a nice range of old Yamaha BBs. They absolutely nail the tunes - these aren't run-of-the-mill covers, they're note-for-note accurate, and even accurately reproduce the various keyboard and drum sounds. Something about that attention to detail and the sheer level of musicianship really appeals to me. Best of luck with the band, I hope you get it off the ground!

Nice score. Jon makes some stunning stuff, the fretless Uberhorns being probably the stunning-est.

Done.

Might an Ibanez EHB fit the bill? Full scale, fits in a guitar gig bag, weighs next to nothing. Not as cheap an option as the others, but would be useful outside of the office too!

The other part of this equation is that more and more bands are going down the ampless route these days, using modellers and IEMs. So their entire rig can fit in a gig bag and a backpack, and is therefore easy to take on public transport. Maybe not if you're a drummer, but for the rest of us? Definitely an option. I'm not a convert, personally (vocals - yes, bass - no!) but it does seem to be the way things are going, and if a fringe benefit is that it means less cars on the road, including mine, then that's a good thing. Plus not having to faff about with parking, etc is always a bonus.

If they could just replace those switches with reasonably sturdy pushbuttons (and add a mute switch) that'd be half the battle won, right there.

I think the built-in chorus and octaver are surplus to requirements. The distortion/overdrive, power amp character switching, etc - all good since they’re actual “amp” functions, but the other stuff should probably get ditched for the next revision. I doubt all that many people use them anyway. I know Ashdown heads have had the built-in octaver since forever, but I’ve never met an Ashdown user who’s actually used it!

In the last band I was in in the UK, about 9 years ago, the band’s main guy (guitarist/songwriter) didn’t drive and relied on his long-suffering girlfriend to drive him everywhere, including to gigs a long way from home! It’s not because he couldn’t, or that he had a driving ban or anything like that, he had a valid, clean licence, but he just didn’t own a car and didn’t want one. Back in the dim and distant past, I was in a band where three of us, including myself, didn’t drive, and the only one who had a vehicle (drummer, natch) had a van. We also had a semi-permanent rehearsal space where we could leave amps and other gear safely. When we had gigs, we just piled the stuff in the back of the drummer’s van and made sure to chip in for petrol money.

Gah - yes. 😂 Edited my post.

Played several over the years - a few Soundgears, an ATK and a BTB prototype. All excellent instruments, and on a different level to their production stuff. Higher quality finishes, better necks, better fretwork, vastly superior setups. Same pickups and electronics, for the most part, but occasionally they do custom stuff. It's possible to get them to build you something, but you've got to get in with their artist relations department - you don't necessarily have to be an "official" endorser with your picture on the website, but you do have to be on their radar, you've got to be willing (for the most part) to only be seen playing Ibanez gear, and you've got to pay (rather a lot). Personally, I always wanted a custom bolt-on BTB with the ATK pickups and preamp... I know Dave Swift lurks on here and chips in from time to time - he's an official Ibby artist who has worked with the custom shop on his custom 6-string BTB, maybe he could chime in?

In order to break through in the world of musical instruments, amps, etc, you need visible players using your gear - whether that's bass players in touring bands, YouTubers or whomever. And, as far as their bass gear goes, I can't say I've seen anyone using them. Marco Mendoza is probably their highest profile endorser on the bass side of things, and you still mostly see him playing through SVTs provided as backline. Although, to be fair, he was playing through the Blackstar stuff on the SatchVai tour recently. Blackstar's artist relations people are usually really good about getting gear into the hands of guitarists - both big names and grassroots ones. A good friend of mine was in an unsigned band who were bubbling under for some time and Blackstar sorted them out with free gear and promotion. Plus they provide an excellent backline service for touring bands. I've not seen any of this extended to the Unity range, which they seem to be treating the same way they treat their practice amps and lower-end guitar gear. It's sad, really - the gear sounds great, but it almost feels like they don't believe in it enough to push it hard, or to keep it updated. Also, regarding the Ashdown comparison, back in the day Trace Elliot produced some excellent guitar gear - it wasn't hugely popular, but it was very well thought of by those that owned it. And their acoustic guitar amps are still sought after today, attracting silly money on the secondhand market.