Official buying advice thread

ParsonsMatt said:
Who do you believe? Well, the Gibson people had generally nice gear, and the two Epiphone propenents had garbage ( Behringer VAMPYRE was one, can't remember the other ). Of course you won't hear the difference of a Gibson and Epiphone through that...

Unfortunately, I doubt there are many people here who really know whats going on as far as gear is concerned, and thats evidenced by all the noob questions and more shockingly the noob answers.
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good assesments and on one hand, to an untrained ear, a polished turd can sound good. however, to trained ears, it's still a piece of shit... if that make sense to anyone but myself
 
Eligos said:
In a setting in which one is trying to compliment his band members with the sound of his instrument, dominance is an issue. I suppose the situation would differ if all members of the band used higher output pickups.

In addition the predictability factor comes from the view that the 81/85 combo is used in too many instruments and sounds similar in all of them, regardless of what materials are used in the instrument.

On another note, Vader is not a big name for bass enclosures like it is for those of guitars. If you're going to demonstrate name-preference for bass, the common brands to do so with are Ampeg, Eden, Epifani, and Aguilar. Please do some research before demonstrating brand-name pretention.

I got a response from another forum that was very experience-oriented. This happens to be what I was looking to find:

"I own the 4x10 model.

Compared to other aluminum coned cabinets, you still get all of the treble without the harshness associated with hartke and behringer, and other aluminum cones for that matter. (This is due to the treatment of the aluminum i believe).

And, even then you can still get a nice punchy and beefy bass tone out of this cab with limited treble. (It also works quite well with a lot of mids and some added treble, which is my main tone)

I play everything from techdeath, prog rock, and thrash etc., and for the price this cab beats most of the competition. The only downside is that there is no tweeter, though that can be easily replaced with good skills with an eq ;] And do not buy the backline series of heads with this unless your are going to run a sansamp through your chain; they sound weak without one. You are much better off with a higher end GK head or even an Ampeg (GK handles treble better though).

I highly recommend the 4x10 and 2x10 models, just try them out with your rig before you buy one though, it seems GK always puts out a few fluke cabs that like to make a LOT of noise when the treble is turned up; mine is fine, however."

I can form my own elitist opinions, but I try to stay open-minded and hear the views of players who have had experience with a given product. Personally, I've heard more good than bad about Gallien-Krueger. Isn't that the purpose of this thread? Why nix the idea of buying something you've never played?
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Hey dude, check this thread: http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?t=2009298

The dude has the 810 you were thinking about getting
 
I want to upgrade the bass I have for recording

I could get new pickups for the one I have now ( Spector Performer 5 string ) but I don't think it'd help too much. It's got a basswood body and it just sounds muddy and undefined, even when I tune it up to D G C F A... I'm not too happy with it, but it does its job.

I was browsing Rondo for a new bass to invest in, and I came across two potential candidates:

http://www.rondomusic.com/web825bk.html
http://www.rondomusic.com/sjb-75ltdna.html

The ash body is a huge plus. The big difference that I'm concerned about are the pickups.

Would humbuckers or single coils be better for a deep, growly, tight tone? Not necessarily a fat sound, but a lean, powerful deal. I'm not familiar with bass so I can't describe what I want very well.

Thanks!
 
What are some good passive bass pickups?

EDIT: for metal (if any exist)

I'm thinking the best ones for metal are active, but I don't know.

Also, why are most basses equipped with active pickups over passive ones? Is there an advantage to them other than higher sensitivity?
 
ParsonsMatt said:
I want to upgrade the bass I have for recording

I could get new pickups for the one I have now ( Spector Performer 5 string ) but I don't think it'd help too much. It's got a basswood body and it just sounds muddy and undefined, even when I tune it up to D G C F A... I'm not too happy with it, but it does its job.

I was browsing Rondo for a new bass to invest in, and I came across two potential candidates:

http://www.rondomusic.com/web825bk.html
http://www.rondomusic.com/sjb-75ltdna.html

The ash body is a huge plus. The big difference that I'm concerned about are the pickups.

Would humbuckers or single coils be better for a deep, growly, tight tone? Not necessarily a fat sound, but a lean, powerful deal. I'm not familiar with bass so I can't describe what I want very well.

Thanks!
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id go with the humbuckers. that first bass doesnt seem too bad. but you like the best of the best, so i reccomend getting a dingwall hahahaha

http://www.basscentral.com/2003/dingwall.shtml
http://www.dingwallguitars.com/

and yeah, i dislike basswood. swamp ash is cool for a light tone. its not my favorite though
~gR~
 
genocide roach said:
they arent bad if you have a preamp built in.

translation: get active pickups or an onboard preamp. youll thank us for it later.
~gR~
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I got the SR500, btw

I would put these pickups in my other bass. I was asking this based on if I ended up getting the Fender Jazz, which I didn't. I have a low end Ibanez bass I am thinking of modding out right now with whatever (pickups, new tone knobs, make sure the wiring is solid, etc)
 
I'm going to be flying internationally to the US for College and, since it would appear that getting a case and transporting my current guitar (which isn't fantastic, but works) all the way will cost ridiculous amounts, would like to buy a new one. :)

I'll want to spend around $300 on it.

My current guitar is loosely modeled on the Strat, with 3 single-coils, 24 frets and a tremolo bridge (no Floyd Rose). I'll want Humbuckers on the new one, but have no idea which brands make good guitars at this price level.

I liked some of the ESP guitars, but have heard the construction on sub-$500 guitars isn't really fantastic (not that I'm expecting fantastic). Does Ibanez offer better value?

I'm fairly experienced, play powermetal, and love shredding. (Music link in sig, but basically like Gamma Ray, Edguy...)

Oh, and anyone have any idea on budget audio interface devices (I'm looking at TunePort GX, but maybe there are others?) and a good amp modeling software for the Mac (like AmpliTube?).

All help appreciated!
 
I don't think you will get anything worthwile for $300 but you could think about wasting $400-$500 and get an Ibanez, which are good shredding guitars as I've heard.
 
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