Bass Culture

4 hours ago, fretmeister said:

The little Mooer Ensemble King sounds band on to my ears, with the advantage of having a level control.

 

I have an old CE-2 from 1989 and the Mooer and they can be dialled in the same.

Thank you.  I'll check that one out for starters.

I bought a Boss CE-2 probably 40 years ago, which I used extensively in earlier bands, and then mothballed for years when my band activity reduced.  Stupidly, in a fit of generosity, I gave it to the guitarist of a band I was playing in about 10 years ago.  Predictably, in more recent years I've been enjoying using chorus when noodling at home, especially on fretless, and have tried 2 or 3 others since - including a CEB-3 (I think) and, currently, an EBS Unichorus - and none have sounded as good as the CE-2 (to my ears).  Short of asking for it back again, is there anything out there that sounds like or emulates the CE-2?  I'm not asking for your favourite chorus pedal recommendations, I'm asking if there's anything that sounds the same as a CE-2.  Thanks all.

Sorry all, those links weren't to the strings I was particularly looking at, it was more of a 'a oner - for strings?!'-type comment.  I've actually ordered some off Newtone now.  I appreciate flats tend to be more expensive than roundwounds traditionally anyway, but even so...

Maybe I'm just out of touch! 🙄

Need a new set for my medium scale Zoot Custom bass, and happened to alight upon Strings Direct, where they had a 4 string set of suitable scale length Jim Dunlop's: https://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/collections/bass-guitar-string-sets/products/jim-dunlop-flatwound-bass-strings-45-105-stainless-steel-medium-scale?_pos=5&_fid=55994f256&_ss=c

Thank f**k my Zoot isn't a five string: https://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/collections/bass-guitar-string-sets/products/jim-dunlop-flatwound-bass-strings-45-125-stainless-steel-5-string-medium-scale?_pos=6&_fid=55994f256&_ss=c

BY whatever yardstick one chooses to apply, that is bonkers!!!

Thanks everyone for your interest and likes - these are now SOLD.

I'm selling my Purple Chili two 1x10's mini-stack, made for me about 5 years ago by Mike Walsh of Zoot Bass.  As many will know, Mike offered his own line of cabs a few years back under the Purple Chili banner, and at one time had the UK license for the Fearless/Green Boy cabs, so he knows how to put a great cab together.  There's one tilt-back cab and one box - as you'll see from the photos, the tilt-back sits nicely on top of the square cab to form a great little 400w stack that can be angled so you can hear yourself in tight stage spaces.  The tilt back also has a discrete strip of material (it's not wood, more like a hard, artificial bone-type) attached to the top, which meant I could locate my (TC RH750) amp on it without any risk of it falling off when angled.  Each cab is loaded with a high quality Celestion Neo BN10-200X driver, rated at 200w at 8ohms.  Neither cab has a tweeter.  The sound is nice and full, but punchy and articulate too.  Dimensions are slightly different to compensate for the cut out for the tilt back (see below), but they are the same widths and complement each other perfectly.  They've been used for no more than about 4 or 5 pubs gigs in that time, and have only seen service at (our smoke-free) home other than that, and are in excellent condition.

Dimensions:

Tilt back - 38cm (w) x 37 (d) x 38.5 (h): 7.7kg

Box - 38 (w) x 35 (d) x 36 (h); 6.8kg

The recessed handles combined with light weight make these a very easy carry.  Reason for sale is that I'm clearing the decks ahead of my (hopefully) planned retirement soon and simplifying my set up, as I'm currently bandless and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.  I've no packaging so can't offer delivery at present but Chester is well connected for trains (it's only one stop from Crewe!) - less than an hour from Manchester and Liverpool, and only a couple from London - and these are so light and manageable they could certainly be carried on the train.  I'll happily pick up and return any would-be purchaser to the station too.

So, there we have it.  These are great quality, 'bespoke' cabs, commissioned as a stack but I'm happy to split also.  Priced to sell at £200 each or £375 for the pair.  Thanks all.

16 hours ago, Phil Starr said:

I wonder if there is some manufacturing spread? I would describe my Gnome as whisper quiet and certainly quieter than any other amp I've owned, you should hear my Peavey taking off. At last years SW Bass Bash we looked at all three of the micro amps, we were looking at frequency responses and tone controls so not specifically the fans but I didn't notice any differences at the time.

 

That's interesting. My Gnome certainly isn't whisper quiet.  I wonder if there's any simple checks I could do to establish if the fan is working correctly?  It's not that quiet but nor does it sound like it's not functioning correctly - no noises that sound like interference or anything.

Thanks for the replies so far.  A friend has a BAM also, and I can't remember hearing the fan on his either when he brought it round for us to A/B a few months ago.

I have a Warwick Gnome which I bought on a whim and which I am really enjoying - it's perfect as a small practice set-up (along with my BC House Jam micro cab).  However, as I use it in our lounge and often play at quite low volumes, I can find the fan quite intrusive on occasion.  I wouldn't notice it if accompanying another instrument but alongside low volume recordings, it's reasonably audible.  Just wondering which out of the Gnome, TE Elf and TC BAM 200 has the quietest fan.  Anyone compared them at all?

