Martin E

The OP is after a small, simple, great sounding practice amp and I believe the 801 fits that bill perfectly I have a Terror Bass and two 12 inch cabinets to cope with a loud drummer but that's missing the point

No I'm just a four stringer I'm afraid. Most written and video reviews I've seen indicate it'll handle it fine and I wouldn't doubt that. BTW I tried it with an Epiphone 335 the other day and it doubles as a great little amp for clean sounding jazz guitar.

No not at all, I'm really very happy with all it can do, as my first 'acoutic, bass with a piezoelectric bridge really chuffed in fact.I'ved very few effects over the years and most that I have tried get discarded after a while. Just now and then something pique's my interest and I m curious to know what it can do.

TC Electronic BodyRez - acoustic pickup enhancer.

Thank you, a very comprehensive reply and I found the FRFR thread very interesting. I'm afraid I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum, after years using an LM,2 or Terror Bass I find myself in musical retirement playing in a quiet jazz group where a Markbass 801 is fine for rehearsals. I would like to try one of those Bodyrez things maybe but the HX Stomp is rather beyond my needs and indeed .my self imposed budget.

Frank, glad you like it. I've been using my own SRH500 without any pedals or FX so far. You have more experience with these kind of basses that I do so I was curious when you mentioned adding stomp of some kind. Can I ask what you would typically use with a bass like this? Martin

Hi Frank, sounds like it's taken a fair bit of wear whilst on display so if you want to go ahead then I'd be looking at a sizeable discount. (Pick marks? Someone thrashing around with a pick is missing the point with one of these surely). If you can wait a few days I see Bax have them in-stock at £499. Martin

Sibob I ran through the Windows optimisation information earlier tonight and had a look at all the settings and made quite a few changes to things I never knew were there to be honest. I am not sure what I have done to help things exactly but it now seems to work as it should and the distortion has disappeared. Thank you so much for your help and time in answering my question. Cheers Martin

Thanks very much sibob, I hadn't realised we had an expert on here. Appreciate your time and comprehensive reply. I'll have a good look through the windows 10 settings. My basses are all active and my main bass is piezoelectric which has quite a high output I believe. I was under the impression the gain should've advanced until just under the orange so I'll try what you suggest and start with the bass on max.( I have read of people using a di box with an attenuation pad switched in to take high output instruments?) I can hear some distortion on bass when outputting to YouTube or whatever which is a bit odd. I'll have a play around and report back. Thanks again Martin

Hi folks Can anyone give me some advice regarding my Focusrite Scarlett Solo please. I'm using a Lenovo desktop running Windows 10. Dipping my toe into recording some basslines for my jazz group during these restricted times. I'm a complete newby to all this so please bear with me. I'm just using Audacity and needed a nice little interface. The Solo seemed ideal for me and it arrived today. The trouble is all my basses overload the input and are distorted. I have to turn the volume on the bass way way down and keep the Focusrite gain well into the green to get anything like a clean sound. Pressing the Inst. button makes it sound like an overdrive. Needless to say the 'clean' level is too low to record. I've also noticed playing any recorded bass sounds like a Youtube bass demo are also coming out distorted via the Solo. I'm hoping I'm doing something silly or need to adjust some setting somewhere. I have reinstalled the drivers if anyone asks but don't know what else to do Grateful for any advice please, this thing gets such good reviews but at the moment my new purchase is useless to me and I have several tracks I would like to record. Thanks Martin

I'm really chuffed with my 801, it has exceeded my expectations and any doubts I had about the 8" speaker. Good solid low bass from a tiny package and able to cope with quieter rehearsals. Highly recommended.

A wonderful bass in the hands of a master but I've always wondered why Leo chose to cover such a vast area of the instrument with unecessary plastic. Later copies without any pickguard look much more elegant to my eyes.

I went through the same process earlier this year. Not much I would answer, at least without spending a fortune. Looked at all the small combos and agree for me also the Rumble 40 was the nearest worthy candidate. I was looking initially at combos with 10 inch speakers and discounting the 801,but the 801 kept coming up in reviews.... In the end the small size won me over and I got the 801. I have to say I have seldom been so pleased with any item of musical gear let alone an amp. I can't believe I can turn up with my 8 piece jazz outfit with such a lightweight tiny amp that looks like it shouldn't have left its mum. The biggest compliment is that you would think you were listening to a much bigger speaker cabinet, proper low authoritative bass notes mean that even quiet practice sessions are no longer a compromise with your sound. I guess it's the top quality drive unit that MB use that makes all the difference. Anyway top marks from me.

Only just seen this post so a bit late to reply but I've owned first the PF350 and then a Terror Bass. The Ampeg was a good little amp but often I was turning it up too far and the limiter/clipping light was coming on quite a lot. I was playing in a normal function band at the time and with two 12" cabs it was struggling at times and I was worried I would damage it. The s/h Terror Bass was the opposite absolutely masses of volume and barely ticking over at most times. Depends how loud you play I suppose.

An SB14 has been my main gigging bass for several years now. It's nice and light and compact with a slim neck. I've tried other things but I keep coming back to it. For the past year I've been using TI flats and it's just perfect. I don't know why they discontinued them. Proper rays and SUB's etc seem very heavy and clunky in comparison.

I agree with everyone, he's a fantastic and unique player. But, dare I say it, that opening track on the OP's video has me wincing a bit , sorry.

Hi Sellisnba That does do look like good fun.for the money. Any chance of posting a short review once you've got to know it? I'd be curious about weight and neck dive for instance. Just a bit curious over the model number as well I see Thomann list these as G2224 whereas everyone else calls them the G2220? Cheers Martin

Thanks chaps all is clear now. I'd been baffled as to the location of the internal fuse. A tiny little holder integral with the mains socket and just beneath. With the kettle lead in place you can't even see it.

I have fairly recently acquired a second hand 500 watt Orange Terror Bass amp. I've just noticed the fuse in the mains plug is 13 amp which doesn't sound right but with no power consumption figures to go on I don't know which fuse is appropriate. Mention is made on the back of the amp of a T6.3 amp fuse. Is this referring an internal fuse in the amp or do they actually go in the kettle lead mains plug? I've never used anything other than 3, 5 or 13 amp fuses in a mains plug which is why I am asking. Any advice greatly appreciated.

It's just down to bad luck I believe. My understanding these days is that the NHS won't get involved until the problem reaches a rather more advanced stage. I don't think early intervention is an option due to cost presumably.

I've developed it in both hands but my left fretting hand is the worst. I can no longer put my hands flat on the floor as my ring fingers are contracting inwards. I'm putting off having anything done about it as long as possible as I'm in my sixties now and guess I wouldn't regain much dexterity or strength after an operation. Really annoyed that something like this will ultimately stop me playing after all these years.

I doubt if you would notice any difference with whatever material you used but the tiny bit of engineer in me would say use anything but cardboard. With a hardwood body and neck ideally you'd want to use a shim of wood from the same make of tree as one or the other. Otherwise something more solid than compressed paper surely, I just couldn't live with that even if it made no discernible difference mechanically or sonically. . I've used aluminium beer cans to make shims before now - harder than cardboard and I can justify having a drink.