chris_b

Put "gospel bass" into You Tube and you get every bass from Wyn and Smith to Fender and Yamaha, and that's just the first page. If you want to play gospel, it's a style, but if you want a great new bass with a good pre amp. . . . Where do you start? Fender, Sadowsky, Dingwall?

. . . . then there's all those Country and Western songs like Wayne Carter's My Best Friend Ran Off With My Wife (And I Sure Do Miss Him). etc etc.

How do you know from looking at a couple of pictures which bits are the same and which are different?

[quote name='girya32' timestamp='1491319839' post='3272086'] Quick question, [font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]I was looking at an [/font][color=#323232][font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Ashdown MAG 115 Deep cab spec, and it says it cuts off at 2kHz[/font][/color] [color=#323232][font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Why so low ? Is it all down to the driver or is there some other filter circuitry added ? [/font][/color] [/quote] What is the problem?

Sad news.

"Minimum viable wattage. . . . ?" How long is a piece of string? I usually don't work with FOH so "minimum" is what it takes to fill the room with some left over.

No one's heard the AG700 yet, but if it's anything like the AG500 it's very clean and punchy, the opposite of the vintage like, TH500. I have a TH500 and am waiting for reviews of the AG700 to arrive from the US.

Buy a good sound with your ears not your eyes.

So far I've had an Ampeg 410HE, an Epifani UL410-1 and a Bergantino AE410. I'd say that is also my order of preference about 410's. If you can't get a good 410 get 2 210's. I've had the Ampeg 210 Classic and 2 Bergantino AE210's. Again the Bergs were the best. If you don't gig then there is no need to upgrade your current combo. If you really have to get a better sound at home you don't have to get a big cab to get a great sound. There is a Bergantino 210 in the classifieds that would knock the spots of most others out there and any Barefaced 112 cab will also do a fantastic job.

If you've just bought a brand new 5 year old bass and don't feel comfortable with that then take it back. I think it's reasonable to expect that a new bass isn't [i]that[/i] old. I would buy a bass based on it's spec and condition. For me the age is only a consideration in conjunction with these criteria.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1491205731' post='3271119'] So in short, if you aren't looking at ditching your rig, you aren't doing it right. [/quote] I'm in several bands and do plenty of deps. The [i]only[/i] way to make this work is to bring my own sound reinforcement. I'm doing it just right thanks.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1491159341' post='3270936'] Not active though, [/quote] True, but the best sounding bass I have is my passive PJ5 so pre amps aren't the only way to get a great sound. On the other hand a great bass and a pre amp upgrade could be a winning combination.

If I might suggest a Fender American Standard Jazz V [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/303149-fender-american-standard-jazz-v-5-string-passive-jazz/page__fromsearch__1"]http://basschat.co.u...__fromsearch__1[/url]

I guess it's like telling the guitarist what guitar he's going to play or you that you can only play this or that bass. Your sound, in your space, in your "office" and your choice. I'd want that to stay pretty constant no matter where I was playing. I've played without back line, through fold back, in an acoustic duo, on a festival stage, with the full professional sound crew in attendance. Not sure I'd like monitors only with a drummer belting it out right next to me and no sound crew. Also, not lugging 3 amps doesn't seem like a life changer to me.

Retail is very slow and not in a good place these days. At least it's a good bass.

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1491042376' post='3270042'] Eric Clapton is not looking to well. [/quote] I saw him looking worse several times when he was in his 20's!!

If your rig isn't cutting through in this band you have 4 options. Get a better rig, get the guitarists to turn down and/or change their tone or leave. Assuming you don't want to quit the band, I'd concentrate on what you can easily fix. You need a bigger and better rig. If the guitarists are in your frequency range you don't want to smother them with volume and bass (or they'll be telling you to turn down and the band will sound even worse), but you do need to get a cleaner and more defined sound so you can cut through their racket and be heard in spite of them. Your amp isn't powerful enough, get a clean 500 watt amp. GK, Genzler, TH500 (there are others but you need a clean sounding amp. Tubes are not the answer here) should all be loud enough and sound better than your current amp. You need good quality, punchy cabs. I'd go for 2 112's or 2 210's. The only 15 I'd go for is the Gen 1 Barefaced Compact in the classifieds, which is a powerful and punchy cab that would do what you need. I would be aiming for 2 cabs though. Do you use pedals? I'd start by leaving them out of the equation to begin with. Get a good basic sound first and add stuff like pedals later. Oh, and get some ear plugs.

Sounds like the drummer is bored with what he is playing. Or maybe he's just bored with you guys all playing the same lines in the same songs. Do you ever swap the set around? Get him to change his drum patterns. Work on some better arrangements. Add a few better songs. You don't need to throw the baby out. . . etc, just liven up what you already do.

I'd say Flats are good for a Blues/Rock trio.That's what I use on my PJ5. I have 4 Jazz basses, 2 are strung with DR's and the other 2 are strung with Dunlop Super Brights. IME DR's are the best for tone and longevity. The initial outlay might be more but they sound better for longer so, in use, they aren't as expensive as at first glance. I used to make a set last for about 10 months.

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1490861379' post='3268524'] In my experience, guitarists and singers are often the "difficult" band members. [/quote] . . . . and band leaders. I'm suffering from 2 band leading, singing, guitarists at the moment!!

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1490861379' post='3268524'] Another important consideration is keeping the drummer awake at rehearsals. While keys player, guitarist and bassist discuss the finer points of extended jazz chords and which key to do the song in, the drummer gets bored and starts checking their phone. [/quote] My definition of a rehearsal is that everyone arrives knowing their parts and you put all the pieces together in a band context. Things might have to be changed and honed, but working out the chords, inversions and arrangements should have already been done. You don't need to do any of that at full volume.

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1490810287' post='3268278'] The only problem is, he is in about 5 bands and sometimes we have to use a dep and that`s when the problems start.... [/quote] It's for you to sort out if you're being sent dodgy deps. Either find your own or insist on dep approval before he can back out of your gig.

I bought a bass from a guy off Talkbass. Then found out he lived in Denmark. It was a good sale and no customs were involved. Which was a bonus. Talkbass has a trading feedback system so you can check people out before you do any deals.

[quote name='funkle' timestamp='1490784373' post='3267903'] And my experience of custom basses is that if your requirements change, you take a massive bath on them. I'm not interested in custom. [/quote] That's also why I'm unlikely to ever order a custom bass. My solution to your problem is to have fewer red lines and more flexible goals. The bass is only the platform. What you do after is the important part. Anyway, sounds like you've homed in on G&L. They're good basses. I'd find a good used one and try it for a few months.

Put Nordstrand pickups in a StingRay or get ACG to make a bass for you.