thodrik

A Dual Rec is a big amp to carry around if you are not wanting to use a cabinet. Something like a Helix would be more portable and useable for DI purposes at a gig. A load box with IRs would be the way to go. Mesa even had a CabClone product for the purpose of using the amp without a cabinet when recording or gigging. Insisting on trying to find another way to just go straight from the slave out/line out doesn’t seem like the best strategy when there is another strategy that would most likely achieve better results.

Local venues, other bands in your area that are of similar style or vaguely complimentary, local rock/metal Facebook groups etc, friends/former band mates. Everything helps. If you think that you could pull a crowd for your first gig then you can even try putting on a gig yourself and just find some support bands yourself. Good luck!

Park by Marshall 35 watt combo (1998 to now) Trace Elliot SM300 1x15 combo (1999-2017) EBS Fafner (2009 to now) Mesa Walkabout 15 combo (2009 to now) Trace Elliot GP12 300 SMX (2009-2016) Trace Elliot V6 (2012 to now) Mesa M6 Carbine (2016-2019) Mesa Big Block 750 (2019 to now). I don’t really change amps very often. Strange the amp I owned the shortest was a Mesa M6 but it wasn’t really the Mesa I really wanted, so I sold it to get the one I did really want instead.

I quite like the video. I generally won't purchase a signature model ('Les Paul' guitars being the exception), however this model feels fairly well thought out. Would be interesting to hear what the electronics and pickups are like compared to other active fender offerings.

I think that the cabs were discussed in passing along with the thread for the new amp I have linked below. However, I think that a new thread for just the cabs is fine considered this is Basschat and not a forum which requires all posters to do a detailed search before posting but then accuse posters of thread necromancy if the poster actually does that. Anyhoo, I haven't seen any of the cabs or the amp in person. I really wanted the 4x10 to be four ohms so I could use it with my old V6 which has a 2 or 4 ohm tap. They look cool, but they are pretty heavy for modern cabs and very expensive for a made in China product. Generally they up there with Mesa Boogie/Bergantino premium pricing in US and goodness knows what the eventual price will be in the UK.

Yes, I hear it too. I don't get it on mine either. If I did then I wouldn't be happy and would have done the same. Hopefully you get it sorted.

Sounds like it. That is rotten luck. I once got a faulty Trace Elliot combo. Completely died under warranty. Sent it to TE for repair. Got sent a brand new unit with a repair slip for old one containing four words ‘Cause of fault: death’. Hopefully you get it sorted or a refund.

Could it perhaps be a signal chain buffering issue? I sometimes had bother with other non true bypass pedals and faulty patch cables having an effect on the sound. Though I appreciate that if the pedal is the only thing in the chain then the fault is likely with the pedal.

Yepp, totally silent. I’m very picky about artefacts in the sound signal so if there was any kind of noise then I would have got rid of the pedal.

Just tried mine. Pretty much silent. Might just be a defective unit which is annoying.

I would say, I would pay £1000 plus for the huge Strategy valve amp. The one at Bass Bros has been calling me for a while and I have been really hoping someone buys it just to put me out of my misery.

Yepp, I paid £600 for an M6 in 2016 (which I sold for a bit less) and £750 for a Big Block with footswitch and matching headcase in about 2019. I think anything in the £600-£800 region is fair for the M-Pulse or Carbine range depending on condition. Personally I wouldn’t pay more than that as I would probably buy a new WD800 or TT800 instead (when it is possible to do so in the UK). I would probably wouldn’t pay much more than £600 for an M-2000 but that is just my preference for amps with fewer controls.

Saw one for sale for £1500 recently but I think that is a bit steep. However they are pretty rare. However I think there is more demand for stuff like the all valve 400+ amps. I am a big Mesa fan but there are far too many knobs on it for me. However I think that they were the flagship bass amps for Mesa at the time. If you can handle all of the features then it would be a great buy.

I’m sure that there is a bunch of the Trace V-type DNA in the CTM line in terms of the EQ controls.

A tube amp and a half! 6 x KT88 output tubes. It is a monster.

It works great with my Trace Elliot V6. I also recommend trying it as a boost by turning the compression all the way down and turning the gain all the way up. Instant clean boost.

