thodrik

They might not be joins, they might be subtle 'go faster' racing stripes.

Sounds interesting! All I need to do now is remember where the hell I last left my English Muff'n! I changed the stock tubes to 12AX7s as I found they had better headroom than the stock 12AY7s or whatever were originally in them. Cracking pedal.

The EBS Valvedrive DI has simple passive EQ tonestack. Pretty costly but if you want the feeling of a valve amp in pedal format it is a good bit of kit. I used to use an EHX English Muff'n for the same thing, but it is really a guitar pedal though works great as a bass overdrive.

I will be going to Glasgow show I think. Pending the obvious... Hopefully they have a new album out by then. It has been about 7 years since the last one.

At least it has been sorted out. I think I would been sending the bass back with that kind of noise and hiss.

I would agree. Honestly, though, that bass should not pass QC with noise levels like that. Hopefully it is an isolated incident. However, if the Metro Express basses are generally noisy, then that is a real shame as 'noisy electronics' really are the antithesis of what Roger Sadowsky built his reputation on. Also, I think I will have to check out the Lobster guy's other reviews. It is actually nice to hear an actual review rather than a glorified sponsored advert.

Hmm, I usually have at least one drive pedal on with a very low gain setting to give a bit of slight drive to any 'rock' set. From the age of 13 my 'magic' pedal has evolved from a Boss ODB-3, then a Sansamp Bass Driver, then the Sansamp plus an EHX English Muff'n (which I used very much in a similar way to how the OP used the Black Finger). After that was a EBS Valve Drive, then it was an Aguilar Agro for 7-8 years through my early to late twenties, for the last 4 years or so it has been a Darkglass B3K. Ones that I tried and went 'not for me' include a EBS Metal Drive and EBS Billy Sheehan (the original permanently 'out of phase unless you use a buffer pedal' one). The Keeley Bassist though has been a constant presence over the last 3-5 years. Though it is a very transparent compressor so it doesn't really affect the tone very much, so I don't think it is magic so much as I think it is effective.

I use a B3K on very low gain settings and stack that into an Alpha Omega, which is also on very low gain settings. This delivers a highly aggressive signal that is actually not that overdriven or distorted. That signal then runs into a compressor. I tried the B3k and AO stacked the other way but didn't like it as much. For the record, I am not a massive fan of the B3K on higher gain settings (a bit fizzy and synthetic for me). On lower gain settings though it is great. To be fair though I used to get pretty much the sound I liked by using an Aguilar Agro by itself, but the lack of blend or EQ options on the pedal (and the fact I was fed up of using the same pedal for 6-7 years) led me to the B3K.

Very interesting thread. One of the reasons I don't sell on Ebay is the automatic assumption that I am a fraudster because of being located in the Highlands (I don't use it often enough to really build up much feedback). I generally just stick to the BC marketplace. Interestingly enough, when I was on Ebay more regularly, it was sometimes fun to interact with the obvious hoaxes: 'Me: Oh, I love that Wal, and I see that the item is located in Orkney. Is that correct?' 'Seller: Yes. 'Me: Great, I am heading up there in a couple of days, I would be happy to meet and purchase the instrument after trying it out; 'Seller: Sorry, the item is not located in Orkney, the item is located in Guernsey.' 'Me: So you managed to move the bass over 860 miles in 30 minutes?'

Honestly one of the best sounds I have ever got was using one of these amps through an EBS Proline 8x10. I have recommended it to my nephew for a first 'proper' bass amp.

I had one and I’m pretty sure the RMS rating on the amp sleeve was 280 watts at 4 ohms with the peak being about 580 watts. At 8 ohms you are probably looking at 150-170 watts or something. Of course, a bench test rating could result in a different measurement. It certainly felt like an amp in the 300 watt region rather than 150 watts though even the 150 watt Trace Elliots are generally pretty damn loud. It should be a perfectly giggable amp. Also, it is worth remembering that the SM series of amps are now well over 20 years old, so the units around the marketplace could be subject to any number of aftermarket repairs or mods, or simply might not be working properly anymore.

I have had no bass related purchases apart from two identical Levy straps. Honestly, I can't choose between them as to which one is better and which one is worse.