My memory is a bit foggy but I do recall playing a couple of Peter Cook basses back in the early eighties, when I was distributing leaflets for a local music shop at the London Guitar Show (then called The Live Music Show) at Olympia (I think, could have been Earls Court).  The foggy bit is whether they were set up in the show itself or whether it was down the road in a hotel, as I remember a manufacturer mini-show in a hotel suite down the road, showcasing their wares away from TLMS.  I remember the basses being fabulous though, and gave me my first glimpse of how a handmade, high-end bass compared to its more mass produced brethren. 

Damn you - you've triggered a huge wave 'why the f**k did I move mine on?' regret!  I had the same combo about 20 years ago.

On 25/11/2021 at 08:49, Chienmortbb said:

To be fair witn Fane as with other brands, you get what you pay for. Fane do make some great speakers and sone poor ones but then so do Eminence, Faital Pro, Beyma etc and the biggest problem with changing a speaker as, without the right knowledge, you can turn a silk purse into a sow's  ear,

You're quite right, of course.  I was completely ignorant of the considerations involved in replacing speakers back then, so I suspect I may well have been able to source a much more suitable driver had I referred the query to the BC hive mind.

15 hours ago, TheGreek said:

Another resurrection - I found one for sale and snapped it up. Should be with me tomorrow/ mid week hopefully at which time I'll post photos and a review.

 Full report please! 😊 I'd love to hear how you feel it stacks up against some of your other/previous gear.

Bump for Easter Monday price drop & trade option.

Bump for price drop

Thinking I may have priced this just a little too high, so reduced accordingly.

I bought this from a fellow BC-er, but being currenlty band-less, I know I'm just not going to use it.  So, I have this Tech 21 Flyrig for sale, in excllent condition andwith original tin.  This is the original version, not sure if it differs at all from the V2.so I have this V1 Flyrig for sale.  If you're looking you'll already know what an excellent piece of kit this is (for someone who will actually use it, of course) - covers all the basic needs and includes the Sansamp as well as compression, octaver, fuzz and chorus.  I have to say it makes some great sounds; they're just ones I'm never likely to need or use.  Price includes delivery within the UK.  

Just listed this on ebay with a BIN of £120.  Still available here for a tenner cheaper to include delivery whilst it remains unsold there.

Thanks for the additional replies, folks. Defintely thinking about the buiild route as the price difference between that and the most suitable alternative (probably the C2) is substantial.  There's been some great suggestions - thanks for all the input so far.

36 minutes ago, Phil Starr said:

Some of the bigger B&Q stores have machines for cutting sheet materials, you might also be able to find a timber merchant who will do it though they are becoming scarcer nowadays. At one time most hardware stores would have a saw bench and charge 50p a cut.

Now you mention it, I'm pretty sure my local B&Q does - or at least did - offer this service. I'll check.

16 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

That included the wood. B&Q stores do free cutting for five cuts, then 50p/cut afterwards, not sure if that's all of them and you'd need to inspect the available wood to get the best: https://www.diy.com/services/timber-cutting

 

As for the build:

 

Many thanks - much appreciated. BC

37 minutes ago, tauzero said:

Because I'm not great at woodwork, I went to https://www.woodsheets.com/ and got everything cut to size for the 1x6, which cost about £30 with postage. That just leaves the issue of cutting out a round hole, which I didn't do entirely successfully but it was good enough.

Brilliant, thank you; precisley what I would need to do, I think.  Did that price include the wood or did you have to send that to them in the first instance?  How did the build go after that?  

27 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

Is the difference between a 1x10 and a 1x8 really worth spending money on or taking the trouble to build something? A 1x10 is pretty compact, after all.

Maybe, maybe not.  My 1 x 10's (Purple Chili customs) are pretty compact but size is definitely a factor as this set up will stay in our sitting room and needs to be as unobtrusive as possible.  Phil's cab looks quite a bit smaller in every dimension and that will be extremely advantageous - certainly as Mrs Culture is concerned.

i've never got used to usng headphnes, to be honest.  I tend to simply play along to tracks I stream through my stereo, hence the requirement for a small practice cab.  I say 'practice' but I'm not really talking about dedicated practice or exercises so much as simply playing along to anything Spotify chucks my way when I'm chilling.  I take the same approach to learning a new song when it's needed too.

Thanks, both, for your replies.  @TheGreek- that Schroeder cab looks brilliant, but probable too much (money!) for the specific role I ave in mind for it.

@Phil Starr- I've read so many of your cab build threads and have often found myself wondering whether I could 'grow a pair' and try one.  My woodworking skills are pretty limited and I don't really own the tools to make a good enough job of it, but I'm sorely tempted to have a go at this one.  The difficulty for me would be to get the panels cut accurately and neatly.  I think, with care, I could assemble and secure them. I guess I'd need to try to find someone in the Chester area with a CNC machine who could cut them for me.