ThomBassmonkey

I have a Korg DTR1000 and it's always been great. I wouldn't base whether or not you get a rack on your tuner though. If you want to put your head in a case for some extra protection then get a rack. With a tuner you're only saving yourself one cable (head > tuner) anyway, the tuner and head will both still need to be plugged in (unless you're using a power conditioner or splitter inside the case) seperately. They're convenient but unless you have a big amp, they'll add a lot of bulk to your rig. My 4u case adds a lot of size to my 2001RB-II and they're not small amps by any stretch. I wouldn't say that whether or not a head is rack mountable is the biggest factor either. Get the head you want, then if you can justify the extra space (most heads are mountable now) for a rack case, go for it.

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' post='1194595' date='Apr 10 2011, 01:56 PM']We've got the same taste in Amps and Warwicks though [/quote] True, that. Though sadly my Warwick's been moved on now. I miss it but considering the basses I have as options on the table at the moment, I don't regret it.

No prizes for guessing what I'd recommend. But I agree that you should narrow it down somewhat yourself, 75% of buying an amp is what sounds good [u]TO YOU.[/u] A lot of people on here have the amps that they think sounds amazing, I'm no different with my GKs, so I could recommend GKs to you but they might not do what you want. The last 25% can come down to reliability, versatility, weight, looks etc. If you're at a total loss of what you want to sound like, try and find a band that you like the bass tone of and we can help you by looking at what kind of tone it is and what gear could be used to create a similar tone, but without knowing your tastes there's simply too many options. And to agree and disagree with what Chris said above me, since you're already using separates, you can upgrade in bits. Personally I don't like Ashdowns either, but I tried a MAG410T with my old 700RB-II and it sounded alright (not as good as the 210RBH I had at the time, but there's a significant price difference) so I'd say that it's worth looking at other heads to use with your cab. You can get some brilliant heads for £600 new and if you're going 2nd hand, there's a massive amount on offer for that price.

While I know that Yammies are good value, well made instruments, they've never inspired me. I find them dull or ugly to look at and they somehow feel cheap (while I recognise they are well made, there's just something about them that doesn't feel that way in my hands) to play. I've been tempted to take the plunge on a couple of the TRBs that have been floating around recently but I couldn't make myself do it in the end. It might just be me, I have the same thing with some other highly rated basses like the Ibanez SRs, even the prestige ones somehow look cheap and boring to me and when I've played them they've never made me think "wow". I've probably just not found on that suits me yet, I thought the same thing about Fenders for years then I had a go on a MIM Jazz in a shop a while back and it blew me away, I ended up getting a Jazz (not a Fender, admittedly) and I love it.

[quote name='dbass' post='1192666' date='Apr 8 2011, 10:27 AM']I am a complete gear nerd and enjoy a bit of Gear Spottin'. Although I see so much mediocre gear now that sounds like pap I just ignore most. Unless they use something special. I've had it at EVERY gig since using the Dingwall. It's a nice ice breaker but after the 100th time of "is it easier to play" a small part of my soul falls apart. Still, it's my fault for buying a spazzy bass. Had it over my amps/cabs lately too. No one seems to know who the hell EBS are or Genz Benz so I get that a lot. "Is it better than Ampeg mate?" [/quote] I've had similar things, Sandbergs and GK aren't very common (especially around here where 99% of people use Squiers/Fenders/Epiphones and Ashdowns) so there's always someone curious about them. A little piece of me dies though when someone says "why didn't you just get a Fender" when I point out that the Sandberg, though technically a copy, isn't a cheap one. I never have a problem with people having a go on my gear though, it's rare-ish stuff and I think that people should experience as much gear as possible. My stuff's battered about a bit anyway (life on the road takes it's toll) so I'm not scared of people dinging it and since I used to teach, I've had beginners (including people on their first ever lesson) have a go on my basses, whatever the cost of them. Maybe not so relevant because it wasn't a random punter at a gig, but I had a lovely evening around Rob rmshaw37's house yesterday chatting to him. I'm interested in buying one of his basses, but I took around my Sandberg and amp, we played each other's gear, he plugged his head into my cab to see what it sounded like. It was interesting to see the different combinations of gear and see how they felt and sounded, even though it was only one bass that was potentially being sold. None of that would have been possible if we were both precious about our gear and I think both of us learned from it that we wouldn't have been able to if I'd just taken around my amp and only tried his Overwater out through that.

