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I just started playing bass again after a long period of playing guitar/drums for various bedroom bands etc. I've been playing with a local thrash band who lost their bassist, and decided I like it, a lot, and thought it best that I give the borrowed Yamaha RBX270 back to my old guitarist and finally get my own rig (I've been hiring an amp from our practice venue) I put a deposit on an Ibanez SR500 on Saturday. At $920 AUD(RRP was given at about 1150), the thing is marvelous. After reading this thread from front to back and a few other resources, I decided that this was what I needed. I tried a LOT of other instruments - P and Js both fender and Squire, Shecters, Warwick Rockbasses and Spectors and even after all that I still came back to the 500. It has a smoother and lower action than almost anything I've held, the tone from the Bartolini actives is so versatile... I'd just like to thank everyone in this thread for the fantastic advice and ideas they've been dishing out for however many years now. It helped make the transition from guitar to bass relatively painless for me, and yall are the reason that in a few weeks time I will own one sexy motherfucker of a bass guitar  So one question: I'm thinking of picking up a Hartke HA3500 head once the bass is paid off... I know a lot of you guys aren't fond of Hartke, and it is a lot cheaper than the Ampeg/Aguilar/Mark Bass etc equivalents I've played through, at $850 vs over $1200+... Should I just grab this, or are there any serious concerns I should be worried about?
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Mar 29, 2010 05:58
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Currency conversion rate means nothing when it comes to music gear over here. Amps are about 2x the price in USD over here man. Let me post some prices from a popular music store here... Mesa M6 Carbine: $2895 rrp Big Block 750: $4295 rrp Powerhouse 4x10 cabinet $2495 rrp Warwick Hellborg: $2999 rrp Pro Fet III $1299 rrp Eden WT405 $2125 rrp WT550 $2450 rrp WT800 $3950 rrp AGUILAR AG500: $2999 AG500sc $2499 Hartke HA3500 $1099 rrp (I can get it cheaper than this) So you get the point. poo poo is expensive here. Feel free to recommend any other mid-entry level bass heads so I can look up pricing though. Edit: Actually my co-worker just put me onto Ashdown - I've played through some of the MAG amps at both Billy Hyde and Music Park, and found that they sound pretty drat good. The 300W/4ohm is about 575, so one can assume the MAG600H (575W) is probably sub 1k.. Anyone have any experience with these heads? Don Dongington fucked around with this message at 07:12 on Mar 30, 2010 |
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Mar 30, 2010 04:49
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My old bass player has one of those, it's pretty sweet. And 800 is a good deal.. I won't be able to drop any cash until I've finished paying off my bass though. I was going to layby but we'll see how I go at saving. Don't hold it but if you still have it when the time comes I'll hit you up.
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Mar 30, 2010 12:13
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That's interesting.. at the moment my options as I see it are the Hartke HA5500, Ashdown Mag600 and the Little Mark... I've figured out I need about 500-600W I to compete with the other guy's amps (Dual rec and a 5150), and the cab I'm buying off a co-worker was too quiet with a shuttle 300(he took it straight back and paid the extra on a 600, which is what he had when I was playing with him)
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Mar 31, 2010 00:58
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AA is for Quitters posted:They claim they're an "expiremental" thrash band, so I'm guessing there'll be some creative room in there, but hey, I'm pretty comfortable with my scales. And playing my scales neatly to a metronome at fast speeds. Although I'm sure the band is looking more for someone who'll stay on beat than someone who's really creative. (Actually, they've posted four times on craigslist over the past month. I think right now they're just looking for a warm body.) I play predominantly thrash; we're pretty choppy, so instead of just peddling root notes I generally actually play the riffs with the guys, just as a bassline rather than the powerchords etc that the other two dudes are playing. You'll want to do a bit of work higher up on the fretboard, you will probably find it's a lot easier for you to play along and cut through the mix if you use a pick too. Playing 16ths at 200+ rpm with fingers is hard. Ocasionally there is room to play around, and I'm interested to hear what "experimental thrash" entails. Also the secret to being heard in a thrash band is to set your eq while the other guys are playing. Don't focus too much on what you consider a good tone when you're playing alone - it'll just disappear into the mix. You'll need to crank the mids, maybe roll off the top end of the treble to avoid the inevitable fret noise/pick noise from trilling and whatnot... Just see what works for you.
