Bottle

Another (happy) MB500 user here to chime in - it's a cracking little head for the money! Seriously, for the price point, it has a lot going for it (and there's plenty of small 500w Class D heads in the same price bracket too). Found it to be really versatile, and an ideal partner to my heavyweight EBS cabs (both the 4x10 and 1x15 are 4 Ohms so I can only use one at a time). Has plenty of steam left in it, especially powering my meaty 4x10! Had mine for a couple of years and it's been pretty much faultless. Had a little hiccup with it not so long back but that was easily cured with a screwdriver and nut-spinner HTH, Ian

[quote name='Linus27' post='1345312' date='Aug 19 2011, 12:05 PM']Ok, may seem a silly question but not being so clued up on this I thought I better ask. It says on the MarkBass website that, Markbass amps/combos are manufactured to be sold and used in the country of purchase, and they are factory preset to that country’s voltage. Due to homologation issues, the voltage may not be changed.[/quote] That's just a fancy way of saying, "Here you go, here's a way of charging more in certain markets and preventing people from importing stuff on the grey market etc" In my experience of the electronics industry, targeting products with a world-wide distribution, parts commonality is a big time, space and cost reduction exercise, therefore Markbass should be on the ball with having a common mains/power supply PCB that could be used in their products, regardless of ultimate destination. [quote name='Linus27' post='1345312' date='Aug 19 2011, 12:05 PM']So if I have some gigs in say Italy or Germany, can I not use my MarkBass Combo or LMIII head or is there a way around it?[/quote] This shouldn't pose a problem, mainly because we've been harmonized with the EU for a long time, with regards to quality of mains supply. The tolerances are fairly wide - somewhere in the region of 230VAC, -6% to +10% IIRC, therefore equipment designed to be sold in all EU countries will be capable of operating on any voltage between about 220V and 250V AC. All you'll likely need is a Euro adapter of some sort (one of those cheapie travel adapters [i]may[/i] be OK for light loads, but I would invest in a pukka Euro/Schuko to IEC PC-type cable just to be sure - not all plug-in adapters carry the Earth pin through). Going further afield may be an issue, if for example you're touring North America or Japan, but then I wouldn't expect you to be lugging your own backline around with you then HTH, Ian

[quote name='henry norton' post='1336460' date='Aug 11 2011, 02:20 PM']Do you need to transpose the whole bass down? You will find the neck stays straighter if you just tune down your E string and learn to play it with the other 3 in A, D & G. You could then fit a Hipshot Bass extender key so you won't even have to p#ss around with a tuner whenever you needed the lower notes.[/quote] Good points, although I would find that to be a bit of a faff - IMO much easier to either have a dedicated bass for the metal project strung for BEAD (or whatever esoteric tuning is used), or use a fiver for both. Depends on the bass, but I would expect that any decent 4-banger could be restrung with heavier-gauge strings without too much hassle (have done it myself with my Squier PJ). Again this is IMO and IME, but I find it easier to keep the bass tuned in fourths so you don't lose the ability to use the same fingerings/shapes as you would previously be used to. HTH, Ian

[quote name='bassman7755' post='1342672' date='Aug 17 2011, 08:01 AM']Well depends how much of a purist/pedantic-git you are Daisy chaining means that one speaker is operating over a longer cable length and thus lower damping factor due to the increased impedance of the longer cable. So technically your always better off with the shortest possible cables direct from the amp. If your speakers are 2 of the same type then the cable gauge and lengths should be the same (but still as short as poss).[/quote] We're [i]all[/i] pedants and purists on here - well, we [i]are[/i] bassists! Back on-topic, I would recommend using at a minimum 4mm[sup]2[/sup] gauge cable - OBBM can sort you out with the relevant cables, or you can roll-yer-own if you're handy with a pair of wire-strippers and a screwdriver - Speakons ain't difficult to wire up Keeping them short is also another good idea - my head-to-cab cable is less than a metre (probably closer to 18" / 0.5m all told), and a daisy chain cable I made up is about 1.5m / 5' maximum. HTH, Ian

[quote name='Ian Savage' post='1333534' date='Aug 9 2011, 01:17 PM']Thanks for that Ian, food for thought! Actually, a guitar EQ might indeed be better (and I could use it as a solo boost when I'm playing six-string as well)...as long as the lowest frequency band control will 'shelve' off everything below it...[/quote] Indeed For example, Boss do two pedals; the GE-7 is designed for guitars, 100Hz to 6.4kHz in seven bands, and the GEB-7 for bass, 50Hz to 10kHz in seven bands. Both are 15dB cut/boost. Ian

