GremlinAndy

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='133986' date='Feb 4 2008, 11:19 PM']Ouch. You got ripped.[/quote] So it would seem. I gather that I can get them £50 cheaper now that they're more readily available. I guess that *might* have affected my review, but when you consider that a functioning alternative can be bought for less than £5... Nah I'll leave the quote about price as it is. (Availability at the time I bought mine was very low so even if I'd known they were going to rip me for £50 I might still have gone for it) I'm reminded of a *joke/proverb/whatever* from my childhood. ...A woman goes into a greengrocers and asks for half a dozen bananas. The greengrocer says "that'll be £1". The woman is outraged. "[i]a pound?!!![/i] at the greengrocers across the road they're only 70p!". "Why don't you buy your bananas there then?" asks the greengrocer. "Because they don't have any" she says, slightly annoyed... To which he replies "Well, when [b]I[/b] don't have any in, mine are ony 50p!" ...and that's the thing about prices. Andy

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='113552' date='Jan 4 2008, 02:36 PM']It's interesting to read GremlinAndy's review above. Give the fact that I paid roughly the same as what a DTR2000 would cost me, I wonder if his overall review figure would change...[/quote] Sorry for the delayed response guys. I think it's a much better unit than the Korg but I didn't realise the prices were so close. (??? someone above says they're close right? though I can't find evidence of that myself) I bought mine from Thomman, and I know I paid a LOT more for it than the korg. When I gave it a low mark for price I was also including the comparison with the real *budget* tuners you can get. I mean many bits of kit come with them built in for *free* now. (Like the Tascam CD bass trainer and the MP3 bass trainer too. And the Pod Pro...) That takes my tuner count to 5 including the Peterson. So it is with that in mind that I'll maintain my comment that they are an expensive piece of gear, and very few people need one of these, when a £15 clip on one will (kinda) do the job. Besides... what is the value of reviews where everything gets a 10/10 score. People need to know what the down side of kit is. And on this, it's the price and only the price. EDIT: Here we go... Thomman Prices: PETERSON STROBORACK VIRTUAL STROBE RACK [b]286.83[/b]GBP KORG DTR-2000 BL [b]178.06[/b]GBP HARLEY BENTON GT6/200 [b]3.55[/b]GBP

Feel free to voice your deepest heartfelt thoughts on me as a buyer or seller...

I just bought one of Johns precious Warwicks! I can't praise him highly enough. A very friendly person (No sooner had I stepped through the door than the kettle was on!) and enthusiastic about his basses. I was so impressed that I'm buying another one of his basses, and you can't give a higher accolade than to do repeat-business with a seller. Thanks for everything John. I wholeheartedly recommend John as a seller. 10/10 GremlinAndy (Andy Ritson)

I sold an SWR cab to Bernmeister. Good guy. Deal went well, and I can recommend him.

You know, it's really odd, but I feel like I 'discovered' something very special... And the irony is that the DB680 has been 'hiding' in plain view, camoflaged only by the amount of other pre's in the market. It's obviously been in circulation a long time, and every review raves about it. (But don't reviewers nearly always rave about their purchases? Even the low end stuff pleases people who can only afford the entry level stuff. How are we to find a jewel amongst so many favourable reviews?) Well, I'm saying that I've tried most of them out there, and the aggie is *noticably* superior to the nearest other. The other thing which obviously keeps it from 'mass appeal' is it's price, which will obviously make it beyond the reach of many. However, if anyone is reading this thread and is still unconvinced... PLEASE, actually try this pre! (if you possibly can) It may be highly priced, but really, it's all the sound you'll *ever* want. Right now I'm convinced that I couldn't better it. SMART: I too would have made an offer on that 728 so, please, keep me posted if it comes available. (This was my thread initially, curse you joegarcia!) GremlinAndy

