chris_b

I bought this as a 45 in the early 70's and only recently found out that Chuck is the bassist. . . one of the funkiest bass lines I've heard.

Chuck is THE man!! Check out his discography. . . . http://www.chuckrainey.jp/disc/

I'd be surprised if the head could only do 8 ohms. I think that amp will do the normal thing and go down to 4 ohms or 2 8 ohm cabs.

You've got a 1/4" jack and an old cannon output sockets. You can run 1 or 2 8 ohm cabs or 1 4 ohm cab. I'd run the 1st cab from the jack plug socket and daisy chain the 2nd cab from the 1st cab.

A brick and mortar shop will only stay in business if it is fronting a successful online shop.

The Markbass cab will sound like a Markbass cab. The BF will sound mostly like your bass and amp. The BF cab will sound like 2 Markbass cabs. If you like the Markbass sound then keep your MB cab and get a second one. IMO, as a BF player, the BF cab is a step forwards in tone and a big step up in volume.

As I said before, Fender aren't "churning" their designs because they want to, they have been forced into this in order to draw a line under their old under-performing selves and start afresh. I believe they now are lead by an ex Disney CEO who turned that brand around so they start the fight back from now. People who just want cheap basses have plenty of other options. Looks like the message is US Fenders will be competing with "better" basses. There are far fewer instruments being bought than 30 years ago so Fender has to target its market and start making products that will stand up. If they have learnt anything they will be improving the quality of their instruments. QC seemed to be one of the big complaints so get that right, add a couple of upgrades while you're at it, and they can start competing. Hopefully Fender can then step back from the brink. Of course the prices will go up, but if you get more bass for your money then that should be acceptable to enough bass players to make this work. Those who want something for nothing will have to look else where.

You've just described far too many of the non Fender players. Most of the Fender players I saw weren't "rumbling and inaudible". The guys I played with always demanded more than a "rumble" from me.

I couldn't tell what the tune was from all the screaming.

In the late 60's you could regularly see Lol Coxhill busking outside places like Harrods in Knightsbridge and in the West End. Sadly, there were very few pedestrians in the morning rush hour who were interested in unaccompanied free form jazz.

The TH500 seemed to have a more "vintage" sound. That's code for old fashioned. . . like me. Maybe that's why we got on so well!

I can understand that. Mesa does make brilliant bass gear. I try to ignore GAS. I just try to find stuff that works together then hope to forget about gear for as long as I can.

Guys, I wouldn't let me put you off buying a D800. I bought the D800 on a whim. There were such good write ups and reviews I thought it would be worth checking out. It was, but running both amps side by side at home and on gigs left me slightly preferring the more "vintage" flavour of the TH500. I don't have any negative thoughts about the D800 at all. The TH500 was an instant love affair and the honeymoon period lasted more than 4 years. I use it at home and I still gig it on occasion. Again, I bought the AG700 to check it out. I had very little idea what it sounded like before and I was pleasantly surprised when I heard it. It's like the TH500, but cleaner, slightly less "vintage", more punch, breadth of tone and more "oomph". I seem to be preferring my P bass through the TH500 and the Jazz through the AG700. The other feature that really interested my was the AG700 can run at 2.67 ohms. I've use 3 8 ohm cabs in the past (and might again) and I'm currently running 4 ohm and 8 ohm cabs together and separately. Both the TH500 and AG700 were lucky accidents. They appealed to me instantly. The D800 is equally good but just didn't hit the spot in the same way.

The PF fret board on my Sadowsky looks great.

Show me the new designs that Sadowsky and Lull make!

We've all had to put up with disinterest and apathy from our audiences. The problem is that, as performers, we should be making them look, listen and appreciate us. if we don't do that then we don't deserve to be noticed. This guy is not impressing anyone by sitting, hunched over in the street. He needs to get up and walk about. I'm impressed he's busking in a suit, shirt and tie. Did he pop out of the office for 10 mins in his lunch break for a bit of al fresco bass playing? If you want to be successful at busking you've got to be big, bold and interesting. Unfortunately, 'cos he seems like a reasonably good player, this guy is none of those.

