Reflex Love

[drTStingray]

I went to the London Bass Guitar Show yesterday. S and T had a great stand right by the entrance with tons of MM basses.

An extraordinary spectacle was all the big amp companies in one area - Ampeg, Trace Elliott, Orange on the corners of a cross roads - walking across got you bombarded with gut rumbling sound - I reckon at least 1000 watts in total from all corners I tried an Aguillar micro stack (under the supervision of the company President who was manning the stand!!V Nice guy as well.) Does anyone use these on here? I was very impressed.

Anyway back to the Musicmans and more specifically the Reflex - I tried a gold reflex HH with matching headstock through headphones - this is the first Reflex I've seen in the flesh and it's a really nice bass - all I can say is Wow - there are so many sounds in this bass. Passive sounds were very vintage sounding and the active parallel sounds were my favourite. In serial, the sound is much more pumped up than that on my SR5. The gold looks very nice as well.

Add a Gamechanger and I think this is going to be the subject of major GAS in the next few months, for me at least.

Anyone who hasn't tried a Reflex is in for a shock - this is one hell of a bass.

 

[projectapollo]

I'm not an expert, but I've observed that the reflex/25th is a great recording bass. It sounds really teriffic in a hi-fi playback situation when plugged in direct.

 

[cyoungnashville]

i am just about always playing the monster truck, or the big al in the studio. they are pretty much tied at 1st place for track mule. i will switch them out from song to song, mostly to make the producer think that im so into this gig that i wont rest till i find the the most perfectly dope tone ever in the history of recorded music for this special song. the song of course usually is something akin to the theme from the 80's tv show "Perfect Strangers". except we chuck a fiddle onto it and mix the vocals 70% to 80% louder.

YouTube - Perfect Strangers Intro

 

[drTStingray]

I thought the all coils active parallel sounded v hi fi. The whole thing just sounded great - so many sounds.

Craig, I love your posts - always v entertaining (I'm really hoping that fashion changes and the current crop of music producers get out of the idea that everything has to be retro - who listens to music on 50s and 60s audio gear anyway?? Or is it one of the side effects of iPods? Anyway keep working on em Craig)

I guess I tried a copy of your monster truck!

 

[cyoungnashville]

p.s. monster truck = reflex hh

reflex hh = best tone ever, stage / studio.

i guess my post could have just said that. nah, too easy = boring.

 

[Elad_E]

the song of course usually is something akin to the theme from the 80's tv show "Perfect Strangers". except we chuck a fiddle onto it and mix the vocals 70% to 80% louder.

YouTube - Perfect Strangers Intro

a blast from the past!
I didn't remember Larry had a 60's Mustang in EBMM's Coral Red though

 

[Daniel Piper]

the reflex/25th is an amazing amazing bass. Just killer.

 

[Manfloozy]

p.s. monster truck = reflex hh

Craig, have you had a chance to play the HSS?

I've yet to get my hands on an HH and want to check out the inside coils series special sauce for Sh!%s and Giggles.

 

[keko]

p.s. monster truck = reflex hh

reflex hh = best tone ever, stage / studio.

i guess my post could have just said that. nah, too easy = boring.

Glad to hear that from professional bass player!

It seems to me that I made a great choice!

I can't wait for a call from my dealer: -Your "Monster Truck" is just arrived Sir!

 

[cyoungnashville]

Craig, have you had a chance to play the HSS?

I've yet to get my hands on an HH and want to check out the inside coils series special sauce for Sh!%s and Giggles.

no, i dont have an hss, but i would find it very hard to give up that inner coil trick.

 

[KevinM]

I pick up my 25th HH from GC tonight.

 

[liverbird]

drTStingray, I went to the show as well. I agree, Strings & Things had a nice booth away from the noise inferno further down the hall. Did you try the Stealth SR5?

 

[danny-79]

Just had an email off the Mrs with an attached photo of her trying out a Reflex at G.C in Englewood.
Single H, Maple looks killer !!
Think the point of the email was just to rub it in
My response was "when do i expect to see it ? can i have it with Rosewood please oh an HH if you don't mind" (hint hint hint)

The GAS gets worse......

 

[Daniel Piper]

I'm with Craig. The inner coils are magic.

 

[OldManMusic]

Danny - I've been trying to talk my better half into letting that Englewood Reflex come home with me. Love the single H and maple neck. Damn bills keep getting in the way...

 

[Daniel Piper]

Funny - The only reason I initially was considering a Reflex was because my wife loved the look of it. Aesthetically it is such a beautiful design.

 

[KevinM]

I brought mine home tonight. This thing plays and sounds pretty sweet. Playing it at GC I thought i liked it better than my Roasted, but at home I played 'em side by side and they're running neck and neck. They both have great sound qualities and play really smooth. This is also my first RW fretboard. I've been playing on maple for almost 30 years and never knew the difference.
Me likey.

 

[drTStingray]

drTStingray, I went to the show as well. I agree, Strings & Things had a nice booth away from the noise inferno further down the hall. Did you try the Stealth SR5?

Yeah I had a look at that but didn't plug it in - never seen an SR5 in Stealth before - looked really good. Did you try it?

I got there after the Level 42 fan club so no Mark King tickets left - did you get to see him play?

I was impressed at the number of MM basses dotted around the other stands - they had a v nice 2nd hand lined fretless SR4 in natural on the Mansons stand - the neck looked like quilted maple under the spot lights I was seriously tempted but one fretless is enough for me! They also had a 2005 LE SR5 on the Bass Direct stand (in use as an amp tester I think). It appeared to have a price tag on it.

Apart from the S and T stand, there were only a couple of other lefty basses at the whole show (War**ck*) - there were several MMs (Bongo and Stingray) on the S and T stand which were receiving quite a lot of attention - EBMM looks after lefties better than most it seems.

 

[liverbird]

No, didn't plug in the Stealth SR5. Just had a noodle acoustically, and it felt nice. Good weight, not too heavy. Didn't see Mark King either.