Marvin

Where does this allusive heft come from? I assumed it was the power amp and its ability, or lack of, to give an amps sound or tone a presence or weight. The criticism of class d power stages used in most bass heads, as I've understood things (bearing in mind I'm not an electronics engineer or similar) is they can't sustain the power to provide that weight and presence of the tone you want, especially in the lower frequencies. Or is heft to do with the core tone of the preamp stage? If you stick a pedal in front of, or in the fx loop of, a head and you get heft, then surely it's not class d power amps that are the problem but the preamp stages of all these heads for many.

I joined an originals band a few months ago. Essentially all their previous material is like learning covers, however, half the set is now songs that have been written, with my input, since I've joined. The big difference for me is that audiences have no other reference point for the songs we play. No one is 'humming' the original in their head, no one is comparing what we do to the original. I find this and being able to play exactly what and how I feel I want to totally liberating. We've played a wedding and birthday party recently, gigs at which the vast majority of the people attending have never heard us before. We've had nothing but positive responses...and we're an Indie Punk band, just to give some reference. It somewhat shot a hole in the notion of playing familiar crowd pleasers. I'm hoping this band lasts for quite some time, I really don't want to play covers again for quite some time. I'm thoroughly enjoying playing now

The Behringer gear I've got has been as good as anything I've bought. I don't use it at the moment but I've got a rack mount 15 band eq unit, a switching pedal - which is quite versatile and ideal for changing over basses mid set if need be, and I've just bought a BDI21 which is fantastic value. I think they get a raw deal. It's inexpensive gear that in the main does the job it's design for. Some of isn't great but you pay your money... What 'turned' my attitude regards Behringer was 3 bands who have use their gear. The Winery Dogs were using personal onstage mixers by Behringer for their IEMs. I saw another professional local band to me use the very same piece of kit and they couldn't fault it. Finally, a band I supported whose bass player used a Behringer head and they had a Behringer PA cabs. These guys gig relentlessly and the Behringer gear never failed them and it all sounded fine.

[quote name='Joebethell' timestamp='1464203427' post='3057587'] Social media is a good way to get your point across most of these big companies pay attention to bookface and tw*ter a lot more than letters and emails as it reflects on them and can be seen/followed by the General public? In fact a lot of companies now have whole departments looking out for mentions of them. [/quote] It does indeed pay to use social media. You'd be surprised how quickly you get a response if you have a good grumble on a companies facebook or twitter accounts

Fender Rumble 200 head Second hand, maybe see if you can pick up one of the version 2 Rumble 350 heads. They were always overlooked IMO. If you definitely need aux in headphone out then the Aguilar TH350 is not for you. I get around this by using a Zoom B1on instead. It also has the added benefit that it'll run on batteries so one less cable and no worries about having to be near a power socket. The main thing with the ToneHammers are that the Gain and Drive controls don't behave like they do on other amps. They interact with the EQ section, so when you boost the drive it does 'stuff' to the mids. That said, my band recorded the first gig I did with the Tonehammer and I was very pleased with the tone I had (that was using a P bass).

Interparcel's specified collection time service is little short of a complete rubbish IMO. Interparcel will have no idea of the collection times of drivers in specific areas. I specified 9am-1pm for collection of a bass I sold. 5.30pm UPS turned up. I personally blame both Interparcel and UPS for wasting my whole day. Interparcel shouldn't have offered a product that could in no way be honoured and UPS for its part and not providing accurate information to 3rd parties. It's the second time in less than 6 months UPS have not been in my good books. Another bass I sold on here was left in a transit cage outside. The cardboard packaging was sodden apparently. Fortunately I pack stuff with so much bubble wrap the bass was still dry. So, Interparcel and UPS. I'll be trying my hardest to avoid them.

Almost forgot Did a dodgy motorway service station gear deal/swap a couple of months ago with Mark. An absolute breeze of an exchange and great to meet up him. If I had the money I'd buy more of his gear

We were going to play a festival that day...but apparently the drummer forgot he's away. I'm deeply suspicious now.

Good grief! That's stupidily large

I have both at the moment and I'd say the Jazz gets the nod, I prefer the growl.

