Jack

Hello, I'm tempted by the Ashdown ABM 500 EVO IV head (despite being largely ampless, a new situation has come up!) but it doesn't have a rear input. Why do so many companies do this? It's acceptable(ish) on micros that aren't usually mounted in a rack and the ears are kind of extras, but this is a purely rackmount-only head that you can't really use in a rack due to it's design.... Anyway, has anyone had a peek inside? Do you think a tech would be able to rewire the 'line input' on the back that I wouldn't use so that it replaces the input jack in the circuit? I know that this would be trvial on a hand-wired, point to point head but it may be impossible if the jacks are directly mounted on the PCB. Any thoughts, experiences, or even gut shots of ABM IV amps would be appreciated!! Thanks, Jack

Generally the DIs on amps are slightly inferior to the standalone ones. Thankfully it's not a big enough difference to matter most of the time.

If you like the pa sound, then what about something like a QSC K12.2? Makes more sense to take your own wedge than an extra amp if you like the ampless sound. For a more traditional combo there's always the effervescent Markbass stuff. I'm not the biggest fan of the sound myself but that's a personal thing and those little 12" combos do kind of have the 'amp as stage monitor only' thing nailed. Tiny and light.

You can use a Powersoft K20 and your favorite dubstep track to find the limit quite easily. Once.

To put it simply, the 'sound' of tube amps is essentially harmonic distortion and some natural compression yes, but the 'magic' of tube amps is the way in which those factors interact with each other and the player. According to Wikipedia, Linkin Park and The Who have both sold ~100 million records.

To specifically answer the OP's question: compressors as a separate device became more popular with the advent of good solid state amps that slowly started to replace tube amps and their natural compression. Many of the early SS greats like Trace and SWR included compressors in the amp for this very reason and for everyone else there were pedals.

Mids, overdrive, compression, chorus. All of that can help if the technique and the mix is right. If they're wrong then nothing will help IME.

Whether it's on your board or in your amp or neither, there's a good bet the soundman has you compressed at the desk. My gigging experience only goes back 15 years as I'm just a wee bairn but it's been like that at every gig I've played.

There's also the GK plex.

Well would you look at that, so there are. I mean it makes sense, some sort of backup would be needed in case the in ears failed so I suspected there would have been something somewhere.

I saw Metallica at the O2 in October. There were no amps or anything on stage just Lars' drums, 4 men and about 8 vocal microphones. Not once did any of us miss seeing or indeed hearing amps on stage, we were too busy headbanging and watching the drones. In fact, I think it was the highest capacity crowd at the O2 ever. As they were in the round they could fit more people in the standing area than is usual at that venue. Killing rock n roll.

i) That's frequency response by a given definition of 'response'. For an in depth answer feel free to goggle something like 'bass cab -3dB' or something. But they'll be fine. ii) Meh, some people think so, Dave Rat for one. Most people don't bother though. If your band played a big outdoor festival tomorrow you'd use your current rig with a mic to FOH and the PA speakers would be reproducing all of that stuff anyway. iii) Can't comment. I've used and heard them both but as supplied PA, I've never moved either. Sometimes (I have no idea if it's true in this case) something heavy may be easier to carry than something lighter if it's got better handle placement, lower centre of gravity, better dimensions for doorways, etc etc iv) ALWAYS. These days there's no compromise. Even the cheap Altos that my band use are DSP crossed over, limited, frequency-corrected, blah blah blah. Tiny class D amps and good reliable microchips (driven by mobile phones and smart toasters and stuff I imagine) have meant that you can have what would have taken many racks and many thousands of pounds (weight and money) in a cheap PA cab these days.

Sometimes. The main board has a GK Plec which has an amp sim but no cab sim as of yet. Bob Gallien promises that one is coming though. The other board uses a MS60b to model amps and cabs, usually a B15 in that band so that has a cab sim.

Me too, which is why I eventually sold the Kemper, gave the Helix back to its rightful owner and built another board. It still goes to FOH though and not an amp.

I ended up with FR800s for my FRFR cabs to go with my Kemper. I would have picked the RCF/QSC etc for pure PA duties, but (after trying lots of the high end stuff) decided the Barefaceds had better lows and a nicer form factor for bass use which was my main use. They do make cracking PA cabs, but not what I'd choose if I was buying a PA first and a bass cab second.

It makes loads of difference! You don't have to carry an amp for one, the stage is quieter for two and you get to hear exactly (well, as close as possible) how your bass sounds in FOH. Subjectively, I find that it's a lot more consistent for me now, I spend less time fighting boomy rooms or awkward resonances.

I do that a lot. Not on here but on Ebay and Gumtree. I've just learned that people will haggle regardless so you might as well set your asking price higher. They get to feel like they've 'got a good deal' and you've still got what you were after, often more. Besides if I advertise on here I know it will go to a good buyer and I won't get time wasters. On Gumtree I have to budget for the fact that I'm going to have a different tyre-kicker over every night for the next month trying it out and not buying it.

I quite like it from the nut down. The headstock is odd though. Not that it's overly bad, it's just that the angular head doesn't match the curvy body. Actually, I met someone like that once....

Totally the way to go these days. I'm GK Plex>Barefaced FR800 myself but it's all different flavours of good. I love having my sound from the board and then it doesn't matter whether it's the FRFR cab, our band PA, my own PA or a house PA, it always sounds spot on.

Whilst I can't claim the same electrical knowledge as some of the sparkies in this thread I do know my science. Specifically, my job is to run workshops based on politics, science and skepticism. Id wager that one of two things is happening here. 1. You said normal cables are harsh and yours are smooth. There is a possibility that (since cables are passive and can only take away from a signal) that the normal ones are full range and the silver ones have an in built or designed in imperfection that takes away some high end. 2. It's some combination of observer bias and confirmation bias. There wouldn't be a difference on a scope and you couldn't tell the difference in a double blind test.

I sometimes feel like a stuck record but, as ever, GSS have a great answer in their Sumo power amps. 600 or 1000w, both under budget new and both about the size of a big DI box.

I too have been looking at something like this for a micro rig, in fact I was really tempted by the Eden amp that's in the classifieds currently too. What I'd be keen to know (and why I'm subscribing) is what people think the Crazy 88 would bring over something like the BF Midget. I have had two Gen 2 midgets and they were a great cab, one of the winners for size/weight/output. My gut feeling is that the 88 simply sounds better, less barky, but I'm curious to hear from anyone who's tried one.

Don't discount the Alto TX range. I have two of the TX10s as stage monitors and they're just fine for bass as long as you have reasonable low-end expectations.