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May 22, 2010 11:33
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Wow that's a pretty sweet deal. Looks like a similar setup to my SR500, but at about 1/3rd the price, and one less EQ control. Shame I'm on the wrong continent :P
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Jun 28, 2010 05:24
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Are you looking for something low latency? ie for modelling stuff like amplitube, or just something for recording? The link there doesn't specify whether the thing has an ASIO compatible driver, so I'd check that out. for that price though it could be of use to you either way.
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Jul 7, 2010 05:39
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Picked up a Warwick Profet 5.2 yesterday, for $700 AUD. The guy at Music Park(Perth) who I normally deal with it turns out is leaving in a week. He wasn't specific but it kinda sounded like they let him go. So I guess that's why he let me have it for about $200 short of list price (although I have seen a few of these on drumpower for $750). Now I just need to come up with $400 to buy my co-worker's Ashdown 410 cab to plug into it. Thank god it's my birthday in 2 weeks. I'll post a short review of the amp once I've had the chance to really play with it, but my impressions from tooling around with it at the shop are such: It has a great sound for the price, and it's LOUD. I preferred it to the Shuttle 6 and Ashdown Mag Pro 600 that I tried, and it absolutely destroyed the Hartke HA series amps. The new LH1000 was the only thing I preferred tone-wise, but I didn't need dual 500W amps and it was almost twice the price. Again this thing is LOUD, even for a 500-watter - I think this will happily drive two 8ohm cabs as loudly as I want it to. The only thing the 5.2 doesn't have that I somewhat wish it did was a foot switch for the mute circuit, which the Eden Nemesis 400 I usually play on has - but I have to walk up to the unit to tune anyway so I'll live. If I want to tune up front that badly I'll just buy a Pitch Black. I'm hoping to get the chance to test this with my friends newly-built fEarful 12-6 cab soon So anyone who's been putting off buying a stage-friendly head/cab setup, take a look at these, they don't seem to be selling well so a lot of music stores are letting them go for cheap.
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Jul 16, 2010 01:31
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Nail Rat posted:Sorry for asking this question if it's retarded, but I stupidly got a crybaby wah pedal a few weeks ago. I say stupidly because while I love using it, the majority of my time is spent playing bass and not guitar. So I was wondering, can I use it for bass as well, or do I need a special wah pedal for bass? I know my Jimi Hendrix cry baby doesn't play well with bass, but that's probably one of the most tonally-limited models around.
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Sep 3, 2010 01:05
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So my VT Bass arrived yesterday, just in time for jam last night. Wow. I can see why people refer to this pedal as the "Always on", it's just a box-'o-tone! Anyway, now I've committed to actually running _a_ pedal, I figure I might as well start looking at getting a couple more. I'm just wondering, is there anyone else in here playing melodic/modern thrash? If so, are there any effects you've found useful here? Just so I know what to start looking at, of course I'll raid the music stores and test everything before I lay money down.
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Sep 9, 2010 07:46
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I'd worry about my power supply if I were you... were you running them off batteries before they died, or off a DC brick? If they've just been surged it could be something really simple to repair...
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Sep 15, 2010 01:05
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I have a question. I have a 500W(@ 4ohm) Warwick head, and an Ashdown Mag 410T Deep cab, which is rated 450w. Ashdown have a 115 cab to match my 410, however it is only rated 250W. Now I know my head isn't going to be putting out much more than 300W RMS into 8 ohms, but I am concerned that with the much lower power handling of the 115 it will either colour the sound too much (I play metal so my tone is very mid-centric) or it will start to fart out before my 410 is really cranking. Should I look into this cab (it's compact and would look sick underneath my 410) or get a Warwick 115 with a much closer power rating to my 410?
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Oct 13, 2010 02:15
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Yeah I'm not so worried about that, more whether or not I should attempt to find two cabs with a power handling figure less than 200WRMS apart.
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Oct 13, 2010 02:50
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I pull out as much high end on my EQ as possible, I find it helps with the squeaks and also the inevitable clunk I get due to having a ridiculously low action. I play thrash metal though so I cut some bass, crank the mids a bit and I cut through quite nicely.
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Oct 17, 2010 03:54
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baka kaba posted:Yeah I love me some clunks and grinding buzzes too, not so much when I'm pretending to play smooth jazz though! I'm still fairly new to bass (well I guess 10 months now) so I don't want to pick up bad squeaking habits when I'm building up speed. But I also don't want to waste time learning unnecessary clinically accurate fretting techniques when I could be playing faster and having fun You could try Elixrs. They're coated so they don't squeak nearly as much. You also pretty much never have to change them if you play fingerstyle (a pick will eventually trash the coating down by the bridge) I have stainless Lo-Riders on my Yamaha and Elixrs on my Ibanez and the difference is night and day. I'm not sure how tapewounds and flatwounds go vs rounds as I've never really used them but I'm sure someone else can chime in on that.
