wateroftyne

It's http://handbox.pl/, but it seems to be down at the moment..?

Cheers, Merton. :-) Right - I've decided it's a keeper. Time to talk to him about price and put my order in. I need to decide what kind of style to go for, too - there's quite a few options of styles, cases, knobs, colours, switches and finishes...

Time to wheel out my usual 'Black Velvet' story. Back in the day, I was in a covers band with a lot of seasoned musos. Not having a 5-string, they insisted I tune down. 'OK' says I. At every gig and every rehearsal, I pretended to detune, and just played it at the octave. No-one ever noticed.

Here's why - imagine you work in Fender's marketing department, and you're presented with the following. Which do you choose? 'FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Fender, creators of classic instruments from the beginning of rock'n'roll, are delighted to announce the lauch of a white Precision bass, with a black pickguard and a maple neck.' 'FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: [color=#333333]Punk bass starts with Douglas “Dee Dee Ramone” Colvin. As the pounding heart of the Ramones, he pioneered a no-frills sound and style that left a permanent mark on rock music. On a white Fender Precision Bass slung impossibly low, he defined punk bass with simple but breakneck bass lines delivered with such pulverizing sound, speed and conviction that he singlehandedly set the template for generations of punk bassists to come..... etc.'[/color]

Incidentally, you know why the headstock is the shape it is? Ol' Leo wasn't daft when it came to saving a dollar or two....

I used it yesterday at a marathon 8-hour rehearsal, just through the little S112. Lovely & focussed. I didn't think I'd have a use for the contour knob, but I've noticed adding a little nudges it towards Walkabout territory. I used it on quite a few tunes, and the bright switch came in handy too. Any reservations I had about the seemingly limited EQ are forgotten - it's just so easy to use. Here's another vid, FWIW.. DI'd post-EQ with everything set flat, and the drive engaged. (Disclaimer - I'm not a sound engineer. I need to learn how to do this properly!). [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k824J7HTfTo[/media]

Yep, nothing compares to being there :-) I didn't think I'd have a need for the contour knob, but I'm rehearsing with it at the mo and dialling in a tiny bit rounds things up a bit of the song needs it...

Here's a short snippet from the gig: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McsfaG_ycoI

First gig with it tonight. It's early days so I'm not trying to get too excited, but... it just fantastic. I'll put some sound clips up tomorrow if they've come out OK...

OK.. I've just spend an hour or so tinkering with the R-400, and comparing it to the Walkabout. They both have very different starting points. The Walkabout defaults to that classic warm and smooth tone, but it's possible to get brighter with a bit of EQ. With a flat EQ, the R-400 is much, much brighter, clearer and glassier. Rolling the treble knob back quickly warms things up, and as you increase the gain knob, you can really hear it fatten up even more. It's a lot of fun to play though. Of course this is just plunking away at practice volume - it'll be getting a good run out on Friday and Saturday...

White fer me, and I don't normally like white pearl.

It matters to me loads.

[quote name='lastanthem88' timestamp='1460538304' post='3026523'] Thanks Paul - alot of guys tell me that TC power outputs are still very misleading? [/quote] They are, but they're loud enough so if you like the sound it doesn't matter.

I'll not due my sofa shot for another couple of weeks, and that's with a following wind. *drums fingers*

[quote name='GrammeFriday' timestamp='1460500908' post='3026389'] Speaking of which ... INCOMING! [url="http://s1333.photobucket.com/user/grammefriday/media/Elwood%205%20Fretless/IMG_1438_zpscheypigo.jpg.html"][/url] [/quote] Jesus Christ on a bike. That's a smasher.

I'll know better this weekend, but it's passed the living room tone-test with flying colours... lovely and organic.

[quote name='Passinwind' timestamp='1460481647' post='3026113'] So what is the actual size and weight please? I couldn't find that in a quick look at the website. [/quote] It's 375 x 108 x 315mm, and 7.5kg..

...and here's what the switches do: Bright / dark switch... Off: flat On: +3dB @ 100Hz / -3dB @ 750Hz / +2dB @ 10 kHz Contour knob... 0 to -12dB @ 1kHz

[quote name='Matt P' timestamp='1460461025' post='3025883'] I think I've found the website. [url="https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=pl&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.handbox.pl%2Fcgi-bin%2Findex.pl"]https://translate.go...-bin%2Findex.pl[/url] hopefully the translated version any idea what the differences are between the amps shown are? some have pushbuttons, some toggle switches an there seem to be different layouts as well but they are all on the R400 standard page a test of this amp would be ace, maybe if enough people want to try it we could book a couple of hours at a rehearsal room and give it a test with different cabs and basses, I'd be happy to chip in for the room hire. Matt [/quote] AFAIK the differences are all cosmetic...

While we're on the subject... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwOipTXvNNo

[i][size=5]"Thanks, brothers an' sisters!"[/size][/i]

[quote name='The-Ox' timestamp='1460456923' post='3025821'] as talented as he is, Page is known for this, didn't he deny he stole Dazed and Confused? [/quote] I'd be more surprised if he admitted it...

I wonder if he's aware that his performance has probably been viewed by more people than the combined audience of every jazz gig ever?