mart

Well, WH is one the case so I can retire But yes, those definitely look like modern Schallers although the size might have changed slightly. And you may be able to put new Schallers buttons in place of the old ones even if you can't just use new locks on the old buttons.

A google search for Schaller and Dunlop and Warwick strap buttons might show you which you've got. Certainly Warwick used some Schaller hardware back then and, now it comes back to me, my Nobby had Schaller locks when I got it. Don't know if they were original or not, but it's a possibility.

In the second big photo - the one of the back of the bass - what are the wiggly lines running roughly from top right to bottom left? They look a bit like paint runs, or is it just the grain coming through?

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='1106927' date='Jan 29 2011, 01:47 AM']that's easy even for a plonker like me, ok.. follow me: the promethean head can be detached from the cab by undoing these 2 great big thumb screws, ok? So it removed it and sat it on top of the Mark Bass combo, I then unplugged the speaker lead from the back of the Mark Bass head and plugged it in the speaker output of the promethean, and hey presto.[/quote] So the lead coming from the MB speaker was long enough to reach the Promethean head, but you couldn't get the Ashdown head close enough for it? Ok, I think I understand now!

Hopefully Warwickhunt will be along soon with his huge knowledge of '80s Warwicks. In the meantime ... Could you post a pic of the button and stuff? The oldest Wicks I'm familiar with have Dunlop straplocks, and these are easily available. They are similar to the new Warwick locks but the Warwick straplocks won't go inside the Dunlop buttons as the shaft is too big. That sounds like what you're experiencing, so I think you've got Dunlops, not Schallers. But a pic should clarify what sort they are.

[quote name='gub' post='1105208' date='Jan 27 2011, 04:15 PM']Thanks bass bunny,i got it this morning and will start on it tonight then pass it on to mart when i am done .[/quote] Great! I'm getting excited already

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1105458' date='Jan 27 2011, 07:27 PM']If it's outperformed by a Trace Commando then something is rather wrong...perhaps the voice coil is a bit malformed, I've had PA speakers get knackered in this way before, ie a problem only manifested at high volume where previously the speaker worked fine (and its partner still worked fine). I'd try and persuade the shop to take it back.[/quote] Thanks. Yes, I suppose the Commando comparison does rather put things in perspective!

The opportunity arose for a bit more testing, so I grabbed it. The clip LED is working - if I put the gain up two thirds of the way, and the master on full, then it comes on readily. So then I backed off the gain to half way, so that the clip LED didn't come on even with the hardest plucking. Keeping the master on full, it's just as before: it sounds to me like serious clipping on the transients, and then general fuzziness afterwards. I've also got an old Trace Commando combo where the head died so I re-wired a direct connection to the speaker (8ohm, 100W, 12") and putting the Shuttle into that with the same settings it's actually slightly cleaner than the Warwick. Still not clean, but a shade less fuzz. The Warwick cab is still under guarantee; so should I send it back to the shop on the basis that it's not delivering a clean enough signal? I don't quite feel sure enough of my ground - it's not like it's unquestionably broken - it's just not doing what I want it to.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='1105215' date='Jan 27 2011, 04:20 PM']Kind of - more volume in the lower omnidirectional frequencies, see Sept '10 article: [url="http://barefacedbass.com/bgm-columns.htm"]http://barefacedbass.com/bgm-columns.htm[/url][/quote] Ok, I understand that. I've been following your BGM columns religiously btw - they really are fantastic! [quote name='alexclaber' post='1105215' date='Jan 27 2011, 04:20 PM']Definitely check for spurious vibrations too! If you crank up everything on the amp and play loud does the clip/limit LED light? There's a tiny chance it's not working.[/quote] I'll try cranking everything and seeing if I can get the clip light on, to see if that's ok. Re the comments about ear compression and so on, I don't think that's going on - the overall volume really isn't very loud. I don't have the kit to measure this objectively, but I'd say it's comparable with a loud drummer playing on their own. And I can hear things pretty clearly standing about 30 feet away from the cab. And the room is a large carpeted hall, so I think the room could cope with much more volume before having any impact.

I'm tempted to buy it just to stop him using an even bigger font

Buy one second hand at a reasonable price and if you find that you don't get on with it, then you can sell it without too much of a financial loss. But it really does sound like you want one - so trust your instincts!

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1104958' date='Jan 27 2011, 12:31 PM']Might be worth making sure it's not a structural thing. I had a rear panel on my old Hartke VX215 work loose which caused distortion, 30 mins with a drill and a pack of screws sorted it out. Try getting someone else to play your bass while you put pressure on different parts of the cab to see if that's the problem. When it happened to me it sounded very much like speaker distortion (Lemmy style) so i was chuffed when it was such a cheap repair![/quote] Ah, yes, that's a good point - I haven't checked over the screws, so I will have a look at that. And yeah, I'll see if some physical pressure changes the symptoms.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='1105048' date='Jan 27 2011, 01:43 PM']Unfortunately yes. But was the Shuttle clipping? If you keep pushing it after the clip/limit LED comes on then the power amp will eventually distort. Cutting your lows will reduce the demands on the driver but it'll also reduce the demands on the power amp, so that alone won't tell you where the problem lies. A quick fix is to stick the cab right in the corner of a room, preferably with solid (not stud) walls behind.[/quote] Thanks for that Alex; although you're confirming my worst fears (and making my purchase of a Barefaced cab that much more imminent ) it does at least confirm that I'm not imagining things! The Shuttle wasn't clipping - the LED didn't light at all. Re your quick fix: By putting the cab in the corner I will get lots more volume for the power - is that your point?