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Oct 18, 2010 02:58
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DrChu posted:It weighs like two pounds, quit complaining about the weight. I was gonna say, if that's something you consider "heavy" maybe bass isn't the instrument for you :P
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Oct 20, 2010 01:29
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As an avid Ibanez fan and SR user, I'd recommend them over any sub-$1000 basses - Especially if you're moving over from guitar! The SR pickup/EQ combinations are very versatile but will never quite sound like a P or J specifically - however if you're playing modern music that's not entirely a bad thing anyway. The 300 has a very decent bridge for that pricepoint, an active EQ, a great neck (it's the same as the one on my 500, just cheaper wood) and I think will do you well. The main thing is, the SR4 neck is very thin, and the SRs are a very light unit compared to a fender. The thinner neck and lighter weight will make transitioning from guitar very easy, but most of all you should be able to get your action SUPER low, which means your left hand won't have to work as hard. I moved from guitar to bass myself, I'd played for about 15 years but had only noodled a bit on friends' basses. I bought an SR500 6 months ago and I'm now playing in a local melodic death/thrash band doing regular gigs and writing an EP. And I wouldn't worry about upgrade paths either... When you want something better there's now 3 different grades of SRs (entry, Premium and Prestige) as well as neck-thru and the heavier and meatier SRX models to choose from. Just make sure you get into a brick and mortar store and play the thing, also play a 400 and a 500 and some other brands within your price range (just don't pick up a $3000 Warwick thumb or you'll forever pine, as I do).
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Jan 20, 2011 08:32
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SR405QM or SR605 will be a shitload lighter/thinner than a fender or lakland 5 - Think of your back! (one day I'll get my endorsement deal and until then I'm gonna keep practicing 
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Jan 24, 2011 05:23
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Scarf posted:How do you figure? The 405 is Mahogany and the 605 is Ash (same as the Fender/Lakland). Neither is really considered the lightest of woods. Average for both newer Fenders and Laklands is less than 10lbs. and in a lot of cases, less than 9.5lbs. Which is pretty standard across the industry. Well the P/J style bases have a very large and thick body on them vs the SR, and much meatier necks. Although I am aware the J neck is a bit thinner, the SR neck is roughly equivalent to a guitar neck albeit less wide across the fret board - so though you're talking heavier woods, there's a lot less of them. I've played many a 34" scale and none of them have been as light as my mahogany SR, other than the Thumb 4 which, body-wise, is honestly about 3/4 of the size of a J. Most of the Laklands I've seen are pretty much on par with Fenders for size/thickness, which is why I suggested that the SR would be lighter. I'd be curious to look at actual strung weights and be pleasantly surprised if I'm wrong. Edit: I am also aware what effect the lack of wood is going to have on sustain, so obviously it's not ideal for everybody.
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Jan 25, 2011 01:48
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What's our general collective opinion on Ashdown stuff? I use one of their cabs (A cheapy Mag410t deep) and find the sensitivity to be pretty good; I'm running a 500w Warwick through it at 8ohms and it's got good punch. Fairly mid-centric but I play metal with D tuning so it's perfect. It's a heavy bastard though, could have used some casters. I've tried one of their higher-end cabs and been pretty surprised for the price. The use of coloured drivers is a nice touch too.
