Paul S

Another one

A few days back I was the only bidder on a whole pre-Gibson Trace Elliot rig - AH300-12, 1153 and 2103H cabs - and got it for a steal at £650. It is in near immaculate condition despite being 10 yrs old. I couldn't believe it. That's the good news. The bad news is that I have to try and shift my Ashdown kit which, even though only 4 months old, I suspect I will have to take a massive loss on it. When balanced out I guess what I didn't have to pay out for the Trace Elliot gear tips the balance on what I will lose on the Ashdown but it is never nice. Buyer's market on pretty much anything at the moment.

From one mediocre bass player to another - keep at it until you find the spark. Nothing better than connecting with a band of guys and making some noise. Even mediocre noise! Ever since I moved from bedroom to ballroom I have felt like I found a small bit of me that has been missing all these years. Pin a card in music shop board?

[quote name='The Burpster' post='470147' date='Apr 22 2009, 10:42 PM']My advice FWIW is DONT RUSH! Unless you urgently need a bass for an upcoming gig then dont be rushed into the 'got to get one this weekend, money burning hole in pocket trip"..... You want to get one that you HAVE to pick up and noodle everytime you go near it rather than something that makes it feel like a chore. It sounds with your g'tar experience that you should have a fairly good sense of what you're after, so dont settle for 'its near enough' just because its in stock at your local shop. There is LOADS of really good 2ndhand stuff around at the min and thats all teh more reason for getting it right 1st time. From your quick bit in the OP, sounds to me that a Highway One would tick your boxes and they are very capable basses but it could be a Jazz or a P...... theres soooo much choice.... Welcome aboard..... [/quote] +1 on that. I was in a similar position in that I drifted from guitar to bass and had no idea how different the various basses are to play. For me it is in the neck - there is a world of difference in the way necks feel and play - width, depth, finish. I recommend going to a large music shop, try all they have hanging on the wall then buy secondhand via here (sorry large music shops). I did the first but got carried away and bought the one I liked the best new. I do still love it but could have got so much more for my dollar had I been patient. I think this is particularly the case with amps, too, not just the instruments. I was advised to try as many as I could, and not in the shop environment as it is impossible to tell at shop volume levels. I was in too much of a rush, ignored the advice and, again, bought new without trying more and different things. Just 4 months later I am looking at taking a hit of a couple of hundred pounds on the value of my amp as I have now got something several miles better and need to sell the hastily bought one. Generally speaking the guys here know tons and it is too valuable a resource to ignore. Even if it often degenerates into a bunfight over the detail...

Yes, I am chuffed to bits. To be honest it was a little out of my price range - potentially a [i]lot [/i]out of my price range. But in the end no-one else bid so I got them for £650 which I reckon for a whole new rig of that quality is a steal. Well, hopefully. I'll report back once I have put it through it's paces a bit.

Well, in a rush of blood I just won this lot on eBay (I'm sure the seller won't mind my using his pic): [attachment=24175:TErig.JPG] AH300-12 head, 1153 plus 2103h cabs, all pre-Gibson and apparently in great nick. Like buses - suddenly a load come along together. That was the easy bit. Now I need to get myself over the the other side of these isles to Wales, make sure it all works and bring it back. Assuming it exists... Wish me luck!

Someone said loud - +10 on that, when active - I can only imagine the weedy tones were from the passive version because this thing sounds huge. I did a side by side with my Fender Jaguar - the jag had a greater output on passive but, flick on the preamp and I had to turn the amp up a mark or two it up to get the same volume out of the jag. Though a better tone for my ears, mind. Something else - I moved the front strap button to the upper 'horn' instead of the centre of the back. Sits a lot better now, though there isn't a lot of space on there so wide (not that you'd need a wide one) or rigid straps would struggle to fit on.

I have a B2A, not sure what vintage, that I bought from a fellow BCer a couple of months back and can't say enough about them - fantastic little thing. Especially as I am nursing a bad back at the moment. Mine is the active 4 string model, it has a lovely skinny neck, silky smooth rosewood fretboard, you can switch active/passive although the passive has no tone control. Active you get 2 band boost/cut. It REALLY punches out a big sound for such a tiny thing and is a joy to play. Even nicer to drag round to rehearsals etc as it is as light as a feather and takes up no room at all. The tone is a bit harsh and growly - well, compared to my Fender anyway - but as a rehearsal/second bass I couldn't recommend one highly enough. There are various models - B2B is passive only, B2ADB has a detuneable E-to-D string arrangement at the bridge. There are 5 string and fretless, too.

Dusty Springfield. has anyone ever sung a song better than this? Chaka Khan - the melody still lingers on:

51, so just a youngster. Still got my own hair and teeth (but my ears are totally wrecked) [attachment=24077:me.jpg]

Thanks again for the input. I need to decide what I want to do (which i think I have) and then make the right choices after maybe being a little hasty last time. At the moment I'm thinking head + cab(s) would allow an intrinsically heavy piece of kit to become a lot more portable than a giant combo - my Ashdown 210 combo weighs in at around 35Kg I think so I may even shed a few kg by going down this route. Even if it means one more trip to and from the boot.

