Obrienp

No. Regular in that respect.

The + 6db trick was mentioned in relation to the Bartolini and preamp on the Affirma bass. The suggestion was that you can up the gain on the preamp and drop the pickup right down to improve its tone in the mids (tend to sound a bit harsh stock setup). I have since tried this on my Affirma and it has actually improved the tone to my ears. I don’t know if this is applicable to all Ibanez active basses. The Affirma only has 2 band EQ, whereas most of the SRs and I see the EHBs have three band EQ, so possibly a different preamp. Also it is a different model Bartolini in the Affirma. I guess somebody is going to have to buy one and open it up to have a look😏.

After watching that I am going to have to eat my words. It’s still not clear if it actually has a valve in the tube circuit but it sounded pretty amazing through headphones. I feel the GAS coming on!

Great vid! Those Digbeth amps sound good as well!

Has anybody tried the four string version of this? I have been having serious GAS but the comments about the Barts are dulling my fervour a bit; also the colour options are a bit euch IMO. One part of me is saying that the Bart sound (as described) might be fine for my two bands: Dad rock and Blues but do I really want to buy another one trick pony?

Yep, you haven’t seen it up close. The picture flatters the finish on the body, which is dreadful. I used all water based, environmentally friendly products and they just come off with use and mark up really easy. Also the Obeche is really soft, so dings at the slightest knock. I think I could leave it unattended at a pub gig and be confident that it would still be on its stand when I get back from the bar!😀

Anybody tried one of the new Ibanez EHB1000S basses? The spec seems really good and you get a lot of nice fixings: strap locks, locking jack socket, etc and a gig bag. Only drawback as far as I am concerned is the my little pony colours. However, the real proof is in the playing. Anybody got one/tried one? What do you think?

My “nobody is going to pinch it” ‘51 p bass bitsa it weighs 7.5 lbs. It has a DiMarzio Will Power humbucker at the neck with a coil tap switch, a Seymour Duncan 1/4 pounder in the middle position and 4-way switching: neck & middle in series, middle solo, neck & middle in parallel, middle solo. The neck is an Allparts licensed ‘51 and the most expensive part of the build. The body is Obeche. It has through body stringing and a high mass bridge from China off eBay. Machine heads are Wilkinson. It sounds pretty good to my ears, if a little bright, which I guess is down to the Obeche body.

Are they linked companies, or is it just that they are very similar amps? I could have saved a few Bob then; the BAM is cheaper. I’m beginning to think the Gnome is a little harsh/bright but it may be something to do with my Barefaced One10s. It is certainly loud through them but sounds a bit more civilised through my Ashdown RM112 T Evo II, with the tweeter on low. I find the One10s go to cone overdrive quite quickly and it has quite harsh treble sound that can’t be equed out of the equation. However, possibly unfair comparison: 8ohm 1 x 12” cab at 100 watts max, against 2 x 8 ohm 10” cabs = 4 ohms and therefore 200 watts max potential.

True. I’ve got spoilt by solid state amps that weigh 3-4 kg, or less. I can’t remember how much my Sound City 120 weighed. It didn’t bother me when I was young. I guess the SVT 300 Classic puts it in perspective: 80 lbs, that’s a bit over 36 kg and 2 foot wide!

hmm. I take the point that just putting a valve in the preamp doesn't necessarily guarantee a valve amp sound. All the reviews I have read of the Markbass Tube say it seems to make no difference at all. However, it works pretty well on my old Vox guitar amp and I hear good things about the Orange Terror, whereas some of the "tube" amp emulations on my Positive Grid Spark are horrible. Maybe I need to put my prejudice against emulation to one side but I'll wait until somebody puts up a positive review before I am fully convinced. If Laney have got it right, they are onto a winning formula with the amps IMO.

