thodrik

I would keep the amp and get a lighter 4x10 cab. If you love the sound that you have already I would be hesitant of changing the amp just for a bit of weight. From experience though, lugging an old school 6x10 around by yourself is really difficult (in my case a Mesa 6x10). Lugging around a hefty 25kg valve amp is easy in comparison! If you got a modern lighter cab like a Barefaced or Bergantino, you could still get your current sound but in a more portable set up. You could perhaps consider something like a Tech 21 VT500. A lightweight 'Ampeg in a box' type design. No valves, but would definitely deliver a bit of grit. But when you actually own the amp that the Tech 21 is trying to emulate, then I would definitely want to try before you buy. If you have the cash, then the new Mesa WD-800 looks like a serious piece of kit as well. There are so many incredible lightweight bass amps available these days (none of which I own), that it is really quite difficult to go wrong.

Best present I have received in the last few years was a basic Stagg rack for six instruments. It means I can play any of my basses immediately. It also acts as a GAS barrier, as my wife is forbidding me from buying more instruments than can fit in the rack (it was a bit of a double-edged gift). The process of taking the instrument out of a case, putting the case out of the way and then the process of putting the bass back in the case and storing the case away was constantly taking away from my time of actually playing bass. Also the cases take up a lot of space, so I store them in the attic. I also have stand to temporarily store the instrument I am in the process of playing. With a baby on the way though I will probably have to cut back to 'gigging bass' and guitar on a stand and everything else in a case. I never prop an instrument against a wall or an amp though (unless I'm at a gig and totally forgot to take a stand...which happens more often than it should).

I am partial to Mesa, however the fact that the Bergantino looks vaguely like a downsized mid 1990s Hi-fi amplifier is really cool. I would love to pair it with the Ashdown vertical 3x10 for no other reason other than it would look cool.

I have basically a more used version of that bass. Same finish though I always thought it was just 'cherry sunburst'. The neck should be the same profile as mine. The neck on my Precision is my favourite neck of all of my basses, which includes two Sadowskys. Not too clubby or wide but substantial enough. The pick up appears to have been changed, though that will probably improve the bass. The original pick up on mine is frankly a bit 'so so' and could do with having a bit more output.

CC Music in the West End area of Glasgow had a couple of cracking Precisions in when I was in about three weeks ago: S9 Precision. I would guess it should go for £1200-£1500(it shouldn't cost any more than that as it isn't from the desirable period). Could be awesome like mine, could be a dog. http://www.ccmusicshop.co.uk/product/fender-usa-precision-bass-1979-sienna-burst/ USA 1997 60s Precision for £1200: http://www.ccmusicshop.co.uk/product/fender-1997-usa-60s-precision-bass-in-vintage-sunburst/ Also a 2001 US Standard on the site for about £800. Would be a fun morning/afternoon before or after wading through the options at Guitar Guitar.

Someone is selling a V6 on ebay (chrome knob version)... £999 collection from Liverpool.

I have seen ex-demo discounts for sure. But nothing comparable to the usual massive Gibson discount of the previous year's Les Paul models!

In Mesa's defence the price of the WD-800 and D800 series is a lot lower than the 'new' prices of the original Walkabout (circa £1500 a few years ago) or amps such as the Big Block 750, M6 and M9 that were about £1800 or above to be purchased 'as new' when they were on the market. In that sense, I was honestly expecting the price point of the WD-800 to be in the £1,500 - £2,000 region given its 'newness' and the feature set. For me, I can live with the price of the WD-800, in the sense that Mesa new premium bass head is £1300 rather than £2,000. However the cost of the new line cabs (£2,175 for the 2x15 and 4x10, £1,575 for the 2x12) is really prohibitive for potential purchasers in the UK, no matter how good the cabs are (I have no doubt that they are exceptional, but so is a lot of the competition).

In his defence though, there is a legitimate medical reason for his wearing of gloves. He explains why in one of his better videos.

Yes, he certainly gets my goat at times. Most of the time I go out of my way to not watch his videos. Such as this, a video titled 'Aguilar Bass Pedals Review'. It is not a review. It is a promo for a giveaway for some free stuff he was sent directly by Aguilar. In his defence though, if I was in his position and was offered a bunch of free stuff to try out, including a £4k Yamaha, I'm not going to say no. However, if I want to see an honest review of a product, I find his videos to be generally verging on useless. He is far from the only one on Youtube guilty of this.Also, I am only making this comment in relation to his Youtube videos. I cannot comment on his Bass Lessons service, which sounds like a great service and community and I am really happy that he has developed a successful business. You can argue that Youtube videos are a necessary evil of the way he needs to develop his brand/business. However, his Youtube videos really discourage me from wanting to sign up, because half of the time I can't take anything he says with any degree of credibility owing to the amount of product placement, 'giveaways' and other 'adverts' disguised as reviews or honest critiques of gear. I doubt my absence from his service gives him sleepless nights though! Also, I would also like to say that I generally find the Andertons videos to be useful, honest and generally not all OMG, check this AWESOME new stuff from Brand X'. The classic video was the Gibson 2015 launch video with the automatic tuners. Poor 'Captain' and 'Chappers' were basically going 'ummm, yeah... this is what Gibson sent us this year...If you want to get rid of the robot tuners we can do that for you...'. Or even recently when they demoed the Orange Pedal Baby and were clearly unimpressed, which was refreshing considering that the shop was actually selling them so it was in their interest to deliver a 'wow, this is awesome' product video. Yes, they promote items, but they are a shop actively trying to sell gear so I give them a pass for that. However I find their promotional demos to be a lot more in depth than a lot of 'reviews' on Youtube.