Ah, apologies then. I heard a while ago that he played most songs on record on a ray with a few exceptions (some big songs) being played on a Wal.

Pete, I wasn't talking about something's market value, I've been specifically avoiding mentioning those two words as much as possible as, as good as they're a rough guideline for the price of a 2nd hand instrument, you can't rely on them for anything other than a very rough guestimate of what someone will be willing to buy/sell a bass for. [quote name='Ou7shined' post='1194362' date='Apr 10 2011, 10:31 AM']Get the picture?[/quote] Ok, so what your saying is that a bass isn't worth what someone's willing to pay for it, it's worth a pre-defined price. I'm not saying it's worth the price of last time it was sold, I'm saying it's worth up to the money that someone (anyone) would be willing to part with it for. Regardless of model, if person A has a bass that they won't sell for less than £500, then it's worth £500. If person B wants to buy it for £600, then it's worth £600. If someone wouldn't sell it to Tim for £1000000, then it's worth over that. I think we're just arguing over the difference between market value and individual instrument value, but I have said that I'm not talking about market value as that is an average price that doesn't take into account sentimentality. Remember, how someone values a bass is totally individual to the person, whether buying or selling. What they base that value on, whether it's because it was their first steady bass or they're prepared to pay a bit more for one with a maple freboard is totally individual. Anyone, I'm gonna duck out because I don't think we're going to agree and I can't see it going anywhere.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1194326' date='Apr 10 2011, 09:35 AM']Now you're starting to get it. I don't know how to continue this discusssion if you think that a bass owned by one of the most famous bass players in the entire history of bass isn't rare. [/quote] I'm still saying the same thing I was a few posts ago. I don't think we're likely to agree anyway because I don't like the idea of solid value on 2nd hand instruments, there's no two the same. Even if two basses were made back to back out of the factory, as soon as one has a ding their values are different. One could end up with a millionaire who thought it looked nice then got bored and gave it away, making it's value £0 and the next could be bought by someone just starting out and become his main player for half his career making it much more valuable to him. The bass isn't rare, it's history is, there's probably hundreds/thousands of surviving identical instruments. That's my point, it's not specifically the bass that adds to it's value, it's it's history, the same as other peoples' instruments to them. If no one cared about macca (which is purely subjective to the individual based on sentiment) then it'd be worth the same as every other bass of the same model and similar age. So obviously in that case, sentiment does count towards the value of an instrument. I stand by my statement that an individual instrument's value is the maximum amount of money that someone (doesn't matter if it's one person or everyone apart from that one person) would rather take the bass than the money. Things like market values are just averages, you can't apply them to individual instruments.

There is no second hand price for food or petrol generally, that's why it has a firmer value. The average price of second hand stuff might be [b]A[/b] market value, but it doesn't mean that every item should be sold for that price. There is nothing rare or desirable about macca's bass (apart from it's age, at least as far as I can remember). It's worth so much simply because of people's emotions (read: sentiments ) attached to his music and him. If someone looked at it and didn't know it was his, it would be just another bass and worth a fraction of it's actual value.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1194179' date='Apr 9 2011, 11:52 PM']No one said it was black and white... but one person's sentiments will not affect the market value.[/quote] When I say over the odds, I mean more than the average value for that model of bass. If you think of market value as the average, then sure. That doesn't make it a guideline figure for how much a bass should sell for though. I usually think of market value as more relevant for stuff that does have a more black and white figure though, like food by weight, petrol, that kind of thing. It doesn't matter if one person or 50% of people in the world value a bass as more than it's worth, as long as someone's prepared to take the bass rather than the money, that's it's value. If someone wanted to pay £500 for my Ibanez and I decided to sell, even though that's what it cost new, if someone was prepared to pay that, that's it's value, right? If one person's sentiments won't affect the market value or a bass, why would it matter if someone famous has owned it? Surely that'd be the sentiments of the people involved that would drive up it's value, it's not anything that affects the quality of the instrument. Also why do you see such wide price ranges on some basses? 'Ray 5s for example seem to have asking prices from £600-900, why aren't they all priced similarly if they're all the same bass.

