thodrik

Might be a Mesa thing. The Walkabout series featured a very loud fan as well. I have had a Walkabout for nearly ten years and have just used to it on the basis that the fan is never audible when playing with a band. I'm guessing Mesa just expect people to be playing their amps at 'full band practice' levels rather than bedroom levels.

I know, but the Fender based Spector Coda line are a bit too ‘bling’ for me with so much flame going on. My ‘boutique’ Fender choice is always going to be a Sadowsky, or a Fender. The top line Spector basses are as good as anything else out there though.

I have tried too many alternative tunings to count - from up to F standard with very light strings and down to A standard with very heavy strings. Most of the variations are based from choosing the 'standard' tuning and then altering the pitch of the bottom string to get the 'drop D' or 'drop B' or very rarely the 'drop A' equivalent Never tried Cello tunings on a bass guitar though. I am pretty sure I would get very confused very quickly!I tried that DADGAD tuning on a guitar once and absolutely hated it.

I would never buy one myself as the looks and ergonomics are not for me, but nearly time I hear a Spector in a live or rehearsal setting, the bass sounds great.

It’s a good price, even if it had been stripped, or was fitted with a new bridge or pickups. If it plays well and sounds good you onto a winner. The days of picking up a seventies Fender for less than a grand are long gone.

Mesa Walkabout for me. Great 1x15 combo for 90% of all gigs, but could be removed and used through a larger cabinet, stack or 8x10 if someone was doing a 'bring your own head and you can use my cab' type of gig.

I might be biased though...

Me too to be honest. The bass looks better sans scratchplate. That and black is just cool.

Cracking looking bass. I have one of the newer bolt on Arpeges but I think the old through neck models are truly state of the art and more unique looking. For anyone else looking to get on the Vigier bandwagon there is a rather tasty Excess on sale at Guitar Guitar. Price seems reasonable considering the quality of the bass. I have had an Excess since 2004 and it is still going strong. https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/px180127321592006--vigier-excess-1996-dark-red-burst-pre-owned

Cool. It wouldn't surprise me if Bass Direct took in a few NYC models as well, as I see Thomann have a few for sale on their site.

I say this as an owner of Les Paul, however I really don't like singlecut basses, particularly those 'exaggerated' boutique singlecut designs from Fodera and Sadowsky. To me it just makes the whole bass look unbalanced and looks like a waste of wood to me. Beyond that I can appreciate pretty much anything.

Well, better than Born Again anyway!

Vol 4 is a great album, but you can almost hear the drugs on the album. Also, the guitar is out of tune on Snowblind. Wheels of Confusion and Supernaut are class though.

Take out 'Chapman Guitars' and insert any other brand and that is pretty much the standard quote for a press release for nearly every signature guitar or bass ever made.

The 'anything that isn't metal or downtuned rock' set up: Sadowsky Metro or NYC (depending on if I need four or five strings) > Boss TM2 tuner > Aguilar Agro (set on low gain, only use as slight boost during louder bits) > BBE Two Timer > Mesa Walkabout. Detuned stoner/doom music: 1978(ish) Fender Precision > Boss TM2 tuner > Aguilar Agro > Darkglass Duality fuzz >BBE Two Timer > Keeley Bassist Compressor > Trace Elliot V6 (when it works) or Mesa M6 Djent/modern metal set up: Vigier Arpege V string > Boss TM2 tuner > Darkglass B3K > Keeley Bassist Compressor > Mesa M6 The 'my significant other is watching Call the Midwife' set up: Any bass > 20 year old Park Practice amp > headphones. The 'I used to be okay at this 15 years ago' set up: Double Bass > double bass bow > horrible noises.

I know nothing about these basses but it looks very cool.

I think so. An alternative would be 18 1v batteries, but it might make the basses too heavy.

So it appears that Sadowsky are launching a new line of 'more affordable' versions of their 'more affordable' line of Japanese constructed basses. Apparently these are 'factory made' as opposed to the standard Metro line which is 'artisan made', i.e. in Sadowsky's Tokyo workshop. I was wondering what factory it actually is? They also appear to feature the same pickups, EQ and hardware as the standard Metro options but with no options in terms of spec and only a few colours, presumably to keep costs down. The US 'street' price is $1875 for four strings and $1975 for five strings. I'm guessing that this will end up being anywhere from £1400-£1600 when they hit the new market. At that price, (above a Lakland Skyline but below most US Fenders), I'm interested to see how they will fare in the UK market. It seems expensive to me personally but being 31, I am stuck in 2008 pricing when a US Standard Jazz was £800, a Musicman was about £1000, a Sandberg was £1100 and a Sadowsky Metro was £1300. This means that everything seems bloody expensive to me! Still, with basic versions of the Metro line going for over £2000 these days, this new line could be a better option. £1400 for a Japanese made Sadowsky as opposed to £2300 for a Japanese made Sadowsky with the same basic features would be appealing to me. Anyway, pics are on the Sadowsky website. https://www.sadowsky.com/metroexpress-hi-res-gallery/ Not to be overly critical, but they all look like good functional basses but none of them make me go 'wow, I need to try that'. Mind you, my Metro isn't particularly gorgeous either (the really plain bleached maple fingerboard on the Japanese made Sadowskys makes the bass look a bit generic compared to its price point to me), but it sounds brilliant. I'm interested to hear everybody's thoughts. Cheers in advance.

