Rich

My first ever rig was a Custom Sound 4x12 cab with a Phoenix PHA-1 head... a 100w 2-channel hybrid thing in a really tacky plastic case. Sounded OK but the cab was huuge and weighed a ton. I've got a pic of the amp lurking somewhere, but I've looked on the net and can find now't. Anybody remember the Phoenix amps? Thanks to brilliant parents, I moved up from this to a Laney Pro-Bass 4x10 combo, a bit of a Trace-alike unit. Got this as a 21st b'day prez and it was superb, loved it utterly. No pics to hand unfortunately. 10 years later I replaced the Laney with a Carlsboro 'Delta' rig, a big mistake as it turned out. Didn't like it much and the 1x18 cab was soooooo heavy... Next up was a Trace GP12 preamp with a Soundtech 2x400w power amp driving a pair of Peavey 4x10s... glorious massive sound, but those cabs at 100lbs each soon got too much... So the Peaveys went and were replaced with an SWR Triad cab (bought from CK, more years ago than I care to think about ). Wonderful cab, fantastic thing. Loved it. The Trace pre and Soundtech power combination went, replaced with an Eden WT400 head. [attachment=19474:rig_cainscross2005.JPG] I used this for some time, until the 90+lb weight of the Triad began to trouble me, so very very reluctantly I sold it and replaced it with a pair of Eden Nemesis cabs, a 2x10 and a 1x15. [attachment=19473:my_rig_1.JPG] These and the Eden head made for a great combination, but pretty soon I was fancying a change again... oh the call of the GAS So a straight swap with Rich Bowman later, I now had an EA iAmp350 combo. I took the amp out of the combo and used it with the Nem cabs. Until yes, another change beckoned I swapped the 2x10 cab for another 1x15, and flogged the iAmp combo in favour of a Focusrite preamp and Crown power amp combination. [attachment=19475:my_rig_08_08.JPG] This combination actually saw very little live action as it turned out... not because I didn't like it, I hasten to add, but because at the end of last year I managed to get my hands on an amp I have lusted after for many years, an SWR SM-900. Using this with the Focusrite's simply brilliant compressor, the sound is to die for. Well I like it anyway. I reckon I finally have a keeper. [attachment=19476:my_rig_02_09.JPG] The only changes I can see me making now are perhaps some neo cabs -- maybe some of the new lightweight SWR ones? When I can afford it anyway. But there's nothing wrong with the sound of the Nemesis ones, so as it stands I am a happy bunny So... anyone else got a rig life-story?

Heh, yeah that'll look the dog's danglies. All you need now are black anodised frets...

My gig bag/case contains: Tuner Cable Wireless transmitter PP3s FastFret Strings Music & set lists Earplugs Strap oh, and a bass. The tools and stuff live in my toolbox. Too much to list here

Firmly in "phwoarr" territory, that

[quote name='qed' post='389035' date='Jan 22 2009, 09:33 PM']why did some of from that era take up bass then.. was it because there was this french guy in this band with the 'most' attitude that rode a triumph bonneville.. black belt in karate and was fighting women off with a stick and was rated by all and sundry as the best bass player in the land.. yeah me too.. [/quote] Not me

If it sounds even half as good as the SWR SM-900 I've just acquired, it'll be a belter I'd love to try the M² preamp, but I fear the GAS would be hard to bear

[quote name='lozbass' post='385037' date='Jan 19 2009, 03:11 PM']I've had a few Seis with the Bart-Schack combination and haven't been wildly impressed (apart from stunning aesthetics and fabulous playability!)[/quote]+1 on the last bit. I had a gorgeous Sei Flamboyant for a while, this had the Bart-Schack Combination (isn't that a strategic move in Mornington Crescent..?) and like others I was v.underwhelmed by the Barts. The saving grace was the Schack eq which I did like a lot, plus the bass had an ABM piezo bridge which improved the sound of the Barts no end. If I'd kept the bass, I'd have lost the Barts in favour of EMGs. Although nowadays, I'd probably think in terms of Delanos rather than EMGs -- I tried a Shuker with Delanos a while back and the sound was god-like.

Robert Cray has some cracking stuff in his back catalogue too. 'The Forecast Calls For Pain' is a belter.

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='391730' date='Jan 26 2009, 01:39 PM']'Simple', thuggish music (in the broadest sense) started boring me about 28 years ago. 'Pub rock' is to music what Eastenders is to drama, American Pie is to cinema or Mills and Boon to Literature. Superficial, predicatable, uninspiring and little more than fodder designed to take money off the great unwashed. I play music for fun.[/quote] Yes, and a hell of a lot of people play simple thuggish music for the unwashed masses, for fun. I used to be in a pub blues-rock trio and had a whale of a time. Loved it. And I love jazz too. Please tell me you weren't serious when you wrote that, Bilbo..?

Or more accurately, any genre that you don't like.

Ah excellent, the old "jazz is sh*t" thing again. Just what we need. I was starting to miss it.

In my case, my loudly clicking right knee turned out to be arthritic damage when they went in and had a look via an arthroscopy. Definitely get your wrist checked out.

And as we know, a nice shirt & a trim waistline are what [i]really[/i] makes a good bassist.

Agreed. He's a lovely bloke -- went to a clinic of his back in 1996, he was great. Unbelievable playing, so good you almost wanted him to be a tosser so you could hate him, but no... he stayed and chatted for ages afterwards, signing stuff and explaining techniques and just talking with people. No arrogance, no ego, just a nice guy.

The guitar version is perfect. If I was a gtrist I'd have one without question. The bass is an ugly bastid though. I wish it looked like Steve Swallow's prototype.

*SHAMELESS PLUG* How about my very nice [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300286912939&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=020"]Crown XTi-1000 power amp[/url], now for the bargain price of 300 quid? I used it with a Focusrite Trakmaster pre-amp... this is actually intended primarily as a vocal recording channel strip, but makes a fabulous bass pre-amp too thanks to its brilliant compressor and clear, transparent tone. Vocal pre-amps like this and the TL Audio stuff are well worth considering if a clean uncoloured tone is your cup o' char.

You wish you were rich? Nah you don't. Being me is vastly overrated.

Ah yes, such a common scenario... [i]*Adult plays seminal CD from years gone by... Chilli Peppers, Living Colour, whatever*[/i] Offspring: "This lot sound just like [i]*insert name of trendy band here*[/i]" Adult: "No, more accurately I think you'll find that [i]*trendy band*[/i] sound just like this lot." Offspring: "Eh?" Adult: "When this CD was released, you were still a sperm." Offspring: [i]*stunned silence*[/i]

Aww bugger... what happened to NGE, Al? 'Musical differences', or just one of them fings?

Very interesting... local to me too. Hmmm. How often do they gig?

It Bites - Dick Nolan Extreme - Pat Badger (that solo in Cupid's Dead, ye gods )

Thread will be locked IMMEDIATELY on the first appearance of a jellied eel or pearly king. :lol:

Bring me a Shuttle Max 12 [i]immediately[/i] :wub:

I really rather like the Zender model. Well, the body shape anyway. The neck inlays are abominable. The 5-string maple Starbass is cool, albeit a tiny bit anaemic-looking. The TM one? Ye gods.