jazzyvee

I'm depping on bass with this band on Friday night in Brum.

The band do a mixture of classic reggae and UB40 covers

I moved to that kind of setup a few years back now and found a Synq1K0 which is a 1U shallow rack unit and ratings below.

Audio : max. output channels2

Audio : Wrms 4Ω stereo, per channel 540

Audio : Wrms 8Ω stereo, per channel 300

Audio : Wrms 8Ω bridge 1080

I have tried bridge mode a couple of times but usually have it in mono mode or stereo using only one channel.

The noise floor in my setup is really low and i generally have the power amp on or close to full and the pre-amp and bass levels to suit. Seems to give me a bigger fuller sound.

I also have a crown xls1502 which again is a shallow rack but 2U, and like the OP i use a Big Twin II as my main cab.

On 27/03/2024 at 21:56, MichaelDean said:

ACS do some. I had a previous version that sounded worse than some cheap buds and the cable was super microphonic. Don't know if they've improved, but I'd be hesitant based on my previous experience. 

 

https://www.acscustom.com/uk/products/in-ear-monitors/universal-fit/pro-fit

My personal experience is, I bought some of those universal plugs from ACS as i already have a set of their ear plugs. However they were a bit disappointing as they kept pulling the little drivers out of the in ear moulds and the general sound attenuation from the moulds was significantly reduced.

I would imagine on a low volume gig they might be ok but i am about to invest in some moulded IEM's as the off the shelf earplugs i have tried keep falling out of my ears. 

Actually, no i don't and to be honest i didn't even know it was a thing that bassists or guitarist did until i started to frequent guitar and bass forums on-line.  Now i know there is a healthy 🙂 desire for doing it, i still would not consciously seek one. However if a fantastic bass i was already considering buying just happened to be of that year, that might just tip the scales.

My main rig for tomorrow should deliver some deep clear bass for my dep gig with a UB40 Tribute band

On 24/03/2024 at 14:37, chris_b said:

 

The bass player in Toots' band used a 6 string Warwick.

Good point and i have seen a few reggae bass players on youtube using a sixer but i can't imagine the thin string gets much play time. I hardly use my G string when doing reggae.

I saw Stanley Clarke with that setup once and he has individual pickup outs on his basses so each would end up going to it's own cab.

I was front of the stage right in front of that rig and it sounded great, though incredibly loud.

19 hours ago, Linus27 said:

Sadly it's the world we live in. There are some wonderful, amazing human beings out there but there are equally some complete and utter tool's with toilet paper for brains. They walk among us and we sadly come in contact with them now and again.

I agree, though some of those brains are probably more like used toilet paper.😏

One of the things I have tried a couple of times in the past, before we went over to IEM systems, was to put my BBII on it's side in front of me next to my stage monitor with a wedge( rack case cover) under the front to tilt it upwards towards me and amp on a stand behind me. Then i could adjust the balance between the monitor mix and the direct sound from my bass cab. I could actually have my bass a lot lower and having the cab facing me gave me a better sound. . This worked well when there was a lot of space on stage for the cab in as well as the singer.  But we had a few gigs in a row where the stage was quite compact and we needed space for the lead vocalist to move around so i couldn't keep that idea going. Now we are using  IEM i don't use cabs for that band.

I use 5 strings for virtually every gig i do. Occasionally if i get a gig where all the tracks don’t need the heft of the lower B string i will use a 4 string. Even when i use a 5 string on classic reggae tracks for gigs i tend to stay off the B string just to keep the tone closer to the original. 
i would like to gig more with a 4 string. 

Stephen Jay has an interesting solution.

On 03/01/2013 at 20:36, jazzyvee said:

[quote name='bassman344' timestamp='1357231608' post='1919507']
This reads quite impressive.

I don't mean to be controversial and start a whole sequence of this and that, but why did it tarnish in the first place in only 9 years to a degree where they (Alembic) were unhappy with it ?
Would someone who lives in the European area be fit to get the same level of attention under warranty I wonder.....

http://basschat.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/%3C#EMO_DIR%23%3E/blush.png
[/quote]
At the time my bass was made apparently they were using a different plater for their hardware and the plater cut corners on some of their orders and unfortunately mine was one of those. Needless to say they don't use that company any longer. I think European owners would get the same attention. However if I remember correctly the owner pays shipping out to the USA and Alembic pays shipping back for warranty work.

I've had my bass for 11 years now and the plating still looks like new.

On 05/03/2024 at 18:55, dmccombe7 said:

I don't know enough about Alembics to comment but on TB a guy bought one for $700 but the elctronics had been replaced with something else and you can only get the original parts from Alembic and apparently cost a fortune. From what i've read the bass only sounds like an Alembic with the original electronics. 

The general consensus is that they are decent well built basses.

Dave

Yep i believe you can only get the original electronics from them as long as you can provide the serial number. Though you can buy single filter activator systems.

I hadn't used this bass much for a good number of years. Mainly because i play mainly 5 string and well it's purple and has that P-bass sound which when I bought it i didn't really understand what that meant nor was that keen on once i found out what it was. Then a 3 or 4 years back i had a gig backing a singer on some classic soul and funk and decided to take this one along for a change. It sounded great so i decided to give it a chance with a makeover, refret, new pickups to match and chrome knobs to match the hardware, then re-strung last year with flats. Still not sure how long i will keep them on that bass but for now they sound fine for the 70's tracks i've been practicing and gives me a bass with a different tonal vibe. 

The bass looks in really good nick. The thing i would also suggest is to make sure the electronics are original as they are extremely expensive to buy from the factory. I've seen many alembics on sale over the year with non original electronics inside. Not that alternative electronics won't sound good but it won't give you the full alembic experience.

Nice, that looks in good nick. 

On 29/02/2024 at 13:25, dmccombe7 said:

No different from me seeing an advert in England. I would always go try a bass before buying, especially at that kind of price.

Dave

and especially for a facebook sale. I don't really know what protecting you get buying from the FB market place if it wasn't as described.

I have 30.75", 34" and 35" and no difficulties switching between any. I do prefer a short scale 4 string bass.

Superb album with some top notch musicianship. I remember seeing the band live at a place called the Coachhouse in  California whilst on a holiday in 93. Got to meet Billy Cobham and Larry Carlton after the gig too. 

I am so far i've started working my way through some of the exercises on there. 

14 hours ago, chris_b said:

Not always so great. I asked for an open-ended loan of an Alembic and no one bothered to reply!!

I must have missed that post. I have 5 stringer that is up for sale and would have replied. 

What is the scale length?

That's an incredible looking bass and i'm a big alembic fanboy. Madagascar Ebony is one of my favourite woods for Alembics and they don't come up for sale often.

All the best with the sale. 

I had my bass refinished from it's all see through purple finish to a clear finish to show the Quilted Maple top. I had a refret done, new chrome knobs and new pickups which are cream but i don't have a picture of those on this computer.

I had the refinish and refret done by Toby Diggins at Jaydee Custom Guitars...... and this is the first bass i have kept flats on.  They have been on for about 6 months now and i have to say i have taken a liking to how they sound on this bass. That said I doubt if my other basses will get flats.

Fine looking modification!

Does it still have all the variax gubbings inside or have you changed those too?

There is no gear i need to get this year and i have decided to re-start double bass lessons which i'm sure will do mor for my bass playing than new gear. I started just before covid and haven't really found enough time to get back to it. Had the first one a couple of weeks ago and have another tomorrow.