Rayman

11 minutes ago, msb said:

Herself doesn’t like me bringing more cabs into the house. She doesn’t understand the appeal of black boxes.  She did make an exception for a red C2. At the time I couldn’t find a Canadian distributor , so I ordered it from NYC , and with duty and shipping probably paid too much. But I use it every day. Not gig suitable , but perfect for home practice. 
 

I love it.

I ran out of space ages ago for sneaking stuff in past Mrs Rayman, so, now I’ve got a storage unit in town 😉. 

I played guitar for years through a couple of different bass amps, no problem. In fact when I went back to a Fender Princeton guitar amp, it sounded thin to me. It took a while to re adjust.

You might not get that high end sparkle, but you a lovely warm tone.

Decades ago, probably 4, my brother bought a Vox combo from Rhythm House music in Stockport to play lead/rhythm guitar through. He used it for years. It always did have a warm tone to it. Turned out it was a bass amp.

2 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

You have loads of options available but I'll offer a few observations...

 

• Don't get hung up on speaker size, particularly that you need 15" speakers for more 'bottom end'!  
• Don't be afraid to raise a cab off the floor to get it nearer your ear.
• Consider a modular rig, especially one that will get the drivers closer to your ear height (a pair of 2x10 stacked on their ends to create 4x10 in one vertical line).
• 'Literally' ignore speaker ratings other than ohmage; some companies claimed wattage is a joke and is meaningless.  
• Are you sticking with your amp?  The TC is a different amp altogether compared to the Ashdown ABM.  No mention of digital (I just mentioned it) but sometimes, claimed power ratings are massaged!  

Thanks indeed for all of that.

Primarily I want loud but portable. So the TC and the two 1x12 Hartkes appeals a lot. However is that going to match the grunt of the Ashdown head, 2x10 and 1x15? I dunno. We’re not talking stadiums here, it’s mostly rock/metal nights in small/medium venues.

I Want to make a decision on if I’m sticking with Ashdown, or going small and portable with the TC and a couple of more portable cabs.

Thanks for that.

Just to clarify, I’m looking at 2x 1x12s

I like the idea of a couple of portable 2x12s, I just don’t know if they’re up to it? 

28 minutes ago, Bigwan said:

Do you have normally have PA support?

Most of the gigs I’m DI’d yes. So obviously this kind of negates the need for a ‘big rig’. But on Saturday, onstage, the TC + 410 was a bit lost. It sounded fine out front I’m sure, but onstage the sound, for me, was lacking, which effects how I play.

However, we also do gigs where we don’t have DI, so I need to have that covered too.

I’ve never been an amp guy. I find them far less exciting than basses. However I really want to get my rig sorted.

I’ve been using a TC D class head into a TC 4x10 for gigs (original heavy rock, Thunderbird bass). The TC sounds fine, but it’s not amazing. I have an Ashdown ABM 500 combo, which I love, especially on top of the ABM 1x15 cab, but it’s too heavy and cumbersome. We live in an upstairs flat and I’m not getting any younger.

So I bought an ABM 500 head, a 2x10 cab and the 1x15 cab, which I haven’t tested live yet, but I feel like this rig is still pretty bulky.

Someone I know is selling a couple of Hartke Hidrive 1x12 cabs. Super light and portable and very reasonably priced. 

Will those 2 Hartke cabs work with the TC head for hard rock? Will they have enough clout?

Mrs Rayman was treated to a Chicken Korma from the local curry house that particular night.

And finally….

a set of Guild knobs, courtesy of our friends at Ali Express. They’re surprisingly great, fit perfectly, and only £7.50 for 4.

Finished 👍🏻

I’m sure you’re absolutely right. Mrs Rayman rolled her eyes and said…

“what are you doing now!?!”

I don’t really know what I’m doing tbh, but it’s fun anyway. Of course there may be nothing wrong with the speakers, it could be something electrical, but I’ll have to see what happens once the replacement speakers are in.

I bought this on the bay for not a lot, and, although it works technically, it also farts/clips at only half volume and a quarter gain. I’m not expecting anything amazing, as it’s just for home practice, but would like it to sound good? You know?

So I took the amp out, cleaned and vacced it out, lubed the pots too. All looks nice in there now. 
 

However it still sounded flappy and not so great. 
 

So

Out came the Celestion BL10-70 and a new (used-eBay) one ordered. There’s probably nothing wrong with it, but I can’t help myself, I do love tinkering.

The tweeter, is an embarrassing little piece of plastic. I understand these Le Son things are also in Markbass amps, which can’t be good, it looks very poor quality. So a Stageline HT-30 has also been ordered.

Fun times. I have to confess, I love messing about with fixing stuff, basses and amps and whatever else comes my way.

I’ll let you know what happens next.

Good one in Salford on Saturday, a couple of really excellent bands on the bill before us too, it was a fun night.

There was one hilarious incident, I fell off the stage during soundcheck and totally wrecked my knee 🤦🏻‍♂️. So it was just a case of standing there during the gig, without any of the usual waving of basses in the air. Probably a good thing.

1 hour ago, tauzero said:

At least now I know who has me on their ignore list, as I linked to the very self-same thing in the seventh post on the thread. 😁

Soz

28 minutes ago, bremen said:

Hi Phil, could you link to this?

Ditto

Update…..

