ThomBassmonkey

Went up to see him today to pick up a Stagg EUB. It was exactly as described and a very fair price. He seemed a lovely chap, a pleasure to do business with.

Thanks Liam, we're playing at a Biker Festival in Blackpool soon, I'll have to find out the details. We've not got a lot going on up north though, we're mainly focused between Barnsley and London (though we're spreading our wings now). Since you liked Go Faster Slowly, here's another video someone just posted from the same gig, this is You Are The Sun the single we've been promoting this tour, available from iTunes and all good digital download retailers! (and hard copies with a B side from our site).

bigthumb, I've had that before in bands it was incredibly frustrating. That's another reason I'm so chuffed with this! Randy, we're based in Derby so not all that far away from you anyway. Thanks very much for the compliment. Our next Derby gig is the 9th July at the Old Bell. If you (or anyone from here) ever makes it to one of our gigs, feel free to come give me a nudge and say hi.

This has been the first "stay out" tour with my current band, I absolutely loved it! We did 6 dates in 8 days, mostly across the south of England and it's definitely been an interesting one. I've been pretty ill for some of it but I'd still do it again in an instant, we've had everything from empty rooms to rammed ones, the usual uneventful gigs to a couple of girls "enjoying themselves" (to put it delicately) on a table right next to us while another band played. The best bit is that we worked together so smoothly, I know 8 days isn't the longest time to spend together but when we're only 4 guys and a girl cramped in a tiny van (once all the gear was in) and being totally self reliant there was a lot to do and a lot of opportunity to fall out but everyone was totally relaxed. The real star of the tour was Andy, who's a general dogsbody for us. He's been roadying for a while and recently started taking a bit more control of the band and moved to a manager position, this tour he's really proven his weight in gold when our booking agent spent months getting us 3 gigs (spread out over 2 weeks) and Andy stepped in with a month to go and filled the calendar. Thanks to him we actually turned a profit overall, which is something we weren't expecting. Anyway, I expect this isn't interesting to a lot of you, just thought I'd post as I'm happy the first JWP tour has gone so well! Here's a video shot on a phone from the gig last night, the final one of the tour, at Pulse Bar in Barnsley.

Nice one mate, that should be a great rig. I just used one Neo212 for the first time (usually use both) and it easily dealt with gigging volumes. I'm sure you'll be well chuffed with your new setup! I have to say, I'm starting to think this rig sounds better than my "big rig", the clarity from it is amazing and it still has all that beautiful GK tone that made me pick them in the first place. The fact that I can carry the head and leads in a laptop case, a gig bag on my back and the cab in my hands so I can carry a giggable rig around in one trip doesn't hurt either.

An EUB (eyes are open for a Stagg) and a wireless system (again, eyes open but I'll probably pick up a Line 6 G50 soon) then I'm sorted. I love my basses and amps, though that's really boring.

[quote name='RhysP' post='1215722' date='Apr 30 2011, 12:30 PM']People buy brand new jeans with holes & rips in them. They're f***ing stupid as well. [/quote] Nah the f***ing stupid people are the people that feel the need to ridicule others based on opinions and tastes.

A properly done relic'd finish is nice. I like my Sandberg, I like the finish on it, it gives it more character than just another red/white/rosewood jazz like every other red/white/rosewood jazz out there. A relic job done by a 5 year old with an axe looks crap though. Relic'd finishes are hard to do properly and I would never let someone lose on a loved bass with a hacksaw or whatever they use, I'd want to buy the bass with the finish on it so I could see what it looked like before I invested in it.

Don't worry, big rig is going NOWHERE. I still love that rig, it has a different sound to the "mini" rig, so it'll get used for, as you say, studio, videos and stadiums. Superbass, I don't think you'll struggle whether you go for the 2x10+1x15 or 2x12+1x15, I'd easily feel confident gigging one of my 2x12 cabs for most gigs (the MB Fusion puts out 350w at 8ohms). I used to gig regularly with a 700RB-II head and a single 210RBH, so I'd bet that the neo210 would be a capable cabinet on it's own too. Just because you're getting a GB head, there's really no need to get matching cabs, if you like the sound of the GKs (I'm guessing there's a reason you're asking about them rather than about the NeoX cabs) then you won't lose anything by going with differently branded cabs to your head. You should try out as many combinations of heads and cabs as possible then decide.

IIRC he said around the £5-600, but that's an early prototype and it's subject to my memory so that could be way off. He says around $1,000 in the video so it could be more.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='1210360' date='Apr 24 2011, 09:01 PM']I think its exactly the same as the higher end Peavey basses - Both brands tend to be associated with solid, budget friendly instruments. Its not that there's anything wrong with them, its just that we're not used to brands such as this selling things with a price tag at this level[/quote] Don't forget Yamaha. There was a thread recently about Yamaha's appeal that basically was saying that because they make budget instruments, people don't take their high end stuff seriously, though anyone that plays a high end Yammy is usually impressed. It wouldn't surprise me to see the same thing here.

I should re-phrase my question really as I'm starting to change my opinion that certain amps suit certain styles of music more as I'm finding that most amps can suit most mixes if used properly. What kind of tones do you like? Stuff like Genz and Eden do the super-clean tone really well, the GK artist series does really fat and growly well, I'm finding the MB Fusion is very versatile, with good use of the controls it can do very clean but also the classic GK rumble (though not quite to the extent of the artist stuff, but then it's a different amp that has a different voice).

I'm going to unashamedly say GK again, as I always do to this kind of thread. I'm touring with an MB Fusion and two NEO212s at the moment and it sounds fantastic and is portable as well. You'd be able to pick up the head and one cab for your budget which would be enough for most gigs. Alternatively you could mix it up a bit and go for a 4x10 or add a 1x15 and get the MB500. Loads of options. There's also the artist series heads that are fantastic too, though a little weighter. My 2001RB-II and 2x 410RBH setup sounds incredible, it's not what you'd call a convenient rig though. What kind of stuff are you playing?

The problem with a brand that specialises in 7+ strings is that there's never going to be a massive market for them. There's only so many people that would even be interested, from those you need to find the few that are prepared to spend money to sate their curiosity and from those few you need to find the even fewer who are prepared to buy a new instrument and take the hit if it doesn't suit them. Let's face it, there's not a lot of people who own multiple 7+ string basses. People who own one are few and far between. Obviously there are people that own multiples but the market just isn't there like it is for 4, 5 and even 6 strings. If he was going to introduce his basses to the UK, marketing them with the ERBs in mind would be a bad idea IMO. The company would need to be introduced as a normal bass company that makes 7+ strings in addition to the usual rather than how it's viewed at the moment (as this thread proves) which is a company that specialises in ERBs but also makes 4/5 string basses.

I play music to play live, if I had to play sh*te then I'd rather do that than work in a supermarket. The other thing though, a lot of pop has more interesting basslines going on than some rock. A lot of rock is simple root quavers, lots of pop has some nice grooves going on. And if someone was outspoken against how bad an artist was then accepted a job playing for them, so what? One of the bands I play in I know I couldn't sit down and listen to through a whole album, most similar bands I couldn't sit and listen to a whole song from without getting bored. I still enjoy getting out there and playing it though. Playing fun music and doing a fun show are two different entities, though not unlinked it's possible to dislike one and like the other.

[quote name='Merton' post='1210261' date='Apr 24 2011, 07:25 PM']Damn right, loving it. Got a gig in a couple of weeks which is screaming out for it to be used instead of my Eden WT550, can't wait to try it Might do a proper A/B test actually, Eden vs GK, just fo' shits and giggles [/quote] I'd love to hear how that goes! I've said it before, but I'm seriously tempted to get an MB200. They're so tiny and light, it could be in my gig bag and forgotten about until something goes wrong and I need a spare head.

