NAD - The hardest purchase to get right!

[Cat Burrito]

I turn 50 in March and my friend from my musical duo is also 50 this year. Around Xmas he mentioned the idea of a 50th birthday present to himself - an amp - and it doesn't take much for the average Basschat member to justify new gear. 

 

I have the big Orange rig that weighs a tonne but 35yrs in the Paul Simonon / Peter Hook school of low slung bass means my shoulder and neck are feeling their age. So I decided to return to the oxymoron that is "lightweight bass amps"

 

Currently I am doing a lot of 80s alternative stuff and liking a bit of distortion and chorus in my sound. I've mostly played Orange or Ampeg over the years but during my poor days I had an old Peavey combo that I was delighted to see the back of. I like the look / sound of the Darkglass stuff but I like my kidneys too much to sell one to fund it. I then stumbled across Blackstar. Built in effects that sound alright (goodbye pedal board) and as silly as it sounds, I like the fact it looks like the last David Bowie album. 

 

I won't publicly name the shop with the (normally) excellent reputation that I bought it from but this is where my two week delay in posting begins. I could save a few quid on an ex-demo version so I did. It arrived the next day, immaculate with all the card and stickers in place still. However, no foot pedal and incredibly, no mains cable. I have a few cables but the pedal wasn't cool because it is a main part of the bass. I phoned them up and they were fairly disinterested but emailed back to say they'd found the mains cable and would mail it out. They tried to quibble the pedal stating it wasn't listed. 

 

20 years ago I would have been fobbed off but I wasn't having it. All the blurb that came with it stated there was a pedal. The brand new ones also didn't mention a pedal on their site but I can'yt imagine they would have lost it as the thing was immaculate. I pushed back and the next day they emailed to say the pedal was located and would be sent out. I had to chase it a week later when they still hadn't sent it but it did finally come. I would have sent it back to be petty as they were being so silly about it but I really liked the amp. It sounds great, does a lot of tones, is much lighter and is very aesthetically pleasing. 

 

In the meantime I wanted the longer pedal that gives you tuning options. It was listed at £100 but I found one for £69 from a different shop. Great saving. Stupidly I kept googling and found one secondhand for £35 - too late, I'd bought it. The £69 arrived the next day, I plugged it in and NOTHING! Did all the idiot checks but I had a dud. Phoned the shop up, I had to wait in for a collection and they did a refund. Went back to the secondhand listing at £35 and it was still available. It arrived today, it is immaculate and more importantly, it works!

 

My setup is here! I'd like to say it was easy. I can't wait to use it in anger.

 

[ezbass]

Great looking setup, shame about the PITA from the supplier who I think I can guess it is. Your Ric 4003s is such a looker.

[ped]

Nice, which one's that? I have the 2x10 and 15 extension, they sound brilliant.. pretty light compared to what I'm used to, and the sound is on a par with anything else I've had. I find the preamp section to be really flexible and intuitive (voice and response types)

[Cat Burrito]

21 hours ago, ped said:

Nice, which one's that? I have the 2x10 and 15 extension, they sound brilliant.. pretty light compared to what I'm used to, and the sound is on a par with anything else I've had. I find the preamp section to be really flexible and intuitive (voice and response types)

Forgot I posted this thread! It's the 2x10 and I am looking at extension cabs too, once I sell a few things. 

[Sparky Mark]

This thread prompted me to look at the Unity range. It seems a little strange to me that Blackstar list a 250 watt 1x15 powered extension cab to go with the Unity 250 watt 1x15 combo but don't offer a 500 watt 2x10 powered extension cab to go with the Unity 500 watt 2x10 combo. Also, I'm not totally convinced that the 2x10 speakers can handle the full 500 watts either. I'd prefer the combo to have an amplifier that output 250 watts to its internal speakers which then allowed a 2x10 passive extension cab. 500 watts into a 4x10 configuration feels about right to me.

[Baloney Balderdash]

On 05/02/2023 at 12:23, Sparky Mark said:

This thread prompted me to look at the Unity range. It seems a little strange to me that Blackstar list a 250 watt 1x15 powered extension cab to go with the Unity 250 watt 1x15 combo but don't offer a 500 watt 2x10 powered extension cab to go with the Unity 500 watt 2x10 combo. Also, I'm not totally convinced that the 2x10 speakers can handle the full 500 watts either. I'd prefer the combo to have an amplifier that output 250 watts to its internal speakers which then allowed a 2x10 passive extension cab. 500 watts into a 4x10 configuration feels about right to me.

Well, there is actually such a thing as single even 10" speakers that can handle 500W alone, can't see why 2 10" speakers shouldn't be able to handle 500W if they are specked right (which i very much assume they are, anything else would be rather silly), that they happen to be 10" speakers means little in terms of power handling.

 

Also you don't get 500W from a 250W combo amp by connecting a matching extension cab (unless it is actually a 500W amp to start with, and the stock speakers are just not of optimal Ohm rating for the amp alone).

 

Edited February 8, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash