Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

pete.young

Member
  • Posts

    4,584
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by pete.young

  1. 8 minutes ago, Dood said:

    You’ll be pleased to hear I have taken delivery of the latest version with the on board transformer balanced line out. It will be getting my usual in-depth review very soon, you’re in for a treat!

    Thank you Dood. I shall look forward to this review, even if the OP seems to have disappeared without trace!

    • Like 1
  2. 16 hours ago, Kateplaysbass said:

    Actually, whilst I have all you knowledgeable folk assembled, can I ask a follow up question? 

     

    I'm puzzled by the speaker outputs on the CTM 100. They look like 1/4 jacks to me, and that's what the Ashdown website says they are. However it says on the rear panel 'Use Neutrik touchproof connectors only'. This is confusing me. I know Neutrik usually equals Speakon, but these don't look like Speakon sockets. The CTM 300 says 'use Speakon connectors only' so I presume Ashdown are intentionally drawing a distinction, but I've googled 'Neutrik touchproof connectors' and not got much back.

     

    It works with a standard 1/4 jack speaker cable, but I don't want to continue using that if it's liable to damage either me or the amp! I don't currently possess any Speakon cables, so I can't just try one out. 

     

    Can anyone advise what cable I should be using? 

     

    I use something like this: https://www.studiospares.com/pro-neutrik-killer-watt-speaker-lead-speakon-to-mono-1-4-inch-jack-1m-25m.htm

     

    This design of 1/4 jack plug is more robust and allows the use of greater diameter cable.

     

    I think that the explanation for this might be that Ashdown has used the decals made for the CTM300 (which does have Neutrik) on the CTM100,. Maybe they ran out, or didn't bother printing separate decals for the CTM100.

     

    If you daisy-chain your VB115 with this cab, you're presenting an overall load of about 2.6 Ohms. 2/3 of the power will go to the VB115 and only 1/3 to the LB212. If you want to move more air, i'd say your best bet is to sell the VB115 and buy another LB212.

  3. @scalpy are you still head of music?

     

    My children's experience of school music lessons was much more positive than many of those detailed here. All 3 went to a school with great music department and the eldest in particular revelled in it, eventually going on to study music technology at Surrey. There was a lot of hands on, and the schoool had an annual 'We've got talent' showcase for any musical acts throughout the school which provided a massive focus and peer acceptability.

     

    My own experience was also massively positive, especially in what they now call year 7. Our music teacher was inspirational, charismatic, slightly eccentric and adored by the whole school. I especially remember lessons on the double bass and the electronic music system MUSYS developed by Peter Grogono, some 50-plus-a-bit years later. This amazing man went on to be one of the most prolific composers of the 20th/21st century and possibly the greatest living English composer. Prof. Edward Cowie. At the time, we had no idea how fortunate we were to be taught by one of the

    greatest composers of modern times. He's pretty handy with a paintbrush too.

    • Like 2
  4. I depped on Eb tuba for a championship section brass band once, at a beer night.

     

    I arrived as directed about an hour before the start and was handed a pad full of music, each piece had a number, altogether about 130 pieces in numerical order.  I would estimate that I'd played about 10% of them so the rest was a sight-reading job.

     

    The twist was that for beer nights, the MD didn't like any gap between the songs. No set list, and no time to put the pieces in order. So while you were playing one song, the MD signalled the number of the next song and you had to find it in the pad, while covering your part. This is fine for Soprano Cornet who usually has at least 50 bars rest, not so much for the Eb bass although there are two of you so you can take it in turns.

     

    About half way through the first set - No. 53 . Sir Duke. OMG. Interesting challenge to sightread that bass run on a tuba. At least they didn't do it Nathan-East style with each phrase in a different key.

     

    I thought I did OK and so did the other Eb, maybe he was just being polite because I wasn't asked back.

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1
  5. My EDB-1 preamp has a phase reversal switch, which reverses the phase of Channel 2. Since I've been using my piezo through Channel 1, this might explain why it doesn't seem to do a lot! At least thanks to this thread I have now RTFM, so I will swap over and see what happens.

     

    My iAmp Doubler has a phase control knob:  "Phase Control: The Doubler features an innovative 180 degree sweep able phase control to adjust the phase between Channel 1 and Channel 2. This control only works when BOTH Channel 1 and Channel 2 inputs are being used"

     

    The moral of the story seems to be  that not all phase switches or controls are the same.

     

     

     

    • Like 2
  6. On 04/04/2024 at 13:11, BigJHW said:

    I hadn't considered getting a powered sub as a solution because we use a power amp and passive PA cabs.