Recently bought a Behringer BDI21 from Jim. Great to deal with, quick and easy (oooer ) Cheers

I recently decided to fix up my old Ibanez SR300 and convert it from active to passive. As previously, when I bought a P bass wiring loom, John was excellent help in providing advice. The loom I have now is great, really well put together and means the Ibanez will once again get played Cheers

[quote name='largo' timestamp='1463555289' post='3052192'] I think someone mentioned this already but it's not the weight alone that's the problem it's the size/shape of the lift. I could lift a BF one10 cab if it's 7kg or 37kg. Ask me to put it on a shelf above my head and I'm not sure if I could even do the 37kg. Same with a big empty box, I'd probably struggle just lifting that above my head on own. I have no probs lifting a heavy'ish amp head on to a waist height cab or into the boot of a car. However, I chose my cabs due to weight, size & even handle position (2 hand lift, one either side of the cab) to minimise back pain. Your doing more damage to your back by lifting one handed, even lighter cabs & especially slinging a bass over one shoulder to play a gig. [/quote] I definitely agree with you. Lifting lighter gear in a bad way will do you more damage than lifting heavier gear in a good way. Keeping your back in good shape and not causing it to strain awkwardly is the key. Slightly unrelated, but demonstrates a point to some extent. I damaged my back once by twisted quickly to put a seat belt on in a car. No weight involved at.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1463534672' post='3052153'] Your band must be a headliner act. There's no 80 minute business for local bar bands in the States. 80 minute shows are for national and regional headliners. The local originals bands might see a few 80 minute shows, but they would be "no pay" shows. Blue [/quote] We're an originals band. Depending on the gig we might be headlining or a support slot. I've only just joined, but the last 2 gigs have both been paid. The first was a support for another band the second was, strangely a wedding. Both gigs, we only played for 50mins. We've been approached by a few venues (mainly small), including what would be deemed to be a bar in the States. For those we'd be looking to have a support act, or two, with us. To make even a modest living gigging would require lots of time away from home playing in a functions band, not something I'm at all interested in. I neither want to be playing the music they play or be spending that amount of time away from home. I enjoy the what this band does, it suits me so I'll be sticking with it as long as the others want to.

If you want a new passive wiring loom to replace an active one, drop KiOgon a PM. I've just changed my Ibanez from Volume,Balance, Bass, StyleSweep, Treble to. V/V/T/T with an added series parallel switch. The looms are a doddle to fit, you get a wiring diagram ,it couldn't be easier.

The last two basses I bought with an active eq in them also had a passive/active switch and I always played them as passive. Both had good eq gubbins in that if you centred the eq controls in active when you switched to passive there was no difference in volume and very little in tone. I am currently changing my active Ibanez to passive. To be honest I'm not quite sure what the purpose of active basses are. For eq a preamp pedal or an amp are much better in my experience.

My current band will do an absolute maximum of 80mins, it's more likely to be an hour though. That's the way we like it.

[quote name='julietgreen' timestamp='1463237475' post='3049836'] That's what I'm doing, thanks. It's a credibility barrier thing. I don't see how I'm going to get faster and looking for reassurance that it does happen! Pressure to get it 'up to speed' from band as usual! [/quote] Tell them when you feel you've nailed it then you'll play it, until then they'll have to wait. No one else in bands seem to get this sort of pressure. In my experience if the guitarist or singer struggles with a song the it's 'oh well, never mind, we'll try something else '. Bass player has a few issues then it's 'just get on and learn it, and quickly '. Really boils my waste blood.

The guitar riff sounds like a blatant lift from this https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gD4PJW4R1ec

New material from The Stone Roses, potentially a new album on the horizon https://youtu.be/R0XZ9qjMil8 What do you think?

I'd look at maybe an inexpensive preamp or tone shaping pedal first, to see if that helps. You could consider thd Behringer BDI21 or maybe a Zoom B1on and experiment with the amp sims it has. Neither are expensive. The thiness in the sound from the bass may be the onboard electronics. Weak electronics is not an uncommon criticism of Ibanez in house stuff.

I recently fitted my two main basses with Schaller's. It makes changing basses quite easy, just unlock the strap and pop it on the other bass. It also means just having one strap. They aren't a must, but I definitely feel my basses are more secure now.

For practising with headphones with an aux input, no contest, Zoom B1on. They're about £40, so no massive outlay for getting back into playing again

I'm in an Indie Punk Rock band playing all original material currently. We're playing a mates wedding this weekend and we fully expect to clear the wedding venue let alone the dance floor as soon as we start.