Interesting. That solves one potential issue. The other issue with the V6 is that it runs on 2 ohm and 4 ohm tap only. I have read things that it is safe to run it with an 8 ohm cab, however that goes against everything I have read about valve amps. There is very little info to be had on the V6, other than they are big heavy and loud!

I personally think that a 400 watt valve amp is beyond overkill. So much fun though. I played a gig with a VBA and it was just ridiculously powerful. I ended up buying a Trace Elliot V6 years later. I'm not sure if it actually 'is' 400 watts, but it is really loud and has loads of clean headroom. You have run it at silly levels to get any kind of grit. It is not that kind of amp.

Much like the 'American Professional' is just a re-brand of the American Standard series and the 'American Elite' is just a re-brand of the 'American deluxe' line, this new 'American Original' is just a re-brand of the 'American Vintage' series. I think the launch of the different lines at different times, while they are still marketing the old lines for sale, has caused a bit of confusion. Not quite the level of confusion of Gibson Les Pauls with their Studio/Classic/Traditional/Standard with matching 'Traditional' or 'High Performance' sub-specs if you want robotic tuners. I think that Fender could have handled the re-launch a bit better. I prefer the old brand names better as well. In terms of the guitars and basses themselves, I think that they all look nice. The prices have gone up, but the prices for everything have gone up. In terms of the lack of 'innovation' criticism, this 'American Original' line is clearly not designed to be innovative. The American Professional series is clearly geared to be their new 'standard' passive electronic bass with a few modern updates in terms of pickups, hardware and frets. The 'American Elite' series is far more innovative in terms of Fender design, in terms of the compound radius and updated hardware and electronics, so it appears to be designed to compete with the more 'boutique' active jazz basses from Sandberg, Sadowsky Metro in the same price bracket. Fender have also recently launched an offset series and the Dimension bass so they do try 'new' stuff from time to time, it is just that most of time their new ideas don't catch on. I speak of this as an owner of Fender Toronado, a attempt by Fender to make a guitar with humbuckers and a Gibson scale length. It is a fine guitar but not as nice a 'proper' Strat or Tele. I was tempted of selling it, but I will keep it just in case Ed Sheeran or someone like that starts using one and their value skyrockets.

I use 120-50 strings. In any event lots of bands tune down to C sharp and lower on six string guitars and four string basses. The instrument just needs to be set up for it.

I'm not doing bad these days. This is the latest and probably last addition. The 'flashiness' of the look is more Bass Direct's photography skills prior to the sale to me in 2015. In real life the bass has a few cosmetic dings, which is fine by me. My old Precision bass still gets used more often though, mostly because it is tuned to C sharp and I am going through a big Black Sabbath phase. Would still love a Wal and a Rickenbacker, but I have made my choices

I have an M6 and a Walkabout. Both great heads. I prefer the Walkabout to be honest. The lack of headroom on it was a real plus for me. It is has the characteristics of an all valve amp when you push it hard at a gig which is great. Through the right cabinet it is loud enough for any gig if you don't require pristine cleans at high volumes. I have used it anything from at open mic nights to stoner/doom gigs competing with JCM 800 an Mesa Dual Rectifier half stacks. The M6 is very much a clean machine, but you can get quite a cutting aggressive sound out of it. Great for modern rock and metal and percussive slap techniques and also great platform for pedals. I also has an idiot proof EQ section. It is ridiculously loud so it is nearly unusable for home use. I say nearly because I still do, but only when the wife to be isn't in. I can left the Walkabout with two fingers so don't think that I will ever need a lighter or smaller amp than that. The D800 will be a class amp though. The EQ section on the D800 is very very similar to the M6, but the amp will be much much lighter.

The problem with the Trace Elliot gear as a seller is that it is heavy, unfashionable and the fact that there is so much of it on the second hand market already on account of the gear being so popular back in the day. I also recently sold a GP7 combo for about £150. Sold an SMX head for about £200 a could of years ago. The valve amps are worth a bit more, the fabled V8 being worth a lot more! I would say about £200 for the head and about £150 for the cab. You will be able to sell it as it is good kit, but you might have to wait a little bit.