thodrik

S9 series Precision, so made anywhere between 1978-1980 (not checked the neck to see exact date of neck etc). Anyhoo, I have owned this since 1999 and despite being lucky enough to own 2 Sadowskys and 2 Vigiers, this is still my ‘go to’ bass. Scratch plate was cut in half by a previous owner. I think this was for easy access to fix the jack connection as when I got it the wiring was horrendous. 14 year old me did a resoldering job in 2000 and I haven’t needed to look at it since. The bass was in almost faultless condition when I got it apart from the scratch plate issue. As a result most of the mojo is mine. Lots of gigs, lots of rehearsals, lots of ‘why didn’t I put it in a hard case?’ gig bag travel dings. The neck lacquer started to come off 10 years ago. I had it treated a bit to stop the whole thing coming off but now and again another bit will flake off in the middle of a song. I won’t get the neck refinished as I’m afraid that would ruin the feeling of the neck. Apologies for rubbish pics

If you always have a good monitoring system or are running your own PA with sound engineer you trust then great. I would run with that. Lots of pro level players use that kind of set up rather than using an amp. I have generally played multi-band originals gigs. From gigging venue to venue, PA to PA and sound person to sound person, I found that I always preferred having an amp I could rely on for monitoring purposes. Usually this was(and still is) a 300 watt 1x15 combo. In terms of the guitar, I am a big believer in that driving a valve guitar amp hard can result in the best tone. However considerations as to the power of the head and size of the cab are necessary, both with smaller venues and with larger venues. An unmiced 4x12 Marshall will be too loud for a small venue and not loud enough in a large venue with a powerful PA. I would suggest a smaller cab and lower wattage amp. That way you can still mic it up and the stage volume will not swamp everything else. Or if your guitarist insists on using his current set up, get them to buy an attenuator.

Yepp, the Vigier quality is top notch. What I like about the Excess though is that, rather than being a take on a 'boutique' Fender Jazz, it is almost some kind of hybrid between a Precision, Jazz and a Rickenbacker. Fifteen years in and I am still finding new sounds by finding different blend points for the pickups and EQ settings. I still like basses with a truss rod, but the joy of the Vigier is that once you have set it up, the set up will never change with temperature or humidity changes or using heavier or lighter gauge strings. It makes it a brilliant workhorse bass.

Nice! I love that purple finish. Congrats! I have had an Excess four string since 2004. Still going strong. It seems that the pickups on the five strings are slightly different to the old Benedetti style pickups on the four string models. They look quite like the pick ups on the Arpege and Passion models though I have no idea if they are indeed the same.The old Benefetti pickups on my four string are ridiculously powerful. Frankly almost a bit too powerful. I have a five string Arpege but I personally prefer the design of the Excess.

Will get onto this later. My Precision has 40 years of mojo, with most of the mojo caused by me!

Beast of an amp in sound and in weight. An expensive re-tube (6x6550 power tubes), though luckily I never owned one, only used one on a few gigs over the years. Graphic EQ makes the amp a bit more flexible than some other all valve amps which just have a bass, middle, treble EQ (like my Trace Elliot V6). I much preferred the II Pro to the SVT Classic for that reason. Though if someone offered my a SVT Classic I wouldn't exactly say no either...

Great point. As a lucky owner of a Sadowsky NYC I am intrigued as to whether a 'Roger Sadowsky era' Sadowsky will shoot up in value immediately after he retires. s. I also think that Roger will make sure that production quality following his retirement will be so high that there will not really be a massive demand for 'vintage Sadowskys' vs New Sadowskys. In 50 years though, possibly, but by then my then 100 year old Precision will probably still be worth more...

This absolutely. The Scout combo (especially the 1x15 I have) is very boomy. The semi parametric EQ is great at notching that out. 1x15 has been my main rig for ten years and has covered all manner of blues/rock/indie/metal. In ten years of owning the amp I have never even touched the 4 semi parametric EQ controls for the mids and treble! Saying that though I wouldn’t expect the combo to compare to an SVT full stack being driven to the point of overdrive. There is usually going to be a heft/practicality trade off when going to a more modular set up. The trade off isn’t so great now with more modern high powered class d amps and high powered lightweight cabs. However the Walkabout design is pretty old and dates from the days of when heavy valve and MOSFET amps were the main options for bassists. My Walkabout through a 2x10 or my 6x10 is very much not boomy and to me is a far better pairing for the amp. A 4x10 would be my optimal cab but I got a great deal on a 6x10 when I was last looking for a cab last year so it is either that or the combo for me.

