ThomBassmonkey

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' post='1180261' date='Mar 28 2011, 11:35 PM']a GK endorsement a bigger dream come true Jealousy vent over!![/quote] Allow me to gloat for a second! haha, just kidding. On a serious note though, if you want an endorsement, you shouldn't be afraid to go actively looking for them and asking around. My band's been offered various endorsements, some we accepted, some we didn't. I've found that it's surprising how many people are interested in the music you play rather than how big you are (though of course that's a factor too, though smaller than I thought.) Also once you've had an offer for one (whether you accept or not), it makes it easier to get others because it adds a bit of weight to your case. There are some brands that will offer endorsements out fairly easily, I know I got offered one from a company that has a bit of a reputation for being endorsement sluts.

Whatever the issue is, it's all possible to work around (unless you're living in a cupboard). 2x10s don't have much of a footprint if stacked vertically and they're strong enough that a guitar amp or other stuff can be put on top when not in use and you can get small heads that will fit in a gig back that will be enough. I doubt you'd struggle to find a nice rig (new) for £500 that would be giggable and compact. £400ish would buy you a new GK MB200 head and Ashdown 2x10 for example. Any gigs where that would be too little should have PA support anyway.

They are pretty pricey iirc, they're absolutely amazing though. I have a Sandberg JJ5 and I've not heard anything else that sounds half as good.

Why not get some delanos like your sandy will probably have?

There's a world of difference between someone who's been playing bass for years as their main instrument and is playing decent sized gigs where they're garuanteed to have a good PA and someone who's a guitarist offering to play bass but doesn't want the bother of a big bass amp. I'm sure there's been gigs where Silddx has needed an amp, whether he's used his own or borrowed one is irrelevant, I doubt he started off in good venues with a decent PA. Not having one of the important tools of the trade when you could need it at any point is unprofessional IMO. What happens if you need it for a gig? The other bands don't have amps either or aren't prepared to lend them out? At best it'd cost money to hire one out anyway, then you'd have no control over what kind of sound you had (at least around here all the hire amps are knackered old things that could clap out at any second). Like I say, anyone that is guaranteed to be playing good gigs and you know there'll always be a decent PA, then it's fine. But at smaller gigs you could potentially cause real stress for everyone.

Find yourself a decent cheap, small amp. A DI box is a good backup plan or if you can be sure of every gig you'll play, but I bet there's not one person on here that's gigged regularly and hasn't [u]needed[/u] an amp at some point. Turning up to a gig without an amp is unprofessional and will quickly earn you a bad rep if you do it without good warning. If you're not going to get an amp, at least make it very clear before every gig that you won't have one with you to the promoter and other bands that may lend you gear. I don't let bands use my gear at gigs unless it's all organised before hand, even if it means they don't have an amp (the last gig I played where both the other bands showed up without an amp, they both ended up using a small combo and blacklisted from the venue). If someone can't be bothered to shoot me some contact asking about it, I can't be bothered to lend out my gear.

[quote name='martindupras' post='1179636' date='Mar 28 2011, 03:38 PM']What do you mean by "shelving options"? I have not played with an RB series head, so I don't know. On the Fusion 550, all you have it the tweeter volume knob, the one labelled "Horn Bi-Amp". - martin[/quote] Maybe they don't then. On the RB heads, the tweeter has a low shelf and the woofer a high shelf, so you can decide whether or not to send the lows (up to a point, I expect there's still a shelf in there) through the tweeters and the highs through the woofers. It adds a big more versatility to an already very versatile amp.

[quote name='martindupras' post='1179589' date='Mar 28 2011, 03:04 PM']The only reason to use it is so that you can change the amount of tweeter sound from the amp itself.[/quote] Don't forget that if you do this, the tweeters won't be drawing power away from your woofers (which I doubt will be a big problem anyway) and you'll have access to the shelving options for the tweeters that the GK heads have (I assume the Fusion has it too, all the RB series do).

[quote name='obbm' post='1179597' date='Mar 28 2011, 03:12 PM']ThomBassmonkey - "You'd effectively be lowering the power that goes to your amp." - power comes from the amp to the speakers.[/quote] Sorry, brain fart haha.

I don't see the point. You'd effectively be lowering the power that goes to your amp. Take the GK 700RB-II for example, at 8Ohms it runs at 320w, at 4Ohms it's 480w. So if you ran an 8Ohm cab and an 8Ohm attenuator, you'd only get 240w into the one cab. And as the others said, 2 4Ohm loads would be a 2Ohm load total. 2 8Ohm loads makes a 4Ohm load etc.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1179564' date='Mar 28 2011, 02:44 PM']I remember when they first started advertising over here, there was uproar but i felt it gave our market a kick up the backside. No longer were we held to ransom by over priced music stores.[/quote] I think you've got the wrong end of the stick. If you look at the RRP on most basses, retailers sell them MASSIVELY discounted. There's not a lot of profit to be made on expensive instruments, I was pretty shocked at how little margin there is when I was looking through a distributor's catalogue recently.

I'm not sure Thomann would be able to open a UK shop and keep the prices the same. Not sure how it all works, but if they did that they'd definitely be stepping on UK distributors toes. About customer service, I agree, but as I said, they're making more money per instrument than UK retailers. They're buying in stock for the same price as a distributor (as that's what they are) then selling it for just below shop prices. Since they're making so much, they can afford to have more staff and a more efficient system taking care of orders. Their prices have gone up some because they get moaned at by manufacturers who get moaned at by UK dists. It's fair though.

