Best Valentine's gifts ever! (Thankyou Mrs Painy) - NOW WITH REVIEWS!

[Painy]

(See below for reviews)

Now I actually had to go and pick these up myself - the bass 2 weeks ago from PMT Norwich and the amp and cabs last week from BCer Riddler down near Brighton (bit of a trek from Norfolk and back in a day but well worth it and a very friendly reception - thanks Graham) so knew in advance what I was getting but finally got my grubby little mitts on it all today.
I'll do a bit of review after I've tried it all in anger at next week's gig but for now here's a quick (rubbish quality phone pic - sorry) snapshot.

Squier Vintage Modified Precision 5 string,
Aguilar AG500 and 2 x Aguilar DB112 cabs in Chocolate Thunder.

Edited February 21, 2016 by Painy

[gary mac]

That Mrs Painy is most definitely a good sort.
Nice set up, will look forward to the proper review.

[Maude]

It's alright I suppose, but I think you'll find it's not quite like my Toblerone

[Twincam]

Apparently I'm getting something later on.











Lumbered with the washing up! Haha

[Painy]

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1455483674' post='2979547']
That Mrs Painy is most definitely a good sort.
Nice set up, will look forward to the proper review.
[/quote]

Well I can already confirm the Squier is a definite keeper. I've owned basses that cost well over 4 grand and played basses costing up to 3 times that on plenty of occasions and this bass is, for me, the perfect example of how all those big price tags mean absolutely nothing. This bass just sits in my hands in a way that no other bass ever has and I've managed to get the action down to a fag-papers thickness with no fret buzz and without having to touch the truss rod. Can't wait to hear it at full gig volume now

[AustinArto]

I've been meaning to try one of those Squier VM P5s, very curious now.

My new missus hates valentines so I had to sneak to her house yesterday, leave a dozen calla lilies, knock and literally run away!

[Truckstop]

Aren't lillies used by the mafia to show remorse for having to kill someone?

[AustinArto]

Haha! Wish I'd known that.

[lowdown]

[quote name='Painy' timestamp='1455489030' post='2979617']


Well I can already confirm the Squier is a definite keeper. I've owned basses that cost well over 4 grand and played basses costing up to 3 times that on plenty of occasions and this bass is, for me, the perfect example of how all those big price tags mean absolutely nothing. This bass just sits in my hands in a way that no other bass ever has and I've managed to get the action down to a fag-papers thickness with no fret buzz and without having to touch the truss rod. Can't wait to hear it at full gig volume now
[/quote]

Look forward to seeing it next week in Basses For Sale.

[Painy]

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1455567517' post='2980338']


Look forward to seeing it next week in Basses For Sale.
[/quote]

Oh the cynicism! I've no idea where the idea a Basschat member could be fickle in their choice of instrument could have possibly come from. People will be coming up with a neat little acronym to describe the process next like maybe EPD for Equipment Procurement Disorder or something like that.

[gary mac]

[quote name='Painy' timestamp='1455576404' post='2980470']
Oh the cynicism! I've no idea where the idea a Basschat member could be fickle in their choice of instrument could have possibly come from. People will be coming up with a neat little acronym to describe the process next like maybe EPD for Equipment Procurement Disorder or something like that.
[/quote]

Love it

If you decide to start up an EPD help group, count me in.

[Painy]

Well I got to gig this setup for the first time so thought I'd better give a quick review as promised.

So first up - the bass.

Well fit and finish is all excellent with a nice tight neck pocket. Weight is 9lbs 5oz. The body appears to be made of 4 pieces of wood but there's some nice grain showing through. The tort guard is printed but looks fairly decent and is an inoffensive dark brown tort rather than red. All frets seem to be well levelled with no sharp ends. Hardware is simple but functional in true precision style. The tuners held their tune perfectly all night and I was surprised at how smooth the gears are for what will obviously be fairly budget units.
The setup straight out of the box was very playable with a decent action and no fret buzz anywhere along the neck. I was able to drop the action even lower though and keep the notes ringing out clearly. Our lead guitarist even commented on how easy it is play when he tried it out for himself.
For me the star of the show on this bass is the neck. Obviously neck profiles are a very personal thing but I can honestly say I've never had a bass neck feel more comfortable in my hands although of course, as always with these things, YMMV.
Electronics also seem surprisingly good and it certainly sounds how a P-bass should. Both the volume and tone controls give a good, smooth linear response with no crackles and the jack socket holds the plug firmly with no wiggle and again no crackles. The pickup sounds exactly as I would hope a split coil would and has a surprisingly hot, but not overpowering output. In fact it puts out a touch more juice than my twin humbucker loaded (but also passive) Jazz.
Overall I'd say I can't fault it at all but there is a touch (and I do mean just a touch) of neck dive. Nothing a set of lightweight tuners Wouldn't sort out but it's really not bad enough that I'd actually bother.
Having now played it in anger I can honestly say that it's love. It sat in the mix exactly as a precision should but every note was clear, defined and punchy. I'm loving the traditional look too which for me is really refreshing after spending the best part of 20 years playing active 'coffee table' basses (for about 15 of those years I played Warwicks exclusively).
It may have Squier on the headstock (which to be fair doesn't carry any shame anyway these days) rather than some fancy boutique brand that makes its trussrod cover screws from a secret blend of Kryptonite and Unobtanium but I think I may have finally found a bass I can love as much as the Warwick Steamer Stage 1 five string I had to sell for financial reasons a few years ago.

And now - the amp.

Straight off I have to say that this thing is loud. Bowel disintegratingly loud in fact. Fortunately all that volume is controllable with the volume knob so all is good.
The other striking thing about this set up is just how damn sexy it looks IMHO. The Chocolate Thunder (and I'm still giggling to my self every time I say that by the way) colour looks very classy and coordinates nicely with the sunburst finish of my new bass too .
I'm not gonna give a technical rundown of all the figures and inner workings (yawn) as they're all online anyway and I don't have them in any case. In a nutshell, it's a 500W, 2 channel (one clean, one overdriven) head running into 2 8ohm 1x12 dual rear ported cabs each with a tweeter (I opted to have the top one on full and the bottom one off).
Soundwise I think the descriptions I've been given of the Aguilar sound as being a more modern sounding Ampeg are a pretty fair assessment - although the AG500 being a bit cleaner and more Hi-Fi than its stable mates also seems likely true. It is certainly more mid-focused than my old Ampeg rig but very much in a good way.
Our lead player's fears that such a small rig might not deliver enough low end were soon allayed when I punched in the deep switch and he pooed himself a little bit. I also found the treble control gave a more (while still not harsh or glassy) cutting and defined sound than I was expecting - again, very much in a good way.
The distortion channel I think I need to spend a bit more time with to get the best from it. I used it on Ace of Spades and there was easily enough gain on tap to push right into full on fuzz so at about 1 o'clock it was getting Lemmy- like levels of drive. Just need to work on the eq a bit yet to get the clarity in the mix.
Overall, again I'd have to say its love. I may have to find something to get it up closer to ear level though as when I initially had what I thought was a nice onstage level sorted, our singer who was out front for the soundcheck had to get me to turn down. Or as he put it " That bass is sounding bloody visceral out here"!

Edited February 21, 2016 by Painy