msb

I’m in. And seriously hope to last the year. I hope to downsize a bit this year. I’m not going to stop scouring the local classifieds though. edit … I had to replace a broken Snark tuner , did it yesterday.

I just replaced a broken Snark tuner , that’s ok in the rules , but I wanted to get it replaced before the next year begins.

I’ve been noticing on many forums and classified sites that things are not selling as quickly as they used to. Facebook advertising can be annoying , and yet in the local marketplace section deals can be found. It seems that things are unusually slow right now.

Mostly play old school blues and roots music , so I’m looking for a rich old school thump , that has authority. So I like hollow body basses with flats , I can get an upright ish thump palm muting. I usually gig with a big orange Gretsch hollow body. Nice deep woody tone. It has TVJones pickups. I use a boutique tube preamp , and have a couple of Class D amps I use for back end power. Bergantino cabs. Now I drive my stuff downtown , load it in and out , and drive it home. Not a teenager any more. This gear is surprisingly compact and light. I get that big old school depth I was looking for. Much of the time I am not in the PA , so my stage sound is exactly what the room gets. This delivers. I’ve been nerdy about gear for some time now , no longer looking for that perfect tone , this is close enough for me. Big orange Gretsch in the back there , Monique pre , Jo Choui power , Berg cab. The power amp was built by Jon Chouinard in Quebec. He has a great YouTube channel comparing preamps. Great guy. A lot of folks are familiar with him , here’s his channel for those that are not. https://www.youtube.com/user/jochoui. Check out his archive for the preamp comparisons. edit … there’s a bunch of other stuff in the pic , Barefaced One 10 , PhilJones C-2 cabs , an Aguilar TH350 , Darkglass m200 , Darkglass e500 Exponent amp and a Batwing Harmony H-22 stuff I goof around with at home , the Berg , Monique , back end power , and Gretsch are what I drive downtown. The Jo Choui is 500 watts , if I think I will need more I tend to grab an older Bergantino Forte with the compressor , and use the effect return channel.

I was given a plexi bass from an old forum friend in California , and about 3/4 of the way in I found a Batwing Harmony I could not pass. I had been looking for one for years. No plans to purchase anything more , I think I’m more than satisfied with what I have , I should sell several amps and some basses so I’m definitely going to sign up in the New Year. I’ve managed to stop buying things simply because the deal was too good to pass up. At least I’m hoping that will be the case next year.

I tend to use my stuff , it’s not heavy , and I know it well. I’ve used may backline rigs over the years , and that’s why I use mine.

I picked up a HoTone Thunderbass 5 watt amp for a song on kijiji. Fairly cheap , it looked like a funky little thing , total impulse buy. I had a nice practice rig , so I didn’t spend much time using a speaker with it , but I was surprised by the time I spent using it as a headphone amp. Had a mini aux in so I could plug in a tablet and play along. I was spending considerable time with the headphones memorizing material. I didn’t want to drive Herself bonkers. Later I found a Phil Jones BigHead on kijiji , the HoTone worked wonderfully but I couldn’t resist the PJ. It’s a more elegant solution. Before the HoTone I had been using a GK MB200. It also has a mini aux input. Many little Class D heads can be run without a load , and have a mini input. https://i.postimg.cc/B68wBfcn/IMG-2672.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/G2358s95/IMG-0060.jpg

Nice looking thing , priced reasonably. Now most things I’ve imported have come from the US , and a bargain is no longer a bargain after you factor in the exchange , duty , shipping , and occasional brokerage fees. I haven’t done any imports from the UK , yet …

Broughton make great stuff , and it’s a tiny owner/operator business.

Here in Canada Long & McQuade are saying they will be available sometime in 2026.

We were beginning to look after my mother-in-law. I didn’t want to be dragging an amp between our place and hers , so I thought something small and cheap would do the trick. I was accustomed to a little GK MB150 at home. That started my quest for funky practice rigs.

I found the Rumble 15 awful. Couldn’t flip it fast enough.

Harmony H22 batwing , SG , and Gretsch Thunderjet 6128B , all with flats , I’m a thumper.

I loved Pentangle , and the Martyn songs , and I felt gutted when I heard he passed. I’ve looked up a lot of YouTube videos in the last several days. Legend.

Mine had been modded by previous owners , Badass bridge , Jazz pickup , but I liked the mods. one of my regrets. Still have the fretted rosewood , 72 too. I was once a Pbass guy. Not so much now , I’ve come to prefer shortscales.