Guitar Nerds Anonymous

Pick any two...

If you could sacrifice portability I might have an angle on a SWR California Blonde.

Intriguing. Portability could be negotiatiable. Bearing in mind that affordability is entirely subjective, I'll drop you a line when I get home.

Cheers all. Not quite sure of budget tbh (see above). "As little as possible" probably, although I have offered to donate the entire next gig fee to the fund.

The bass player has an old 3/4 size beater which he's gradually restoring. Steel strings. He has a Barcus Berry bridge with built in transducer and a Shadow pre-amp. Been using a little Hartke 1x10 combo at Kings Cross gigs but we just got a new gig and need to provide our own PA and amps... just seeing what's out there.

does it barsepinz?

Very good... :)

Heh!

What is it with rockabilly dudes and FLAMEZ?

massive flamers to a man...

so i'm told.

Ideas for an portable, affordable, not shit amp for upright barse anyone?

Bin the oversized fiddle and get a U-bass instead, they sound amazingly like a full size upright bass but are tiny and light. Use your saved size and weight to get a better amp.

In a live situation with a real upright bass, surely you will be playing through the PA anyway?

drummers take up far more room.

Bin the oversized fiddle and get a U-bass instead, they sound amazingly like a full size upright bass but are tiny and light. Use your saved size and weight to get a better amp.

In a live situation with a real upright bass, surely you will be playing through the PA anyway?

Pow! Man you really do hit the mark every time don't you?

I have upright in the band because I want upright in the band, I like the sound of upright, I like the look of upright, because my best mate who is the bassist in the band plays the upright. He is an upright bassist. That's why I asked for recommendations for upright bass amps, not alternatives to the upright bass. Blimey.

Our band does almost all of our gigging in pubs with either a small vocal only PA or no PA at all. In our regular monthly gig we have access to both a PA and an array of half decent amps. We tend not to use the PA as it ends up feeling too much like a performance rather than the "little country/folk band in the corner" vibe we like to try and foster at these things. We're not after the kind of thing that'll flap your trouser leg here. Bigger is not better.

We are about to try out at new venue, which I'm hoping will lead to another residency, but this place has no PA or amps. We have a small portable PA which is just about good enough for vocals and maybe a guitar but bass sounds shocking though it. It's just a stop-gap really.

Hence I have offered the bass player (who, as I have mentioned, is my best mate I've played with on and off since school and who bought the little PA out of his own pocket) the £200 fee from this next gig to go towards a new portable bass amp.

Ideally we need something we can get and from the gig in my tiny car, a cab, or on the bus/tube if needs be. He's perfectly capable of getting on the tube wheeling the bass and a having a little lightweight modern bass amp in a gig bag with a strap over his shoulder.

If a top quality bargain came up that was less portable we might have a think about how we could deal with but right now, what I want is a portable, affordable, and not terrible amp for upright bass. Those GKs are great. Another friend who's a jazz circuit pro in Brighton has one for upright and it sounds fantastic. But then he always sounds fantastic. Either way they're more than we've got to spend at the moment.

This is the sort of thing we've been using for the last year... meh. Does the job. http://www.thomann.de/gb/hartke_a70_aseries_basscombo.htm?sid=f4cb6e261a8fef4f6332b8e8113a65de

That's the kind of thing I was hoping for experiences with.

This is the sort of thing we've been using for the last year... meh.

Bugger, was going to suggest one of those as possibly being not appalling.

Light, small, loud and good just seems to cost a load, with no way around it. What he needs is a 350W-500W class D amp and one of the new gen neo 1x12 cabs (I use one of these) but that's over budget.

Tricky. Will have a think.

Bugger, was going to suggest one of those as possibly being not appalling.

Light, small, loud and good just seems to cost a load, with no way around it. What he needs is a 350W-500W class D amp and one of the new gen neo 1x12 cabs (I use one of these) but that's over budget.

Tricky. Will have a think.

Hah, no that's good! By "meh" I suppose just meant, "It's been doing the job just fine, but I can't get that excited about it"! Which, in the situation is probably a really good thing. The one we've been using is definitely far from apalling. It's really exactly the sort of thing we're after. And yep modern, neo speakers for lightweight is a big boon.

Just out of interest, what's the deal with those SWRs then Rickster? I can't find one for sale anywhere. Are they discontinued?

Yep, I'll PM you.

dooks, look at mark bass. I've got one of their heads, 250w, carry it in a gig bag it's so light. Think you can get one for around the £200 area.

As for cabs this guy is uk based and very good and light apparently
http://barefacedbass.com/

I've got one of these which is great, but US made so not sure how easy they are to find
http://www.schroedercabinets.com/mini12+.htm
I used to walk with bass and head on my back and carry the cab to the train station.

Actually you can borrow my rig if you want as it's getting dusty.

Or for second hand you can go wild here
http://basschat.co.uk/forum/20-amps-and-cabs-for-sale/

Or even better do as Soil and Pimp did when I saw them some years ago. Upright bass through a Vintage SVT head and 8x10 cab. BIG.

Man I wish I was in a band and could warrant buy more gear.

Really want one of these
http://ashdownmusic.com/products/1/Bass-Amplification/1/Valve/11/Little-Bastard-/
30w all tube bass head. Awesome.

Actually one of these with a light weight 1x10 cab would be ace for an upright in a pub. MOAR TUBEZZ

Actaully anyone want to join in with my ace-band-idea-of-the-week?

We'd be an instrumental band making music about cyclists, kinda halfway between Dirty Three and Kraftwerk, and be called "Omerta"

We could put out an EP about Armstrong, indurain and Pantani...

It would be called EPO...

Anyone???

I'll be back next week for another ace-band-idea

Also we'd perform in bid shorts, only bib shorts, and could tour on cargo bikes and carry the whole rig.

Yes???

No.

What the hell am I on about. I really should keep my ace-band-idea-of-the-weeks firmly locked in my head.

But yeh, markbass are cheap, light, and pretty transparent.

I have upright in the band because I want upright in the band, I like the sound of upright

Notwithstanding this, in an emergency a fretless Jazz bass with flatwounds on it approximates the upright sound very well.

Or an Ashbory...

http://www.largesound.com/

Always wanted to try one. Latex strings!

you have a double bass in the band because it's a double fucking bass.

anything else and you're in sting cover band territory.

Anyone fancy a WEM Watkins Copicat? Think it's a mid 70's MK 3 (can check that later) plus tube of tape loops and original WEM loop box (if that matters) in perfect working condition and sounds amazing. Just not using it as much as I'd hoped. Any interest here before fleabay?

would like £180 posted in UK

Thanks for the tips people. Will def check out the mark bass stuff.

Eightball, that's pretty tempting... *rummages

Anyone fancy a WEM Watkins Copicat? Think it's a mid 70's MK 3 (can check that later) plus tube of tape loops and original WEM loop box (if that matters) in perfect working condition and sounds amazing. Just not using it as much as I'd hoped. Any interest here before fleabay?

would like £180 posted in UK

£180?!?!? Is that what they go for now? :(

Used to be able to pick up a quite nice one for sub £100... Quite recently too...

I really want one, have done for ages, but never got 'round to it...

I paid over £200 for it plus postage not so long ago

;)