The way the paint's worn on the forearm contour looks odd. If it was [i]naturally[/i] that worn, shouldn't it be more worn at the top of the body and not just lower down the contour? I think it's another home made relic job that's turned out poorly. If it is what he says it is, it's not a bad price. It'll need a fair bit of work though I expect and would still never be worth the money of one in good nick.

Another update after a few gigs and more experience with it.. I think I've made a mistake! It's too good, I've taken it on tour because the cabs are slightly smaller and much lighter so for convenience and because they're new toys, I brought them. I brought both heads (2001 and the MB Fusion) though, the head's smaller and it made sense to bring both in case something happens. I've not used my 2001 yet. The MB is so much easier to move about, I have it in a laptop case so I can sling it over my shoulder and it has some protection. It sounds fantastic, I've still not properly used it with my JJ, but the MM and new rig are awesome, I didn't have my earplugs in last night (long story short: I left my earplugs in my other trousers somewhere at the bottom of the van) so I could properly judge the tone and it was stunning. The whole mix really sounded very clear, no muddyness (obviously that's partially to do with the sound at the venue, but this fitted perfectly around the drums and mesa guitar amp while we were sound checking). I still need to get a bit more used to dialling in the volume for the clean as with the 2001 it was a fat and punchy sound and powered through, with this though it really needs to be adjusted to fit with the mix. I noticed that if I set the clean slightly quieter than the OD, once in the mix the fatness of the OD pushes it through the mix but the natural scoop of the cleaner channel makes it sink back a bit so it needs to be boosted a bit above the OD when solo (though not enough to sound odd in solod bits). I think Pete's right, people that don't like class D because they're class D need to test them out properly, I wasn't expecting so much from this. I was expecting it to be good (it is GK's top class D amp after all) but I was expecting it to be lacking something that the huge and heavy 2001 has, it sounds very different but great in it's own right. As I said above, I've been gigging it over the 2001 when I've had both with me because they both sound equally good and the MB Fusion is far more convenient. Obviously if you like the sound of your big amp, it doesn't mean you're going to like the sound of a small amp, but that's only the same as you might not like the sound of another big amp. Honestly, if you're thinking about going for a smaller amp but aren't sure how it'll handle gigging, go for it. I know there's lots of people gigging LMKs and I've seen a few MB500s around, not to mention the smaller Genz heads and some people are gigging even smaller, Merton has an MB200 that he seems to be getting on with well for example. The convenience you get from these little heads really can't be argued with and they're definitely not lacking tone or presence.

Why should an Ibanez not be £2,000 when people don't question Ritters and other brands for over 3 times that? Ibanez have always made very good value-for-money instruments, I doubt they'd suddenly bring out one that was massively overpriced. Personally though if I had £2k to burn on a new bass, I'd get a custom Sandberg or ACG probably.

[quote name='umcoo' post='1210127' date='Apr 24 2011, 04:47 PM']Beautiful. Quick question Thumbo. Where did you get your rack ears? They have them on the gk website, but when I tied to pay, they only shipped to a few countries. Not including the UK.[/quote] You should drop Polar Audio an email, they should be able to sort you out.

I'm in the middle of a UK tour at the moment so I can't really get anywhere to do anything and won't be in for anything getting delivered, so with the bank holiday weekend, it looks like this is gonna have to a few weeks, definitely looking at going for the g50. I don't know anyone else that wants one to see if I can get a multi-buy deal, good idea though.

Play EUB or bass uke or another similar instrument. As much as I'd love to say I'd keep playing bass in secret...I just wouldn't. I play music to gig it, if I couldn't publically play bass guitar, I wouldn't get much from playing it.

Damnit! Why are you making them so tempting? I was actually in Brighton yesterday considering going to GAK to seriously look at them, but couldn't get around sound check being very early and the fact it closed at 4 for good friday.