icastle

[quote name='bobbytodd' post='1017123' date='Nov 9 2010, 06:32 AM']to be honest im glad its gone.ive had quite a few problems with the head and also the 15" cab.problems like the thermal protection cutting in poorly constructed pcb's bad solder joints.[/quote] Such as shame, they used to make such good kit that is still working 40+ years later.

[quote name='knicknack' post='1014708' date='Nov 6 2010, 08:02 PM']Hi All, I'm currently playing an active bass - but I'm not quite getting the tone/sound I want out of it. I have an outboard preamp on order (possibly for a different bass), and I was thinking of running the bass through this before sticking it into the Active input channel to see if the outboard pre gives me the tone I want. If I like the sound, will it damage the amp at all? Also, is this process normal?! Ultimately I am considering replacing the current active EQ and p/ups in the bass to something else, but I simply don't have the time or money for such a project at the moment. I just wondered what your thoughts are on an Active setup into an outboard pre and then the amp? Cheers[/quote] Running an active preamp into another active preamp is only normal insofar as your bass amp has an active preamp in it. I've never tried doing what you are suggesting but I'd say that daisy chaining two active preamps together and then feeding that into the preamp of your bass amp is going to result in some rather nasty distortion at best. If it was me doing it, I wouldn't

[quote name='Changles' post='1016807' date='Nov 8 2010, 07:43 PM']So the valve in my TD650 has come to the end of its life. I bought the amp second hand a few months back and the previous owner had put in a Marshall ec883. I don't know much about the different valves out there. Is this a good valve for a TD650? Or is anything better that I should buy? Does it even matter?! Give me a clue! Thanks Changles[/quote] Valves come in different grades, but essentially any ECC83 or 12AX7 will work but some work better than others. Marshall valves are rebranded Svetlana's if that's any help? Try [url="http://www.watfordvalves.com/"]http://www.watfordvalves.com/[/url] - I had a set of valves off them for an ENGL combo recently and they were happy to advise.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1016753' date='Nov 8 2010, 07:07 PM']I guess the rear sockets are useful if your using rack gear that also has rear sockets. It keeps it all neat on the front. Personally i would prefer it all around the back so the leads dont block quick access to the knobs on the fornt. Hmmm...That all sounds a bit pervy.[/quote] 'Course it sounds pervy - you're a bass player Don't get me wrong - sockets round the back are just fine for stuff that rarely gets used, it's just that my DI socket gets used all the while and would be easier if it was on the front. I guess the nearest analogy would be having the input sockets round the back - it would work but be bl**dy inconvenient...

[quote name='Count Bassie' post='1016742' date='Nov 8 2010, 07:02 PM']Hey, you know what you could do is... [/quote] Aaaargh! That's it - I'm gonna go wrap my head in aluminium foil...

[quote name='DanOwens' post='1016733' date='Nov 8 2010, 06:59 PM']Thanks everyone for this! I'm not as intellectual as some of this may seem, but I do like to write and I do like to think![/quote] Can't say I buy into your whole set of views (we are all different after all) but it is an elegant and eloquent argument

[quote name='LiamPodmore' post='1016724' date='Nov 8 2010, 06:54 PM']I've seen some people get around this by getting a short (1ft) XLR Extension and leaving it permanently plugged in, and taping the other end to the case, so its easier to access it to plug into. Might be an idea for you to try. Liam[/quote] LMAO - get out of my damn head Liam! I'm sat here halfway through making one now!

[quote name='flyfisher' post='1016662' date='Nov 8 2010, 06:20 PM'][i]"there are a great number of bass players I know who also want to distance themselves from the ‘quiet-but-reliable guy at the back’ image constructed by the media when writing about bassists"[/i] Constructed by the media or reflected by the media? Whichever, I'm actually quite content being the 'quiet-but-reliable-guy-at-the-back', (well, loud-but-reliable ), having never, ever, craved the limelight. And I don't use effects pedals. Does all that make me a disgrace to the fraternity?[/quote] Like you, I'm quite content to be reliable. I became a bass player so I wouldn't have to stand at the front and the first gig I ever played was in a cellar wine bar and all the audience could see of me was my left hand poking out from behind a pillar There's a Health & Safety issue as well, there's a risk of nasty chaffing if you fall off a pedestal

[quote name='Jerry_B' post='1016539' date='Nov 8 2010, 04:32 PM']And someone would always say 'Well, he's not as good as...' despite what one thinks of oneself [/quote] Yes. That's exactly it. My philosophy on life has been that no matter how good you are at something there will [b]always[/b] be someone better at it than you. It keeps my feet on the ground and my head the right way up.