Well, the place we use is cheaper at £11 an hour but it is split between 5 of us. Thought of getting a brass section? A dedicated guiro player? Mind you, we are fortunate enough to normally use a place for nowt - one of our guys (selfish b@stard is on holiday for two weeks so we have to shell out!) works at a large company with their own lecture theatre that is 'bookable' out of hours, so as long as the annual marbles competition isn't running we are fine.

I believe there is also an issue about confiscation of the noise making equipment to be considered, should it get to the point of letters etc being ignored. Rehearsal studios are so cheap and annoyed neighbours so potentially troublesome I see no choices, myself. I am just glad I don't live in your road

Thanks all. Seems to be a general consensus that the older gear is the stuff to look out for. If, indeed, I decide I can't live without it. Redstriper - no idea, I am afraid, but I'll ask the guy when we go there again next week. Alexharvey - yes, I had a little peek myself - but with my eyes closed. There is a full rig on Fleabay as well... again, not that I am looking.... but, yes, I will do that exact thing next week - hire the rig again and mix and match the elements of mine with it to see if I can narrow down what gives the sound - the head or the cab. Stevie - a heavy head is fine, it's those monster cabs I worry about. Nick - that is what was so cool - the eq was flat. I think there were a couple of buttons pushed in, no idea what they did, but there was no fiddling on my part. Plugged in and Wow! Exactly how I imagined I should sound. Keep 'em coming guys! So how much is a 6 month old, gigged once Mag C210 EVO II 300 combo plus slighly older but good nick ABM 210 ext cab worth these days?.... not enough, I fear.

Hi all Due to a lower back incident this week I hired a rig from the rehearsal studios last night when we all met up for a practice. It was a Trace Elliot AH150 with a massive 15" TE cab and speaker, but one the guy made up himself (ex-TE techie, or something) Anyway, the sound blew me away (almost literally) - with the gain set low (my preferred tone) it delivered a totally limpid clear yet massively rich lower end - completely unlike my Ashdown setup (listed below somewhere - and which I was relatively happy with... until last night ) Questions - Are all Trace Elliots created equal - I've read lots about 'old' vs 'new' - does it make that much difference? Are there any particular series/models that are the gems to be sought out? Any particular head/cabinet combinations that are more compatible than others? And do they all weigh as much as small hotel? The Ashdown stuff isn't exactly lightweight but I suspect this takes the tape. Ta. Quick edit - I did a search, btw, but thought it would be less confusing for me (easily done) to have it all on one thread. Well, assuming anyone posts anything.

Ok, saw them last night in Basildon. I am not a hard core fan, never have been really, but feared that they wouldn't be worth watching without Ian Dury. How wrong can I have been, they were brilliant. Norman Watt Roy - respect! He's rather good.

I came into bass via guitar so using a pick has always been the most natural for me. I am trying to practice using fingers - especially for those slower or quieter tunes that seem to need a more muted sound. But no way can I play 16ths finger style accurately and I struggle to get the same control over what I am playing when compared to the subtleties of using a pick. Yet, anyway. Finger players always talk about how versatile a sound you can get - using the tips of your fingers, playing near the bridge or neck - whatever. I believe pick playing is just as versatile - just different. I remember when I first took up bass reading an interview with Roger Glover (pick playing bassist with Deep Purple) and was amazed to read him talking about different techniques. One example stuck - when playing 'Black Night' he paddles the low E using the fat end of the pick and with a good degree of palm muting (something much easier with pick playing, I think) to obtain a particular type of backgound noise. It works!

I keep pluggin 'em 'cos I love mine - what about a Jaguar? CIJ, same neck as a jazz, smaller body, full range of tones from active OR passive circuits.

[quote name='evilLordJuju' post='461756' date='Apr 14 2009, 01:56 AM']heres a track. Check it for funkiness [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0GMv_UMc9Y"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0GMv_UMc9Y[/url][/quote] That is phenomenal! Never heard it before. Thanks for posting the link.

[quote name='Buzz' post='460497' date='Apr 12 2009, 12:13 PM'][url="http://www.auroraproject.co.uk/"]http://www.auroraproject.co.uk/[/url] Aurora project will do them, sadly they've not been getting mentioned enough on here recently.[/quote] That's the same company as TMT - an offshoot, I think.

I'm seeing them two nights before in Basildon. Not for free, though

[url="http://www.auroraproject.co.uk/scratchplate.htm"]TMT Music[/url] list clear single ply in their site. I bought a black/white/black 3 ply from them for my black jaguar and it was fine. I suppose I could call it a Fender Panther now.