Skybone

The AMP 300 arrived today, very impressed with it out of the box. Not the lightest, but still luggable at around 24kg, the single strap handle should fare well. Time will tell. So far, only tried it briefly at home, so not too loud, will have to wait until next rehearsal to turn it up. Plugged the HD500x into the Effects Return, but still needs the volume turning up. Sounds good though.

Necessity spoke, and my will broke. New amp incoming.

Likewise, I'm astounded by how few bass players and guitarists use a bit of reverb, very underrated effect IMO. Always have a touch of reverb on my bass, love it, it fills the sound out that little bit more and adds to the "ambience". I do use a multi effects pedal (Line6 HD500x), so it's easy to add in, and like I said, it's always on. More reverb!

This

Will do, though I've just had an email saying that they're out of stock, even though it was marked as in stock when i ordered it the other day. Like the vintagey looks, but really like that the FX loop jack's are on the front and the fact it's a 2x10. Bit more expensive than the Toneman, but still a relatively inexpensive amp, from a respected manufacturer (and the warranty is good too).

I've just ordered the Musik Produktiv version, with the 2x10 instead of the 1x15. Hasn't arrived yet, but on paper they look good. From the research I've done, the amps are the Ashdown MAG 300 Evo III, which got good reviews. Cheaper speakers & built in China reduce the price, but hopefully, the Ashdown name will mean good build quality. I noticed the Toneman manual on the Ashdown site states that it has a 5 year warranty (if you register online), so that's got to be worth something.

It really depends on what you like in a bass, and what you want from it. For that kind of money, you can get something built especially for you, or you can get something from one of the Custom Shops. It's your choice. I'd say you'd need to visit numerous shops, especially shops with a good selection of basses. Try out as many as you can and choose your favourite.

Looks interesting. We shall see how things pan out.

So, finally bit the bullet, made a decision & ordered one of these... https://www.musik-produktiv.com/gb/ashdown-amp-c210-300.html Seems like a good deal on an ABM 300, basically the same as the Thomann "Toneman" range, except with a 2x10 config. We shall see when it arrives.

I think I'm back in the bass amp camp. The affordable FRFR's would appear to not be quite up to the task of handling bass that we'll, where more expensive ones are similarly priced or more expensive than a decent dedicated bass combo. FFS...

Unfortunately, you can't get the Fender 7350's anymore, which is a real shame, as they're great strings. Warwick Reds are definitely the best VFM option.

No idea what the sale value is, as I haven't seen another one up for sale! It's an HA4000, the cab is a Red Sub (Gear4Music own brand) 2x10. I was hoping to minimise the load in, so would prefer not to take the Hartke. Back to trawling the Far Sale section, eBay, FB Marketplace and Gumtree...

I've got a Bass Collection Californian, which is the RickenFaker. Basically the same bass as the Rockinbetter Faker, 34" scale, through neck, no checker binding on this one.

Jeez, I keep going round in circles here. Been looking at various active participation speakers, like the RCF ART & the Yamaha DBR, but then I'm back into dedicated bass combo territory. Where you could pick up a 300w+ combo for the same money, if not less. I have seen the Headrush FRFR for a reasonable price, but it's obviously designed for our guitar playing colleagues. Is it good with bass? Who knows. I'm predominantly wanting/needing something that will give some bass on stage, so the rest of the band can hear what I'm playing. A PA speaker setup would be ideal, but there again, so would a decent combo with an effects loop.

Will have to search for the Mk3 at that price. Haven't found any yet.

Good for thought indeed. Seen a good deal on the RCF ART310, is it comparative to the 312?

And that's the quandary... With the HD, I have got a sound that I am very happy with, as well as a bunch of effects that work with that sound. All of the bass amps I've owned in the past were merely ok means of projecting a sound, but I wouldn't call any of them that great. Admittedly, that was some time ago, as I've not needed a bass amp in 20 years. I do have a Hartke head & a 2x10 cab at home, but I've not used them since I bought them (that band went belly up). That does sound reasonable with the HD plugged into the effects return, but was hoping to find a single unit that would accurately reproduce' my sound'. We did some recording in the middle of last year, where I just DI'ed the bass from the HD, and I think it sounded great.

Plenty of food for thought... just have to work on the budget now. Any opinions on the Mackie Thump?

Seen a Mackie Thump 12A for a decent price, ant the blurb say they're designed to handle extra bass.

Currently using the rehearsal rooms old Peavey rig (Century head I think, through 2 4x10's). I plug my HD into the "Power Amp In" which bypasses the preamp. It sounds decent, but you do lose some of the top. Cuts through the mix, but we're not playing too loud in the rehearsal room. We've done two gigs so far, first one was last week in a pub, PA but no monitors. DI'd the bass, but obviously, no one on stage could hear me. Second gig was last Friday. Full PA with monitors, but the sound guy was somehow unable to get a bass sound from a DI. When he did get a sound, we started a song, lo and behold, no bass again. Had to then plug into the venues bass amp (thankfully, it had an effects loop). The quandry is whether to get a dedicated combo, or an active pa speaker. Basically, this is down to wanting to do a single trip load in for me.

Been back & forth on this one for ages, I'm seriously undecided which way to go. I'm running a Line6 HD500x, and really like the sounds I'm getting from it, however, after the last gig and the sound problems, I really think I need to get something. As I said, the HD is great, the amp & cab models are fantastic, as are the effects, I'm really happy with it. If I get a dedicated bass amp, I'd have to bypass the amp's preamp and plug I to the effects return, but the amp could still colour the sound, and it would also be a bit of a waste of an amp if you bypassed the preamp. The two main contenders are the Fender Rumble 500 or the Ampeg BA210. Was only really contemplating a combo, not a head & cab. On the other hand, an Active PA speaker would retain the characteristics of the amp & cab models, but would it have the power or move the air as much as an amp & multi speaker cab? Seen a few Active PA speakers that seem like they could do the job, but it's the power ratings that confuse. They appear to publicise the map's peak power rather than the RMS rating. How much power do you need in these things? I've seen some rated at 80w, some at 150w, some at 300w and some at over 1,000w. Is bigger better? What size speaker would give the best range? Can't really afford anything too expensive, so was looking at something below £250, more than likely an Alto or something similar. The band is a 4 piece, classic rock band, playing original material, but we'll probably not be going to play big gigs outside the local circuit.

The big question is, what type of aircraft were you flying in? A jet is better insulated and therefore more quiet in the cabin than a turbo-prop. I used to do a lot flying in turbo-prop's, and found that I had to wear earplugs because of the noise (I have tinnitus anyway, and the noise in the cabin made it slightly worse after flying). Also carrying a supply of chewing gum helps with the ear popping / cabin pressure thing.

Played a local "Battle of the Bands" heat last night, the venue puts on loads of bands, but the soundman was crap (had trouble DI'ing the bass FFS!) and the provided equipment was more than crap. As expected, there were the usual shenanigans from the other 2 bands playing, jostling for position on the bill, rent-a-crowd, "buy our EP"/listen to us on Spotify etc., guess we're just going to have to play that game as well. TBH, we did go into it as more of an "experience" thing, it was only our second gig as a band, and the singers second ever "proper" gig. We were on first, so loads of sound problems to start off with as the winning band got the soundcheck. Had a couple of false starts, as the sound was chronic (no bass!). I went DI instead of their provided amp, after much faffing, there was bass, but then we re-started, and the bass magically disappeared. Ended up plugging my HD500x into the return loop on the amp, hey presto, bass. Anyway, the songs went down well, but obviously not well enough to please rent-a-crowd.