[quote name='PenrynJim' post='1016624' date='Nov 8 2010, 05:39 PM']Hi guys, I recently got a beautiful 2nd hand Hohner B2A, which I've been very happy with. I was due to set it up and on inspection, noticed two tiny bolts missing! They're the bolts that allow you to set the friction on the de-tuning lever and the de-tuning knob. I've found photos of them in this pdf document from the Steinberger site: [url="http://www.steinberger.com/images/DB.pdf"]http://www.steinberger.com/images/DB.pdf[/url] The bolts in question are photographed being adjusted in photos DB3 and DB4. Can anyone help me identify their exact size and type so I can hunt some replacements down, or even better does anyone know where I could get some from? Thanks in advance guys! Jim.[/quote] Hi Jim, Have you tried Hohner themselves? [url="http://www.hohner.eu/index.php5?2183"]http://www.hohner.eu/index.php5?2183[/url]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='1016572' date='Nov 8 2010, 05:01 PM']I highly recommend it - although my biggest success so far has been punting a 1963 Watkins Rapier for £250. Paid £6 for it but it needed a [i]lot[/i] of restoration. J.[/quote] Cool I'm off to the bootfair to buy a pre CBS scrotumcaster... ... anyone know if they still make Letraset?

[quote name='DanOwens' post='1016364' date='Nov 8 2010, 02:08 PM']Hey guys, My recent blogpost deals with perceptions of hierarchy and how we use our equipment to establish it. [url="http://mrdfowens.tumblr.com/post/1515874283/effects-as-a-catalyst-for-consumerist-one-upmanship"]The blog is here[/url]. Please have a read and tell me if you agree / disagree. It certainly made me feel a bit dirty to be writing it. Dan[/quote] Dan, A well considered and analysed set of thoughts there. Couple of things jumped out as I was reading it... (very slowly as I'm not very clever ) [i]"These players want to make big strides towards new and interesting sounds in the same way I do, but the distance we put between ourselves and the perceived norm seems like a caricature of teenage rebellion". [/i] Isn't teenage rebellion an extended caricature of what makes humans human though? That stubborn streak that makes us want to prove to ourselves that we are all different (despite the fact we really don't need to)? History is made up of people who "did things differently" - Newton, Einstein, Ford, Thatcher - all went against the grain of accepted normality but you couldn't really class them as rebellious teens. [i]"We might buy instruments that look different, play through amplifier setups more akin to small PA systems rather than Ampeg 8x10s and build small forts for ourselves out of pedal boards and synthesizers, but is all of this necessary to create our sounds or is it indicative of the elitist attitude amongst us as a community?" [/i] As soon as more than one person has anything there will be differences - a Fender P looks fundementally like a Musicman at first glance to an untrained eye. As in all proffessions\hobbies, there will be people that amass enormous amounts of kit that seems pretty unnecessary to someone else. The last laugh is on the person who doesn't realise they are overkitted - it can easily empty your pockets quicker than you can fill them [i]"We try hard to make sure that when we get on stage, people know we’re different from the band on before us before we’ve even played a note. Perceived distance between ‘us’ and ‘them’ allows us to engage in the hierarchical nature of live music performance and revel in our own stature."[/i] But isn't that what makes music what it is? Western music at it's most fundamentally basic level is just seven notes muddled up to create an almost infinite number of tunes. The only differences (when you disregard the order that the notes are played in) by their very nature have to be around the skills and personalities involved in playing those notes - and as we are all different some are going to be better than others. A self perpetuated position within that hierarchy is worthless - it's where [b]others[/b] put us in that hierarchy that matters. [i]"On www.basschat.co.uk and www.talkbass.com, the new Squier ranges of guitars and basses are very highly thought of. A standardisation of key desirable features combined with a high standard of manufacture and quality control means players all over the world have embraced these instruments with an attitude akin to reverse-snobbery. Players revel in the fact that their guitar only cost £150 and sounds better to them that the £2200 Gibson Darkfire that the accountant in the previous band was playing. This is an interesting phenomenon which I believe to reflect Britain’s constant class-struggle and is an observation I continue to enjoy in our competitive environment. I suppose that this kind of snobbery is probably a bit healthier than other forms simply because the owner of the cheaper guitar elevates their status based on a knowledge of the market and community rather than simply a bank balance, but it still reeks of hierarchy and our need not to be better than anyone, but to be seen to be better."[/i] Is it a class struggle or pride in the fact that the Squire owner can achieve what they need to achieve without spending 20x the amount? I went looking for a fretless jazz a year or two back - I tried the MIA and liked it, I tried an MIM and couldn't tell the difference. I'd budgeted for an MIA and came out with a MIM, a pocketfull of spare cash and the satisfaction of knowing that I'd got an instrument I was happy with.

[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='1015963' date='Nov 8 2010, 06:32 AM']That's pretty funny, and a rather close analogy too [/quote] [url="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2005/jun/14/uknews"]http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2005/jun/14/uknews[/url] I'm waiting for Spray-on Clean to hit the market...