My main annoyance at Youtube reviews is that a lot of them are basically adverts disguised as reviews. I can take a slap fest if what follows is an honest review of what a piece of equipment can and can't do, rather than the usual 'WOW THIS IS THE BEST PIECE OF GEAR I HAVE EVER SEEN (since last week's video)'. I love it when a reviewer tries a setting on an amp, instrument or pedal and actually says something along the lines of 'hmmm that setting isn't for me, lets try something else.' Dood's reviews are great, Premier Guitar are usually very good and while not a bass player I like the Andy guy at Pro Guitar Shop in terms of demos/reviews of guitar products. Bass Whisperer too. Other that that I really don't explore Youtube reviews that much.

I never knew that such a thing existed! That looks very cool.

It happens in pretty much every genre in popular music. Some bands tune to E flat, particularly a lot of classic rock bands in the 60s and 70s. Can you play most/all of their material on a standard tuned five string? Certainly. Can a four string just tuned to E flat also do the job just as well? Absolutely. The same goes for lots of classic rock/psychedelic, indie bands, stoner bands or drone bands who can often play in tunings from C standard to D standard. Some people will just lump them all together as 'metal' but that isn't really fair considering the amount of variety within the indie, rock and metal sub genres). A five string will do the job, but since a lot of bands rely heavily on improvisation when it comes to writing and playing, do you really want to be constantly transposing guitar parts and figuring out what fingerings to use on a standard scale bass in the middle of a writing session and or a blues dep gig where the guitarist is tuning lower like latter day Buddy Guy or higher to open F like Albert Collins? Sometimes it is just easier to play knowing that you can pretty much quickly double the guitar part simply by looking that what the guitarist is playing! Lots of bands who play in lower tunings also rely on a lot of open strings. Particularly in psychedelic music where the drone of an open string is often left ringing while the guitarist or bassist also does something more intricate further up the fretboard while an open string is ringing. If you want a ringing low F sharp (a tone and a half below an open A string), then a standard tuned five string isn't really going to be the ideal tool for the job if you also want to play a legato line or two some two handed tapping further up the fretboard. Of course you could play around it and play something else entirely, or even just play everything in standard tuning. Basically, so long as you are able to play what you want to play then you don't have any issues. There is no real law in terms of what should be considered normal in music and what should be considered 'wacky'. You are not going to 'ruin' a bass or be less talented because you choose to use a different tuning to achieve the sound that you want to achieve. It is called 'standard' tuning, not 'mandatory' tuning.

I have 4, all the same brand and type (black vaguely long Levy). Main 'gigging' bass (Sadowsky) has had a strap on semi-permanently for years thanks to my high-tech strap lock system of the rubber tip thingies you get from bottles of Grolsch. The others are swapped depending on what ones I am using as part of my rehearsal/jamming/recording routine. Basically I make sure that I have a strap for any bass I am using regularly, plus the back up to that main bass. Two bands = the need for four straps.

For me, I always equate heft to a balance of: - the ability of an amplifier and speaker set up to deliver lots of low/sub bass with tonnes of headroom without the sound farting out or without the amp requiring loads of compression to generate a loud signal; and - a half joking description of amps which are very very loud and also very very heavy (i.e. my Trace Elliot V6 is very heavy but has lots of heft). The second part of the description means that the whole description is almost garbage, but is helpful in formulating seemingly knowledgeable but almost useless tonal descriptions. 'There is so much 'heft' on tap that I am concerned that the sound is a bit 'muddy'. However, even when I run my amp 'flat' there is still an abundance of 'heft', but when I do that I need to boost the gain a bit so that I can get the 'grit' I need.

There is a lot of good stuff on Stadium Arcadium. It does get a bit samey in places but it has some of Frusciante's best playing in my opinion after he abandoned the 'less is more' approach on By The Way. It is also the album where Flea started to use a passive jazz bass for most of the album, so it is a much different tone to his previous albums. By The Way has some of my favourite RHCP tracks (This is the place, Can't Stop and Don't Forget Me, even though the latter is basically Other Side pt ii in terms of chord structure) but also most of my least favourite/meh RHCP tracks (Cabron, Universally Speaking, Throw Away Your Television, I Could Die for You, most of it actually).