I found personally that I needed to use the pre shape and then the EQ to balance out the pre shape. I could never really get the sound I wanted without the pre shape on a 7 band eq, however the 12 band models were really flexible. I just moved them on because I wasn’t using them anymore. When I have more space I will probably regret it as they were still classic amps.

Had a GP12 SMX from 2009-2016. Bought it as an inexpensive back back up to either an EBS Fafner or Mesa Walkabout. As a result I only used it for maybe 3 gigs. It always sounded good though, I just never had it as my main amp, as my previous 'main amp' from 1998- 2009 was a very similar GP7 SM 300 amp. At some point I needed to escape the 'Trace Elliot pre shape sound'. Circa 2019, I play a Trace Elliot V6. No pre shape, but a load of heft...

What kind of 'Drop A' do you mean? What kind of 6 string is it? Is it super long scaled/fan fretted? What is your preferred tension when it comes to standard tuning on a 6 string? Are you tuning the low B down to a low A and then tuning the remaining strings to E, A, D, G, C? If so, a standard 6 string set with a heavier B string should manage okay for a drop A. If you are using another type of tuning then you might need to consider making up your own set from single strings or ordering a custom set. When it comes to making up a set, I always use the D'Addario string tension guide (http://www.daddario.com/DAstringtensionguide.Page?sid=d1da30b6-7ea2-4c92-95f5-ff2ad1307517). Basically my preferred string gauge for standard 4 string tuning is 100-40 Nicklewound. It isn't highly scientific, but I can use the guide in a roundabout way to find the gauges that will provide a similar tension in the designated tuning. I generally don't tune to anything lower than A though. Getting a string that will manage a clear low A and a clear F# will be very tricky. Even a string gauge as thick as 160 will perhaps struggle with F# depending on the design of the bass etc. However a 160 will be ideal for a low A, though the tension will probably be too tight for you to also manage to tune it up to B. A 175 gauge string will perhaps manage a drop F# okay but you might find that the tension is too high for you to use the same string as a A string. Once you get into these gauge of strings you also have to make sure that your bass is set up and/or capable of being able to have this heavy a gauge installed. The issue isn't really one of 'tension' on the neck given the low tunings generally used, however the issue is often a basic practical question of 'can this massive string even be fitted to the bass?'. Personally, I would consider whether you really need the low F#. Just because a 7 or 8 string guitar is tuned super low doesn't mean that bass guitar has to follow. You might find that playing the bass part an octave up actually allows the bass to be more 'present' in the mix. Listen to bands like Deftones, Torche, and Meshuggah for examples of that (might not be everyone's taste but it gives an idea of how it can be done). DR DDT do bass strings, but I don't think that they do six string gauges. The heaviest bass strings I have seen are 135-55 and I found that they were too unbalanced (the B string is too small compared to the rest of the strings) for my tastes and very expensive. Rotosound do DropZone strings which can get to F# but I think that they are limited to four or five string sets. Some people on Basschat highly recommend Newtone strings for custom orders. I personally found that it was easier, cheaper and just as good in terms of quality to just make up my own sets with D'Addario single strings. As you can tell, I have used a lot of alternate tunings in my time... Good luck!

Sounds like a similar pre-amp to my Trace V6. On that I find that 2 - 10 - 2 is around about 'flat'. With a passive bass my usual settings are around 5 on bass, 6-7 on mids and around 4 on treble. With a high powered active bass the bass and treble controls on the amp rarely go above 3. Also try playing around with the gain and master settings as that can have a massive effect on the tone as well. I find that with a passive three knob control, don't be afraid to try settings that would seem completely ridiculous or 'wrong' if you were using +/- active pre amp filter where 'all knobs at 12 o'clock = flat or close to flat'. In my opinion ,you can really lose out on a lot of the fun experimentation of different tones if you take an 'all knobs must be set at 12' o clock' approach when using a Valve amp.