[quote name='Count Bassie' post='1016406' date='Nov 8 2010, 02:36 PM']I have always been scratching my head about why Effects Send/Return loops and other potentially useful connections are so often at the back panel. I do all my playing and pedal-stomping from the front-side of my amp, where I stand when playing. The only jack I want to see at the back is the Speaker jack(s). Put the rest of 'em on the face! I think it's a useless feature that requires one to spend time leaning over their amp in the dark. My older Trace Elliot AH250 has Send/Returns on the front panel, and the newer GK heads do also. Well-done.[/quote] The little engineering demon on my shoulder is whispering to me that I should really drill some holes in the 1U blanking plate and run extension sockets from the rear of the amp. ...but then again, it's good to have something to moan about occasionally

[quote name='dood' post='1016347' date='Nov 8 2010, 01:46 PM'] Brilliant![/quote] I was trying to get Senility in there as well but lost track of what I was doing half way through...

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1016141' date='Nov 8 2010, 10:55 AM']Can you explain this, I'm trying to get my head around why it'd be a problem?[/quote] My amp is flightcased along with a couple of rack mounted sound processors. By the time you have all the internal cabling for those, plus a bundle of mains leads plus a pair of speakons coming out of the back, getting to the DI socket is a royal pain. It's also about 7" from the back of the flightcase to the back of the amp as well. I have an old Hartke HA3000 which actually has the XLR on the front of the unit and I found that sooooo much easier to use.

I generally have a quick listen to it on YouTube and then use an acoustic bass to work out what goes where/when - thats just a convenience thing. Unless the song has a really distinctive bassline I just use my interpretation of it. I have never got to grips with tabs - they look too much like demented sudoku (sp?) to me so I use my ears and just feel for the rhythm. I've never actually asked what other members of the bands I play in use - we generally come up with a list of tunes and come back ready to rehearse them.

[quote name='Bassassin' post='1016209' date='Nov 8 2010, 11:57 AM']He's got a similarly optimistic/mentally challenged/archly comic (delete to fit personal theory) mate in Bath: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BASS-GUITAR-GIBSON-LOGO-LED-ZEPELLIN-JACK-BRUCE_W0QQitemZ130452604384"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BASS-GUITAR-GIBSON-L...emZ130452604384[/url] And you even get STICKERS with this one! J.[/quote] [i]It isn't a Gibson but if you were 10 feet away from the stage it would be difficult to hear or see the difference. [/i] ...unless the light unfortunately showed the rippled paint effect on the Humbrol painted headstock... I'm off to the carboot next weekend to find myself a few grands worth of guitars for a tenner - couple of those a month and it'd sure beat working for a living

[quote name='Subthumper' post='1000203' date='Oct 25 2010, 03:55 PM']I'm hooked, anyone got anything more useless than that?[/quote] You mean apart from the box of instruction leaflets I found last week for stuff I can't remember ever having owned? DI socket on the back of the amp (many makes) - PITA to get to when it's flight-cased. Octaver on Peavey Tour 700 - does anyone [b]really [/b]want to create a sound like that on purpose? Effects loop on Line6 LD750 - there isn't one! MultiFX units that are smarter than me and use alphanumeric gobbldygook instead of a sensible name that you can actually remember from one use to the next Electroharmonix Chorus effect that Line6 seem to like - about as subtle as Marianne Faithfull eating a Mars bar [i]erm.... ...that last one came out loud didn't it? [/i]

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1005955' date='Oct 30 2010, 12:07 AM']I've just got the one atm, but seriously tempted to get a lightweight rig too for practices and small gigs. My current rig is my dream rig, it's just a royal PITA to lug a 1kw head and a 4x10 to practices, very tempting to get a micro head and 2 small cabs (maybe 2 neo 1x12s). Please just tell me I'm being stupid and I only need one amp. [/quote] I have two: Hartke HA3000 with a VX410 and that lives in the rehearsal studio (I'm lazy!). Peavey Tour 700 with a Warwick WCA115 and a Warwick WCA210 - I mix and match as I need to

[quote name='alternativejoe' post='1012566' date='Nov 4 2010, 09:00 PM']I play through a Hartke LH500 (which is 500W at 4 Ohms and 350W at 8 Ohms) through a 410XL cab (which is 8 Ohms and a maximum of 400W), therefore, the amp is only running at 350W and there's no chance of blowing the amp/cab Now, if I decided to get another 410XL and put it in parallel with the other one, which would reduce the resistance to 4 Ohms across both cabs, does this mean that a) 500W are going into each cab and they're likely to blow OR 250W are going into each cab and it's safe. If it's option b, is it exactly the same as buying an 810XL which is a single cabinet with a maximum of 800W at 4 Ohms? Would really like to know before I go shelling out for an 810XL, cheers.[/quote] IMO the other advantages to using a pair of 410XL cabs instead of an 810XL is that you have: a) Resilience - less chance of total failure if you are splitting the work over two seperate bits of hardware. Scalability - you can take a small rig out or a bigger one if you need to. c) Portability - it's a damn sight easier to move a couple of sideboards than a wardrobe d) Illility - ok, I made that one up but you'll reduce the time off work for back problems and hernias

