Gear thread

[briv_jons]

This will probably be me, Evan, and Davidian but are any of you fools still playing music? What're you using these days?

I'm finally in a good spot with gear. My current setup...
Bass - mostly a Fender blacktop jazz bass. It's all stock other than upgraded pots and wiring. I use an 82 Ibanez roadstar II as a backup
Cab - Ampeg SVT 410hlf almost always. Sometimes I use an old hartke 115 though.
Heads - I keep going back and forth between an Ampeg SVT Cl, an 80s GK 400, and a handmade amp that a buddy of mine built. I mostly use the hand built one in Bundles and the SVT in the other thing but I also want to sell the SVT most of the time so I don't know what's going on with that. They're all awesome.
Pedals - the same TU2 that I had when I was in The Call Up and a Klon KTR, sometimes an actual Centaur but mostly the KTR.

So yeah. What're you working with?

[JustJoe]

Electric/acoustic Les Paul ukulele and Orange combo.

[j.r.davidian]

As Brian predicted, I offer my response.

Bass: A few year ago I learned that the Ephiphone T-Bird Pro basses were being made with materials and to specs that were almost EXACTLY the same as Gibson. mahogany wings, 7 ply mahogany/maple through neck, and Gibson HB pickups. I picked one up used for $300, and replaced the shitty lightweight 3-point bridge with a SOLID one pound Hipshot bridge, and changed the stock tuners out for some Gotohs. The things DESTROYS any other bass I've ever owned. I love it and plan to be buried with it.

Cab: Avatar B212 2X12 cab. Nothing fancy. I hate the carper covering, but it's light, loud, cost effective and sounds good.

Head: Orange Terror 500 (BT500H). Holy shit. This thing destroys. It's tiny (lunchbox sized; about 11 pounds) but it is loud and NASTY. Perfect pairing for the T-Bird.

Pedals: I was going apeshit with pedals a few years ago, but none of them sounded particularly great with bass. Now the only thing i use (besides my tuner) is a shitty little Mooer 5-band EQ to give myself a little more bite on some of out louder/faster tunes. I also want to buy the Klon clone off of B. Jones someday.

[briv_jons]

I kind of want one of those little class d power heads. Lugging the fucking SVT around sucks all of the dicks. It sounds awesome though.

I need to pick up a little combo amp at some point, I used to have a Fender Pro Jr. that thing ruled but I got rid of it for some stupid reason.

[evanparker]

my current bass stuff is simple, i got rid of a lot of extra stuff for bass last few years.

I have my Gallien Kruger MB210, which is a 2x10" 500 watt combo.
and my Squire Vintage Modified 70's Jazz Bass.
IF i'm playing ska I just use one cable into the amp, and if i'm playing punk I have an old BK Butler REAL TUBE pedal (the black and yellow one) pedal.

The amp is absolutely deafeningly loud. It absolutely blows away any combo or head/4x10 setup i used to play through. I think it weighs 35 lbs? One handed, easily. Doesn't take up any room in my apartment. I seriously don't know how anyone brings around 300 lbs to bass amp to a gig anymore.

As for the Squire bass, it's not exactly top shelf, but it sounded better than a few different american basses I had shopped it against when I bought it. The hardware that comes on it is my biggest complaint, the stock bridge and the tuners are made of very soft metal sintered metal powder. I've converted the bridge to a Hipshot A style, and made it a Thru-body mount for the strings, which made a very big difference in the way the bass sounds. It went to being kind of flubby to being very powerful.

[evanparker]

and i have like a million guitars right now, i need to get rid of a bunch. Especially since every day I think about the fact that I am a poor guitar player, at the very best.



but the one i have been playing the most has been my Epiphone LP "Goldtop" (which is somehow blue) with P90's, usually at my house through my Blues Junior. I also often play my Epiphone Dot through my Peavey Delta Blues, or my Gibson Les Paul Studio through something else bigger at a gig maybe...

I've been absolutely floored how much Epiphone has progressed since the early 1990's. Used to be that you wouldn't even want to touch them, and it wasn't just a stigma. Overall, they were kind of poor. These days, I'm blown away by how close to actual competent instruments they are.

[j.r.davidian]

[briv_jons]

I need a J-bass neck for a build that I'm working on and was thinking about picking up one of those v-modified basses to steal the neck from but I haven't had a chance to play one. What do you think? I think it's either that or a Mighty Might. I'm in no rush though so I've also been keeping my eyes open for a good deal on craigslist.

Those little GK combos seem really awesome but I haven't played one yet. I'm still a fan of the head/cab and larger cabinets but I also love the idea of being able to get all of my shit to a show in an uber.