Quilly

Rickenbackers might be pretty to look at and sound great but they’re a pain in the bum to set up (terrible bridge design and nonsensical double truss rod) and they hum like hell. Unless you’re going for the 4004 ones .

I was hugely impressed with the mex player p bass I bought this year . I think the price point is about right and the quality is great for the money. A great sounding no nonsense p bass. If I’m going to play the £1k + I’d be looking elsewhere, like a used sandberg, Mayones, sadowsky, MM etc. I just couldn’t pay that for a fender.

I read this thread last week and I was considering this modification or selling the amp as I always had to use an eq pedal to counteract the sometimes muddy sound from this amp . However the lack of a local amp tech made me relook at the amp as-is. I think I found a good workaround (well it worked a charm today). All the buttons switched on . The biggest impact was using the high input (intended for active basses). I think it gave me a very clean sound and I had much more control over the gain. I was playing a precision bass, fender player , stock everything and using a Schroeder 2x15 cab. I had the amp up for sale but I’m glad I took the time to get to grips with the settings , sounds great now.

A terror bass and a barefaced cab would tear the paint off the ceiling .

I got rid of mine because it was stupid heavy, I was afraid things might go wrong and an amp tech wouldn’t go near it. I’ve heard some issues with them regarding the self bias thing , but in general I think most people were happy with them.

Like an impedance mismatch (too low an impedance?

Hi Steve if you play metal and punk you won’t do much better than your orange terror bass, I had one of the early models and it died on me a few times , I think there was a design flaw with the first model. I’d go for the mk2 for that money I think they ironed out all the potential issue. To get an all tube head as loud as an orange terror bass you’re looking at an SVT . I don’t think a 100w valve head will get you there . That’s just my tuppence worth

A good few years ago I had a Bugera BVV3000, basically a 300w SVT clone, it sounded great and was thunderously loud, was very cheap as I recall . I’m not sure what happened to these in the wild and whether they’re still around, But I couldn’t fault the amp at all …apart from being an obviously cheesy knock-off

If you see a Carlsbro 100 top around grab one. They’re usually cheap and sound great with bass.

They are loud but it’s still just 100w. the eq is practically non existent, so if don’t like the tone you’re kinda stuck. There are mods that can be done but I’m happy enough with it as is.

https://www.essemusic.it/en/used/bass-heads/peavey-tour-vb-2-head-made-in-usa-/ supposed to be decent heads .

Hi Steve there’s a Peavey 225w head on reverb for €650, in fact I saw the same one for €590 on the actual shop site

The last gig I played I traveled in guitarists Nissan note, a compact hatchback with 2 basses , 2 electric guitars an Ashdown Head, a 210, a guitar combo , an acoustic, a power amp , 2 effects racks and various leads , guitar stands etc, with no issue at all and the front seats as normal . Just don’t bring flight cases . A decent gigbag should do ,just be careful, put the guitars in last.

It’s a thing to consider when buying a cab. I really do think 2x10 is the best all round cab in a squeeze where “fitability” in an average car boot is definitely a factor. Not every 1x15 will fit in a boot.

I had a moment of madness and put one of my valve amps up for sale over the weekend, luckily I had a change of heart 🥵

I actually considered an estate , simply so I could buy an 810 😂

I've a Vauxhall Insignia, heaps of room.

The thing about these valve amps is that they can all have little nuances and the only way to really know your amp is to experiment and see what works . It took me ages to get to grips with my Ashdown CTM100

If you want a clean sound turn the gain down and turn up the volume , that’ll drive the power valves more. if you want the sound to have a crunch at lower volumes keep the master low and crank the gain. You have more control over the bass/mid/treble with the gain control. The volume knob just turns up and down the power valve output . You can actually just use the power values by plugging into the effects loop return . It sounds pretty flat

Do you still have it ?

I think If I already didnt have 2 valve heads i'd snap this one up in a heartbeat. They get great reviews and contain a whopping 6 x EL34 power valves (I love the sound of these valves). Not the prettiest amp in the world and I dont like the look of that Tolex. I think if I bought it id get a new sleeve made for it. But €650 for a 225W all valve amp is hard to pass up. https://reverb.com/item/43320658-peavey-tour-vb-2-head-made-in-usa

I would have done the same, the only thing is these valve amps sound best when pushed a bit. I played a gig last week with a 30w head and it was pretty much maxed out on the edge of distorting and it sounded fantastic. Ditto with my 100w amp, it’s usually a bit beyond noon where it sings . I don’t think you’re gonna get that “verge” sound form a CTM300 without breaking windows 😆, or at least annoying your band mates. But what a 300w valve head will give you is oceans of deep deep clean warm bass .

These big 300+ W valve monsters are great and all but really they were designed in a time when the rig on stage was intended to be the source of bass for the whole concert. I can’t imagine lugging around 35-40kg of an amp to casual pub gigs . People do and more luck to them . For me 100w and a decent cab is plenty. that’s not to say I never came close to buying one on more that one occasion 😂😂