Alien

Sound Control are the UK importers for Schecter. Get them to search their system and find out if they've got one in the UK, as they seem quite happy to move stuff around between stores.

Andy

I use Planet Waves locking straps - no messing about with straplocks

[url="http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/Catalogue/ViewProduct.aspx?productId=386"]http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/Catalogue/V...x?productId=386[/url]

Andy

Basically, any amp that has a pre out can be used to drive another amp. Even if your amp doesn't have a crossover, you can use this to bi-amp as long as you have an external crossover. My recommendation for that is the Rolls SX21.

Provided you get rid of the bottom octave or two (anything below about 100-150Hz), a guitar amp sounds great as part of a bass rig, lets you get really dirty distortion on the top while the bottom end stays clean.

Andy

Yep, definitely a Robin. The back cover of SRV's 'Live Alive' Shows Tommy Shannon playing the same model.

Andy

It's quite a short horn, around 950mm or so. The cross-sectional area increases by about 15 times in that length, ending with a mouth just over 300mm square.

I've not tried corner loading it yet, but that would be the way to go for big bottom, pointing the bass horn into the corner with the mid-top horn facing outwards.

Andy

[quote name='cheddatom' post='56886' date='Sep 7 2007, 11:36 AM']At the moment, I have a Peavey 1 x 15 combo, which I think puts out 220W at 2 or 4 ohms, not sure! This amp has nice "punch" and "bright" pre-amp curves which I like, and a decent E.Q. The feature I need is the crossover outputs, of which I use the Hi output to drive my Johnson 120w 2 x 12" guitar combo. This bi-amp set up sounds great, specially when I have my TE extension cab plugged in.[/quote]

If I'm reading this right, you're not truly bi-amping, you're just taking the high frequency output into the guitar amp. The Peavey combo is still running full range. If you take a patch lead from the low frequency output into the power amp input, then the Peaveys power amp will only be handling lows.

My setup used to be similar to this, just a bit more complicated:

Bass - Peavey Firebass - HF out - Korg AX300 (stereo outs) - Behringer EP1500 - pair of 2x10 cabs
[color="#FFFFFF"]Bass - Peavey Firebass[/color] - LF out - Firebass Power amp in - 1x15 cab

Loads of big fat clean bottom end, with all the FX in stereo on the highs. Totally unnecessary and way OTT, but lots of fun nonetheless

Andy

OK, it's update time. Got the last bit of bracing done and sorted the front of the resonating chamber. Stuffed a load of acoustic foam and wadding in the enclosure, fitted the driver (with a foam sealing strip around it), closed the cab up (more foam strip) and we're ready to go.

[attachment=2147:227.JPG]

I plugged my Crate Powerblock through my SX21 crossover (nearly blew the bloody thing up plugging the input and output together, but that's a different story ) and gave it a test run.

WHOA! This thing kicks ass! Good solid bass all the way down to low G, and it sounds pretty good all the way down to the low B on my 6-string. Running full-range, it sounds pretty good too, with a lot more high end than I'd expected (actually midrange is probably closer to the truth) but certainly a very 'old school' bass sound.

[attachment=2146:226.JPG]

Running bi-amped with the top cab, the whole thing sounds great. It's got a similar range to my 2x10, and very nearly as much volume, despite only running 100 (ish) watts as compared to 400 for the 2x10. It also weighs less than half what the 2x10 weighs, even including the Crate and the crossover! I reckon this setup could easily handle a small gig, providing the drummer wasn't a total nutter.

OK, so the next step is to get it painted, so time to strip it all down again. I'll post finished pics when I'm done.

Andy

[quote name='Soulfinger' post='56539' date='Sep 6 2007, 02:40 PM']You should get "mwaah" on all strings (unless played open as mentioned before).[/quote]

If your nut's cut right (ie with the strings sitting on the end of the fingerboard) you should be able to get the 'mwah' on open strings too.

Andy

Talk to our own OBBM. He'll make you whatever cables you need, top quality, and not overpriced.

Andy

Any car repairer/repainter should be able to do it for you. Talk to one of your local wideboys with a pimped up Corsa and ask who did his paintwork.

Andy

I'd suggest you change your picking style, but failing that try a sweatband.#

Andy

Tommy Shannon & Chris 'Whipper' Layton - SRV & Double Trouble

Tighter than a camels chuff in a sandstorm.

Andy

Just leave it connected to nothing. You'd be amazed how often someone will ask for a small change to your carefully EQ'd sound - just flick the switch and let the power of suggestion do its stuff

Andy

[quote name='metalmaniac' post='55619' date='Sep 4 2007, 10:49 PM']Im prob gonna sound noobish.. but isnt putting a fender decal on a lil bit illegal.

Otherwise... I like it.. wish i still had my original encore [/quote]
Putting a Fender decal on it isn't illegal, although trying to pass it off as a real Fender would be.

Andy

Another + for the Hercules, but bear in mind that it'll only hold 4-strings and narrow 5's. If you have a wide spaced 5-string or a 6/7/8 etc. then you'll need to look elsewhere.

Andy

[quote name='alexclaber' post='53176' date='Aug 31 2007, 10:06 AM']Very daring of you to try a guesswork based horn cab! Curious to see how it turns out, suspect it'll prove surprisingly effective...[/quote]

Not entirely guesswork, although educated guesstimates is about where it stands!

The difference between the pistonic area of the cone and the horn throat gives a compression ratio of about 2:1, and the shape of the horn is roughly exponential (allowing for parallel sides and straight lines). The sealed box is a little larger than in the short horn loaded cab, which should lower the rolloff frequency a bit. I'm not expecting flat response to 40Hz, but reasonably flat between 50 and 200Hz should be perfectly attainable.

Couple more photos now. I took a view of the horn before I put the side panel on, which looked OK on the little 1.5" screen on the camera, but turned out to be a big blurry mess when viewed full size. Looks like you'll have to make do with exterior shots, as I'm not taking the side off again now it's glued and pinned!

[attachment=2026:PICT0222.JPG][attachment=2027:PICT0224.JPG]

Just the bottom brace and the front of the resonating chamber to go now, then I can get it wired up and tested.

Andy

Inspired by all the rave reviews of BFM cabs, I decided to build a mini version.

First up was a Omni-type cab loaded with a single 8, pics can be seen [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=380&view=findpost&p=44659"]here[/url]

My current project is a folded bass horn to sit under it. Originally, I intended to build a 2/3 size Titan-alike folded horn, but I decided on a simpler (and slightly smaller) design. Overall size of this cab will be about 330 x 330 x 550mm. As with the first cab, it's a sealed design, loaded with a 50 Watt 8" driver. Again, this cab is made from 9mm ply, with the exception of the baffle and the front of the resonating chamber, which will be 12mm. I'm a bit narked that I actually had to [i]buy[/i] plywood for this build, as there wasn't enough salvaged timber left to make a cab!

Anyway, here's the first couple of photos:

[attachment=2018:PICT0220.JPG][attachment=2017:PICT0221.JPG]

I'll post more as I get it done.

Andy

I should have posted this sooner I guess but...

My band's playing tonight @ the Cuba, New Bradwell, Milton Keynes.

Classic rock & metal covers. Come along if you're in the area.

Andy

My personal preference is for 2 volumes. I find it to be more flexible, eg. 2 volumes allows you to run 1 pickup at 90%, and the other at 50%.

I don't think there's much difference in terms of signal loss, noise etc. between the two options though.

Andy

The one I nearly bought on Friday

Yamaha RBX fretless, a bit beat up looking, in a dodgy metallic green. Sounded fecking gorgeous though. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up in the hands of Tengu before too long

Andy

It's possible that the antenna off an old mobile phone might fit - try looking for phone spares. There's a guy on CMK market who does quite a lot of spares and bits.

Andy

No special prep work is needed. Sand the wood smooth, and apply a coat of oil with a rag. If you're using teak oil, soak the rag in water when you're done, because it can spontaneously combust Leave to dry, and apply two or three further coats (leaving to dry in between), rubbing down with fine wet&dry using the oil as a lubricant, and wiping off any excess slurry with a rag.

When the oil is fully dry (anything up to a week, depending on conditions), start waxing. Apply a little wax, rub in well, and leave to dry before polishing with a soft cloth. 2-5 coats of wax will be needed, depending on the shine you want (more wax = more shine)

Andy

[quote name='EOS650' post='45441' date='Aug 14 2007, 08:58 PM']Oh....does anyone know of any free online metronomes that use real drum sounds over the click?[/quote]

Try Sequbeat, free downloadable drum machine

[url="http://www.neztech.com/download.htm"]http://www.neztech.com/download.htm[/url]

Andy

This started out as a bit of an experiment. Hearing some of you guys raving about BFM Omnis I thought i'd have a go at a spot of miniaturisation. So, going by pictures both here and on Bills own site, and adding a few ideas of my own, I designed this wee beast.

[attachment=1729:PICT0215.JPG][attachment=1730:PICT0216.JPG][attachment=1731:PICT0219.JPG]

The driver was originally the woofer from a set of JVC stereo speakers that I picked up for a couple of quid, and the tweeters are piezos from the same source. The woofer is 8", 8 Ohm, rated at 50 watts. The cab is mostly made of 9mm birch ply, which I salvaged from a crate that we received at work. The upper and lower horn flares are 3mm ply.

I decided to go for a sealed cab rather than ported, partly because I didn't know how the woofer would react to being ported (the boxes they came out of were sealed), and partly because I have no idea what horn loading does to port calculations! The cab is mostly assembled using PVA woodglue and panel pins, and the whole thing is covered with black floor paint, applied with a sponge.

Now the important bit - how does it sound? Well, a hell of a lot bigger than it has any right to!! I tried it out with the Crate powerblock (in the photos), and with the gain at around 11 o'clock and the master volume between 9 and 10 o'clock, it was easily as loud as my Peavey Microbass, and quite a bit bigger sounding. Winding the volume up caused the bottom end to get a bit muddy, but setting the Crates EQ flat helped. This thing would easily cut through at a semi acoustic jam, and would work well as a mini practice rig.

Next project is going to be a Titan style folded horn built to the same footprint, using the other JVC woofer as a driver. I figure it'll be about 2/3 the size of a Titan 39 (about 26" tall and 13" square). I'm planning on using the Crate to drive both cabs, using my Rolls SX21 crossover in the FX loop to make a biamped mini rig. I'll post some pics as I go (I plan to get some photos of the build process this time!)

Andy