thodrik

It is an interesting bit of kit. It doesn't interest me much as a practice tool (I can access BIAS FX or Amplitube on my PC or my phone). However at a live gig having access to a good cab simulator would be nice. However, from previous experience I don't think that a cab sim really makes that much difference in the band mix vs a quality DI without a cab sim. In fact this is why I stopped using the Tech 21 Sansamp kit that had rudimentary 'speaker simulation' capabilities. In short, it would be a nice extra thing to have, but it would also be an extra bit of gear to break/get stolen. If I was a touring pro using in ears, then yeah it would be a great bit of gear. It could be good for recording, however there are also cab sims on the amp software I am using that will do the job without the extra bit of hardware. Ideally I would prefer to actually just record the old fashioned way and mic up a cab of my own. I do like the concept and I do very much feel that this model is a prototype for an 'all singing/all dancing' comprehensive release that will be released within the next 12 months. In the meantime I think I would get more use out the Vintage Ultra or B7K Ultra as a practice/recording/live gig tool.

With enough work you can pretty much do all the technical stuff on a five as you can on a four. So for that reason alone I would say to go with a five. Otherwise you will buy the four and like it so much that you will wish you had a five string version of it. This has happened with me twice now with Sadowsky and Vigier basses. I would like to say that going for the five string in the first place would have saved me money. The truth is that I would probably have bought a four and five string version of each bass in any event.

D'addario EXL160BT 120-50. Tuned to D standard/drop C on my old late seventies Precision. It seems fairly heavy duty but honestly the tension of the higher strings is 50 and 67 so really not that far off a standard 105-45 set. As far back as 2003 I was using the Steve Harris flats 110-55 on the same bass in standard tuning, so I have generally always had heavier strings on the Precision. It has always been my 'go to' bass for heavier rock stuff. I can always go back to lighter strings if I need to use it for standard tuning for specific project. If so I will probably go for a set of flats, maybe 45, 65, 85, 110.

Fortunately/unfortunately I’m not in position to buy a bass at the minute. A Spector Forte is definitely on my shortlist though.

If the bass isn't a Fender or something that looks like a Fender, it 'just won't sit well in a mix'. You should only use inexpensive basses for using alternative/drop tunings, as setting up a more expensive bass for anything other than standard tuning will be 'a waste of a good bass'. 'You need a 1x15 for the lows and a 2x10 for the highs'. If you listen loudly enough, you can hear all ofJason Newsted's parts on ...And Justice for All. The personal opinions of bassists with lots of Youtube subscribers should always be accepted as indisputable fact without question. Slap bass can only be played effectively in the key of E.

I love the stripped back look. Generally I find Spectors to be a bit too ‘bling’ in terms of the finish colours and general massive levels of flame/burl. However every time I see a Forte I think ‘I would love to own one of those!’ Congrats!

Yes, unless it is a special order. The pickups on a Passion are so close together that a separate EQ for each pickup is not really going to have the variation of the Arpege which has pickup spacing closer to a traditional Fender Jazz.

It is the Arpege. It is pretty cool to be able to add loads of bass and treble to the bridge pickup but keeping the front pickup full of mids. There are some really great sounds in there but the potential for unnecessary fiddling with the EQ mid gig is huge. Most of the time I just treat it as a straight three band EQ.

I have two Sadowskys (Metro and NYC) and two Vigiers (Excess and Arpege), but would sell them all before I had to sell the old S9 Fender Precision I have had since 13 year old me bought it in 1999. I can always find another Sadowsky or Vigier or similar feel and quality. However, I would never be able to replace the Precision. The flaws like the scratch plate split into two (previous owner ) and the constantly flaking lacquer on the neck (caused by me over 21 years of playing) help to really create a completely unique feel to the instrument. With that in mind, even taking personal sentiment aside I could never bring myself to sell it for any reasonable price. Also, given the condition of the neck, nobody else would want it!