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Feb 7, 2011 01:27
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Cumfartcocktails posted:Anybody have any thoughts about integrating guitar gear into a bass rig? I've been trying different things with my bass gear, which includes a Schecter Stiletto Studio 5 though a Line6 PodXT Live, Ampeg STV 350H with an 8x10 cab, and it can't really give the clarity I need. I like to hit the strings at the end of the fretboard so they get a lot of separation, kind of like Steve Harris does, and with a lot of mids, but when I'm riding on the low B it gives me a super harsh clacking sound but there's no actual note (death metal/hardcore/mathcore player). I'm going to be buying a Peavey Triple X guitar head soon, and am thinking maybe I could use separate guitar and bass heads into smaller cabs to give me a nicer sound. I like the way guitar distortion sounds with a top-heavy bass due to having more aggression than a bass distortion, but it of course cuts away all the lows, so I could try getting the best of both worlds. I know this isn't a new idea and believe Chris Squire did it, and his tone was god-tier. I was thinking if I were to do this I would get a 2x12 for the guitar and a 1x15 and 2x10 or 2x15 for the bass and sell the 8x10. It's an American made that I got super cheap so I bet I could break even. Thoughts? Any modifications I would need to make? Is it even possible for a bass to be audible when chugging on an open Bb at all? Am I an idiot bassist with too many hopes and dreams who should just give up and stick with a plain-looking J-bass and a Sansamp? Should the vocalist in my band stop trying to tell me how to dial in tones? So many questions......if you bother to read this you have my undying bro love. The downside of a lot of guitar distortions and amp models is that you WILL probably lose some low end; it's something to do with the way the distortion reacts to the longer wavelengths, but basically they seem to cancel out and just disappear with some heavy distortion. Also you tend to lose definition on your lower notes even if they do come through. A lot of bass distortion/OD pedals are designed to leave the low end drier so you still get a strong deep fundamental, but once you climb the scale the distortion gets bitier and thicker. Some also use a dry mix to accomplish this. Honestly I would try as many bass-specific dirt pedals as you can; Big Bass Muff, Bass Blogger and the Tech21 VT Bass are a few well-used ones. There's also a couple of bass-friendly guitar pedals, such as some of the regular big muffs, and the Boss HM2(out of production). Also one thing to remember is that an 8x10 moves more air than almost any other cab config so you're likely to lose some volume switching to a 2x15, unless you go for a really high end cab or build a fEARful 1515/66(which will probably end all life the first time you hit a low B).
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Mar 30, 2011 01:28
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Ovangkol. It's pretty much mahogany but you get to be that guy standing around after the show saying "Yeah, It's Ovangkol. I'm told 14 West Africans died to harvest this particular tree." Also if the Warwick Thumbs are anything to go by, it's loving light and sounds sweet.
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Apr 23, 2011 18:55
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Really you're better off getting a ~300 watt head and a used cab - I've found bass cabs are really expensive new for what they are, but generally pretty drat sturdy and last a long time. Many heads have a headphone output too, and you should be able to run a solid state head with the power stage muted for bedroom action.
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May 20, 2011 03:04
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Any recommendations for a good bass chorus? I'm looking for something more shimmery than watery, for some of our cleaner parts (I play metal). Planning to buy from http://www.macdaddymusicstore.com as my guitarists are both picking up 808s today, and I was going to throw in on shipping. So far liking the T-Rex, but they have a lot of cheap EHX stuff here. Experiences GO!
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Jun 2, 2011 05:12
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lazerwolf posted:I'm looking to maybe update my rig. This is what I'm rocking right now: This may sound silly, but have you tried a VT-Bass in place of the Para DI? They have a lot of warm mid tone available, and can really round out the sound of your rig. I love the poo poo out of mine and I know I'm not alone in this thread... Just a thought.
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Jun 16, 2011 04:49
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I'm HOPING somebody in here will be about to help with this... I'm playing in a melodic thrash band at the moment, but we're starting to write more death metal, and thus are looking at downtuning. We currently play our songs in Drop D but we're looking at moving to drop C for our existing catalog and C standard for our future stuff. I'm currently using Elixr 45-105s and the 4th is pretty loose in Drop C, and all 4 strings are way floppy in C Std - I like to run my action low and use a pick so I'm going to need some heavier strings. I know a lot of metal bass players play in C on a 34" 4 string, but I'm having trouble finding out what gauge strings they use to do it? If I can get coated strings all the better.
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Jun 23, 2011 01:21
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Yeah, Death did play in D standard but remember, that was also in a time when most people in thrash were playing in E... We're just trying to break out of the thrash scene, and to be honest some of our newer songs sound totally KILLER in C. We're going to write the next album or most of it in C Standard anyway, we just want to try our back catalog in drop C to see how it goes. Most of the bands that influence us play in either C or B standard so it will open up a bunch of cover oportunities. We've been mulling this over for months now so don't think it's an uninformed decision! I think I'm going to end up getting a set of the Black Beauties in 120-50 - having done some more research, they seem to be the closest thing to what I need. Unfortunately I live in Australia so I think I'll have to hit up Ebay, Schatten.