This really caught my interest. I was hoping it was another affordable British made hybrid amp to consider. However, I am sure Fenn says that the “tube” circuit is actually emulation, rather than real tube(s). Disappointing. Like others have said, I want more than grit/distortion. I love the clean sound you can get from a valve amp. I have yet to hear tube emulation that does a clean warm valve sound convincingly. Shame: with the choice of FET and “tube” channels, plus the ability to blend them, it would be a real winner… if it really was a tube channel. i checked the spec on the Laney website but it is pretty vague. Normally manufacturers list what valves they use. I assume the absence of this information confirms that there aren’t any actual valves involved. All that weight (7KG) and no valves?

I think you might have a point. I love the tones that it can produce but I am going to have to accept that it is only suitable for rehearsals and small gigs. I think I am going to have to stick to my TCE BH 550, or shell out for an affordable hybrid but which one?

Hi Folks, I thought I would give an update on this, now that I have the advice from you all and Ashdown. I got a stereo to twin TS jack cable as advised and tried it out running my Little Stubby into an Ashdown RM 112 Evo II and the balanced output into a Warwick Gnome (with EQ set to unity) powering 2 X Barefaced One10s. Well it worked after a fashion. The problem is the line output from the Little Stubby varies depending on the setting on the amp, so I have to adjust the input gain on the slave amp every time I change the settings on the Little Stubby: e.g. put on more drive, increase the bass, etc. It is also quite noisy, even with the correct phase TS jack. I think part of the problem is that I am running the line output into an amp with a preamp. I can't see this being a very practical gigging rig because of the need to change settings on the slave amp every time I tweak the main amp. I think I need something more plug and play. I am now considering buying a cheap PA power amp, something like a Behringer NX1000 and using that as the slave, at least it would remove the extra pre-amp from the mix. Bridged it would give a reasonable power boost to my rig for those bigger/outside gigs, or am I just chasing something I will never be satisfied with? Would I be better off accepting that I need a more powerful bass amp for the bigger gigs and leave the Little Stubby at home? The trouble is I am now hooked on the valve sound and I am not sure my TCE 550 is going to give me what I want. I don't want the weight cost and size of a bigger valve amp: are hybrid valve/solid state amps going to give me the kind of tones the Little Stubby provides: something like an Orange Little Terror 500? What do you folks think?

In case anybody is interested, I ran this question by Ashdown technical support and got this answer: ”To work a slave amplifier, use a stereo to twin mono jack lead , plug the sterio jack into the di out and use either of the mono outputs into the slave amp. Note that one will be out of phase and one in phase, use the one that gives the best results. “ It is pretty much what some of you have said already but I guess we can call it the definitive answer, as far as the Little Stubby is concerned. Thanks to everybody who has advised and commented on this.

Thanks. Useful to know.

OK. In the case of the Ashdown Little Stubby the balanced out requires a TRS jack (no XLR out), so would that require a cable with TRS one end wired unbalanced and TS 1/4” the other?

It would be another compact cab matched to the second amp. Probably a 12” like the lightweight Ashdown with the white speaker. Now I have spent out on the Little Stubby, I cant afford a Barefaced, or GR 12” but there seem to be quite a few Ashdown 12s on the second hand market.

Just thought, even though my other heads don’t have effects loops, I could still use this basic idea. Just connect a pedal into the effects loop on the Stubby that has wet and dry out. Send the wet back to the Little Stubby and send the dry to the input of the other amp. In fact, I guess the pedal could just be a splitter box. Then all I have to do is make sure the total volume doesn’t drown the drums.

Thanks to you all for the suggestions and advice. Better PA maybe the way to go:;well at least a sub.

Hmm. true that. Maybe I better just get a sub but they are all so big and heavy. Food for thought. Thanks.

Have you done it with a Little Stubby, or other Ashdown valve head? The manual says you “MUST” connect a TRS cable.

It is going into 2 Barefaced One10s, which are pretty loud. Much as I would love to go into a 4x10, or 4x12, I have reached the age where light weight and general portability are key. I think as a combo the Little Stubby and One10s will be loud enough for small indoor pub gigs but probably not for large halls, or outdoors.