    As someone who has "zero" clue when it comes to PA's

    how would i go about connecting a powered sub to passive PA cabs.. Can i just use the "line Output" from the back of the passive cab? Or will that also take power from the PowerAmp and try to power the already powered sub?
     

     

    One option might be to use a 'Group Bus' output on your mixer, assuming it has them, to send an input to the sub. You probably don't want to put everything through it, just bass guitar channel and maybe a bit of kick drum.

     

    Edit: After I posted this I saw that you are using a Midas MR18 so it doesn't have group buses, but @Downunderwonder suggestion of a spare aux will work just as well. My analogue Yamaha mixer has group buses so someone else reading the thread might find the idea useful. Maybe group buses have been swept away in the digital revolution, I'm still firmly stuck in the last century!

  7. On 06/04/2024 at 00:04, Paddy Morris said:

     

    it inverts the absolute polarity of that single input.  Makes very little difference at mid and high frequencies.  But at low frequencies where the wavelength is very long, inverting the waveform can alter the speaker to instrument feedback path quite significantly.  Might make it less feedback prone, but also might make it worse. Definitely worth a shot.

    Thank you @Paddy Morris for a great explanation, I'll give it a try next time i encounter problems (which with the current band will be sooner rather than later, alas).

  8. 46 minutes ago, NickA said:

    phase switch will sort it ..but it sounds a bit weird to the player as the amp cancels out the bass itself.

     

     

     

     I have been given to understand that the phase switch is used when you have two forms of input, such as a microphone and a piezo, and you want to adjust the phase between the two signals. What effect does it have on a single input?

  9. 22 hours ago, velvetkevorkian said:

    Growl = lots of mids

    Hifi = too much treble

    😬

    On a note serious note I'm happy to listen to recommendations for any 2 pickup, 4 knob config, ideally with a mid control.

    I have a 4-pot Nordstrand in one of my Bass Collections which works very well and wasn't expensive. Not sure how I'd describe sound colouring but I think the pickups have a much bigger effect on this aspect than the pre-amp does.

     

    Nordstrand has a blend pot; a volume pot with a pull-switch for active-passive; a stacked treble/bass pot; and a stacked midrange cut/boost and frequency selector. I think Bass Direct have them new, I pickup up mine second-hand on here.

    • Like 2
  10. 17 hours ago, David Cook said:

    Thanks all for your valued inputs. Just to clarify pete.young it is not an acoustic bass I have but a Gibson SJ 200 acoustic with an aftermarket Fishman Matrix Blend fitted with an under saddle pickup and a goose neck mic. I have tried running this to to our desk from a wedge monitor. The sound man says he has no control over my signal which through his headphones sound loud and boomy. Hence my purchase of the Rumble to double up for bass duties and for when I play acoustic.

     

    The Fishman Matrix system is an expensive and very high quality system for acoustic guitar, so it's quite hard to see how running it through a budget bass guitar amp is going to make it sound any better. Rather than run it through a wedge monitor, you will get the best results by sending the signal straight to the desk , and then sending a signal back to the monitor from one of the Aux Sends on the desk.

    • Like 2
  11. If you have an acoustic bass with a piezo pickup and no built-in pre-amp, that is likely to require an input resistance of more than 1 MOhm. I'm not sure what the specs are for that particular Rumble, so that might be an issue. If your acoustic bass has a pre-amp, it should be fine. What electro-acoustic bass do you have?

     

    I've not used the Caline but it looks like a decent SansAmp clone for not much money. It will probably improve the sound of your bass, or at least give you more control over it. I can't find a spec for the input resistance though - this won't matter if you already have a preamp. 

  12. My latest banjo project - this all started when the long-scale Cort tenor finally succumbed to the fractured neck joint. I was looking for a cheap replacement neck and a UK luthier-made one popped up on ebay, so I bought it. I then spent a couple of months plucking up the courage to drill the neck for the horrible cheap single-rod fixing, and generally deciding that the neck deserved a nicer pot. Then 2 things happened: firstly, I found a way of fixing the headstock break on the original neck, and secondly the same luthier put up a ready made pot with hardware, so I bought that too.

     

    The neck has now been fixed to the pot and I am waiting for some tuners, a tailpiece and a bridge so that I can string it up.

     

    image.thumb.png.3720bbc92f97bbec270bbf8043a4f179.png

     

    image.thumb.png.7ce718fb2972c96db1c2873857afd91a.png

    • Like 2
×
×
  • Create New...