watchman

I'll be interested to try one of these too. I have an SVT 15" cabinet which I really like, and which is very light and portable with castors. It only handles 200 watts though, and this has proven a limitation for what I do. The PF 15", taking 450 watts, looks really cool and may be the answer to my problems for small gigs.

[quote name='allighatt0r' post='1185729' date='Apr 2 2011, 12:47 PM']An 8x10 is COMPLETELY ridiculous for a pub gig. Are you out of your mind?!?![/quote] I tend to use a 6x10" for pub gigs, and small ones at that. I like the sound. What can I say? It is entirely possible that I'm out of my mind, of course, but it's feeling good.

[quote name='dlloyd' post='1184850' date='Apr 1 2011, 03:08 PM']If it's a Shiny black Fender with no pickguard that sounds like a precision that you're after... there's always this: [/quote] That's really nice-looking. I like a simple bass. Japanese I assume?

The one I tried out seemed pretty fair. It rang really well, very lively. I've noticed the Classic Vibes are like that as well. My own tastes in sound are for something thumpy, but then that's what the tone control is for. Always nice to have a bass with a good lively sound in the first place, since it's not really possible to add what isn't getting to the amp in the first place. On the whole, I don't think you can go far wrong with the Squiers at the money, provided you pick a good 'un.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='1184602' date='Apr 1 2011, 12:39 PM']Very few people have anything good to say about the Little Giant.[/quote] I'm one of them then. LG 1k, gigged hard for over a year now. No issues, love the sound too. Cheap too (£250 or so IIRC).

[quote name='barkin' post='1175912' date='Mar 25 2011, 02:53 PM']Hi all, I've just acquired an old Carlsbro Marlin 6-300 PA mixer/amp - seems to work fine and will do us for vocals at small pub gigs etc. But..I've no manual or user guide, and can't find anything on the net about it. I've also asked Carlsbro, with no luck. I'm really just curious about a couple of things: Speaker impedance, just so's I don't do anything silly with it. There's a couple of sockets marked "slave" on the rear panel, next to the "preamp out" socket, and I've no idea what they're for. Very grateful for any info, or pointers. cheers.[/quote] As you say, it'll do for vocals at pub gigs perfectly well. I had a look around on the web too, and as you say there is nothing. I guess your best bet is to give it a shot with some 8 ohm cabs to be on the safe side. Slave sockets will be inputs or outputs to either use the power amp in the Carlsbro or to allow you to use additional power amps running from it. Perhaps one is an input and the other an output? They'll be line level in both cases, which means that if you start all the levels at zero you shouldn't risk anything by trial and erroring, say, putting an mp3 player into each and seeing whether you get an output from the Carlsbro. Alternatively, and this is what I'd do, ignore the slave sockets and just use it as cheap vocal PA as you suggest. It may well be happy with 4 ohm cabs. Is there no dire imprecation by the speaker outputs? If it'll throw a fit at less than 8 ohms there's a good chance that the sockets will be labelled to say so... Sorry not to be more help. I'm really surprised that there isn't more info out there given how common these things were back in the day.

[quote name='ern500evo' post='1183648' date='Mar 31 2011, 06:05 PM']If i change the HZ's for 35DC's would i retain the tonepump, and would the controls on the bass stay the same, volume, volume, bass, treble? Also, would both pickups and the tonepump all link off the one battery or would i need to add another? Sorry if this all sounds like a stupid question but i'm not that tech minded when it comes to bass electronics! Needless to say it'll be someone else doing the actual install! By the way, that is an amazing collection of spectors you have there! This is my first one and i absolutely love it, It's only a cheaper model but it feels great to play, my USA Precision hardly gets a look in now!![/quote] Can't see why you shouldn't be able to run it all off one battery. The controls will stay the same whatever you do, short of changing the preamp

[quote name='mcnach' post='1182886' date='Mar 30 2011, 11:52 PM']I've just spent nearly an hour playing this bass, and it's terrific. Lighter than the Sue Ryder P-basses too, and more comfortable neck. For some reason it makes me play ska/reggae. Funny how some instruments seem to dictate what you play, eh?[/quote] It's not my bass that makes me play reggae

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1183100' date='Mar 31 2011, 10:55 AM']The B2.1U is a great pedal (I remember the ZNR being particularly useful on it) but with all the different parameters it's possible to layer on a single preset it's quite easy to over do it and end up with some real mushy effects. Have you considered a factory reset and just staring over. I like my L-1000 just straight in.... but it's different beast really.[/quote] I've got one of those Zooms, and generally I've found that the only way of getting any useful results out of it - and others of its ilk - is to create a few presets where you take everything off and get the thing "flat", then work at it parameter by parameter to get some sounds you like. I'm not an expert, however, as I chiefly use it as a tuner and an eq and haven't really messed around with much else on it. Octaver was fairly rubbish, but then they always seem to be. I don't use it any more, and reminded of its existence I should probably sell mine and buy some more flatwounds with the money...

