Sparky Mark

I much prefer the cheaper faded (satin) finish to the (sticky) high gloss finishes on Gibsons. Gloss is beautiful but not as comfortable to play for me.

What Markbass head is all valve? They only ever made the Classic 300 and thats been out of production for donkeys years.

I gigged two AE112 for quite a while before dragging my HT112ER and EX112ER out for a trial before selling those old fashioned heavy ceramic cabs. The result of that exercise was that I sold the AEs as the HT was worth the extra weight. In fact my current faves are two HD210 cabs.

I'm happy to go with the concensus and agree it is a bit harsh. Having worked on mission critical electronics during the transition from PTH to multilayer PCBs, thru hole to SMT and lead to lead-free solders/RoHS, I've seen just about everything that can go wrong do so. Ironically, I wish the blindingly bright blue LED on my compressor pedal would start to degrade; it's like looking into the Sun.

Understood, but I will add that new component selection is most definitely the responsibilty and a critical part of the design process. No component without a fully proven reliability record would make it onto the BOMs of products I am involved with.

Dear Andy, You've made a couple of serious accusations that I feel I have to counter. It's obvious from your emotional reaction that you invest personally extremely heavily in your designs. I understand that and have the greatest respect and admiration for your brilliantly detailed contributions both here and on Talkbass. You express your views very directly at times but they always come from the right place. My critical observation of a feature you have to admit was problematic is definitely not a personal attack on either you or any American citizens. I have spent the majority of my adult life working for US entities both on mainland USA and around the world and the vast majority of my instrument collection are US designed and built (Fender, Gibson, Musicman, Rickenbacker, Tom Clement). I am most definitely a US fan. However, sometimes things just don't work out as planned for many reasons as you have described and the way this issue was apparently dealt with by GB is laudable but doesn't mean it never happened. I'm sure we learn more from the things that go wrong than go right first time; as I have by starting this debate in a thread created to discuss amp gimmicks that did work. Yours sincerely, Mark

Okay, so it was a product design issue of which the actual amplifier design was only one aspect. Unfortunately, early adoption of these LEDs for aesthetics purposes only, resulted in this all too obvious fault in an otherwise perfectly satisfactory product. It's also unfortunate that not everyone lives in North America and able to benefit from the free repair service.

Agreed, but there are so many good amps around at any one time that a reason to discount one is welcome on occasion.

Other than another 1990s Trace, no there isn't. End of.

Yeah, but if they couldn't make simple LEDs work reliably that doesn't bode well for other aspects in my book. A perfectly good design compromised by a tacky marketing gimmick (IMO of course; YMMV).

The Genz Benz Streamliner blue LEDs intended to light up the front panel window were an example of an aesthetic gimmick that backfired. For some reason many Streamliners developed a fault where the LEDs didn't light up which didn't affect the sound but certainly persuaded me not to buy one.

Agreed. The OP asked for gimmicks that don't really affect the sound that DO work. Compressors, mute switches, tuner outs, etc are quite useful features, not gimmicks. The Trace Elliot UV light is a brilliant gimmick that did work and I dont know of any other manufacturer that has ever copied it. From a 100 yards away on a dark stage, if the amp was glowing green, you knew it was a Trace Elliot.

Jake's voice is so distinctive that I guess it's inevitable he'll be one man's meat and another's poison. I actually like his songs a lot and his voice suits them perfectly for me.

I reckon you could get this tone (or very very close) with a pick, P bass with TI Flats through a Tech 21 VT bass pedal.

Hotcovers made an excellent padded vinyl cover for quite a large Bugera BVV3000I head from my drawing for under £50 delivered. Highly recommended.