Ronaldo may have practised with weights on his ankles, but he never played football with rubber boots. To me, the equivalent of Ronaldo wearing weights would be practising on heavy gauge strings with a high action and then switching to light strings and low action. However I would pretty much agree with the concept that it can sometimes be worth starting on a 'adequate' starter bass so that you can really appreciate the switch up to a 'good' bass. In my opinion, the main thing is to get a new player to start off on any instrument that they enjoy playing. Yes, a horrible bass might put a player off if it is completely unplayable or just doesn't work. However, a half decent, functional instrument secured second hand from a mate/gumtree/family member/BC market place is often all you need to get someone 'hooked' on the concept of playing a bass.

I got my one for £650 back in 2013. They are rare but not 'so rare' that you will be able to sell them on for massive profit if you get a good deal. On price it will depend on the condition and how many people are wanting to buy a V6 at the time you are looking to sell. Sometimes when one comes up for sale, there will be two people actively looking for a V6, in which case there will be a bidding war. Sometimes one will come up for sale at a time when nobody is actively looking for one. In which case the amp will sit about until somebody does want to buy it. I would say £650-£800 is in the 'good deal' range. Anything more than that is pushing it unless the amp is in pristine condition. If the amp needs a re-valve I would try to get it for less than £600 as the re-valve job can cost £250-£300 (circa me doing one in 2015!). I really like mine for what it is worth.

It is a 12v AC power supply. The power supply model is called '12AC-1000'. https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Electro-Harmonix-12AC-1000-Power-Supply/F4Q. I am no valve expert, but this is what I do when checking valves:Turn the pedal off, open the pedal up, remove the valves. Raise the valve to your ear and gently tap the valve with your finger nail or a pen. If you hear a 'ping' or a ring then it is a sign that the valve might have gone. There are few good Youtube demonstrations on good techniques to practice. They English Muff'n uses 12AY7s as stock. You could change them to 12AX7 tubes if you want more gain. In terms of valves, Mesa valves are expensive but easy to source. I have actually just used some JJ tubes in my Mesa amp and they are great. As said above, the issue might be a loose solder connection. If the pedal is lighting up then it probably isn't the power supply which is at fault. Best of luck!

Fantastic post thanks. The data from Genz Benz really clears up a lot of my queries in terms of reliability and the economic cost of repair and how that stacks up with the ongoing cost of repairing a valve amp equivalent. My uninformed worry was that some companies would be designing amps to be like certain brands of smart phones in that they are designed have a short lifespan with the intention that they are to be replaced by a ‘new’ shiny product every 24 months. That is a very cynical view I know and not entirely serious! Of course every company will differ in terms of how their amps are designed in terms of future repair. With that in mind I’m certainly a believer that ‘you get what pay for’ in that respect. Cheers!

It might be the valves. It might be the power supply. The valves should glow but they won’t be that bright. Try changing the tubes or perhaps checking if they are microphonic. When mine broke down it was just a case that a wire in the power supply plug had shorted. I just bought a new plug and the pedal worked as good as new.

There are similarities for sure, in terms of the pre-shape but definitely not clones. The ABM series are capable of a much more of an 'old school' sound. The valve drive feature on the ABMs can allow for much more grit and dirt to be added into the signal. The valve inputs on say, the Trace Elliot SMX I used to have add a bit of warmth to the signal but don't add much dirt. The ABMs have different eq points as well as fewer EQ controls as a 12 band graphic Trace EQ. So an ABM does 'feel' different to a Trace Elliot amp, though certainly with the right tweaking you can certainly get a 'Trace Elliot' type sound on an Ashdown ABM. An Ashdown ABM is definitely an 'evolution' on the original Trace Elliot theme though. It is almost like what Trace Elliot 'might/should have' done in the mid late 1990s by combining the 'old school' style of the V types with the 'hi fi' style of the 12 band solid state heads.

Keep the SVT II. It is a 'holy grail' amp. The SVT preamp into a solid state power amp (which is fairly underpowered compared to more modern amps) will be a nice set up for sure, but it won't nail the all valve tone of an SVT II. Once you put the preamp and power amp together and add in a rack case, the weight will also start to add up as well. All 'in my opinion' though.

