discreet

[quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1438851052' post='2837903'] ...a Fender Bassman with a 2x15... [/quote] Ooh, yeah.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1438852139' post='2837921'] You're never too old to discover "clickbait" ... [/quote] Is that online jailbait..?

[quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1438817263' post='2837757'] Well, that went rather well.... Tried out my old drumming mate tonight, he played really well, loves our material and is happy to commit to just the one band. Want's to rehearse weekly (Sunday evening, which is our preferred time) gig once or twice a month and doesn't mind playing my acoustic drum kit, which I've bought for peanuts and am picking up tomorrow (or his electronic kit if required) So, it looks like I've found the holy grail after all... [/quote] Already? Christ, that's bloody annoying!

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1438806320' post='2837633'] Hmm, what are you willing to bet? How about my former ABM 500? [/quote] I'm beginning to think you regret selling that amp...

[quote name='alexclaber' timestamp='1438804789' post='2837610'] Try one on a Super Twin - magic! [/quote] [quote name='Merton' timestamp='1438804927' post='2837613'] Or a Super Compact or two - glorious! [/quote] Or a Schroeder 21012L - exhilarating! I've just tried it with my two Bill Fitzmaurice J12 cabs - invigorating! And really bloody loud!

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1438799216' post='2837518'] Our Jen says she is a Princess and that's that. None of us disagrees with her, because as soon as she opens her mouth to sing, we are all rendered speechless. [/quote] I bet she turns up to rehearsals and knows the material!

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1438797911' post='2837490'] I'm really regretting selling this one now, the only consolation is that I still have my other ABM 500. [/quote] I'm pretty sure the one thing that adequately makes up for the absence of an ABM 500 is, er... another ABM 500.

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1438792196' post='2837419'] To be fair, one of my bands has recently become a virtual band. The bass player's gone AWOL because his wife threw him out and asked for a divorce. He's failed to turn up for a band practice several times and apparently spends most of his time crying in his car (where he sleeps). I've sent him a text telling him to man the f**k up or he's out. Lightweight. [/quote] God, what a poof! Gives bass players a bad name. I had an 11-hour double operation for an umbilical hernia and a major gastric procedure and was back playing my Fender bass - standing up - within [i]four days[/i]. You can't miss a rehearsal just like that. I smiled through the terrible pain and told no-one. But then, I'm a proper bloke.

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1438788970' post='2837350'] ...these bastards want to 'be in a band' but they don't actually want to be in a band. [/quote] That is so true, Skank. That's what these people don't realise - being in a band isn't what you think being in a band is going to be like. They want to be in a band, but when they find out what being in a band is like, they don't really want to be in a band any more. Hence the crap attitude. They turn up occasionally (having done no work) just so they can tell their friends they are in a band. For a lot of unintelligent and non-committal people, 'being in a band' is just a concept or a premise or a thought. The actual 'being in a band' bit of 'being in a band' is bloody hard work, and these stupid, workshy, feckless, unreliable, untalented frigging fecking pigs should just stop wasting everyone's time and do us all a favour by fecking off out of it and not coming back! /rant

[i]No-one[/i] is good enough to have that attitude. Like you say, if it were down to me she'd be gone. What [i]is[/i] it with singers? They seem to think they don't need to learn lyrics or arrangements, too. Plus they never carry [i]any [/i]gear, not even their own frigging microphones! /rant

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1438785959' post='2837306'] Interesting read this Mark, you being an Ampeg fan like myself, is this fairly near to that Ampeg-type thud? [/quote] It's very subjective of course, Lozz - one man's loss being another man's gain - and you'd have to try one. But having said that, I think you'd like it. It is quite possible to get the 'thud'. You can also get the 'twang' and the 'bounce'. I'm not saying the ABM is as 'good' as an SVT - not much is, in my opinion - but it's certainly very usable indeed and your average punter (and probably the band) wouldn't notice much difference, if any. I can't be 100% certain of course, but I think if you spent time with one you'd get on with it. And being pragmatic for a second, the purchase price (new and used) and maintenance costs of the two amps are at polar opposites...

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1438783679' post='2837261'] I never really found the tube to do anything, but again i probably wasn't pushing it hard enough. [/quote] Possibly! I've found that with a passive P Bass I need to have the input level up at around two o'clock to get the VU meter where I want it to be. At which point the Valve Drive control (and the EQ) starts to work. But it only works as well as a single 12AX7 ever does, i.e. it's not a vast plain of disto, more like a texture. I think single input valves are largely a marketing thing. They don't run at a high enough voltage to be useful, for one thing. [quote name='Merton' timestamp='1438784400' post='2837277'] It is definitely a Class A/B amp btw, just not advertised anywhere... [/quote] I wonder why that is. As you say, Class D is flavour of the month... on this showing I much prefer Class A/B. Though of course I don't know how it works in any meaningful way... perhaps it'll come back into fashion - along with improving upper-body strength...

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1438779638' post='2837172'] No, sorry but that is wrong. [/quote] It is not wrong my friend, it is my opinion.

