Recent content by CostanzaWallet

Phil Jones til the day I die .... incredible sound, no more ER visits for shots in my back. If you need the Big Speaker stage-look, you're out of luck with these. But if you want the most sound out of the lightest weight, two C4 cabinets are the way to go. A lot of times, you don't even need two.

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Phil Jones C4. One for little rooms. Two for big rooms. Total weight, with two cabs, < 50lbs. Sound is unbelievable. I'm an old fart but I love today's gear, Phil Jones Sound is a prime example of why.

In a case like this, just make sure you get something of decent quality that has known resale value. Keep the boxes and cards that come with it, and proof of original ownership (all plusses in the used market). If the amp works for you keep it forever, if not, trade up.

Don't sweat it, variations in tone are pretty subtle with all electric instruments. As far as electric basses, the only one I can pick out of lineup blindfolded is a Ric, and I've been playing since the 70s. If a bass I hear on a recording does stand out, it usually turns out to be a boutique or...

USB ports can be used for lamps and fans too....can be very handy...

Whenever I see the word "vintage", I read the word "old". I am the first owner of all my major rig components now, all of which are 21st century, and while I sometimes miss the mojo of 'vintage' gear, I don't miss stressing out over who I am going to trust fixing old stuff if it breaks, or...

The proliferation of lightweight amps and cabs that sound huge. I seriously would have had to quit playing out, at least on electric bass if Class D amps, neo speakers, and miniaturized small-speaker cabs (Phil Jones) had not been invented. Don't kid yourself, modern gear kicks ass and I don't...

I don't know, I gigged with Avatar 210s and I had an Ernie Ball Music Man 210, thing was as heavy as a 410...both did fine on my four string. Might be different for metal, or for heavy use of octave-pedals, but I think a quality 210 can stand by itself for most kinds of music at sane volume...

Hey, that Soul is nice, but it will never live up to the original "Rolling Toaster": The First Generation Scion XB. More cubic feet and more mpg than anything that looks remotely like it. 182,000 mi on mine (2006). Still has the original spark plugs. 33 mpg in all weather, all terrain (Oregon).

Two things that helped me over the years: work on your singing if you don't already. Everybody wants a singing bass player. If you can take over some leads, maybe even write your own material...I know us bass players like to hang in the back a lot, but if you can take some load off of a front...

Yep. Ditched my stack for a Peavey MiniMax and a Phil Jones C4. Fills up the room with no PA necessary, even with big tube guitar amps and a drum kit to compete with. The only thing I don't like about it is that it sits so low, it's hard to see the tuner and the knobs on the front of the head...

The Specials - the self-titled one produced by Elvis Costello - dubbed my 30-yr old vinyl copy to mp3. Bass playing is great and the lyrics are strangely relevant today.

Why go ampless? Any number of 500W+ Class D heads plus a Phil Jones C4 cabinet. 300W into 8 ohms and it will easily fill a room, with a drummer and multiple guitarists. People laugh when they see me carry my entire rig in one shot. Then they hear it and want to know where to get one. Total...

I posted here a little while back about switching from a large stack to a combination of a Peavey MiniMax head and a Phil Jones C4 cabinet. Totally gigged in the same rooms with that little setup that I did with a Crown XLS1000 and a 2x12/2x10 stack. All my stuff goes from car to stage in one...