Sadowsky blue labels are very stiff and I think that they still come as standard on the Metro basses. They lasted about a week on my MV4 when I bought it. Great sound but very stiff. I really like D'addarios and Ernie Balls for nickle plated strings, but there are loads of options out there. I tend to use Elixir Nickles on my five string basses as I find that the B string is often the first to go 'dead' after a few rehearsals or gigs (not that I have done much of that this year!). The Elixirs last for ages so save me money in the long run (I have had one set on a bass for over a year and they are still bright). I use an untapered 135 on my Sadowsky NYC which is great. Just my two cents, but with the way the Sadowsky bridge is designed, I find it is very difficult to fit an untapered B string larger than a 135, as even the 135 is a tight squeeze. So if you want something like a 140 or 145 B string it will need to be tapered. Until you find your favourite 'go to' string I would recommend just trying lots of different brands and gauges. If you want a more flexible set maybe try a set starting with a 40 gauge G string and 60 gauge D string.

Just now, a Warwick Thumb 6 or a Spector Forte 6 for a bass. A nice 4 ohm 4x10 as well. I don't have the funds for any of it.

That is a sweet looking set up. I think that every piece of gear on in the photo is currently on my 'want' list!

I wouldn’t say avoided, just more that it has potential issues that the later models don’t generally have. I’m sure lots of players have grey stripe ones that work perfectly.

Thanks, I don’t really do nuances well when I’m quickly posting when sitting in my car waiting for the condensation to clear from my car windscreen before I drive home from work!

They changed the power section. Some grey stripe ones had an issue where the power section would fail, particularly the power switch. Blue stripe ones have a bit more power and are generally a bit more reliable.

Hi, I have the Fafner but have experience with all three. There is actually not much difference in terms of power and volume between the HD350, the 650 and Fafner (mk 1) in power and volume. The difference is more in the features and even then, I don't consider the amps to be radically different. The differences are more subtle. The HD 350 is a solid state amp. No valve but the 'drive' function allows you to dial in a bit grit. It is a really good all round amp. The TD 650 to my ears had essentially the same preamp as the HD350 but also has a tube that can be engaged with the drive. The drive section can be used without the tube (like the HD 350) or you could engage the tube to get a tube based drive like the Fafner. It was really considered the 'flagship' head of the three. If you don't need the bells and whistles of the tube drive though then the HD350 might be a better bet. The Fafner has a similar preamp again but to me has a less refined sound. It isn't a massive difference though and I would say that all three of the old EBS heads are equally as versatile. The Fafner has a tube in the drive section. You can't turn the tube 'off' like the TD650 though, it is always on but if you want a clean sound you just turn the drive down. The Fafner has more of a 'rock' look but it is equally as versatile as the others. In my view the Fafner looks the coolest and I went with that. It is a heavy lump of an amp though once you put it in a rack case, so factor that in too. As much as I love my one there are louder, lighter amps out there. The Ashdown is a good head too. In fact the Ashdown will deliver far more low sub bass than the EBS heads, which are designed to not really produce much frequencies below 100HZ. However, that is actually a great feature in a live setting as it means you never get a boomy, muddy sound.

I think that a lot of the 'magic' is the 8x10 sealed cabinet. Very warm sounding, kinda defined but not clinically clean and works very well with overdrive. Also, despite the huge size, I think that the 8x10s work really well at low/medium volume. One of my favourite rehearsal room/supplied backline was an Ampeg 8x10 with an Ashdown ABM head. Really good match. I like the 4x10 and 6x10 hlfs, but they don't have the same voicing due to the porting.

Forget about the amp, get the leather jacket instead. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trace-Elliot-Bass-Leather-Jacket/114459524927?hash=item1aa651bf3f:g:1YgAAOSwXwRfhH7q

and a drummer who can actually keep time!

That’s brilliant! Didn’t know that. Cheers!

Reaper is cheap and once you get the hang of it is very flexible and as good as anything else out there once you get the hang of it. . The only downside is that it has a bit of dated Windows 95 look to it when you open it up for the first time, however that can be fixed. I find Studio One to very intuitive and will be buying that when I get started again. However, you have to buy the Pro version at £300 in order to use third party plug-ins on Studio One, which is a bit crap. In comparison you can pretty much use any plug in on Reaper. I find Studio One to be fairly intuitive and idiot-proof though, which is why I like it. Frankly, I found the learning curve on Pro Tools to be too great. Of course, if you have a Mac then Logic. Most DAWs have a free demo version, definitely try downloading them and seeing what one you like best.

For purely MOSFET no preamp tubes, I really like the EBS HD350, the old Aguilar AG500 (dual channel with overdrive) and the GK 1000rb, slightly more than I like old MOSFET Trace Elliot heads. I would think that the new EBS 802 would be top of the list but I haven't tried it and probably wont. Some of the old 80s/90s Peavey heads look really really ugly, but are actually pretty good as well. To me tube preamp, MOSFET power section is a different type of amp again, and when it comes to that I am really partial to Mesa's M-Pulse range, particularly the Walkabout and Big Block 750.