[b] First Bass Owned: Some B&M short-scale thing, in 1976. I was very glad of it at the time... 'Go To' Bass: Yamaha BB414 'Your' Bass: Yamaha BB414 (lightly modded) [/b]

[quote name='TRBboy' post='1182105' date='Mar 30 2011, 12:55 PM']I managed to fit an Aguilar OBP2-SK in my BB414 with no modification, it was a tight fit though![/quote] Yeah, but that's cheating - they're tiny

[quote name='Cygnus x-1' post='1181376' date='Mar 29 2011, 08:46 PM']On the subject of Spector Legends. I have got one not so long ago and am getting to really like it. My question is, as the pickups are passive but the tone pump is active, if the tone controls are set to off, is the bass passive? I know it's prob a noob question but I was wondering if the battery went mid gig, if the bass would still work with tones in off position. If I have this totally wrong can a Spector expert explain (in simple terms) how the tone pump functions? cheers.[/quote] Not a Spector expert, but in most active basses there either is or is not a switch to bypass the preamp and go passive. Without such a switch, there's not a hope that you'll get anything if the battery is dead. Even with a switch, I would hesitate to guarantee that it'll route the signal passively - the bass would need to be wird for what in effects pedal terms would be called true bypass. Carry a spare battery

I have a Little Giant, and I've been very happy with it. It gets no special treatment, and I've done around 25 lengthy gigs with it using a variety of cabs. The constant is that I have always run it pretty much full up, or certainly at the point where it was working hard. No trouble yet. Blew up my previous Ashdown (the cheap 300w 1x15" combo), but that was pretty much a case of sending a boy to do a man's job. I find the Little Giant very clean, and run it flat - more or less - with the deep button engaged. I paid £270 for it new, and if it dies tomorrow then I shan't be in tears. Good amp in my opinion, although doubtless there's better stuff for more money. As regards input level, I agree that it is not the most sensitive amp in the world there. Fortunately I play a BB414, which I tend to have to use on the active input if I'm really going to hammer it, playing power chords and so forth. Basses with less output, and I'm looking at you Fender P or at least the ones I have had, might reward a bit of boost on the way in. Interesting that someone mentioned the ART valve mic preamp here. I have a couple of these 50 quid wonders and use them for all sorts of stuff. Great valve overdrive for a guitar, for example. I will now proceed to try one between a P-Bass I currently have around the place and the Little Giant. I've heard the Little Giant has had reliability issues, and every single Superfly (predecessor) that my local music shop sold blew up, so what can I say? Mine's alright so far. No quibbles with the sound at all, I like it. I suppose it will come down to whatever you are prepared to pay and what you're expecting for it. I tend to regard cheaper gear as cashflow help, not a long-term solution. But then sometimes it surprises.

[quote name='obbm' post='1179658' date='Mar 28 2011, 03:58 PM']500-watt max amp into a 400-watt cab? I think you are worrying needlessly. You'll hear any problems before any damage is done.[/quote] Exactly what I was thinking...

[quote name='chris_b' post='1181862' date='Mar 30 2011, 09:28 AM']No it's not. It's also down to price, weight and effectiveness. Isobaric cabs for bass fail on all three.[/quote] Has to be said that my tryout of the Orange Isobaric one with the 10" speakers left me wondering what all the fuss was about. I don't particularly like lugging my big cabinets around, but every time I fire them up I remember why they need to be so big. And the little Orange was pretty heavy too.