I think that if you are carting about an 8x10 or vertical 4x12 then expectations of how ‘lightweight’ the cab should be realistic. An ‘ultra lightweight’ 8x10 is still going to be pain to move as soon as you meet a set of stairs compared to two lightweight 4x10 cabs. 116lbs is not too bad for an 8x10 considering the classic Ampeg fridge is 140lbs. It is also much less than the Mesa 6x10 I have which is about 135lbs(!). However the EBS Neo 8x10 has been on the market for ten years or so and it’s quoted handling weight is 105lbs, so the Darkglass cab is not really close to being the lightest 8x10 on the market. As far as I’m concerned I don’t really consider either Darkglass cabinet to be especially lightweight. In terms of the other specs though they look like top quality cabinets. I’m sure it will be a great cabinet, the real test will be the cost.

I have bought three basses blind without playing them. No issues but two basses were Vigiers and the other one was a Sadowsky, so the chances of getting a ‘dud’ was slim to nonexistent. I would never buy a Gibson guitar (new or vintage) or a vintage Fender without playing it. A new Fender bass would be a safe enough purchase though.

Back onto the amp, I am really interested to see how the 'Global Gain' and 'O/D symetry' works in practice/practical use. I can hear a difference from the video but it is very subtle. I think I would need to physically try the amp to really appreciate it. However, I really the idea of the feature. It would appear from my initial read of the specs that the hi/low gain, 'Low' and 'Bright' presets) apply to both channels, rather than being able independently assign them to a specific channel. If so, I actually prefer this as having separate presets for each each channel would make the front panel of the amp very busy and create a bit of option paralysis on my front. Also, I like that there is a tube in the front end of the Subway channel as well which is a nice touch. My only other comment is that I would have liked for the footswitch to include the ability to switch from 'Low gain' to 'High gain' on the Boogie channel to enable the player to change from a nearly clean bloomy setting on the 'low' setting to more of an overdrive on the 'high' setting). If the low/hi gain setting is more subtle than a obvious 'clean to overdrive' change though isn't really a big issue. In practice I would probably just use a separate overdrive/boost on top of whatever core tone I wanted out of either channel, or even use the Subway channel as the 'clean' channel and the Boogie channel as the 'dirty' channel. I really like the amp and feature set overall. Probably my favourite feature set of the current Mesa bass line.

https://www.andertons.co.uk/bass-dept/bass-amps/bass-amp-cabs/mesa-boogie-subway-bass-cabinet-4-x-10-ultra-light £2,150 for the 4x10. It is $1599 in the USA. So there is a sizeable markup. Cracking cabs with new design technology but the mark up makes it an unrealistic purchase considering you can get similarly lightweight, boutique cabs for approximately £1000 less, including BF.

I think that this aspect was discussed In the mega thread we had when the WD 800 was released. However the problem still remains and is as relevant as ever. Honestly the UK cost of the Subway cabs, particularly the 4x10 are completely out of kilter with the dollar and with other boutique 4x10s. Saying that the Walkabout 1x15 I bought new in 2009 (£1500) is still the best bit of gear I have ever bought. Also, the crash in value for used gear is great for the buyer. I got a Rectoverb 50 guitar combo shipped to me for £650 the other year. Cracking amp.

Essentially I love the ‘two amps in one’ idea. I’m guessing the Boogie channel is designed for those that think that the newish WD800 was a bit modern sounding and didn’t quite hit the spot for those old bloomy Mesa amp tones. Honestly I love the idea of fitting the 400/400+ tone stack in a modern portable amp. In fact I would actually buy it if it was a single channel amp over the D800/D800+ as it is more my kind of amp. I presume that you can set the Boogie channel as your ‘dirty’ channel and foot switch from the Subway ‘clean’ channel? Yes it will be expensive but this amp would probably be top of my shopping list if I was looking for a new amp.

