paulie

I woulnt go so far as to say the Aguilar is completely reliable. Ive seen a few issues crop up with them from time to time. But either the 750 or 751 are great options.

I had a Tone Hammer 500 and ran it pretty hard, My mate then bought one and played in similar venues and had this issue of the light comming on a lot! He returned his to the shop and went with something else. Id say just ignore the light, its probably getting triggered too easily. My Tone Hammer could pump out huge volume and never clip so I wouldnt worry about headroom

The M2000 was the flagship of the Mesa range going back about 15 years or so. They were manufactured at a time when Mesa were only making valve amps an as such this was their first venture with a solid state/ hybrid set up. They can be a little unreliable at times simply due to the huge amount of features they possess (ie greater chance of something going wrong from time to time) but the tone is great and possibilities endless. They come with a great footswitch. Their list price was up around 2k back in the day which put them ahead of Ampeg and even Mesa's own 400 valve head.

Definately not. They make great amps, but are quite tailored to rock, build quality is excellent and they are reliable. However the only reason that they cost so much is that of all brands they seem to get bombarded with added charges and costs once they ship outside the US. If a certain Mesa head costs $1000 rrp in the states then you can expect to pay twice that here. There is no good explanation as to why this happens to them more so than other brands such as Genz Benz or SWR but this price loading is what raises their price tag, nothing else! They are defo worth the money at their normal US selling price but not the price over here IMO

Musicman arent really rock n roll anymore. Rarely do you see them in a rock setting due to the fact that they have a very brittle high, huge low end but scooped mids. So if you play slap or if your not too concerned about cutting through in the mix then the MM is great otherwise go with a P bass

Thanks Im going for a used Monarch Elite which is a neck thru with jazz pickups, so shouldnt be a million miles away from what im used to in terms of tone (Im not a P bass guy) As one of you said, the ultimate bass will be what feels great in the hands of each player. My ultimate bass might be like a baseball bat to somebody else.

Ive been playing bass for about 25 years now and I have had the chance to own many from various brands. Ive recently taken the plunge and done something I swore I would never do. I ordered a Fodera! I had always recented their high price tag and status which I felt was undeserved. However Im softening in my old age and having owned many a bass Ive decided to give them a go. But it got me thinking, who now make the best basses out there pound for pound? My thoughts are as follows on a few of the top brands that I have owned : [list] [*]Zon : their basses are excellent. Necks are to die for and the more recent models with the pheno??? wood fingerboards are fabulous to play. Built quality is superb. However their tone can be a little sterile for me at times. But I will say they consistently make a great bass. You could easily buy one online and know that it will be well set up and play perfectly right out of the box [*]Fender Custom Shop : Ive owned 5 or 6 of these and the only one that really stood out was a Cunetto era Relic. That was stunning. The others were nice but not worth the money IMO, especially those that are listed as special and one off etc and command a higher price. It also annoys me the way they fail to be period correct. The quality can really vary from bad to good. I have found poor fretwork and tastless relicing on some but others have been good. Hit and miss I think. Definately a try before you buy. [*]Fodera : I'll let you know in a few days but Im hoping they shoot to the top of my list otherwise my faith in humanity will have been dented. [*]Lakland US : Stunning basses. I have owned a Glaub, Osbourn and a 4-94. Their necks are sensational, build quailty is always great and their finish work is superb. They really nail the old school feel. For my money they offer the best alternative to buying a pre-cbs instrument because they have that broken in mojo feel but with perfect build quality and reliability. I cant fault them [*]Alleva Coppolo : I hate to say it but I would never again buy one of these without seeing it first. I have owned 3 but played 6. He can make a stunning bass that has pre cbs feel and vibe but with the addition of a lush preamp (depending on the model) However his workmanship can be terrible at times. If you get a good one its a great bass but some of the bad ones would even make some of the late 70's Fenders look good, Examples include, block markers being applied completely off line on the neck, necks being attached offline with skewed neck pockets causing the strings to run off centre over the pickups, badly cut scratchplates. I also notice that nearly every bass he makes has been made for one or other of the Namm shows and ends up getting rushed out of his factory. If I pay over £3000 for a bass I expect it to be pretty flawless. So again I say, sensational bass if you get a decent one, an odditiy if you dont. [*]Sadowsky : Great bass. Excellent workmanship and tone. They dont nail the vintage vibe as well as Lakland do so if you your looking to recreate that pre Cbs tone look elsewhere but if you had to own one and only one bass the Sadowsky would not be a bad choice. You can always set the action really low without buzz making them really playable. The only word of caution is that he has changed the profile of his necks over the past number of years so his current neck feels a lot chunkier than his earlier basses. I had an early 90's Sadowsky with a flame maple top and black hardware that I bought from the Bass Centre years ago. My mate ordered a similar spec bass a few years back having fallen in love with mine but he ended up having the neck sent back to be re-shaped. This is not a criticisim as Roger makes the neck they way he wants to but just make sure of the profile before you pull the trigger on an order. I can also say that the Metro's are also a great bass and there is very little difference between a good metro and one of the NYC vintage models apart from the body chambering which doesnt improve the tone to my ears. [*]Skjold : Great bass, well made, good preamp and pickups. Distictive body shape. Great value used and pretty unique. I owned one and rated it highly. [*]Rickenbacker : Great bass if you want that Rick tone but steer clear if you dont. They are well made but the plastic on the neckplate and scratchplate can feel cheap. They are also a little uncomfortable to play with the pickup cover in place but they do look cool especially in jet black imo. Their build quality is consistent though and one Rick is ususally the same as another from the same era etc. [*]Tacoma : Superb acoustic bass. Probably the best acoustic bass on the market bar none. I have owned a Taylor AB and a Martin and this whips either for tone. Really playable neck also. Feels like a jazz bass in the left hand. No longer available new but well worth a punt on the used market. Just be careful of the finish on the basic model as they had a tendency to damage more easily than the higher spec models which were finished in gloss. [*]Musicman : Pre ernie ball models are great as are the earlier Ernie Ball models with the string mutes. Not really into the later models as their necks seemed to become more sterlie and boring. Earlier ones had great fingerboards and broken in necks but not so any more. You can often get late 80's and early 90's models for good money with nice birdseye maple boards and they are a great bass. Build quality is great though and the tone rarely changes, a musicman is still a musicman. [*]Fender US : Still a great bass for the money. Their quality took a dive a few years ago but I think the new US standard models are good. Come with a great case also. I recently had a 2012 Jazz bass in black and it sounded and played outstanding. I cant fault them in any way. [*]Fender non US : To me the Geddy Lee is a cracking bass. The neck profile is to die for and it has the mojo with the blocks and binding, Id happily own one of these as my only bass if I had to. [/list] Well thats it for now. Ill update once the Fodera arrives. So far my top pics are : US Lakland Joe Osbourn, Sadowsky NYC or a Japanese Geddy Lee Thanks