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The Combo Club

#19,541
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Gentlemen, please! I'm sorry for my contribution to the derailment of this great Combo (bass amp) Club into economics and other large scale dynamics. But surely, Shirley, lead us not into more volatile subjects, ... [cough!] (politics) [cough!], ... which is a big no-no here at TB. A word to the wise ... :rollno:

So, to get back on track, here's a family portrait of my bass combo amps. :D Yeah, the li'l foxy Voxy is obviously photoshopped into an older picture 'cause I was too lazy to set it all up again. My stalkers will also notice my current #1 bass, the Fender Modern Player Starcaster short scale semi-hollow, missing from the pic 'cuz of same. :sleep: But #2 & #3 are shown, in no particular order.

That's my 2018 Fender Rumble Studio 40 modeling bass amp sitting on top of my 2002 Fender Bassman 150 112 combo, atop my 2004 Fender Bassman 250 115 on the left. On the right is my Vox VX50BA, 50 watt, 9.8 lb. "li'l Foxy," on top of my Fender Rumble 500 combo, sitting on my Fender Bassman Neo 115 cab. 990 watts thru 7 speakers! :woot:

Yeah, I'm an unapologetic Fender fan 'cause that's what I lusted for, from afar, in my formative years. :whistle: I've never been disappointed.

G-D Combo Family.jpg

.​
 
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#19,542
A combo action shot ...

no money above the 5th fret blues.png

The Ampeg BA108v2+ is clearly visible. Hidden behind me is the PJB BG-400 that I'm recording from. Funny thing I notice today. That's a nurses' blouse I'm wearing in this screenshot from my "Ain't No Money Above the Fifth Fret Blues". The wrecking ball that is the Thing That's Going Around connected three days after .... :help:
 
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#19,544
G-Dog said:
Where's my official "El Kabong¡" guitar? I gotta conk this guy on the head! Cheesy Pete, FL! Where were you last year when the store shelves started emptying out ('specially TP)? Mrs. Dog noticed store prices going up then! This year, even moreso, along with obvious gasoline and diesel increases. :eek:

Fender has always been very market sensitive. I got my then newly-announced Rumble 500 for just $1/watt in 2014. A year or so thereafter, due to its popularity, it went up, along with its new matching 210 cab. Can you say "hotcakes?" A few years later the Rumble 112 cab was quietly discontinued, then the 200 head, due to (relatively) poor sales. The market giveth, and it taketh away. :oops:

FL, if you check other brands and other items, you'll find a similar trend.
​



And then the new Ampeg Rocket Bass amps appeared earlier this year priced from $30 to $100 more than their comparable Fender Rumble models! Fender obligingly narrowed the gaps to $20 to $50. Only fair, since Ampeg is charging more for less wattage and more weight.​




Well, besides the other shipping difficulties there are now the aforementioned fuel price increases, and other inflationary costs too, being passed on to all customers, private and commercial. Luckily, our generous Uncle Sam is giving retirees next year the biggest raise in nearly 40 years, which will ease almost half of it! Or, more likely, just barely pay for the increased Medicare rates. :cautious:​




It's actually just normal free enterprise market dynamics. Businesses cannot long survive by absorbing their own rising costs just so they can look like nice guys. If the most essential food, clothing, shelter & fuel markets increase prices, as is happening now, then it must surely affect all other markets. And I'm not calling anyone Shirley. :whistle:​




Why, even the venerable [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] coupled with delayed deliveries! But just for the holiday season, you understand. Come January we can expect their prices to drop back to previous levels with faster deliveries again. :meh:
.​
Click to expand...

Sheesh, a guy asks an innocent question...:facepalm:

I hope ya feel better though, G'Dog. Solid points made too. And no, I guess I haven't noticed the price increases of other brands, but I'm curious now and will take a further peek.

Folks, this is why we love our soapbox!
 
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#19,545
Liko said:
So yeah, the increase in the Rumble amp series is just one of thousands of case studies in how COVID's still ****ing up the world economy in new and exciting ways.
Click to expand...

****ing up me too. Just tested positive this afternoon. I'm on the shelf for the next 8-10 days. Right now I feel lousy, but the good news is I may be safe over the holidays! Ya have to think positively, right?
 
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#19,548
iagtrplyr said:
****ing up me too. Just tested positive this afternoon. I'm on the shelf for the next 8-10 days. Right now I feel lousy, but the good news is I may be safe over the holidays! Ya have to think positively, right?
Click to expand...

Yes, positive thinking can be elusive when feeling lower than whale pewp. Take care, mend well, it's survivable.
 