My bi-amp / tri-amp rig does something similar. I mix-'n'-match about a bit, but the general setup goes something like this: Bass > TU-2 > GK MB500 head > EBS 4x10 cab (full range / clean) GK MB500 Efx Send > Sansamp Para-driver DI > Input #1 of 2ch rack crossover (f[sub]0[/sub] ~ 125Hz) Sansamp parallel out > Bass Big Muff Pi > Input #2 of 2ch rack crossover (f[sub]0[/sub] ~ 200-300Hz) Crossover low-sum out > PA power-amp input #1 > EBS 1x15 cab (thick, low-end reinforcement) Crossover Mid/High channel #2 output > PA power-amp input #2 > one or two 12" PA cabs (fuzz / distortion) I use the crossover to blend the output of the Sansamp and the Big Muff so I can get a thick low end, the PA cabs then do the gnarly / fizzy top end of the fuzz. Sansamp is used on its suggested setting of 'Simulated Active Bass', with the dry / wet blend on about 25 - 40%, this then goes to the PA for the soundman to use FoH. Big Muff is used on it's 'normal' or 'bass boost' mode depending on my mood hehehe. I've not used an EQ pedal before, I would suggest you use the guitar EQ to cut all the low frequencies out of your signal, in effect a high-pass filter. The bass EQ pedal may not be voiced in the same way and the EQ points may very well be completely different. HTH, Ian PS I remember starting a thread about this topic in the 'Amps and Cabs' forum a couple of months back: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=141237"]Here[/url]

Bass is ace - basswood then Ian

[quote name='cheddatom' post='1325780' date='Aug 3 2011, 03:49 PM']But then i'd have to touch my actual pedals with my feet, like some sort of rotten plebeian[/quote] Well then, employ someone to do it for you, like Chris Wolstenholme does for his tours Hehehehe Ian

Crikey, most of my usable instrument leads are probably five years old, XLR's probably a smidge older maybe, and some mains leads are close to ten years old. Might be a few patch leads that could lay claim to be the oldest, I've got a couple of R/A pedal jack cables that could be fifteen or sixteen years old (had them pre-university days so < 1995 then) HTH, Ian

Hope to make it to this one, with enough notice it'll be more than a year since I met up with some folks at the last SE bass bash. The East Anglia bash sounds like a nice social occasion, and it's in the neighbourhood too. Won't make it to the SE bash this year unfortunately, because my sister in her infinite wisdom has scheduled her wedding for the same weekend (I mean, who plans a wedding for the [i]exact same day[/i] as a major event on any self-respecting bass players' calendar?? Who? WHO? ) A whole year without a bash.....crikey See you folks there. Ian

[quote name='Jerry_B' post='1318270' date='Jul 27 2011, 02:12 PM']I'm thinking of bunging a Mighty Mite unlined neck onto a LTD Vintage-204 I have. That said, doing all of the drilling doesn't fill me with hope [/quote] Sweet! Let us know how you get on, dude HTH, Ian

[quote name='Jerry_B' post='1302549' date='Jul 13 2011, 04:16 PM']Yep, very nice. But very expensive! I bloody wish Fender would re-release (or 're-imagine', as they seem wont to do) the '70s unlined fretless Precision. Or just a cheaper unlined fretless P/J... It would save me having to build one, for a start [/quote] Well, I've taken the plunge and I'm now stripping down my Squier Precision Special and defretting it for exactly this purpose. I'll update my build / gear thread with piccies. HTH, Ian

I've seen this thread develop, and I thought I'd weigh in now I can't understand the negativity - surely we should be celebrating the fact that a talented player has the stones to get up and play an instrument they love and are clearly enjoying playing with other talented musicians? And to do it for more than their own enjoyment (which is obvious from the video too), but to share that with other people? Like or dislike her, it can't be argued that she's a very talented [i]musician[/i] with a nice solid groove and tasteful playing, i.e. it's not being overplayed in a look-at-me moment, but fits in with what the other musicians are playing. Trouble is, the bass guitar is not a great instrument for virtuoso performances, which can detract from its real purpose - to lay down a solid bridge between the rhythm and melody. I think Tal does this brilliantly (and, yes, I'll accept that there are better players out there), but her playing is tasteful and [i]appropriat[/i]e to the music. I think some other players can get carried away with the whole [i]hey-look-I-just-did-twelve-bars-of-32nds[/i] kind of mentality and ego. And she's young, and has her whole career ahead of her to become 'great' - I think she's acheived a lot in such a short span of time already. Ian

Interesting results Can't say I've compared many tuners, I have two Boss tuners myself, a TU-2 and a TU-88 tuner/metronome. I've also used a Korg DT-10 which was pretty good (it was my mates) Have been very happy with the TU-2; have had no trouble with tuning down below E, in fact went down as far as low A without too much hassle on my Precision (and some wobble that may have been down to intonation anyway). I always check intonation by tuning open strings and at the 12th fret. Ian

Girlfriend got me into this band: Ian

Just been reading through the threads - you've got a cab (BF Super 12T) that will partner up with a lot of lightweight and micro heads - Markbass, Genz-Benz etc, plus at 4 Ohms you can dump an awful lot of power into the cab, certainly the micro heads in the 500W-into-4 Ohm range should be more than up to the task. You may also want to look at the new stuff that's around, Ampeg PF500, GB Streamliner 900, GK MB500/MB800/Fusion heads can all make use of the extra power handling you have available in the cab. HTH, Ian