I'd definitely suggest it. Even with the best gear in the world, sometimes it can still sound lacking on stage. I had a gig last night where I wasn't really enjoying my bass tone, but our manager gave me the thumbs up during sound check and mouthed something about me sounding [insert F word]ing awesome. I find that in a 3 piece (I technically play in a four piece, but our fourth member is often on flute so I need to fix my sound as though in a 3 piece) a bit of growl goes a long way into filling out the sound. Maybe you could look at a Sansamp BDDI or similar to add a bit of grit without forking out for a whole new rig.

[quote name='munkonthehill' post='1194160' date='Apr 9 2011, 11:31 PM']So to answer the question,,, someones personal feeling on THEIR bass that THEY are selling shouldnt inflate THEIR selling price of the bass.[/quote] Why not? So what if it doesn't sell? Like I said, the value of an instrument is the point where someone would rather have the bass than that amount of money. It shouldn't matter if it's the seller or a potential buyer, someone's still making the choice to walk away with the bass instead of the cash.

[quote name='Waldo' post='1194147' date='Apr 9 2011, 11:15 PM']Don't think that's a fair comparison really, the only signature model that he's had was his modulus and he was with them for ages. And he only ended up with them after Musicman wouldn't give him his own one. I doubt modulus would complain really, they'll have shifted so many basses due to his name attached. I singled out Mark King becuase he's had signature basses from Alembic, Status, Fender and Jaydee plus Ashdown amps. Just seems excessive![/quote] He's been endorsed by Musicman, Modulus then he's had his own Fleabasses (which AFAIK he doesn't even use). I know what you mean that the ray wasn't a signature bass as such, but considering he used it for such a long time and it was such an essential part of his sound, jumping ship because they wouldn't put his name on a model then having Modulus make an almost identical one just so he could have his name on it is more than a little egotistical/greedy IMO.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1194018' date='Apr 9 2011, 07:44 PM']That's just plain semantics bud. Sentimental value and market value are two entirely different things.[/quote] Disagreed. If someone sold their cherished bass in a moment of madness or need of money then saw an opportunity to buy it back at an inflated price, then they might be prepared to spend over the odds for it. Same situation but reversed, does that mean it's value is over what it would usually sell for? What about if it was McCartney's original violin bass, would you expect that to be valued the same as any other of the same model, however similar? I know I wouldn't pay more for it than I would any other (and I don't like them anyway, so I wouldn't pay much for one in the first place) so because me (and many others I expect) feel that way, does that mean it's not valued at more than another of the same type? When you buy or sell an instrument, you make a choice. What would you rather have, X bass or Y amount of money? The price a bass sells for is when the price is a compromise between the buyer and seller's individual Y. I'd rather have my Ibanez BTB than the amount of money it would sell for, that's because to me it's more valuable than the £250 or so I might get for it. That's how I value it, so it's it's value is over £250 however you look at it because someone (me) would rather have that bass than £250. When you're buying or selling, you don't just look at the model, there's all kinds of things that factor into the bass. It's never as simple as looking at the last one similar that sold. You can look at average values of instruments that have sold and use that as a guideline but it's only an average of figures, not a black and white figure of how much they should sell for. Since market value is a rough estimation of the average, it doesn't take into account the individual values of each instrument, which are affected by sentimental feelings.

[quote name='Waldo' post='1193963' date='Apr 9 2011, 06:41 PM']Everything = Mark King to be fair. The man's a ridiculous gear whore[/quote] Flea's another that pops into my head for example. The guy used a 'ray into GK for a long time and that was his trademark sound, then he seemed to get bored and start swapping about basses on whims. It must be incredibly frustrating for a company like Modulus to make a bass that they even name after an endorsee, then they jump ship soon after.

