Beedster

Just reread that and remembered why I sold - and then bought another - SVT-II. The answer to 'what comes close' in my experience is nothing, seriously, not even the SVT-VR and the rest of the Ampeg large tube amps range. I'm no tech so can't tell you why this is, but I can say that having sold my first SVT-II, and realising my mistake, I owned two SVT (US re-issues) before realising that none can do what this amp can do. I've also owned pretty much every large amp Mesa have made - 400+, Prodigy, Titan, M-Pulse, Big Block 750 and Buster, as well as a Aggie DB-750, some pretty nice pre-amp power amp combinations, including an Aggie DB-659 with an SVT-300 power amp (which got close), but nothing among that list makes me feel what the SVT-II makes me feel. And music for me is all about feeling, I'm not a great bass player by any means, but I love how I feel when I play bass on my own or with the band, and a huge part of that feeling for me is the tone, and the sheer psychoacoustic pleasure I get from this is irreplaceable. So for me, the SVT is an emotion machine, something that I can't quantify in mechanistic terms, but something that adds a huge amount of what is important to me into my experience of playing the bass. If I ever get to the point at which my back is too weak to carry it, I'd happily spend the £300 or so required to get a very high quality rack/trolley case for it, and if it meant a two person carry onto the stage, so be it. I use it even at small gigs, not because I need it, but because I like it (and unlike some tube amps it does quiet pretty well). In short, keep it, don't let GAS and various other ideas get to you. You'll regret it instantly if you sell it, and given these are getting harder and harder to find each year, that regret could last a while.

I use an SVT-2 with a BF Super Twin and not only is the sound surreal but the portability of the latter compensates for the weight of the former

Don’t then

Nothing can replace an SVT-2, sorry. The PF-50 is great, but it’s a very small piece of chalk next to a very large piece of cheese by comparison

Agreed. I went through a phase of playing 5ers and pretty quickly realised that the B was simply a versatile if expensive thrumb rest. On that basis, I'd quite like an old Ric 5er. IIRC there were issues with string spacing and PUPs also, I might be wrong but did they pretty much put 5 strings on what was to all intents the existing 4 string instrument?

And the extraordinary rarity. And as I understand it from TB, the crapness of of the B?

If there's humans involved, no matter how well trained or skilled they are, and no matter how critical the task, there will at some stage be human error

First concert - Def Leppard supporting April Wine, Watersmeet Rickmansworth, 1980 Last concert - Old Crow Medicine Show, Roundhouse Camden, 2018 Best concert - Old Crow Medicine Show, Roundhouse Camden, 2018 Worst concert - Ray Davies, Hop Farm, 2010 (I think, supporting Bob Dylan) Loudest concert - Iron Maiden, Hammersmith Odeon, 1980 (regained hearing in about 1983) Seen the most - Iron Maiden (albeit around 40 years ago!!!) Most surprising - Iggy Pop Hammersmith Palais Next concert - Not known. Wish I would have seen - Zep at Knebworth 1978

Frets can mess with your sense of tuning, especially on 6-string guitar, but also occasionally on bass

Ah, Bootsy singing 'Do You Love Me?'

Rics are so not the instrument that so many players appear to think they are, i.e., an anachronistic throwback to a bygone era in terms of tone, playability, build quality and aesthetics (although I recognise that the third can be a problem - although arguably no worse than some other brands - and the fourth is a matter of taste). I always find it amazing how many people who slag them off, whilst basing their entire rhetoric on their experience of five minutes playing a badly set-up instrument through a Carlsbro combo in a shop in 1982, or simply on what they've read on forums. As Nick is finding out, Rics are f*****g awesome basses, that really do fill a gap between some of the more commonly used basses. In fact, I'm really not sure why I don't have one at present

These things go up and down

Can’t see he’s going to be much use at gigs if four hours overtime is a regular occurrence Andy?

‘He will never fit four pedals again because it was such a pain in the a**e’ Brilliant She seems philosophical, at least it’s a contemporary instrument that could be made again, I’m quite surprised how low cost a top GP is to be honest

That made my day Jack

Humble and reliable are 90% of professional

That’s another candidate who’s not made it through in my book mate

Nice job

Yep

I kinda hope he is