Another happy Watford Valves customer here. My brother uses HotRox and says they are equally as good. I generally find that JJ 12x7 tubes are good, reliable and cost effective. I use them in my Mesa Big Block and Walkabout.

I have used the D'addario Balanced Tension set 120-90-67-50 for D standard/drop C and for C sharp standard/drop B for the best part of a decade. Great strings, not that expensive and easier to get than having to constantly buy singles. Probably work better in D standard and drop C. Before D'addario released the balanced tension range about a decade ago, I was constantly trying strings trying to find ones I liked in D standard/drop C. I tried all manner of different 'heavy' gauges with varying degrees of success. I tried the DR DDT 115-55 set for D standard/drop C but found the higher strung strings to have way too much tension and the low strings to be too loose. I also tried a Newtone custom set but despite the rave reviews by others on the forum I wasn't particularly impressed for the price. Ones I did quite like were the GHS Heavy Boomers (115-50) which I preferred to DR and Newtone. The D'addario though were my go-to for price and ease of availability. Otherwise at this point I would buy singles of 120, 90, 70, 50 of my preferred brand and make. In the last couple of years I have been using a set of Elixir nicklewound singles: 130 (tapered), 95, 70, 50 for purely drop C. If I still needed to do D standard as well I would I use a 120 or 125. Expensive to buy but they last about a year or more, whereas the D'addarios last about 6-8 weeks of regular use.

Personally I like the red and green together. Reminds me of the old 'Green = play' and 'Red = Stop/Record' buttons on my childhood tape player. If proceeding on that basis though I would probably get the back pickup coloured green as well to work alongside the red coloured front pickups.

I do a lot of downtuned doom and stoner stuff. I generally use a couple of different overdrives stacked together on very low settings to get my drive 'tone'. That runs into a V2 Sansamp Bass Driver. I can pretty much run that into the PA or whatever amp I bring, which is usually a Mesa Walkabout 1x15 combo or an EBS Fafner into a Trace Elliot 1x15. I try to keep my pedal board setup reasonably simple so that (a) it is easy enough to carry around and (b) any problems or malfunctioning bits can be identified and address quickly at a gig. I am still considering going down the Helix route, but damn, I do love the mechanics and tactile nature of working with amps, cabs and pedals and plugging stuff in. Essentially I treat signal chains as audible Lego. My alternative doom rig actually just plugging my bass straight into a Mesa Block 750 or Trace Elliot V6, pushing the gain on the preamp and running that into a Mesa Powerhouse 6x10. As you can imagine, this setup certainly does doom, it also does back problems and permanent hearing loss.

As an owner of a Mesa 6x10 I can categorically state that in 2023, these kind of cabinets are completely unnecessary in this era of high powered compact cabinets and modern monitor systems and high powered venue PAs. I have also found that a heavy 6x10 is more awkward to move than an 8x10 because with it being shorter it is more difficult to tilt and slide into the back of a car/van. I generally use a single 1x15 for gigging. So why do I still own the 6x10? Quite simply the sound. Also, the idea of selling and shipping it is impractical. So it will never get sold, particularly as I got it for next to nothing. If I was looking at a new cabinet for an SVT, I would probably be looking at a Bergantino 4x10, Barefaced 4x10 or Ampeg SVT2x12 which is designed to sound like a mini 8x10 owing to the non-ported design. If you need an 8x10 and weight is a consideration? Definitely the Barefaced or (if you have £2,500 spare) EBS Neoline 8x10.

Exactly, it is still a lump, but honestly not much heavier than my hybrid amps like Mesa Big Block and EBS Fafner once they are in a rack case. In comparison, something like an SVT II is just ridiculously heavy. Sadly, I kinda want one of them too!

I sold all of my Trace Elliot cabs, combo and SMX amp a while ago just because of the unnecessary weight. I kept the V6 though because for a valve amp it is actually fairly lightweight compared to an SVT. Every couple of months though I find myself trawling through the brochures on this thread going 'mmm, fancy that, if it turns up on eBay or BC Market Place then I will get it...'

I now (as of this minute) have a 1979 (well it might be 1978 or up to 1981, I never checked) Fender Precision for sale at a bargain price of £14,000. Seriously, it is a very clean bass for the age, and someone might be willing to pay a premium for that. Not me but I can kinda see the rationale for the pricing.

Thanks. I will bear that in mind!