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#19,549
GwenOnBass said:
Sort-of here
and grateful for that. Fully vaccinated and hit hard with a breakthrough infection. Just now coming around a bit. What this would be like without the vaccination is not something I want to dwell on. Am home, breathing well, stamina is shot, healing is well underway. Yikes it hit hard

And within an hour or two of the lab results today, took the long-awaited call — my Stingray is repaired after some seven? months in the queue. Supply chain and all. Paid by phone, and a friend picks it up for me Friday. I'm not leaving the house for some while, it might appear....

Will post pix.
Click to expand...

iagtrplyr said:
****ing up me too. Just tested positive this afternoon. I'm on the shelf for the next 8-10 days. Right now I feel lousy, but the good news is I may be safe over the holidays! Ya have to think positively, right?
Click to expand...


Youse guys!?!?! I'm very sorry for your illness and wish you, and all in that situation, a swift and complete recover. :)
.
 
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#19,551
G-Dog said:
.
Gentlemen, please! I'm sorry for my contribution to the derailment of this great Combo (bass amp) Club into economics and other large scale dynamics. But surely, Shirley, lead us not into more volatile subjects, ... [cough!] (politics) [cough!], ... which is a big no-no here at TB. A word to the wise ... :rollno:

So, to get back on track, here's a family portrait of my bass combo amps. :D Yeah, the li'l foxy Voxy is obviously photoshopped into an older picture 'cause I was too lazy to set it all up again. My stalkers will also notice my current #1 bass, the Fender Modern Player Starcaster short scale semi-hollow, missing from the pic 'cuz of same. :sleep: But #2 & #3 are shown, in no particular order.

That's my 2018 Fender Rumble Studio 40 modeling bass amp sitting on top of my 2002 Fender Bassman 150 112 combo, atop my 2004 Fender Bassman 250 115 on the right. On the left is my Vox VX50BA, 50 watt, 9.8 lb. "li'l Foxy", on top of my Fender Rumble 500 combo, sitting on my Fender Bassman Neo 115 cab. 990 watts thru 7 speakers! :woot:

Yeah, I'm an unapologetic Fender fan 'cause that's what I lusted for, from afar, in my formative years. :whistle: I've never been disappointed.

Click to expand...
May I assume you meant yer other left?;)
 
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#19,553
GonePlaid said:
May I assume you meant yer other left?;)
Click to expand...


Uh, ... ... mmmm, ... I, uh, don't know, uh, what you can possibly be referring to. :rolleyes: My post looks perfectly fine to me. :whistle:

Oh, yeah, ... you copied the original ... uh, before I was thru with it. Yeah, that's it! I wasn't done with it when you copied it, 2 and a half hours later, and made that silly remar... ... Aw, who'm I kiddin'?

Thanks, Goner. Just another example of my ol'timers with geriatric onset dyslexia and uh, ... several other features too embarrassing to mention here. I appreciate your discreetly bringing this to my attention so as to avoid my public disgrac... ... Aw, nevermind. Thanks again, Plaid One. :bag:
.
 
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#19,557
GwenOnBass said:
A combo action shot ...


The Ampeg BA108v2+ is clearly visible. Hidden behind me is the PJB BG-400 that I'm recording from. Funny thing I notice today. That's a nurses' blouse I'm wearing in this screenshot from my "Ain't No Money Above the Fifth Fret Blues". The wrecking ball that is the Thing That's Going Around connected three days after .... :help:
Click to expand...
Contessa, you're geniusly camouflaging your bass with the nurse blouse. Hang on, where's that bass sound coming from ??
That green thingy on the top of all the Combos is an Elf ??
 
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#19,558
BrusselsBass said:
Contessa, you're geniusly camouflaging your bass with the nurse blouse. Hang on, where's that bass sound coming from ??
That green thingy on the top of all the Combos is an Elf ??
Click to expand...

Aye, the green thingy on top of the Ampeg combo is an Elf. Under the Ampeg combo are two Elf-powered PJB Cab 27s. I kind of run the Elf and the PJB BG-400 combo differently.

With the PJB combo, the gain stage is maxed to just below the clipping limit, and adjust the master to need. Very, very clean. With the Elf, the master is maxed and the gain is adjusted to need. Also very clean. Bringing up the gain on the Elf brings it more into D-class "toob" tones. Dime the gain on the Elf for an express train to DistortionTown (that's intentional).

With the VT Bass in the signal chain, able to coax fairly reasonable Ampeg tones out of all three rigs.

The scrubs were a parting gift from my ̶t̶o̶r̶m̶e̶n̶t̶e̶r̶s̶ loving physical therapists following bilateral knee replacements in 2018. The top is pretty comfortable. There's a left breast pocket for the working end of a stethoscope, plus two shallow pockets at the bottom.

Now it may be that I've plenty of time of late to observe nurses at work :wacky:. The wrecking ball that connected with me did not knock me all the way to ICU, and grateful for that. What it did do is put me off one full week of practice :sour:
 
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