[quote name='Big_Stu' post='1179454' date='Mar 28 2011, 01:33 PM']I would guess that to make a direct comparison you'd have to use one bass, so that all things were constant, then switch the neck over to a maple one. Of course to do this you'd need a [s]plank[/s] Fender or Fender-alike. [/quote] Even then potentially the necks could be quite different in terms of grain and density. Someone must've had a fretboard changed from rosewood to maple (or vice versa) at some point and be able to comment.

It's clearly a banana with strings...the tension's made it warp a little though.

Yeah, if you use your Ashdown, you'll just be running the main power section, the tweeter power from the head won't be doing anything.

I've ordered a few bits off Thomann, they've always been good service but I refuse to use them any more because I don't feel what they do is right. Basically they're a distributor for europe, so the prices they can offer are below most UK retailers because they pay far less than retailers do. I know it's business etc, but it's not fair on UK retailers that they get undercut so badly and they'd be forced to make a loss to compete. The problem is that they have such a part of the market (because of the prices) that manufacturers can't afford to not sell to them because they're bringing so much business. Think about the whole "Buy locally instead of buying cheaply online" argument, then make it 10x stronger. Some UK retailers are struggling because they're being undercut by this store which is probably making more profit per item than if a UK shop sold it at their usual price, never mind after they've been bartered down a bit. Of course it does come down to money and Thomann do offer stuff cheaply with good service, I still think it's immoral though.

We never plan for it, we've been stumped on some of our longer gigs when they've asked for an encore and we've played pretty much all our songs. I agree, you play your set, you get off. If the audience wants more, they'll let you know and you can go back on and play a couple more songs (assuming you're not support, a support band playing an encore is a pain as they'll inevitably run over and upset the rest of the gig). If you play your set and the audience doesn't call for more, that's fine, you've done your set.

[quote name='Johnston' post='1179245' date='Mar 28 2011, 10:51 AM']You need to go on talkbass. There was a nice thread on there Alder vs Lumber or something[/quote] It was alder vs lumber, very interesting thread though. [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/scrap-lumber-bass-vs-alder-bass-can-you-tell-difference-743932/"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/scrap-lum...ference-743932/[/url] There's many factors that could affect it, do they weigh the same? Denser woods (even if it's the same type of wood) can change the sound, different finishes etc could all potentially change the tone slightly. Maple fretboards are supposed to have a slightly toppier sound so it might be that, but I'm of the school of thought that wood is one of the least important factors of the sound of a bass, it's the final touch that can make the difference between it sounding almost perfect and perfect.

Do you know anyone (basschatter or otherwise) that can go around and have a look at his bass and make sure it's as described? If there's a moderator close to you/the other person and they're prepared to do it, you could always ask him to send the bass to the moderator and offer to do the same, then once the basses are both together move on from there. Obviously don't be expecting 3rd parties to be organising couriers etc though. I recently did a trade with a new member (I think his post on my for sale thread was one of his first 10 posts) and it went fine, the bass is really nice (though I'm moving it on since I'm not getting on with it) and he even offered to come to my place to do the trade (relatively local). The distance thing is always an issue if you're not local and I don't like trading basses blind. I recently turned down a trade offer I was very interested in as I couldn't justify travelling a long way to try out an unusual bass, I trusted the seller so it's not quite the same, but the principal of if you're unsure about any part of the trade then walk away is the same.

I play a lot of opens, my main bass has a 0 fret though which sorts out tonal inconsistencies.

[quote name='martindupras' post='1178226' date='Mar 27 2011, 01:15 PM']I like the Horn Management feature (a 4-wire speakon lead feeds the 500w amp to your lows and mids drivers and the 50w amp drives only the tweeter.) I have rewired my Tech Soundsystems nd612 that way and that works great. It's subtle, though, because it's only affecting frequencies above 5kHz. Switching "channels" takes about one second.[/quote] IIRC, the tweeter amp is actually 75w at 4Ohm and 50w at 8Ohm. It doesn't advertise that as it'd be too confusing with different resistances etc going on. It's worth remembering though if you're modifying a cab to use the 4 pin speakons. It sounds strange that the tone doesn't change instantly (obviously I wouldn't expect the knobs to instantly change), I'd have thought that the knobs controlled a digital controller rather than being mechanical and changed by the motors. I've not played with it properly, but that sounds like a really big oversight in design if you're right (and it's not faulty).

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1178028' date='Mar 27 2011, 10:53 AM']What colour do you want yours in then? It sounds like a nice genuine P - there's no mistaking that it is an active P though opposed to a passive woody P. The new position does offer a very even response over the strings, whether it makes up for any deficiencies of the trad style, for once I'd be loathed to rock the boat and just let the ear of the beholder make up their mind. The MM sounds very authentic especially up the top end (it is a genuine 'ray pup after all) but as a bit of a Stingray purist I'd have to concede that the SD pre operates quite differently - it has a more extended range and as a result with this pup combo the bass could split a liver if you so wished.[/quote] If my Dingwall sells instead of getting traded, I'm actually tempted to go to Sandberg and get a quote for a custom PM5 set up in the same way but a 5er and with a J neck. With the delanos and Sandberg build quality it should be a beastie.