For me, even though I wasn't there.... Hysteria - Muse on the Pyramid stage at Glasto, 2004 Angels - Robbie Williams, Knebworth, 2003 Gigs I've been to: Evanescence and Rammstein, both at the Brixton Academy

Quite like Tony Franklins' fretless playing - especially on his black Precision Deluxe (has a selector switch to go between Jazz pickup, Precision pickup and I presume, a mix of both), unlined rosewood fretboard...mmmm tasty. There's a video on YT of him at a jam, with a pair of 8x10's stacked behind him...now that's my type of rig I'll see if I can get the video posted EDIT: Here you go - Ian

Yep, just to echo the comments above, any [i]well-regulated[/i] 9V [b]DC[/b] 'wall wart' type adapter or specific pedalboard adapter should work, as long as the DC connection is centre-negative (see the attached symbol) and it can supply at a minimum the amount of current required by the pedal (usually quoted in milliAmperes - mA). You won't hurt the pedal by having a PSU that can supply more current than the pedal requires, it will just have more in reserve for when you add other pedals. HTH Ian

[quote name='4 Strings' post='1294798' date='Jul 6 2011, 03:02 PM']What do you mean by 'strung bead'?[/quote] BEAD tuning means stringing a standard four-string bass with the bottom four strings out of a set intended for a five-string bass etc, instead of the more normal EADG tuning on a standard four-banger. Usually used where a high G string isn't required. See Tim Commerford of RATM/Audioslave fame for more on BEAD tuning. HTH Ian

[quote name='silddx' post='1294635' date='Jul 6 2011, 12:32 PM']I can't recommend the Squier Classic Vibe Strats highly enough, they are wonderful players and sound lovely.[/quote] Cool! Shall look into it (and apologies for the thread derail )

[quote name='silddx' post='1294444' date='Jul 6 2011, 10:37 AM']Thanks Ian I bought that superb Fender American Deluxe V-Neck Strat in the sitar video, I hadn't even considered a Fender, too low tech, but Andy told me about the Deluxes with a 2-point trem, noiseless pups, locking tuners, compound radius fretboard, etc. I played it and it was a delight! The 1950s V profile neck is exceptional, and it's by a mile the best Strat I've ever laid hands on, and the workmanship, set-up and sound is fabulous. I'll be going back to Nevada to buy an acoustic 6 string in the next few weeks, probably a high end Ovation.[/quote] Schweeeet!!!!!! Awwww, that's fabulous mmmmm has got me thinking about a cheap Strat copy to noodle on at home, having never played Gtr before. Take care, mate

Awwwwww fudge it, it's my sisters' wedding that Saturday.....b******s......any chance we could move it (the wedding, that is ) hehehe Have a good day there fellers Ian

[quote name='silddx' post='1293366' date='Jul 5 2011, 01:28 PM']I had superb customer service from Nevada Music in Portsmouth very recently. It's a really nice, comfortable and large warehouse type retailer with a good online presence. I was treated extremely well by knowlegable and friendly staff. Andy Fisher is the main bass guy there and after talking to him about my requirements and spending a couple of hours trying guitars, I walked out with a superb instrument I hadn't even considered I might want, and at a very good price. He was really helpful and it was a very pleasurable experience buying it. The display instruments are very well cared for and felt like they had just come out the box. I called back a few days later to get the email address of the manager so I could register my satisfaction with their customer service and Andy Fisher in particular. The Director emailed me back saying thank you and how they rarely get positive feedback and often think customers don't appreciate their efforts at providing excellent customer service. You know how good it feels when someone says they love your band or your playing? So, if you get great customer service from somewhere, tell them about it! Cheers, Nigel[/quote] This is wonderful to read, Nige. I think as a nation we always expect good/excellent service to come as standard, and anything less than 100% gets a complaint. Yes, I think we should complain about poor service, but also give thanks in equal measure to encourage those who do provide an excellent service (often low-paid staff as well). You wouldn't believe the amount of s*** I had to put up with when I worked at Curries with people looking to knock off £100 from a £3000 telly. For me, Bass Merchant is another example of exemplary customer service, have had some great chats with Darren when I've been there (in fact, I'm due for another trip there soon with the missus) Oh, and I am seriously impressed with your musical abilities - you do yourself a disservice with all the 'I'm not worthy' threads I've seen you post recently I particularly liked your last playing video with the sitarist. Keep it up, mate. [quote name='Mike' post='1294155' date='Jul 5 2011, 11:42 PM']Excellent to read! But......what did you buy?!?[/quote] Ooooh, I'm all intrigued too - watcha get then, fella?

Have tried it on my Squier Precision Special, used a five-string set for the bottom four strings, all downtuned a whole step to ADGC. A quick nut file and trussrod tweak and I got in business. Needs some welly from your amplification, but seems to work well. This may all change soon if I go ahead and defret it. HTH, Ian