A really tough decision is at hand.

[maddog]

If you only had one MM, would you sacrifice it in hopes of improving your overall tone??

this doesn't compute. As in, I don't see where selling an MM is going to improve your tone unless you are unhappy with the tone of the MM.

See what I'm getting at?

[ivbenaplayin]

why not offer the guitar player a case of beer to turn down his stage volume... least out-of-pocket expense I can think of (although it hasn't worked for me yet...)

[adouglas]

Tilt the guitar player's amp (or cabinet) so it's aimed right at his head.

Speakers directly on-axis are WAY louder.

You can talk him into doing this by pointing out how much better it'll sound.

[Powman]

this doesn't compute. As in, I don't see where selling an MM is going to improve your tone unless you are unhappy with the tone of the MM.

See what I'm getting at?

I agree. I see my tone coming from the bass as this is a high fidelity instrument. Then a very clean and transparent amp like a Markbass to let all the glorious tone come through. I got rid of all my pedals...no need! I have my tone from my MM Sterling.

[tkarter]

I gave a Jazz bass to the first person that offered to pay shipping once.

tk

[Tyrone]

this doesn't compute. As in, I don't see where selling an MM is going to improve your tone unless you are unhappy with the tone of the MM.

See what I'm getting at?

It was an immediate means of getting the money to buy a better head.

I have played the Classic at Guitar Center and I know there were many variables that were different but the immediate tone and power I got out of it compared to my 350 were huge. I played a SR5 as well as a Jazz bass and both sounded fantastic through it with very little tweaking. It's just that much better than what I have now.

btw I'm not selling the SR5, I was heavily leaning towards not selling it anyway and I made this thread I think to confirm that leaning. In my ~12 years of playing bass, I came to find early that I am a fan of Ampeg. All the suggestions in this thread will be looked into, but they have a mountain to climb to jump ahead of the Classic at this point.

[tkarter]

You need to investigate Peavey and forget about ampeg. The Peavey works equally well with any bass.

Check ebay and you won't have to sell a bass to fund one either.

tk

[maddog]

It was an immediate means of getting the money to buy a better head.

I see what you're getting at now.

I'd still keep the SR5 and wait on the head. but then again, I'm playing in my living room.

[five7]

My stingray, markbass and svt 8-10 is an incredible tone! And enough volume to keep two 100 watt marshall half stacks in check. Like I said earlier, the f1 only cost me $400 used on craigslist. The classic would look cool but you will have to get one of the guitar players to help hoist it up on your cabinet. The f1, I can lift by himself.

[bbernard]

One bass that you really love is the center piece of your rig. I would never sacrifice a bass for an amp. A great bass inspires you, it just feels like home when its in your hands.

A great sounding amp is all well and good, but its bassackwards to go amp at the expense of bass.

IMO etc.

[RaginRog]

If you love your SR5, I wouldn't sell it. Save the cash ($800), and once you have it, sell the Conklin, and the 350 head and get what you want. My .02

[cellkirk74]

You need to investigate Peavey and forget about ampeg. The Peavey works equally well with any bass.

Check ebay and you won't have to sell a bass to fund one either.

tk

true, the older Pro 500 or the tour-heads do sound very decent for the price. They are also a good backups.

[pearlredburst]

Good point. I am a MM fanatic as well, I just don't have the money to display that fanaticism through a collection of basses.

Not all of the specifics have to be the same. Let's say you have multiple MM basses, but your favorite one would sell for the same price as the last, very important, piece of your rig would cost. Would you sell it?

I thoroughly believe that the BASS itself is a large portion of your rig. If you sell your main bass, but then buy the "final" piece of your rig, you still don't have the final piece cuz the bass is gone!

[oli@bass]

I thoroughly believe that the BASS itself is a large portion of your rig. If you sell your main bass, but then buy the "final" piece of your rig, you still don't have the final piece cuz the bass is gone!

Never ever sell your favorite instrument to buy a different piece for your rig. In your example, I'd rather sell two of the others than my favorite. That said, with "favorite" I mean favorite player/best sounding bass.

[high mileage]

Most of the tone is in the bass.

Yes. When you're going thru a PA (which I know you said isn't all the time), the PA is what most people will hear. Most sound guys will want a pre-EQ (flat) DI signal anyway so the amp really isn't doing much other than giving you a monitor. 810's are fun, but also fun to sell. BTDT, twice now.

Even for the times you don't have PA support, most of the tone is in your fingers, then the bass, and then the other stuff. Don't sell the bass. Or your fingers.