[quote name='hillbilly deluxe' post='1180508' date='Mar 29 2011, 10:14 AM']I've had 3 and 4 pickup basses,the 3 pickup one was a 1973 ? Fender Telecaster bass with the neck humbucker as standard,but with added P and J pickups in their respective positions,it had a fantastic array of sounds,the only reason i got rid of it was because of the weight which was way heavier than any bass that i've owned before or since,and my current one is roughly 12lb.That and the uncontoured body just made it uncomfortable.If i remember right it had 3 vol,1 tone and a Strat 5 way switch.[/quote] That does as though it'd pretty much cover the Fender sounds

[quote name='Brave Sir Robin' post='1180996' date='Mar 29 2011, 04:39 PM']I preferred the BB4xx over the 6xx series, despite the pickup selector and the lack of preamp. Problem is, I just found a K5 that was too good of a deal to pass up.[/quote] Likewise, but then I'm a passive freak (apart from MMs, which I can't presently afford). I had thought that if I were to go the active route in my BB I'd stick in John East's BTB 01, which is the kind of straightforward thing I might be able to cope with. Something that simply swaps for the single tone knob in a bass appeals for experimental purposes. Mind you, if you've ever been in the back of a BB414 you'll see the problem. There's no space! When I put CTS pots in my 414 it was a significant challenge to prevent the new larger pots from grounding out on the shielded cavity. Putting anything else in there is Dremel time for sure. As for the pickup selector, I like it. I leave it in the middle, and it sounds about right. If I want to vary the pickup balance I get out a screwdriver and fiddle with the pickup height, although generally not in the middle of the set I will grant you. I have a P-Bass Special around at the moment, and the Jazz-type control setup seems scarcely more flexible in that the volume pots seem to more or less act as on/off switches for practical purposes. I guess there's a world of tweaking involved in getting this sort of thing working well, but then I only ever liked the neck and the look of Jazzes anyway.

I can't imagine ever getting a Bigsby to stay in tune on a bass! I have a friend who's a Bigsby nut on guitars, and the travails he endures makes me wonder if it's worth it.

I'm all for beat-up instruments myself, although I draw the line at intentional relicing. I have a HWY1 Strat that's coming along nicely just with being played and being kept at hand in a tiny house with a large me, and I love it. I never really feel an instrument's mine until I've played the hell out of it, and it's always good to have an extra incentive to play more!

John East does a pedal-format preamp too, the STMP 01. It's "similar to a J-Retro", according to the web site. It's a little north of 200 quid, mind, but with John you do know it's going to be really good. This would satisfy your urge not to carve up your bass, but probably doesn't fall into the category of cheap.

I think it's pretty cool. Why, I'm less sure.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1180159' date='Mar 28 2011, 10:09 PM']They appeal to me, in theory, but they got pretty bad reviews, or had a jazzy neck, something put me off when I looked into it.[/quote] I also loved them, or at least the appearance and idea of them, at the time. They were quite a recent thing, mind you - certainly not 10+ years ago. A Jazzy neck would have increased the appeal for me, but when I was checking out the online reviews a while back the consensus was that they sounded crap (technical term).

If you accept that I wheel and deal a little, and often end up with a bass or two as a stepping stone to making a few miserable groats where I can, I come very close to qualifying. I have my trusty BB414, somewhat distressed but ultimately the one for me at this point. I have a Dean as a spare, but it sounds terrible and last time I looked it qualified as "retired, knackered". Were it not for some amazing memories attached to it, I'd probably have tarted it up a bit and sold it by now. I have a P-Bass Special too, and it's pretty cool, but I can't see keeping it. I swapped it for a guitar I'd had out on commission sale for a year with no joy, thinking to shift the odds a bit. I'd be perfectly content to just have the BB. Ridiculously, I've yet to find anything that suits me better - and I've looked for ages with a reasonable budget. So if I can claim the P-Bass as moving stock and the Dean as retired, I'm pretty much a one-basser at the moment.

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='978588' date='Oct 5 2010, 05:20 PM']The SUB, though, has been absolutely brilliant from day 1.[/quote] I loved the SUB I had, and persevered with it for six months. Four returns for a setup to the shop and countless tweaks by me later the manager and I had to agree that a refund was in order Never did settle down. As ever, it's all about the specific instrument and much less about the model. At least with mass-produced basses.

[quote name='Adrenochrome' post='709486' date='Jan 11 2010, 11:14 PM']Generally only a small amount. Of course, that small amount could be the 'missing link' in getting the perfect tone for you.[/quote] My feeling too. Getting the pickups right, and in the right place, will be much more vital.