I must disagree politely in terms of the travel time. I can't see how it would normally take five hours to travel from Inverness to Glasgow by car, van or bus. If you take the motorway from Glasgow to Perth and then take the A9 from Perth to Inverness the total travelling time is about be about 3 hours or slightly more depending on traffic and that includes observing speed limits. If you take regular stops or breaks of course the trip will be longer. Taking the Megabus from Glasgow and Inverness only takes about 3hrs 45 minutes and they definitely do not break speed limits. It would probably take closer to five hours if you were travelling up the west coat past Fort William via the A82 but I have never done that (though it is a lovely drive). In terms of John O'Groats, I always budget about 3 hours for the drive from Inverness in the summer or winter. Usually it takes a bit longer in the winter because the driving conditions can be awful. On a good day it can be done in 2 1/2 hours but a couple of HGVs, campervans and the odd tractor can really slow things up and if so there is nothing you can do about it as there are no dual carriageways once you leave Inverness and there are very few safe passing places on the whole route. I have been travelling between Glasgow and Orkney regularly for about 16 years. It is pretty much a whole day of travel (6+ hours on the road, one hour on the ferry, an hour and a half in the middle for shopping and lunch in Inverness etc). If the ferry crossing is okay though it is doable without too much drama or exhaustion, particularly if you are used to the drive. I can also confirm that it is possible to take the early morning ferry from Orkney and get down to Edinburgh or Glasgow to catch the 5pm soundcheck and then do a resulting gig. However I would not recommend that for the start point of an opening night of a week long tour! The only time I saw a Wal for sale in Orkney was in an Ebay listing about ten years ago. I asked if I could try it and said that I was actually going to be in Orkney the following day. Magically the location of the bass was quickly changed to the Isle of Wight. Either it was a fraud listing or the owner was a real island hopper!

Quite possibly, though it seems to be a useable explanation at present.

Unlikely, copious amounts of whisky though, and after a few of them a Wal might as well be a Whale.

Just say that you were testing your eyesight and you should be fine.

Exactly. Though you can drive from Glasgow to John o’Groats in about 6 hours if traffic on A9 is fine, so if you have a free day you can get to most places in the mainland and back. If the OP is based in Ayr though and someone has a Wal for sale in Orkney it isn’t much help. As far as I am aware though, there are no Wals for sale in Orkney.

As a V6 owner I am pleased to hear that!

We apparently are playing a festival In Inverness headlined by the Wildhearts in November. I highly doubt the gig will happen.

Mesa Powerhouse 6x10, one of the last series of the cabs before they were discontinued, essentially mint condition. £400. No other bargains, though a few of my instruments have gone up in value since I bought them which is nice.

Definitely a Gibson for me even though I hate the direction and Gibson's consistent ability to score consistent public relations own goals ('Play Authentic' ugh). I spent almost a year trying out 2016 and 2017 series of Les Pauls (Traditional, Classic, Standard). Most of the guitars I tried in the shops however needed a decent set up. I also tried a Les Paul Tribute and I thought it was a really good guitar for £1000. I didn't end up buying it because I had my heart set on a full fat 'proper' Les Paul. At the £1000 price point I would also consider an SG which has essentially the same electronics and pickups as a Les Paul, but is lighter and has better upper fret access. My brother already had an SG though so I 'had' to buy a Les Paul to be different. I ended up buying a second hand 2008 Les Paul Standard faded (so basically a Les Paul Standard with a satin finish) in 2017. The looks of the guitar are 'so so' compared to the new Les Paul Standards but in terms of playability this guitar covers everything I need. In terms of buying 'new', I think that the new Standard 50s and 60s series are a big improvement on the previous Traditional and Standard series. At £2000 they are pretty big investments, however of any guitar model out there, a Gibson Les Paul is likely to hold its value better than a lot of other models at the price point. The Les Paul Classic is about £1500 and has coil tapping features that the 50s and 60s Standards don't, so that may be worth investigating too. Irrespective of my love of GIbson guitars, the quality of a PRS S2 will be more consistent than Gibson from guitar to guitar. The SE and S2 series are really good guitars period, let alone being good guitars for their price point. However, for me the sound of a Gibson is what I prefer so I will generally buy a Gibson irrespective of the fact that a PRS guitar will probably hold its tune better, be easier to play, have more tonal variation (coil splitting options etc) and have consistent QC from instrument to instrument. In terms of you think you would prefer, outside of playing them I would recommend watching a few Youtube videos of reviews of the models you are looking at. Its a crap time to be shopping for a new guitar so my best wishes to the OP in their quest!

I loved the video. It seems that the amp is very much a modern, slightly more flexible hybrid between the HD350 and TD650. I love the idea of the two mid controls, which is actually a feature I would really like on my old Fafner. It is a shame that the amp is being released in the middle of a pandemic when people are not exactly going to be flushed with cash. It looks like a truly awesome piece of kit, especially with the matching 4x10. I'm still