untune

Hi all,

I hope this is the right forum to post in!

Over the last couple of years I've been building a mic preamp/instrument amp for bass and I've managed to make a push to finish it lately.

I've pieced together a plywood box (only small - like a small amp head) and I want to back it with some nice Marshall style British racing green tolex I have.

I've never used tolex before and obviously don't want to get it wrong, I know how to overlap and do corners etc, but there are two holes in it - one in the top as a vent for the valves, and one on the back for an input/output plate.  I was hoping someone who had worked on backing amps or cabs could give some guidance of the best way to approach it.  I could wrap the top bottom and sides then try to fold down to cover the gap at the back panel, or there might be a better option.

I've attached a couple of pics - any input is hugely appreciated!

Cheers

Cheers for that - I thought Soviet might be a possibility since it reminded me of some I'd seen before but I can't even find it amongst those! It makes me wonder whether they use cheap, rare instruments as TV props rather than anything more recognisable, as every other picture I've seen her playing a Precision. Jermaine Clement had a Kavkaz bass on both series of the Flight of the Conchords aswell

Hi all, not been round here in a while! Wondering if anyone can settle this as it has me curious - The Veils were in one of the later episodes of the new series of Twin Peaks a few months ago. Really liked the track and I noticed the bassist, Sophia Burn, playing a rather nice vintage looking bass which looks akin to something 60s and Japanese (Teisco and the like) but I can't for the life of me find anything like it from searching. Anyone seen one before?

[url="https://consequenceofsound.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/rr-17933-r.jpg?quality=80&w=806"]https://consequenceo...uality=80&w=806[/url]

Just found this by accident whilst looking for something else.

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Paisley-4-string-bass-guitar-with-single-jazz-pickup-Right-handed-/271561297699?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3f3a508f23"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Paisley-4-string-bass-guitar-with-single-jazz-pickup-Right-handed-/271561297699?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3f3a508f23[/url]

Is it just me or is that bridge living its life dangerously close to the edge?

Could it be something to do with that direct monitor switch on the front, doubling something up and making it sound odd?

I wonder if it could be a sample rate mismatch somewhere? Ie if your interface driver/settings are set to be using one sample rate and the project is using another, it could transpose and play back at the wrong pitch. I think I've had it before but I'm not 100% sure. When you say it's fine when you mic it, you mean as opposed straight into the interface?

I would have loved this, but the finish...

Did they do the these blazers in solid colours?

I used to have the original MOTU Ultralite, think it was around the £300-400 mark when new, I think that had the option to daisychain units via firewire so you could add more inputs/outputs etc. I had it for about 6 years and it never had a problem, apart from the inputs and outputs would sometimes have a bit of a seizure and start sending random crackling and noise to all the channels. The Windows drivers have always been a bit sketchy compared to Mac ones (so I've read at least) but after a while the problem became really infrequent, in fact it may have stopped altogether so maybe they fixed it. Last year I decided it was getting old and wanted something quieter and a bit more 'pro' so I traded the MOTU plus £500 for a used RME Fireface 800.

The RME is quieter probably owing to better circuitry and AD/DA converters - the MOTU still is quiet and gave about -85dB to -87dB in REAPER with the line ins to begin with though, but the RME is -99dB to -102dB in some cases. I prefer to use outboard preamps anyway so I prefer quiet high quality line inputs. I spoke to the guy who took my MOTU off me and he said he noticed a definite difference, saying that the low end of the MOTU was not as evident and high quality as the RME. RME drivers have been rock solid from day one and never had a single problem. FF800 also has ADAT connectors for connecting additional units or better quality AD/DA units.

There is a Fireface 400 at the £750 ish mark but it only has 4 line ins on the rear, the other 4 are 2x combo XLR/TRS and 2x jack instrument/line ins. One thing I loved about the MOTU Ultralite was that it had two dedicated main outs for your monitors - the FF800 makes you sacrifice your line out 1 and 2 so effectively you only have 6 analog outs for routing signals out of it. It does however have very complex mixing software that gives you full control over your ins/out/buses etc. MOTUs have a dedicated main vol control and headphone level on the front panel, the master vol is also the power on button and as time wore on it felt looser to the point that it felt it might break anytime - I looked into this and it's a VERY specialist part and nigh on impossible to replace yourself.

I did a lot of research at the time and it felt like MOTU and RME were the only good choices under a grand but this may have changed since! I was never keen on going over the £500 mark but the sad truth is if you want the next step up in quality you don't really have much choice.

Not sure if all this will be relevant but it's good to know anyway!

[quote name='Panamonte' timestamp='1392105685' post='2364616']
Definitely sounds like it's worth a go - thanks very much for the link.
[/quote]

No problem - if you decide to pick one up, be sure to post back and let us know what you think

[quote name='Panamonte' timestamp='1392048973' post='2364028']
Anyone had any experience with the Sub Zero valve amps that gear4music are flogging?

[url="http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/SubZero-Tube-H5-Guitar-Amp-Head/NE1"]http://www.gear4musi...ar-Amp-Head/NE1[/url]

Obviously there's only so much that you can expect at that price point, but I'd be interested to know whether they're worth taking a punt on, or not worth touching with a bargepole!
[/quote]

[url="http://www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/subzero-tube-h5-5w-mini-stack-574730"]http://www.musicrada...ni-stack-574730[/url]

Seems favourable, can't really argue for less than a hundred!