[quote name='Jesso' post='1191045' date='Apr 6 2011, 09:03 PM']Never tried GK. Might be worth a punt, but always felt they'd be a bit hifi for me.[/quote] GKs are anything but hifi. Especially since you say you use an Eden head atm. If you can find a GK to try out, you should do it. They're fairly rare, but they're brilliant amps. There was an MB212 at the LBGS that was superb.

If you're picking from standard options, I don't think you'll get any extra charge. I'm not sure how many of those things come as standards though, I don't think the matched headstock or black neck does. You'd have to go to Sandberg direct I think.

[quote name='goblin' post='1192005' date='Apr 7 2011, 05:15 PM']Believe it or not, still no If it's any help to anyone they had some metal ones and they had some rubber o rings round them if anyone recognises the style? They looked to be anodized / brush aluminium. Cheers for the input though [/quote] Do you mean something like this: Hipshot O rings, if that's it. [url="http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/guitarknobs_hipshot.htm"]http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/guitarknobs_hipshot.htm[/url] sells some.

It looks a bit like someone's eaten a few too many pies then sat on a Danelectro to me.

[quote name='eude' post='1191737' date='Apr 7 2011, 02:04 PM']Awesome dude. I really really like the look of that Fusion head. I wonder how it compares to the Genz Benz Streamliner in terms of sound, the Bass Whisperer test of the GB on Youtube sounds incredible! Looking forward to hearing how you get on Eude[/quote] It's a totally different beast to the GB stuff, the GB is a much cleaner hi-fi sound (I assume that's why Ed Friedland uses them for his reviews, it shows more difference between basses tonally), all GK gear colours the tone a lot, adding that trademark growl. Obviously it depends what kind of sound you want, I personally find the extra grunt you get from GK gear really helps pushing me through in a band situation. Unlike some amps, I've never found that I've lost the definition, however much I dial out the treble and in the bass. Of course that's with my 2001RB-II head, though I have high expectiations from the MB Fusion too. Of course I'll let you know how I get on with it. I've not had a go with one in a band situation yet so I'm looking forwards to it. I'm looking forwards to having the head for purely nerdy purposes too, it's so small and light with a valve pre and so much power...what's not to be excited about? That's the same reason I want an MB200, despite only being 140w @ 8Ohm, it pumped out enough power at the LBGS. Turning up to a venue with that little thing for a rock gig would probably produce some funny looks. People would soon stop laughing when you plug it in though. It's still not actually literally ordered yet (as in final orders and posted, stupid extra paperwork because of the endorsement) but it's going through the motions. I'm hoping I'll have it next week as Polar have them in stock. Edit: It's worth noting the Ed Friedland could play elastic strings around a tissue box amplified by a cheap megaphone and still hit the holy grail of bass tone.

If you want it to have that Warwick sound and looks whilst being versatile and still able to capture more standard sounds, get the Streamer. If you want it to sound, look and feel like a Warwick with no compromises, get a Thumb. It really is that simple, Streamers obviously do the whole Warwick growl thing, but they're relatively versatile instruments (depending on model of course). Thumbs are the Warwick brand in a bass, everything about them is distilled Warwickness.

[quote name='Soliloquy' post='1191969' date='Apr 7 2011, 05:02 PM']I'm in the MU, and checked with them first of all, and I made sure I was carrying my membership card with me. I think their stance is that you should be able to carry an instrument with you.[/quote] That's interesting. We're all with the MU as well, I'll have to have a look.

Well the rub board player (It's not James Warner in my sig, another band) has done it before a fair few times with other bands, so I expect he knows what he's doing in terms of booking. I just need to make sure my kit's looked after and suitably prepared to not be damaged in transit.

The thread's several months old, I bumped it instead of starting a new one. I can't take the bass on board with me because we're on a really strict budget and avoiding all costs that we can (a flight case can be re-used indefinitely so it's not something I'd consider an issue with budget for one trip). Plus with a whole band going, there'd be too much kit between us to try and sneak it on, or potentially even storage if we did get it all on.