NWB - Community Blog

Hi, Shaun. I use an ashdown 300w ABM Mk 2 head and a 1 x 15 compact cab. Plenty of punch! I've gigged this set-up nearly every week for past 3 or 4 years and never had a prob! It's bulletproof. I dont play it on the floor, I raise it up a bit so I can hear it as well! I think "seperates" is a better way to go as it gives you more choice when packing your gear for travelling!
Hope that helps!
Pete the Bass

shaun talk to stuart from the rumble fat band,the other option is d.i. and have some bass front of house and in the foldback,chris.
p.s. my 1x15 went down on friday, had to d.i. and nobody noticed (just used my 4x10)

yes, i would also recommend ashdown like crush says, killer gear.
p.s. shaun, would have come to the ighten leigh today,but, been chasing a 1x15 up lol.

Now I'm only a drummer but, why not put a bit through the PA so that the backline doesn't get too loud?

We mike EVERYTHING and use the PA to set the volume outfornt and that way we can have a comfortable sound 'on stage'. (took us a while to realise it, but less is definitely more on the back lin!)

Alyerdon'tmakeyourearsbleedpal

yes al, d.i. it that will work

Agreed on the D.I. I always have a decent amount through the P.A. and then it saves having to drive the back-line stuff too hard!... I've had to do exactly same as Ride-on when my "trace" went west!..Just played through PA. with some fall-back!...worked a treat.

Haha.
None of you have had The Whittles Experience then!

The "sound man" there had us stick the vocals and drums in the PA and wouldn't let us put anything else in, made it louder than the bomb at Hiroshima and then had us turn our backline up to pain level to keep up with it. Unpleasant for all on stage, though we (admittedly) apparently sounded a bit miraculous out front.

No wonder Steve has chronic tinnitus.

there's something cool about having a huge pile of cabs on stage though

nowt cool about lugging em about, but a big wall of cabs flapping your kecks and pushing air at your back is wot being a bass player's about :)

Must confess I do enjoy the odd gig where I can combine both of my bass rigs:

there's nowt better than piling up all yer gear :)

Obscene!!!!!!........Great if you can get away with it! Wouldn't work for a Nolans Tribute band, tho!....(Would it????)

I use Hartke and Ashdown gear. The Ashdown is a MAG300 combo with 2 x 10 blueline speakers, nice bit of kit especially with the octaver but Ive blown a speaker and they are a nightmare to get hold of and bloody expensive. The Hartke gear is a 350 watt head a vx410 cab 4x10 + horn and if i need extra oomph (which I often dont!)I add a vx1508 cab, 1x15 + 2x8 + horn bloody heavy to lump about, love the flexibilty of the Hartke rig though.

As posted on an earlier blog, this is the finest kit for me

THis is the chap for you for portability and great (loud) sound ...

Mines a 1 trip from the car.
Cab in each hand, Amp in bag over 1 shoulder and Bass over t'other. Job done and 500W to boot.

I am on my fourth ashdown head in 3 years, love em to bits but they aint what they used to be ( what is ! )
Reet my big rig is ...
Ashdown mag 300 head
or / and
Warwick profet 300
into
Ashdown abm 4x10 and 1x15 deep bass cab
or Ashdown 2x10 and 1x15
or all the fuckin lot ,coz like steve if yer pants aint flappin then you aint playin lol

ps . i dont Di, dont need to with over 1000 watts pure bass power, but it is nice to relax sometimes and let the PA take the strain as long as yer PA has some balls that is , our bottom end is 6k alone ,so no probs there ,and its easier on mi owd back to !

PS
Oh forgot my cheap set up ,which has never let me down ,and is equally as good if not better ,and certainly louder !
Behringer BX 4500m head ,450 watts output ,into 4ohms ,and is excellent

What's your Pa rig like?

If you've got subs (15"s or 18"s), just run an XLR out from the bass amp through the PA, and then use the amp basically as a personal bass monitor!

I'd recommend Mark Bass stuff it sounds amazing and it's light as a feather. Though it's a bit pricey.

Hartke stuff is also great.

I'd try the Hartke VX3500 at that price range as well. The Ashdown looks good on paper though. You should try and demo it before you buy one.

^ Agreed, our bass player's using the VX3500 combo. Nice amp for the price and tons of headroom.

The Ashdown's nice too, though personally for that kind of money I'd much rather find a used Trace, Gallien-Krueger, SWR, Markbass or Ampeg.

I used Ashdown for a year, swapped them for a coupla Ampeg combos which more than did the job but fairly recently swapped for the Ampeg SVT and 610 classic cab, it's piggin awesome now I've fathomed out how to get the best tone-and I think that's it, tone. You can be as loud as you wanna be but how it all sounds makes you distinct and that's where, for me, Ampeg stand out.

I should be on commission :)

Hi Shaun,
My 10 penneth, FWIW. I personnaly wouldn't go for a Combo. I did in the past and when it went "bang" under warranty, the whole lot had to go back. At that point i negotiated my money back and went the Head/Cab route. I now carry 2 lightweight heads and 2 Cabs to gigs, so if anything breaks, I am covered. I use Zoot lightweight cabs and have had them for 2 years now. Have got 2 1x12's and a 1x15 Compact. Only use 1 for rehearsals and they only weigh around the 30-35lb mark.
Again only my opinion, if you were thinking of spending £700, I would go for used. There are some great deals on BassChat and it is amazing how many people buy the "flavour of the month" amp and a few monts later they want to sell. You get the saving and the gear is still covered.
I use a MarkBass Little Mark2 and a TC Electronic Rebelhead. I can also recommend EA, (but ONLY with EA cabs), Genz Benz and the new Carvin Amp at £340 looks the poodles plums.
My MB Little Mark 2 head is now 4 years old and has never missed a beat, even though it is now my back-up.
Whatever you decide on, see if you can try one in a gigging situation.

Fekkin noisy b'stards you bassists
some of them rigs are awesome, keep rattling dem fillings

Mark

ashdown ashdown

i would say ampeg but im not sure what compact stuff they do