Machines

I'll likely continue to buy BGM regardless of it's content. If only to flick through and dismiss it in 10 mins (like the latest issue). Previous issues have been reasonable, some even decent, but most for me have missed and alienated the majority of bassists. There are too many reviews of custom basses, generally 2-3 per issue (at a guess). There should be 2-3 a year for me. The aforementioned majority don't and won't buy custom basses, they want to know about popular brands and instruments, not something that costs 10x as much and looks like a coffee table (this is quoting other people !) I think it might be interesting to review OLD gear, not brand new top of the range stuff all the time, especially since the 2nd hand market is so hot at the moment (compared to new).

I've kept quiet till now amazingly ! I love my ABM, have had nothing but Ashdown amps since I started playing. I have had lots of opportunity to play other amps, and whilst some of them sound better and clearer than the Ashdown gear alone, when i'm cranking it in a rock band - they can't compete. For me Ashdown make the ultimate rock amps, sure they can be used for other things, but they aren't meant to be clear or hi-fi. Quality wise - this ABM has had the one fault, the valve drive stopped working. Took it to a tech and got it repaired for £40 (power suplpy to valve had failed). Other than that, none of my Ashdown gear has had any fault at all.

I prefer named brands because most of the time - I know what i'm getting. Also when it comes to selling it on, everyone else does too ! I'm not tied down to the brands being fashionable, i'm more bothered about them being known of.

Same neck, same body. The only differences are the pickups/preamp and knobs ! Have you listened on here to check out the tonal differences ? [url="http://www.lakland.com/ac_4401.htm"]http://www.lakland.com/ac_4401.htm[/url] [url="http://www.lakland.com/ac_5502.htm"]http://www.lakland.com/ac_5502.htm[/url]

Saw 2 of these in Express Music in Solihull, alas they were in the window and I saw them on my way out. Looked nice though - definitely wanted to try one out, maybe next time.

Volume/Treble/Mid/Bass, in that order IIRC.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='434471' date='Mar 14 2009, 10:26 AM']I've had a couple of BB614's & the 5-string version is excellent, too. It's an oddity in the budget 5-string world, as the B-string portion of the bridge is extended. So you've got a 34" scale bass with a 35" scale B-string.[/quote] Not quite. The extended bridge decreases the break angle of the string over the saddle making it less likely to break. If the B string were a 35" scale it'd be out of tune since the fretboard is spaced for a 34" .

Out of interest - do you find your experience of it to be similar to the review ? Out of all the basses i've reviewed it's the only one I wanted to keep.

We can see your IP anyway (mods) so we don't need you to post it . Also it looks like you're coming in via a transparent proxy so don't worry about it, i've edited out your IP in the previous post for security.

I had a BB614. They are great very well made basses that sound great too, the neck pickups does a superb Precision impression. There are plenty of well known players that have used BB's so i'm sure it would be fine in the annual BBC Bass Fashion Awards .

[quote name='Josh' post='432997' date='Mar 12 2009, 10:59 PM']If you want a solid workingmans 5 string Jazz, get the JO. Or... If you want a solid workingmans 5 string Jazz/MM/Precision hybrid, get the 55-02.[/quote] +1. The 55-02 sounds very different to the JO, more modern and hifi to my ears (probably the preamp). Depends what you're after really .

It sounds more of a client side issue to me. Tried using another browser ?

No no - those V1004DX's are great. I reviewed one in 2007 and it was fantastic. Have a look here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=9244"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=9244[/url]

Agreed, that gold bridge is seriously snazzy. Gold knobs would be too much though..

That Euro is fantastic. There's something about a red stain on highly figured maple..