Toddy Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 (edited) Hey all, expect to get a bit of stick for this but hey ho, its bothering me So 20 yrs as a Bass Player, I've been very lucky and successful, most ambitions achieved, (played every major venue in the UK)and open minded too modern ideas etc, had to play a successful event last night (*sold out last November) and in rehearsal my modern ish Bass amp packed in ,,quick ring round, and the drummers brother came to the rescue with a large 80s Peavey tank and an Amp peg cab OMFG, The frequency's were amazing, used a couple of basses, the active cut through , the passive was great I loved it, the engineer loved it, the audience went mad, and even a world class engineer in the audience gave praise, annoyingly this rig has stood unused for 20 yrs, it was far better than any of the rigs I've owned since my Trace Elliot days in the early 90s, I have do desire to be a dinosaur, and no disrespect to the modern light stuff, but cannot these amazing sounds be reproduced, yes I've done the massive 8x10 stuff at festivals, but to get a punch like that in a venue was phenomenal, are we on the right track ? Edited February 2, 2020 by wateroftyne 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooky_lowdown Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Old Peavey gear is so underrated. 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steantval Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 (edited) Definitely some stick, you started off your thread with “so” 😀 That aside, I used to love by big old Peavey TNT combo’s back in the day. Edited February 2, 2020 by steantval 5 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Been saying it for ages - class D just doesn't compete with your vintage A/B... 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 I realised this about 13 years ago. I've been waiting for car radio amps to turn the corner since, but it hasn't happened yet. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 I came to the same conclusion, when I got to play through a GP7 Trace Elliot combo, a couple of years ago. Can we get the sound without the weight? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Just now, gjones said: I came to the same conclusion, when I got to play through a GP7 Trace Elliot combo, a couple of years ago. Can we get the sound without the weight? Yes, within reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Sucks that your amp let you down in rehearsal @Toddy Are you ditching all the modern kit you currently own and getting old kit from now on? Interested to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 18 minutes ago, gjones said: Can we get the sound without the weight? A quality hybrid should hit the mark. My Mesa M6 certainly does, but it's 25 lbs. The new GK Fusion S series looks to be seriously promising on both the weight (just 5.5 lbs) and sound fronts, but comes with a hefty price tag. Check out the clean grit sound at 037s. Lush! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger2611 Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 I have just swapped my Mesa Boogie D800 for a Mesa Boogie Walkabout head, purely because I found the D800 felt like it lacked something! I will run it for a few weeks before coming to any conclusions. The only class D head I have liked and kept is the Markbass LM3 which I love, a TC Electronic RH750, Ampeg SVT pro7 and Mesa Boogie D800 have all come and gone because the Markbass sounded better (to me) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 13 minutes ago, Al Krow said: A quality hybrid should hit the mark. My Mesa M6 certainly does, but it's 25 lbs. The new GK Fusion S series looks to be seriously promising on both the weight (just 5.5 lbs) and sound fronts, but comes with a hefty price tag. Check out the clean grit sound at 037s. Lush! I have a GK MB500 and a GKMB800 (I like them a lot) but they can't do what that Trace GP7, I played through, could do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 (edited) When it comes to big stages I’ve found that’s when the game is given away. Whilst the new lightweight gear is plenty loud enough for those stages the older heavyweight gear just has “something” to the sound that commands those large areas in a way that the lighter gear doesn’t. That’s why I went with the Ashdown ABM series, it just delivers. Now I’m not in a band I’m offloading it all as I’m unlikely to play in a band that requires such a set up again. Edited February 2, 2020 by Lozz196 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walshy Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 I thought the same and then got to use @wateroftyne ‘s Handbox WB100. Game changer!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 If you're on big stages then surely you'll have decent monitoring provided anyway? I wouldn't use an amp at all! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odysseus Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 If I didn't live in a second floor flat, I was 25 years younger, and I didn't have an ongoing lower back issue, then it would be Ampeg valve amp all the way. However, practicality wins out... I do love my Genz/Barefaced set up though.... it packs what I need. Idealism is beyond my circumstances these days! 🙂 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Count Bassy Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Is it actually the Class D technology itself that's the problem, or the way that they compress it to make it sound louder for the actual number of watts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toddy Posted February 2, 2020 Author Share Posted February 2, 2020 14 minutes ago, gjones said: I have a GK MB500 and a GKMB800 (I like them a lot) but they can't do what that Trace GP7, I played through, could do. fecking awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deedee Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 I have to agree with many of the comments above. I've tried lots of class d heads that have each sounded great in isolation but in a live setting none have matched my big old, heavy, unfashionable Trace heads. I concluded that I have all the amps I'll ever need. All over 25 years old and all 5 bought used for less than the cost of one 'top marque' class d. Now cabs on the other hand..................... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbasspecial Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 Just recently changed to an old school chrome ABM 500 through a Barefaced SuperTwin. Works for me. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 28 minutes ago, Deedee said: I have to agree with many of the comments above. I've tried lots of class d heads that have each sounded great in isolation but in a live setting none have matched my big old, heavy, unfashionable Trace heads. I concluded that I have all the amps I'll ever need. All over 25 years old and all 5 bought used for less than the cost of one 'top marque' class d. Now cabs on the other hand..................... 25 minutes ago, pbasspecial said: Just recently changed to an old school chrome ABM 500 through a Barefaced SuperTwin. Works for me. Well, as well as my class amps, I also have an Ashdown ABM 500 III, which I bought on Ebay for the price of a pair of Dr Martens boots (i.e. pretty expensive for a pair of shoes but dirt cheap for such a classy amp). It sounds great! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubinga5 Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 The audience doesn't really care.. Does it make you play better and sound great to you.? Probably. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Theodore Logan, III Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 10 minutes ago, gjones said: Well, as well as my class amps, I also have an Ashdown ABM 500 III, which I bought on Ebay for the price of a pair of Dr Martens boots (i.e. pretty expensive for a pair of shoes but dirt cheap for such a classy amp). It sounds great! Or you could get the best of both... That'd give any rig a run for it's money and it'll fit in your back pocket... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 (edited) Meanwhile those of us without road crew and have to move their gear themselves, thank the music gods for a lightweight combo in one hand and their bass in a case in the other for the Dog and Duck gig! Edited February 2, 2020 by yorks5stringer 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taunton-hobbit Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 I'm not a bass player (reggae/soul sound rig) - had a very nice Crown class D, but sold it on, on the other hand, my Matamps and I are joined at the hip (300 bass, 120 mid/top) - small system for me, but as it never leaves my lounge, my two B/F Dubsters and my pair of Mackie C200 will do most play out gigs if needed......(old skool sound - mmmm) 😎 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 2 hours ago, Toddy said: Hey all, expect to get a bit of stick for this but hey ho, its bothering me So 20 yrs as a Bass Player, I've been very lucky and successful, most ambitions achieved, (played every major venue in the UK)and open minded too modern ideas etc, had to play a successful event last night (*sold out last November) and in rehearsal my modern ish Bass amp packed in ,,quick ring round, and the drummers brother came to the rescue with a large 80s Peavey tank and an Amp peg cab OMFG, The frequency's were amazing, used a couple of basses, the active cut through , the passive was great I loved it, the engineer loved it, the audience went mad, and even a world class engineer in the audience gave praise, annoyingly this rig has stood unused for 20 yrs, it was far better than any of the rigs I've owned since my Trace Elliot days in the early 90s, I have do desire to be a dinosaur, and no disrespect to the modern light stuff, but cannot these amazing sounds be reproduced, yes I've done the massive 8x10 stuff at festivals, but to get a punch like that in a venue was phenomenal, are we on the right track ? I love that this was edited by one of the mods As a flag waving, T-shirt wearing techy I'll bite. Mic that rig up and pump it through a really good Class D, Neo speakered, festival sized PA rig and it'd sound just as good. So it isn't class D or lightweight neo speakers, it is something else. I'll tell you my theory, in the olden days speakers and amps were designed to enhance your bass sound (guitar sound even more so but this is Basschat) They didn't need to be clean and undistorted they just had to sound good. People built cabs and tried them out with bass and the ones that sounded best or most popular got made and sold. Theory wasn't really worked out until the 70's and didn't get through to instrument amp design until much later. The truth is we don't much like uncoloured sound for bass and most of us aren't very good at finding the eq to achieve it so a nice old Trace that gives us the Trace sound sounds better to us than our own attempts to recreate it. The second thing is that we like things that are loud, too loud to be sensible but there is joy in just cranking up an old monolith of a speaker with an amp with the frequency response curve of the Cairngorms. Sensibly we'd scrap the backline, use in-ears or at least floor monitors and let the PA do it's job but for some that's no fun. There's also a lot of self delusion, I used to have fun in my old rear wheel drive cars with cross ply tyres sliding round bends double declutching because the synchromesh was rubbish but I can't really pretend those cars were 'better' than those I drive now. One day soon the computer modelling will be so good we won't be able to tell the difference but that is still a little way away. Until then if you love an old Peavey stack and don't mind shifting it then the important thing isn't technical perfection so go for it and enjoy. 16 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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