The final touches are almost done.

The Zero fret it came to me with, was pointless. It was some random, brass coloured fret, that had been stuck on there, very badly. It was also too small, and didn’t actually do anything.

So I’ve fitted a jumbo fret and cut the nut down so that the strings sit nicely on it. 
 

I can actually tune the bass now.

Speaking of tuners…. I hated the ones that came on it. So having found some 60s Teisco elephant ear tuners in the states, I bought those and chucked them on today

and as I really hate the closed backs, I’ve converted them to open gears

so that’s almost it…… I’m just waiting for a Teisco headstock badge to arrive from the US, and that will finally be that.

Sunn Mustang

I worked on one for a mate once. It was in pretty poor shape, but we got it up and running, and continued to use it for a while before moving it on.

I wasn’t a massive fan of it tbh, but they’re pretty collectible now.

1 hour ago, Dan Dare said:

 

Is all your gigging stuff massive? If you have a small head/cab, you could get a small head/cab to use with it. I use my AG700 (which is only the size of a couple of books stacked on top of each other) with a single 4x5 PJB cab at home. Works well at low volumes.

Ashdown ABM500 head and cabs or the ABM combo for gigs, or a TCBQ500 and 4x10, all dependant on the venue.

So not massive no, but way more than I want for home noodling, although Mrs Rayman does enjoy the low end vibrations of a Gibson Thunderbird through the full Ashdown rig. 
 

I could, get a 1x10 something or other cab for the TC to go into, but it’s not what I’m after. I just want a little combo.

Ok so….

I’ve made two bids on the bay that will end in the next couple of days. A Roland micro cube and a Laney R1, so we’ll see.

If I miss out there, I’ll think again.

Thanks all for the great responses…… trouble is, now I don’t know exactly what actually want anymore! 
 

I’m not after anything giggable, I have all that covered. This is purely home only, noodling along to music on the TV or Spotify. So, no massive bottom end required, but equally I don’t want something that sounds like I’m playing through a transistor radio (one for the kids). Primary function is small but sounds decent, but also doesn’t break the bank.

Yeah you see the odd one or two pop up occasionally, but more often than not it’ll be the Indonesian version as you say. 
 

Great bass, and great guitars too. I had an M75T guitar many years ago which was really fantastic too. 

I’ve dabbled a bit with small amps for home, but I’ve fallen short every time.

I Have the headphone thing covered, by way of my Phil Jones Bighead, but I’d like a tiny combo to play along to stuff out loud, at home. I’m hoping that it’s not going to have to be a Markbass micromark, as that’s a bit over budget, but I fear that I might be going down that road.

The last acquisition was a 10W Vox Pathfinder, which is abysmal. I also tried a Line 6 studio 110, which is also rubbish. I was pretty happy with the Peavey Microbass, but my daughter now has that, and it’s physically bigger than I want. I really want something very small. I even considered the Positive Grid Spark stuff. 
 

It only needs to keep up with the volume of a TV really, so I thought the Pathfinder would be ideal. Wrong. 
 

Any recommendations?

12 hours ago, Ramsay777 said:

Very nicely done! Looks like a cool bass, short scale?

31”. I bought short scale strings for it, but actually I think medium scales would be a better fit.

Yeah, unfortunately it doesn’t. That would indeed be very cool.

So….. I’m putting this here rather than the build diaries because it’s complete. 
 

I found the bass on the bay for peanuts, largely because it had a warped (forward bowed) neck, and the truss rod was maxed out.

The previous owner had given up on it, describing it as “f@&£&d and bent like a banana” and “ beyond help”. “The fretboard will need to come off and the truss rod replaced….. it’s f£&!@d mate”.

Is it really I thought.

First job, will the truss rod loosen and the nut come off…..

Yep, it did.

So, knowing that the truss rod worked, I knew there was hope.

I Ordered some tiny washer/shims to drop onto the end of the loose truss rod, just to give the nut some help when it goes back on. I also found, unbelievably, a period correct truss rod cover to replace the one that was missing, thanks to the awesome Henning at Twang vintage guitars in Sweden….

Next, was to clamp it, over heat (a hot water bottle) to coax the neck straight again. Actually it was clamped slightly more the other way, so that it could be loosened off a bit if needs be. 
 

I cooked it for an hour, and tightened the truss rod back up while it was still clamped and hot. 
 

The hot water bottle doesn’t get hot enough to worry about melting the glue, but the neck got pretty hot under there.

After it came out, the result was absolutely perfect, with a slightly bent backward neck, still under tension from the truss rod. The heat had worked perfectly. 
 

The plan was to fit the strings in the morning and loosen the truss rod off a bit if needs be to get the action right.

So, all that was yesterday, and today the strings went on, after cleaning and conditioning the beautiful fretboard 

With sheer blind luck, when fully tuned up, the action was perfect! Lovely low and buzz free, it’s spot on at the first attempt. Needless to say I’m over the moon…..

These Korean ones had the US made white top pickups, and are really well made and respected, although the shape isn’t for everyone. They CAN fetch quite a bit on the used market. 

The plan was to fix it, practice my tech skills then flip it….. but I dunno…. 😆, I really love how this bass turned out…

What a cracker of a bass. Another one saved from the parts bin. Delighted indeed.

Thanks for reading this far 🤘🏻