I love Flea and his playing on that album is really great. He had really worked on obtained the balance between between being funky and busy and also holding down the groove of a song. It is a classic album. In my opinion some of his best ever work is on De-Loused in the Comatorium by the Mars Volta. Not so much funk but tremendous feel and grove in a prog setting. Horrible 'loudness wars' mastering aside, Californication is also good, though much more simple in terms of basslines. I have not listened to anything by RHCP since seeing them live on the Stadium Arcadium tour in about 2007. They were that bad.

Definitely the right call. I bought a used NYC that was custom made (for somebody else...) and it is exceptional. The ability to make your own individual order is pretty damn awesome. All the best with building process. I personally really like the feel of satin finished instruments. I have a satin finished Les Paul guitar and love it. A satin finished Sadowsky will be about as good as it gets.

Fantastic review. Possibly the best, in depth review of a Trace V-series amp I have read (and I have searched for a few!) I have owned a V6 since about 2013. I was intrigued at finding out that the overdrive circuit on the Mk II was diode based. I wouldn't have expected that. I presume that the case is the same for the fabled V8? That is the one feature I wished my V6 had. Also glad to hear that somebody else doesn't like the 'deep' switch. I just do not like the effect it gives to the sound. The 'bright' switch on the V6 is okay though. I find the voicing of the 'pull out' mid switch a bit strange. Why is the focal point stuck at 500HZ? I don't like being an after-timer but I think that a three way (mid voice) switch to give some ability to choose the centre point of the 'mids' (300HZ, 500HZ, 800/1k) to be controlled would have been a bit more flexible. The EBS Fafner two way mids control (identify frequency/cut and boost to taste) would have been ideal, but then it wouldn't have been a 'classic' passive EQ. Either way I can live with it. I also own an EBS Fafner (mk I) and I'm glad to hear that someone else thought that it is a better comparison to the V4/V6 than another valve amp. The V6 I have is very clean indeed. I have a Mesa Walkabout which behaves more like a 'traditional' valve amp than the V6 in terms adding traditional valve grit. The main thing that puzzles with the V6 is why it was released as running at 4 or 2 ohms, particularly when the 4x12 and 2x15 V-type cabs were 8 ohms. Were people just expected to buy two? I thought that valve amps were likely to fail if matched with the wrong impedance. There is no manual for the V6 either, and I have heard competing accounts as to whether it is safe or not!

The thought had crossed my mind as well. Though, given that nearly every post I have written over the last month has involved has mentioned a Mesa Boogie Walkabout, Mesa Boogie WD-800, Mesa Boogie M6 and Mesa Boogie, I wish to make it known that I definitely don't work for Mesa Boogie. My bank statements after buying a Big Block definitely attest to this...

No idea, any one of: 1) Hey Joe (Hendrix version); 2) Sunshine of your Love; 3) You Shook Me All Night Long (AC/DC) 4) A Stevie Ray Vaughan song. Think it was Pride and Joy. 5) Purple Haze. Over 20 years playing, but I have still never learned Smoke on the Water. I have only ever bought two tab books for Californication and Blood Sugar Sex Magik. That was about two years after I started learning and about 8 years before Youtube 'How to play' videos were a thing.

I don't think that the M6 is louder than any other Mesa 600 watt amp like an MPulse 600, however with the M6 I had, the master volume didn't have much of a gradual taper. It just went from 'off' to 'loud' immediately. It was like an old Marshall guitar amp! The M6 has a different type of input gain structure than the Mpulse heads like the Walkabout, Big Block or (I assume as I have not tried it) Mpulse 600. The Mpulse heads can generally go into gentle overdrive with the gain at 12 o'clock or over. The M6 only has one pre amp valve (compared to the 3-4 in an Mpulse head) and is designed for clean power, tonnes of headroom and a very fast response. You don't get any kind of overdrive on the M6 until pushing the gain past two o'clock settings, at which point there is no way of dialling in that tone at a polite volume because of the way that the master volume is structured. It will be tremendously loud. If you want a lot of valve warmth on the M6 I would suggest using a pedal rather than increasing the gain. The M6 sounds great with pedals. The driver stage of the M6 is also Mosfet based, rather than the Simulstate of the Mpulse line which involves (to my non-engineer brain) preamp valves being used in the driver stage. So basically the master volume on the M6 is delivering massive clean power. I sold mine because I really wanted a bit of pre amp grit and I really didn't need the clean power of the M6 as great as it was, so bought a Big Block. In many ways the M6 is a much superior and flexible amp, but I much prefer the natural 'grunt' of the Big Block which is hard to dial out (good thing I like it!)

I will also apologise for my slightly passive aggressive approach in the post above. I dropped my sandwich at work. Complete disaster. Shredded lettuce everywhere.

Agreed, the idea of the unskilled, heavy handed rock player who hacks away at a badly set up bass with high action through a cheap, badly EQ'd amp where he/she has made a mistake of deciding to 'cut rather than boost mids' is a classic bass forum caricature, alongside the incredibly adapt fluent funk and jazz player who always has amazing technique, plays with a beautiful light touch with low action, who never achieves fret buzz or fret clank, and always plays through a very expensive and complicated EQ system which is always 'run flat' or 'adjusted to suit the room'. Maybe it is time to start a new thread...