barrymclark

Duuuuuude! Nice get!

...as easy as playing in my bedroom. Just gimme an XLR and I am tapped into the stadium's sound system. Not that this will happen... but I've gone this route as it allows me to take a very small setup that is capable of just about anything. The only thing I need is a PA channel.

...and this has so much flexibility it can do far more than what I use it for!

Thanks! I thought the same thing about how well it was thought out. Although I was only 5 and under in the 70's, the bass grit of that era I really dig but I also hated what it did to the bottom end or the articulation. Some amps were better than others but this thing is just unbelievably good. The drummer, maybe 3 weeks ago, commented that he really can't believe that sound comes out of just that little box into the PA. He also said it makes it easier for him to adlib since he can actually hear everything I am playing and not the normal "farty mess" most rock, punk, or metal bassists come in with.

Absolutely! I bet that set up rocked. I used bi-amped setups on bass way back when. Loved it.

Despite most of my interaction on here being on guitar, I consider myself a far more solid bassplayer. Over the years, I have owned a little bit of everything from Fender to Ampeg to SWR to Demeter, etc. They all ended up getting sold in a year or so. They were fine. Definitely not bad. ...I just never found that thing that made me want to hang on to them. ...until about 8 months ago I got the "flavor of the day" device when I saw it had all the right features. The "right features" in this case were the things that basically meant I didn't have to buy the amp... get the outboard gear to make me not hate it. ...then carry it all. What I used to do was lug a bass amp and a guitar amp with the highs at the guitar amp and the lows in the bass amp. ...and I also run EQ's as a bandpass to kill off all lows below a point and highs above a point. Then...I'd compress the sound going to the bass amp. ...it was nuts. I loved the sound... HATED the bother. The "Flavor of the Day" device is that thing that has the forums all aflutter. ...and then it is promptly forgotten about or even hated after the honeymoon is over. The Darkglass line of Pre/DI pedals has DEFINITELY been burning up the forums. ...but it has been going on for a couple of years now. Even still, I need more than hype to buy a $300 anything let alone a pedal. The videos were cool... it was all sounding fine but I just saw that it would still be just a part of a larger "thing". Granted, it isn't dragging around 8x10's or 8x8's or anything but just still wanted something more simple. ...enter the X7. I saw the demo on it in very early January and saw it was a parallel signal processor in that it would split the signal and send all the lows to one side and the highs to the other. The highs would get the gain and the lows would be clean with the option of compressing. It was at my house in just a few days. I instantly fell in love and I have used it at home... at practice...live... recording. It is, hands down, the best bass gear buy I have ever made that isn't an instrument. $300 and it does as much as my previous $2000+ rigs. ....but better and it all fits in my bass case. I have literally no desire to get anything else. The looks I get when I walk into a club with just a bass case are great. The looks when the sound hits them is precious. I made this video of me playing along with Anthrax's cover of Joe Jackson's Got The Time maybe 3 hours after I got it back in January. Frank Bello's playing on this is just too much fun. I played with it a bit. ...but the feel is there. This is a one shot. Left the flubs in. ...and a few months later did this one of Pink Floyd's Money. Funny enough, using exact same settings as in the video above. Just playing differently.

I can dig it. For me, I just like everything it does. Versatility is in the eye of the beholder. For me, it's very versatile. Basically it's as versatile as I need it to be. Fender Blackfaces are definitely nothing to sneeze at.

I'm not a "mojo" kind of guy. If it's good and does what I want how I want, then I dont care if it was made by one guy in his woodshed or by a large factory. I have a 2010 model and owned a 1991 before that. Fine guitars to be sure. I hear the newer ones are fine too.

My 575. Loved the contrast and figuring. I got this back in 2010 (I think).

DEAR... LORD! That top!

To be honest, the Vox AC15HW is the, hands down, best amp I have ever owned. I have had it for a couple of years now and the tone is just... to... die... for. It is the classic two channel where you don't have a channel switch but have separate inputs. There are no effects (unless you consider natural overdrive an effect). No reverb. No vibrato. One channel has a the low and high controls. You can toggle between master volume and non-master volume. There's a hot and cool switch. You can turn on the Hot option if you want some KILLER old school OD. Turn it off if you want something cleaner. I play more jazzier tones through it... I play AC/DC through it. I hope I never have to part with it. I have it in my office where I can always see it. They are on the pricier end... but for what you get, the price is pretty good. I got mine as a demo model from Sweetwater for, I think $1100 or $1200 in 2017.

I remember the map. I always think it is neat to see from what basic locations different members are. I can only imagine that the number of active users has dropped significantly from the HOC's heyday. I was one of those that dropped off.

That is very cool! I had a Fender HR Deville 410 once when I didn't care what happened to my back. haha. It was a decent sounding amp... but hissy for sure... and that was on one in working order! I am not working towards gigging but I am learning songs at a decent clip now. Instead of taking months to work out A song... now I tend to get a few songs going at once and just work on the one that I have momentum with at the moment. I found the hold up before was writer's block. Now, if I have writer's block on one tune, I might not on another and I continue with that one. I have maybe 7 or 8 solo guitar arrangements done and more being worked on. Maybe Baby (slight swing to it) White Christmas Summertime Autumn Leaves All of Me Sleep Walk My Life (yes, Billy Joel) She's the One (Ramones) Work in progress: In the Pines (Appalachian folk tune) Work in progress: Just the Way You Are (again, Billy Joel) Work in progress: Beyond the Sea Work in progress: Georgia on my Mind Work in progress: Wonderful Tonight I've found that I get more out of my arrangements if i get the piano/vocal music to versions of tunes. Something about guitar books makes me try less hard. That... and I find tab distracting.

It really is a balance of things. I like very, very low action. I mean... 'not many people can play it but me' low. With this, you have some choices to make. How much neck relief do you want? For me, I want no relief or as close as possible. I want the nut cut and bridge dropped as low as it can go. Beyond that, I have to experiment with string size. The bigger the string, the less wobble it gets for to make a note relative to a smaller string. With the less wobble, the lower I can get the strings to a flat neck.