This is exactly what the "new" Fender has to do in order to start competing. They've been complacent for far too long and were sleeping walking their way into bankruptcy. The new lines have to be better than before so they can fight back in a very reduced marketplace. They have to start impressing the guys who look at this news and think, "Yeah, so what!" I'm impressed that you have a Fender that sounds better than a Lull. That would be my go-to bass if I found one. Sadly, I bet it's not under 4kg.

1. Sell it as is. 2. Replace the EV with another driver and sell as a working cab. Include the EV. 3. Recone the EV and sell. You have to know how much these cabs (with original EV's) fetch and what a recone costs. Only then can you decide which way to go. I had a 15" EV reconed when Shuttlesound were the dealers. That was 20 years ago. I don't remember how much it cost but it didn't break the bank.

Whenever Fender comes out with a new design. . . . no one buys it. It seems they have not been managed very well and need to draw a line under the past. Expect a reissue of all their models with new names to differentiate now from before. After all the only difference between an Anderson Strat and a Lull P bass and the Fender originals is quality of manufacture, sound and playability. I'd expect the new models will be better made so that Fender is better placed to be able to compete, and start reducing that massive debt. I tried a Pro Jazz last year and I liked it. I thought it sounded better than the ASJV I had at the time. Still too heavy for my glass back but if it could shed a few pounds I'd have been tempted.

I was interested in the Subway amps and briefly owned a D800. I liked it a lot but preferred the Aguilar TH500 I was using at the time. I'm now using an Aguilar AG700 with 2 SC's for the loud gigs and I can't remember getting a better bass sound. In spite of that I would still like to hear the D800+. Just curious! My new rig for the smaller gigs is the same AG700 with a BF Two10 and One10. I sound checked the 310 and the keyboard player leaned over and said, "Well, that sounds good." You don't get many compliments from that guy so it was a great start to the gig. I was planning to compare the 12's and 10's and keep the one I preferred, but it looks like I'm going to have to keep all of them.

Exactly. We did a wedding and were totally ignored in the first set. The singer was really cross, "The audience just isn't interested!" I had to slowly explain that they were not an audience, but wedding guests and that our second set had better be more appropriate. We played covers for the rest of the gig and managed to rescue the evening.

I'll happily play private parties, weddings, corporate etc. Why not? If you're in a cover band you can make these gigs work. Other styles I'm not so sure! We have played when it was obvious that it was a bad idea from the start. Band not needed or wanted by the party guests. A square peg in a round hole is never going to have a good outcome so you have to be realistic about your suitability before you take the gig. Once when it didn't work. . . . I was in a Chicago blues band that got booked for a wedding! I didn't think we were appropriate but the brides dad insisted we were. Well, I was right. We played to an empty room and the wedding reception effectively took place in the car park!

I have an old IBM staff issue leather laptop case, from back when laptops were the size of a breeze block. Easily fits everything in.

I know a bass player getting a great sound out of a Barefaced Six10. It'll tick all your boxes and most of them twice. I'd also check out the Four10 which would be a match for most of the 610 cabs you've listed.

I find all this talk about tension rather baffling. Tight/loose/floppy I don't recognise any of these descriptions of strings. All strings feel the same to me. I play relatively lightly and play over the top of the strings. Even when I think I'm "digging in" I don't pull them so the tension, that everyone seems to talk about, doesn't seem to be important to me. I don't need a ramp to help my plucking hand. I never get my fingers that far under the strings. The action on my basses is high enough that I don't get any fret buzz and I never have a hard job fretting notes. I've had several basses set up by the Bass Gallery and I always have to raise the action when I get the bass home. Sorry. Not sure that this is going to help you much. I bonded with the sound of the Ti's immediately. If they are still being made, my next set of flats (in about 20 years time) will be another set of Ti's.