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Jun 23, 2011 06:31
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 Maybe we need to give the drummers their own thread  For content: I played one of the new Warwick Thumb 4 Pro Series the other day at my local music haven. I've always had a hardon for the Thumb series, but never the capital; they retail for about $4000AUD and the cheapest I've ever found a German made Thumb 4 in WA is $2999. So the new(er) Thumb 4 Pro is made in Korea, but uses the same MEC electronics as the German version, and has an Ovangkol mahogany body like the old German Thumb (which is now Bubinga). The biggest thing letting it down is the mystifyingly glossy finish. I love a natural finish but not so much the gloss. BUT! According to my good friend at Music Park, it can be mine for $1700... It PLAYS like a real Warwick, and sounds like one. Thinking about pulling the trigger. The only thing stopping me is the aforementioned $2999 German thumb hanging up right next to it :| But even the Korean one is so much nicer than my Ibanez SR500 that I think this is inevitable. Any other Warwick Thumb or Pro owners in here able to chime in?
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Aug 8, 2011 04:47
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I have some on a 35" tuned to B. They're less bright than hi beams and the coating isn't nearly as nice or resilient as that on the Elixrs I typically use. They do look kick rear end on a maple fret board though.
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Sep 8, 2011 05:13
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I have the Warwick 5.2 head (500w version), and it's served me fairly well. I run a VT Bass through it as I like my tone fairly dirty - the biggest downside to the profet series is that being all solid state, you can't crank the gain up past clipping point. They're a full-featured head though - the compressor/limiter works well, the EQ is versatile and they're pretty loud for the advertised wattage. With only effectively about 150W to play with, you may find you're cranking the volume past 12:00 to compete with a pair of guitarists rocking 4x12s, but if the guys you play with run combos then you'll do fine. The cab seems well suited to the head too. I'd quite like something like that myself 
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Jan 5, 2012 06:23
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Bruce Boxliker posted:Ibanez SR500s are generally agreed to be Good Basses, right? I wasn't a huge fan of Ibanez gear but I played a used one at a local music place today and it felt like butter and I'm thinking of picking it up. I have one, it was my main workhorse bass for about 18 months. It does play like butter, and the EQ is very versatile - you won't get a coloured or "thick" sound out of it like you would a Fender or an EBMM, but it's got a pretty warm tone. Mine's currently tuned to BEAD and holy poo poo did it come to life. The pickups handle lower tunings really nicely. I honestly prefer playing it to my Warwick Thumb because it's just so much lighter and easier to handle, but the warwick does sound better - but costs 2-3 times as much so eh. I'd recommend it over any other bass in the price range, if you're going to be playing fast especially. It probably won't be the last bass you ever buy, but I love mine, and won't be selling it any time soon
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Apr 25, 2012 11:39
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Mine's got Ernie ball Power Slinky 130s on it (5 string set), but I got a mate who's a long time bass player/music store employee to set it up. He filed the nut and did all the adjustments. He actually set it up for C standard but being a 1/2 step it doesn't really matter either way. It handles drop A too. The Bartolinis really kick rear end in BEAD. I have the model without the mid switch (09?) but I do all my scooping on the VT Bass and just run my EQs flat on both basses now. If I need to change something on the fly I have a fair bit of room either way that way.
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Apr 27, 2012 13:12
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Started at least 1 set with my amp still muted. Kicked AC adapters for pedals out on multiple occasions. Kicked the lead out of my pedalboard more than once too. It happens, but people never remember it for longer than about 10 minutes after your set's finished, and you generally learn from it. Stuff like looping cables, using batteries or an AC brick when you can.
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Dec 8, 2012 11:18
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I have a Soundgear 5 with those EMGs in, they'll do you well.
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Mar 12, 2024 06:17
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I'm currently running a comp, chorus, vt bass and occasionally a phaser or delay if the mood strikes - but borrowed a mate's Big Bass Muff Pi the other week for a bit, and found it played real nice with the VT Bass, which I usually have set to either a smooth either clean-ish or slightly growly/grindy sound. I have a bunch of guitar fuzz pedals, but I found they all eat too much low end fundamental - the dry blend on the big muff really makes a difference. Otherwise Dang It Bhabhi! posted:Octave. Envelope follower. Synth.
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Apr 19, 2024 02:05
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I've been considering grabbing a Joyo Voodoo Octave Fuzz to mess around with - if anyone has any experience with those I'd be keen to hear about it. At $65 AUD it's pretty enticing.
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Apr 19, 2024 03:53
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I've always tried to organise cab/kit sharing for local gigs I've put on, and either hired it or asked the headliner to supply. Once everyone figures out that they get an extra 5-10 mins of set time, it's an easy sell.
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May 6, 2024 09:00
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