I'm just going to say a few words here guys. Because this is info some of you may have been keeping quiet. [i][b]"If you can possibly try an Aggie DB680, then you should."[/b][/i] I bought one fairly recently, and it was like an epiphany! I have always prided myself on having a good sound. But after hearing my sound through this pre I realised that I've been missing my best possible sound by quite a margin. Now it's not like I don't have experience of other pre's... I currently own: A Bass pod Pro XT, an Alembic F1-X, A Hughes and Kettner "Fortress", Trace Elliot MP11, GP12, GP11 MK5, Sans Amp, and a couple of other not worth mentioning. Plus A lexicon MPX G2 which has a great pre in it's own right. Some have a tube upfront, some are just SS, but NONE of them have the sweet tones of the 680. You might, like me, have read some reviews, and while people rave about the 680, it's true to say that the owners of many other pre's rave about thiers too. Well I would have to say, PLEASE try this out for yourself and make a call yourself, if you can possibly get access. The Aggie makes your sound more tonally pleasing than ever before, it makes the high notes more balanced with the lows, (bye bye reedy thin highs, hello fat fullsome singing highs.) Yet the lows ring with a bell like quality ...and "sympathetic frequencies" (I'm searching for the correct phrase here, forgive me), previously unheard, come to the fore and add to the richness of the sound... It's a MARKED difference. You'll even find that the drummer notices (sorry drummers that was a cheap shot. But *actually* true) that the bass guitar is more pronounced, but not overpowering. If anything it sits in the mix much easier. The difference is very musical. I've had mine for a while now, but I've resisted actually raving about it, because I wanted to get me a second one before I potentially increased the competition on them. However I ordered my *spare* one today and it's on it's way. A mark of how impressed I am with this pre is the very fact that I *NEEDED* to secure a second one in case my first one ever fails. And with a retail of nearly £1000 that's not an easy call. ...but that does maybe tell you just how good this thing is. [b]Pro's: [/b]the best sound bar none! Nuff' said! [b]Cons: [/b]If you want a dirty filthy overdriven sound, then I have to warn you... Thats the only sound the 680 can't accomplish (actually, hardly at all) You should look elsewhere for that particular sound. And the price... The 680 cost me double my second most expensive pre, but honestly, it's worth every penny if you can afford it. Andy

Yep I agree 100% ...they're quite ugly. And the low response is very dissapointing. I thought he might do a 2x15 in the same compact fashion as a 1210 very minimal sized and with uber lows. but no...

Yeah mate you may well be right. I've been gassing for tubes since I bought an Aguilar DB680 just before Xmas, ...because the sonic difference between the Aggie and all my previous pre's made me think that my lifetime reliance on SS, (or ss with single tube assistance) might have been a terrible mistake... I fairness the sound I'm producing right now with the Aggie and Powersoft makes me nearly do a sex wee... So you see, it's not that I'm unhappy, but my recent purchace made me wonder if there's *even more* I've been missing... My first thought was, not towards selling my Powersoft, but certainly *trying* a tube power section instead. ...However looking around reveals that there's really not much by way of choice out there, unless I'm missing something.

Dave: Heh heh Cheers buddy. I thought as much... I was considering moving away from the incredibly convenient Digam 3002 amp I'm using, in favour of tubes, and just began dreaming of some kind of utopian solution... I think it would have to be based on Dr Who technology though... ah well, it shall remain the stuff of whimsy then. Lee-Man: yeah I thought as much...

I've been considering trying to get hold of not just one, but two aggie DB 728's. The main offputting thing for me would be the sheer weight. (of course, that's if you ignore the unavailablity...) So my thoughts got to ticking over, and I was wondering what the possibility of 2 all tube power-amps of "max" power output (jeez I dunno what that means. 400 each? more? ...discuss!) in one rack mount box might be. Wouldn't have to be bridgeable... would it fit in a 3u rack? (or is that just funny?) and ideally it wouldn't need a forklift to move it... (oxymoron?) Yes that's right I want the moon on a stick. And the stick should be *another* moon. ...And each moon should be Suns. It would be interesting to me to know if this would be feasable, cost effective/prohibitive? It's just a thought process atm, but who knows... maybe it would be in demand in numbers as high as in excess of [i]almost[/i] one. (me) Mind you I'm drinking vodka.... Andy

I had one of these back in the 80's. So insignificant was it's impact on me that I don't even recall what happened to it. I don't have it now, or for a long time ...so I can only conclude I gave it to some poor soul, who probably also can't recall where it went... Don't waste your money buying this pile of worthless crapola.

My [i]Peterson Stroborack [/i]arrived a couple of weeks ago. Well what can I say. It's fast, accurate and does a whole load of "[i]sweeteners[/i]" and the like, which are a bit beyond my needs, and is much more accurate yet stable/usable. It also has a neat programmable scrolling message function, which has no reason to exist on a tuner, other than it's a cool effect. It's *the* most fantastic piece of kit, but [u]very[/u] expensive, so unless you have money to burn, I'd stick with my previous rack tuner, the Korg dtr2000 which I keep in my studio rack now. Overview: Looks: 9/10 Build Quality: 9/10 Ease of use: 10/10 (basic use) 5/10 (extended use) Price/Value for money: 5/10 (so expensive and just does the same job as a *much* cheaper unit) Overall: 7/10 (low [b]only[/b] because of price) Andy

I can also vouch for the Tascam BT Mkii It's the most empowering purchase you can imagine, because A: It's small and portable, B: Sounds great C: Inaudible to neighbors, D: has effects built in. (not recording quality but good enough for the purpose) E: I'm sure there's an "E" but I ran out of steam. I love mine and wouldn't like to be without it. I think the MP3 one would be handier, but wasn't available when I bought mine. So I would suggest the MP3 one. Nuff said. Andy