[quote name='Stylon Pilson' post='1104844' date='Jan 27 2011, 11:04 AM']The 400W is a thermal power limit, and isn't really a useful figure. There might be a problem with the cab, or it might be that it just can't handle that much power in the low frequencies. The way to find this out would be to adjust your EQ for a less bassy sound and see if the problem persists. S.P.[/quote] Yep, I guessed the 400 was a thermal limit, but I'm not, theoretically, even getting close to half of that. Is it likely that a 400W (thermal limit) cab actually only has, say, a 100W excursion limit? And yes, I guess the problem is with the low frequencies, but that's what I want from the cab, so if it can't handle them, then I have a problem.

[quote name='charic' post='1104863' date='Jan 27 2011, 11:23 AM']Turn gain down and volume up. Does it change matters?[/quote] When you say that now, it seems an obvious thing to check. So why didn't I check it when I had the chance? I'll try it and see. The problem is if I play at home at this volume then so many other things rattle that I can't be sure what's the cab and what's not. So I have to wait for a chance to play elsewhere.

A few months ago I bought a Warwick 1x15 Neo cab to go with my Shuttle 3. Mostly I play at quite low volumes (having strong PA support), but last weekend I finally had the chance to turn the volume up a bit to see how things sounded. And it wasn't good - not the big clean sound I was looking for. I put both the gain and the master just under half way up on the Shuttle (and everything else flat) and got quite a bit of distortion: there was some sharp, but brief, clipping when I plucked a note, and a general buzz after that until the note started to fade. I really don't have much experience of playing at that kind of volume, so I'm wondering if I'm being unreasonable by hoping for more clean headroom out of the rig. I thought I should be able to put the controls (or the master volume, at least) up nearly full and have a clean sound - the cab says "400W" on it, and the Shuttle is rated at 175W through 8ohms (which is the impedance of the cab). Am I being unreasonable, or is there some problem with the cab?

Maybe that's why your Granny could do her ironing so quickly. And have the clothes sounding so good ....

[quote name='basskit_case' post='1103834' date='Jan 26 2011, 03:23 PM']Until OBBM's cable arrives I nipped into town and bought [url="http://www.musiccentre.co.uk/stagg-ssp1-1-5m-speaker-cable.html?___store=default"]this[/url], figure its worth the £5 it cost me if it means I can get the Ashdown LB30 fired up tonight! However I will be swapping in OBBM's as soon as I get them. [/quote] Good bet. If it's labelled as a speaker cable it ought to be ok. And going from my experience with OBBM, you won't be waiting long for his cable.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1103677' date='Jan 26 2011, 02:08 PM'].... Some of the [b]newer[/b] models like the Vampyre and the [b]Star bass[/b] are hideous.....[/quote] [url="http://www.theguitarcollection.org.uk/gallery8/framus.html"]1959 Framus Star bass[/url]

Looks like we're not the only ones to be slightly suspicious of fancy cables: [url="http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AKDL1-Dedicated-Link-Cable/product-reviews/B000I1X6PM/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending"]http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AKDL1-Dedicate...nDateDescending[/url]

[quote name='obbm' post='1103712' date='Jan 26 2011, 02:26 PM']... SAFETY WARNING - DO NOT USE YOUR INSTRUMENT CABLE TO POWER A KETTLE.[/quote] Won't you get a better sound out of the kettle by using a good instrument cable?

[quote name='basskit_case' post='1103691' date='Jan 26 2011, 02:13 PM']What can I say, I am knew at this, but I thought the penultimte paragraph refered to instrument cable use:[/quote] Yep, it is very confusing - I had to go back and read that paragraph and the earlier ones again to make sure of what he was saying in the paragraph you refer to. But he's talking about 12 gauge cable, not the 22 or 24 gauge that (he says) you get in instrument cables. He's not going to win any awards for clear english. But then nor am I!

[quote name='basskit_case' post='1103201' date='Jan 26 2011, 09:26 AM']....but the last post says that you can use an instrument cable and it will be fine. ....[/quote] I'm baffled. The last post on that thread definitely does [b]not[/b] say that it's ok to use an instrument cable between amp and cab. He was contradicting some of the details an earlier poster gave about why it was not ok, but he never said it was ok. For example he writes "[b]The main reason not to use[/b] a shielded cable for connecting a speaker is .... it will heat up considerably, maybe enough to melt the insulation and produce a short. Most amplifiers don't like running into a short, and the [b]magic smoke tends to come out of the amp's expensive little parts[/b]. ;-)" And later on he says: "most "guitar" cables will not have enough copper in them to function well in such an application." (the application being as a cable from amp to speaker). He does say "Such heavy-gauge shielded cables *do* exist", but: "they're just not commonly found in music stores." Or am I missing something from his post? (Or am I looking at the wrong post? I did have to edit your link to get it to work!)