[quote name='bobbytodd' post='1011175' date='Nov 3 2010, 06:27 PM']hi all right my problem is this when i plug my 450h into the mixing desk it causes the signal to peak even when the gain on the bass channel is right down.so apart from using a mic is there anything i could do to solve this problem cheers rob[/quote] Hi Rob, Two things spring to mind here: 1) The Pre and Post selector on the back of the amp: If you're expecting the signal to disappear when you turn the Master Volume down you need to have it set to PRE (button sticking out). If the button has been pushed in (perhaps in transit?) then everything comes out of the XLR regardless of where the Master Volume is set. As it's silly o'clock in the morning, I may have that totally back to front, so try it the other way round as well... 2) I've found duff XLR cables also create havoc so perhaps try swapping that out as well?

[quote name='Lemming16' post='1015941' date='Nov 8 2010, 01:52 AM']Hi guys. I just saw on a pawnshop here in Mexico (Where new amp prices are ridiculously high, total ripoff), an Acoustic 220 Bass Head, i've read in some places that it is 120 watts, and in other places that it is 170 watts. (Here's the full info [url="http://acoustic.homeunix.net/twiki/bin/view/Acoustic/BassHead220)"]http://acoustic.homeunix.net/twiki/bin/vie...ic/BassHead220)[/url] It is $110 USD. I am planning on getting it with a Peavey 15" Cab for $130 usd from other pawnshop It would be a total of $240. Thea Acoustic 220 is like this one I'm also being offered for $150, a Randall RBA-500 Es, which is 300 RMS on two different channels i think. He says for $320, i can take both the Randall RBA-500 Es with a 2x15 cab with Randall Jaguars. It's exactly this one. The thing is, i havent found almost any info about this amp. Which one do you think it would be better? in terms of sound and value? I would use it with an Aria Pro II TSB-550. I am just starting. Also, what kind of cab do you recommend using these heads with? Thanks. P.S: Do you guys think the Acoustic 220 would give me enough volume for a gig? P.S2: I am planning on using it with a POD X3 (It has pretty good bass amps)[/quote] Acoustic Corp went bust quite a while back and this amp is probably getting on for 40 years old. The difference in quoted output power is related to the impedance of the speakers attached to it - a 2 ohm cab gives you 165W and a 4 ohm cab will give you 125W. The Peavey cab will be either 4 or 8 ohms - so you will never get 165W output using that particular rig. Randall still exist. As far as I can make out it's 250W + 250W into two 4 ohm cabs (a 2 ohm total load). I'd say that this is going to be marginally louder than the Acoustic. I'd probably go for the Randall based purely on the fact that they still exist. HTH

[quote name='Bassman Sam' post='1015920' date='Nov 8 2010, 01:00 AM']In my last band, I cocked badly one gig and one of the guitarists had a Sh*t fit in the dressing room afterwards. The rest of the band took the piss in a good way and when talking to the crowd, no one had noticed. Great feeling at the next gig when said guitarist came in have way though the into in the wrong key, even the crown took the piss, bliss. [/quote] Back in '92 I was playing in a 7 piece Irish band (I'm half Welsh - go figure!?!). One evening we were booked to play a large Irish pub and duly started to arrive and get setup. No sign of the drummer though. We eventually managed to track him down - he was in a pub of the same name... wrong town though He'd walked back and forth carrying drums, set them all up and then switched his mobile on. He then took them all down, carried them all back out to his car and drove off... nobody queried what he was doing or said a word to him while he was doing all this.

[quote name='squire5' post='1013738' date='Nov 5 2010, 08:49 PM']Hi guys.Does anybody know of a distributor of these units APART from Thomann?They don't seem to have a good reputation when it comes to shipping goods outside of Germany. I got one of these a couple of years ago for my Squier VMJ and so far I've had no complaints.I got it from a US company called Guitar Fuel.I've tried emailing them but so far no reply.I want another one for my Squier Precision 5,which as you probably know,has the same pickup configuration as the Jazz bass. Anybody know of another supplier? Thanks.[/quote] ARTEC use Stentor as their UK importer - their retail arm is [url="http://www.touchstonetonewoods.co.uk/"]http://www.touchstonetonewoods.co.uk/[/url] - their website is horrid but given time and determination you'll probably find them in there somewhere HTH