[b]NAD - Ashdown ABM EVO II 500[/b] [b][/b][list] [*]575W RMS [*]7-band EQ [*]Switchable active/passive input [*]Tube/solid state preamp stages [*]Subharmonic generator adds low-end reinforcement [*]Front-mounted direct output with pre- and post-EQ switching [*]FX loop [*]Tuner output [*]Stereo Line Input: Impedance 22kOhm, input level 0dBu nominal [*]Effects Return: Impedance 22kOhm, input level 0dBu Nominal [*]Sub Output: Impedance 1kOhm, level 0dBu Nominal [*]Effects Send: Impedance 22kOhm, level 0dBu nominal [*]DI Output: 600 ohm balanced, level 0dBu nominal [*]Speaker Outputs: Minimum impedance 4 ohm [*]Shape (Push Flat): +8dB @ 50Hz and 4kHz, -8dB @ 400Hz, filter slope - 6dB/octave [*]Bass: ±15dB @ 45Hz [*]Middle: ±15dB @ 660Hz [*]Treble: ±15dB @ 7kHz shelving [*]Slider 1: ±15dB @ 180Hz [*]Slider 2: ±15dB @ 340Hz [*]Slider 3: ±15dB @ 1.3kHz [*]Slider 4: ±15dB @ 2.6kHz [*]Frequency Response: -3dB at 17Hz and 30kHz [*]Power Requirements: 230/115V [*]21"W x 8"H x 12-3/4"D (54 X 20 X 32cm) [*]31lbs (14kg) [/list] The first thing to mention is that this is obviously in no way a 'new' amp. Ashdown's ABM (Ashdown Bass Magnifier) technology has been with us for many years and is still going strong. Like everyone else, I've known about the existence of these amps during this time, and have read various reviews about them, heard bands with bass players that use them, have seen them on TV every time a band appears on it - and yet have remained largely indifferent to them, never having any desire to try one. Whether this has been down to the sometimes negative comments I've read about Ashdown gear both here and elsewhere, I don't know... The epiphany finally came at a gig in Denmark Street this year, where parking was difficult and load-in even more so. I decided to use the house bass rig, which turned out to be a flavour of ABM 4X10 combo. I approached it with some trepidation when our time eventually came to play, as I had neglected to pack a fire extinguisher and wasn't wearing my NOMEX suit... see what I mean about negative comments? I needn't have worried, because not only did the combo not burst into flames, but it sounded truly amazing. I was very surprised to say the least. I was using an active Jazz bass strung with flats and played fingerstyle - and the bass sounded huge, hefty, punchy, very present and articulate. I got lots of comments about the bass sound after the gig - from both band and punters - and became a fan. So when an Ashdown ABM EVO II 500 head became available recently in this very parish it was an easy decision to make. I finally got to meet the lovely Merton (Martin) and a deal was done. The amp came pristine, with cover and IEC mains lead. Thank you, sir... ...so is it as good as I remember, or was just the drugs..? No worries - it sounds absolutely immense through my Schroeder 21012L cab (1000W, 4ohms) which leads me to believe that it's very important to match an Ashdown amp with an appropriate cab, depending on your intended purpose. This may not [i]necessarily [/i]mean choosing an Ashdown cab, however... but that's for another thread. It's SO quick and easy to get a great sound from this amp. Whether you're using rounds or flats, pick or fingerstyle, the EQ is very intuitive - it's a seven band EQ, but with three rotary controls and four intermediate sliders it offers the best of both worlds... set the sliders flat and use the EQ as a simple three-band affair, or fine-tune with cut and boost at 180Hz, 340Hz, 1.3kHz and 2.6kHz as necessary... sensible, very well-selected and useful frequencies. There is also a switchable Valve Drive (12AX7) offering the usual grit and grind, and an unusual switchable Sub-Harmonic control, which ostensibly is an octaver, but this low-end Viagra can be dialled in as required, depending on the level of thickness and tumescence you desire... fnarr. In use it's obviously not a Class 'D' amp. I say this because it's quite heavy (31lb - 14kg) but nowhere [i]near [/i]as heavy as an all-valve amp. As far as I know, it's an A/B power stage, but there isn't much info to be had about that. It's a really good compromise between the feather-lightness of a Class D and the incredible gut-bursting mass of an all-valve. It also has something of the heft of a valve amp about it sonically and provides a very nice thick, chunky sound which I like [i]a lot[/i]. I'm used to thinking of SS amps as the poor relation to all-valve, but this ABM has that slam in spades... and paired with the Schroeder cab I'm pretty sure it will fill any size room with lush yet well-defined low end. In short, I think the ABM is generally underrated and it performs brilliantly, IMHO - it's very loud, warm, punchy and articulate, you can't get a bad sound out of it - you don't need to use a preamp pedal or other FX on the front of it to get a good tone - and it won't run out of steam. PLUS, I've not had the merest inkling of cab GAS since I got the Schroeder... am I finally close to the end of rig GAS..?

I don't know what either of these things are, but I want IN!!

No, no, no, no, NO!! Electric bass guitar is not and should not [i]ever [/i]be a solo instrument. It only shines [i]in concert[/i] and in a supporting role. If you're a bass player and for some unfathomable reason want to play interminable 'solos' then for God's sake do everyone a favour and buy a guitar. Then go and play it somewhere where I can't hear it! All that Jaco/Manring/Wootten stuff leaves me cold... like a stupid dwarf, it's not big and it's not clever.

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1438774577' post='2837080'] You sound like my wife! [/quote] That's nice, dear...

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1438764624' post='2836951'] ...definitely doesn’t rhyme with “eye”. [/quote] It's called 'assonance'.

Sold Jake my G&L M2000. Swift payment and great comms throughout made this a smooth and very easy deal. I'd be more than happy to deal with him again any time. Thanks!

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1438761843' post='2836920'] ...buy a stingray. [/quote]

I had no idea it was possible to get a kit for so little. That's it then, drums incoming! There goes the neighbourhood!

[quote name='spiltmilk_2000' timestamp='1438693296' post='2836430'] Mrs Discreet sounds like a keeper... [/quote] Well I've kept her for nigh-on twenty years... or to be brutally honest, she's kept me!

Bad luck. I've had rubbish service from myHerpes on more than one occasion, and if I buy anything on here I make a point of asking the seller not to use them.

Parchment or cream with lpb, burgundy and shoreline. A good tort or white with aged oly white.