Funnily enough I was looking at the kit yesterday and I do quite fancy it, and wouldn't mind an electronics project to get stuck into... it looks a bit simple and I' prefer something with more control over gain/output vol and maybe some EQ. My mate happens to be selling his Vox AC4TV and I'm wondering if that might not be a good option, along with a few mods...

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t28COxEp2k[/media]

Cheers for that - do you have any idea what they go for roughly? I've found a few Cornford models on the old gummytree but they're bigger and more expensive than I can afford

That's the main concern I've considered with it. Something that costs so little isn't going to be particularly reliable or well constructed I'd imagine. The headroom would probably be a real issue. Hmmm I'll keep reading up! Cheers for the info

I wouldn't dream of using iAnything to be honest Hehe, I'm sure there are plenty of ways of managing such projects now too and it'd be a good idea to use them but he doesn't really have a stringent approach to recording quality like I do. Despite both of us doing the same course at uni, he never really seemed interested in the actual technical recording side of things (strange really, considering the nature of the course was about 50% just that). So I have the decent interface, mics, preamps, etc etc and he is happy to plug a strat into a laptop and strum away. One of the major problems I've noticed is timing - he doesn't think about things such as latency compensation and compresssion. I have a lot of outboard gear but if the input is bad, it's only going to get worse as it goes through various stages of AD/DA.

Anyway, I digress - the issue isn't really that, but rather thatI am the one who likes to do the recording and experimentation (not just with guitars too - I have a fair few synths and also would reamp drums and other instruments for effects) and I don't do guitar. The Cornford sounded like it would be just right but apparently production has ceased indefinitely. I'm more interested in buying something used, probably a head/cab combo so my mate can plug his Night Train into it if he brings that round. The Fenders sound interesting but I don't fancy the digital DSP much - I just want something simple and to the point - clean, valve grit when required, separate control over gain and volume.

The Valve Jr. is looking like it might be a good modding platform when paired with a suitable cab ans plus it's nice and cheap. A decent valve and new transformer would be a good start I'm sure!

Thanks for the other sugguestions folks - I've already got plenty of Di's and valve preamps etc. The idea is to make use of a recording room and the vast array of mics and preamps I've collected to do some recording in a room, taking it out of the box so to speak. The issue isn't really getting tone and grit but having something that I can re-amp an already recorded DI signal through, so that I can experiment with mics, pres, placement, room, amp settings, eq etc...

The Valve Junior seems to be a popular option, and I'd quite like to have a go at modding it

Cheers

Thanks, I'll look into it - although I'm more interested in miking the speaker than using a direct out

Looks like a good contender! In fact.... I'm almost positive my mate had an AC4 before he got a Night Train, and I'm sure he still has it. I wonder if I could coax him into leaving it at mine, or maybe he'll let me buy it off him... cheers for the recommendation! Oh and just to add, I was thinking about buying 2nd hand so if anyone has anything for sale, let me know

Hi all,

Just something I'm pondering at the moment. My mate plays guitar but we don't get to actually meet up too often, so he sends a lot of ideas and such via skype and we throw ideas back and forth. On the occasions we will get to do some recording and jamming at mine, it's not really practical for him to be dragging a head and cab across Manchester then up three flights of stairs. I'm not a guitarist myself but I love recording, experimenting and I have synths and generally just like to play with sound so I've thought about getting a little valve combo or perhaps head/cab to handle re-amped recording duties. My mate can just record a clean DI when he comes round, he can put the amp feed through the amp and then when he's not around I can re-record, play with mic placement, preamps, effects, etc etc. Purely for recording, not for gigging or practicing.

I'm in a flat, it's very quiet and I have a room for recording - I don't have any neighbours bordering the room but at the same time I'm going to keep it to moderate levels as not to wind anyone up. Super high volume is not important. Ideally I'd like something fairly cheap, valve, with the ability to control the gain and master so I have some tone shaping options at low volume. Tonally my mate favours Vox amps, I'd like something that can do clean and crunchy fairly well as we aim for a sortof blues rock sound but also do a lot of clean stuff. I'd also like the option of doing a bit of modding, as I have a few nice preamp valves lying around and wouldn't mind trying different speakers and such.

Anyone know anything that fits the bill in their experience?

Cheers

Intrigued - more grind?

I went with a Duncan SPB-1 but always wondered how the Fender Original would sound - people have their preferences - some say the Fender is the better, other say the SD has the vintage vibe. Have you ever had the chance to compare the two?

Headstock logo looks off and the scratchplate barely follows the body shape!

Looking great!

Also it has impressed me how many people it has drawn together so quickly, all working together to solve the puzzle

[quote name='risingson' timestamp='1367331407' post='2064303']
I've been waiting for this release for 7 years Untune! I've followed what's been going on, the uber-fans on the forums have been going mental trying to crack codes and mathematical equations, I've just sat back and waited for the release announcement from Warp

For those who might be unfamiliar with Boards of Canada, they took their name from the National Film Board of Canada, when they were young they emigrated from Scotland to Canada and were inspired by the scratchy warmth of the soundtracks that accompanied a lot of the films. They're known to sample number stations as well in their earlier work amongst a load of other things. Really psychedelic and always interesting to listen to, they're considered to be pioneers in electronic music.
[/quote]

It has been one hell of a marketing campaign if nothing else! After such a long wait they had to make an entrance and I think they've managed it in a way only they could I've already pre-ordered both the CD and the vinyl... which leaves me just more than a month to find myself a decent turntable, amp and hi fi speakers. Preferably from the 70s