Forgive me, I used the wrong words there. I should have said, that in my experience I have found that when MOSFET/hybrid or valve amp power sections have had problems, I have usually been able to get a tech to repair the section without having to incur the cost of changing the entire power section. This makes the repair job economically worthwhile. Of course you are correct, if the whole power section needs to be replaced in a MOSFET amp then this is not any different in changing a module in a class D amp. It is an expensive fix either way. However from your previous post earlier, you had stated that "It turns out that because of the level of complexity and the specialised nature of the equipment and experience required to CORRECTLY diagnose and repair these modules, it's almost always less expensive to replace them than it would be to repair them". So reading that, my thought is that there basically there is generally no economic value to trying to get a repair done to a class D power module in the event that there is an issue with the power module. This means that a cheap fix is never possible, you pretty much have to change to the whole module if there is any fault whatsoever. My basic point is that there is no 'cheap repairs' possible given the sophistication of the technology involved. I am aware that MOSFET/hybrid and valve amps can be expensive to fix too when there is a catastrophic failure, but sometimes the issue is a very straightforward fix at minimal cost. Sometimes the issue is so minor I can even fix it myself (for example changing pre amp tubes in a hybrid head or changing power tubes in a fixed bias valve amp). Amp enthusiasts continue to buy, trade, repair and modify/hot rod vintage valve and solid state amps in the knowledge that if something goes wrong then an economic repair (or even self repair) is usually possible. Given the level of sophistication of Class D technology, this isn't really the case with class D amps as it if something goes wrong a 'cheap fix' or self repair isn't possible, nor is it really possible to modify the amp given the sophistication of the technology involved. The sophisticated nature of class D technology accordingly does make we wonder about the economic value of repair and replacement costs once class D amps are out of the warranty period. As Class D amps get older, I would assume that the current class D power modules would become more difficult to source and replace as newer Class D amps will undoubtedly use newly designed power modules.If a class D amp developed a fault in 2038 that required the power module to be replaced, would the module have to be replaced with a 2018 power module equivalent, or will it will be possible in the future to fit newer power modules to replace the older power modules? I'm genuinely curious and not a sceptical way. I am just wondering whether trying to replace the power section of 20 year Class D power module will be as much 'fun' as trying to replace a twenty year old valve amp transformer or MOSFET power section in 2018. If it is the case that high quality class D amps are far more reliable than high quality valve and solid state amps then great. In that case the cost replacing a class D power module in its entirety on the rare occasion it develops a fault will be more economically worthwhile than the ongoing repair costs of regularly gigged solid state/hybrid and valve amps. Knowing that an amp is very unlikely to fail would perhaps offset my concern that the sophistication of the technology doesn't enable economic repair in the event that there is a fault. I hope that is a better account of my thoughts than my previous statements. I certainly do not at all want to come across as a Class D 'troll', but I do have questions and I am keen to learn more about the technology involved.

I have one. It works great on bass or guitar. Also you can try it with different tubes to give it a different flavour and go for a higher gain/lower gain. I also have/had (it broke) an EBS Valvedrive and the English Muff'n was far better in terms of overdrive sounds.

How is it irrational for me to have a preference for buying amplifiers that can be repaired rather than needing to be replaced entirely if they break down? Since you want to bring cars into the equation, if my car breaks down I generally like to have the option of repairing the car rather then having to buy a new car. Edit: However, yes you are right, it is an overreaction, but I don’t think it is irrational.

No, but getting a new power section installed can be done by a tech instead of having to change the whole unit.

I think that this thread has turned me off from buying any used class D head. At least with solid state/valve amps, pretty much any fault can be repaired. I am wondering if class D power amps will have the long term lifespan of the Trace Elliot, Ashdown and Peavey mosfet amps that have kicking around rehearsal studios and venues for use and abuse as backline for the last 25 years? Mind you, I had a Trace Elliot combo die on me circa 1999 that was considered ‘unfixable’ by TE, who just sent me a new unit as it was under warranty. So basically amps of all types can suffer catastrophic failure and it always sucks.

Pretty much this except I would also add "they are far more expensive to purchase new than compared to a few years ago". I have not bought one but have played a few. All of them were quality basses. I came close to buying one in 2009 but ended up buying a Sadowsky Metro. It was a close contest and another bassist would have preferred the Sandberg. We could pretty much have a 'post your thoughts' thread for pretty much every instrument maker.