6v6

I had Wilkinson pickups in my Strat (I play guitar and bass, it was the WVS model IIRC) - they sound amazing for the money, and very good even not considering how cheap they are. I now have Frailns in that guitar, which are better, but not *that* much better - if you have a limited budget I don't see how you can go wrong with the Wilkinson stuff IMO. As a reference point, the WVS pickups sounded better than the stock pickups in my USA G&L legacy, and much, much better than the pickups in my 1979 USA Strat. They sounded pretty similar to those fitted stock in my USA '57 reissue Strat (certainly not worse, maybe just a bit darker, similar bite and clarity). Not tried their bass pickups, but I hope maybe that's somewhat useful

Ok, thanks very much for the help guys Point taken about the frequency response - I think the sound I'm going for can probably be described as punchy/smooth/fat/round, so I can see that avoiding anything which will give big peaks (particularly in the high mids) is going to help achieve this goal and make the cabinet more versatile. I also do not want a bright sounding cabinet - I play with flats, do not slap, and my band plays mostly folk/blues/rock, so I'm probably not going to fit a tweeter, so if a driver has reasonable smooth frequency response into the highs that's definitely a good thing (IIRC Phil Starr mentioned this a characteristic of the SM212) I also don't understand why Celestion bass speakers are unpopular - a good friend of mine has a 2x10 cab fitted with the (green-label) BL10-200X drivers and it sounds great IMO. That said, I've decided to go with Phil Starr's recommendation on the Beyma SM212, it seems to tick all the boxes and I've not heard a Beyma speaker before, so it should be an interesting experiment I've started experimenting with WinISD pro alpha, but have hit a problem adding the driver data for the SM212 - it's not part of the supplied database, and whenever I try adding the data manually it throws up consistency check errors when trying to save the driver model. I've tried several times, following the help-page which explains the parameters to enter and those which should be calculated - so far without success, my guess is there's a minor rounding error on one of the parameters on the datasheet, but I'm not sure which one?! Does anyone (Phil Starr?) have a wdr file for the SM212 they can share which will work with WinISD pro alpha?

[quote name='davidlovellbass' timestamp='1360925005' post='1978340'] What i was hoping to achieve was more of a B15 type tone from one of the channels in the same way that some guitar amps have differently voiced preamp sections, being able to have one amp with 3 or 4 classic sounding preamps in would be ideal. What made me think of changing valves was the already present baxandall eq on 3 of the 4 channels, everything i'd read was said the 6SL7 valve sounded more musically pleasing and had been swapped using a secondry 9 pin to 8 pin converter. I'll the trying lower gain valves first tho. I'm not looking for exact cloned tones as that'd be impossable to achieve in one valve amp without some form of modeling. [/quote] Interesting, I'd not considered using an adapter - do you have any links for suppliers? Sounds like it could be an interesting experiment, be interested to hear how you get on Bear in mind with the other 9 pin tubes that you may still need to change the bias resistor as many won't work optimally with the values used for 12ax7's

[quote name='Musky' timestamp='1360867788' post='1977700'] Based on the thread title I'm guessing David is looking to end up with something sounding like a B15? [/quote] If thats the case then I'd be checking out the transformers first, to make sure the power-amp voltages, power output and tube types are same/similar to a B15, and as Mr. Foxen has said, you'd then need to go through the whole amp changing components to match a B15 schematic. Since some B15 models (B15-S and the current heritage reissue B15) used 12**7 tubes anyway, I personally wouldn't bother with changing out all the preamp tube sockets to octal unless the aim is a vintage-correct clone (which it won't be anyway since it's a modded PA amp and not a scratch-built clone)

Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but arent 6SL7's octal, so you'll have to hack bigger holes into the chassis, rewire new bases etc - seems like a lot of work! Also I expect you'd need to change the bias resistors. Is there a specific reason why you want 6SL7s rather than some easier 9-pin substitution like a 12AT7 or 12AY7?

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1360749668' post='1975671'] Beware... that may be because amp tolex is harder wearing [/quote] This - definitely request a sample before ordering any quantity - I've used tolex from various sources and some of it is tough & hardwearing, whilst some of it is thin and tears/rips as soon as you sneeze at it. Last time I got black fender style tolex from vyse it was the good stuff, not cheap though (I'm sure it wasn't this expensive last time I ordered!): http://vyseamps.com/grill_cloth.htm

[quote name='Clarky72' timestamp='1360749375' post='1975664'] Have you had anything from them at all? Do you know what their quality is like? [/quote] You mean sims? My brother bought the parts for a 60s style strat from them, but it never got completed, not sure if he still has the bits or not. Certainly the quality looked very good - the body was finished and the neck unfinished, both looked comparable to US Fenders I own. I think they have demo guitars/basses so you could probably try before committing to an order. Also I think the bass centre has some stuff made by sims with their branding: http://www.basscentre.com/british-bass-master-series.html

Surprised nobody's mentioned sims yet : http://www.simscustom.com/html/home.htm I've seen their stuff at the NEC show a couple of years ago and it is top quality stuff. Prices look at first glance to be more than Warmoth/USACG, but when you start adding on the shipping and import duty I think they are pretty much comparable. You can also actually go visit to see their stuff first hand & discuss your requirements which is something you obviously can't do with any of the US companies very easily.

[quote name='dodge_bass' timestamp='1360629123' post='1973848'] Cool. Have you ever used it in front of you tho rather than behind? More like a stage wedge / fold back? [/quote] I use a Hartke kickback 12 for gigging (small pubs) and rehearsal at the moment and it's pretty good, and previously I had a kickback-style Beringher amp. If you're going to the PA via DI I think they are a pretty good solution, but I personally wouldn't put mine in front of me because then the drummer wouldn't be able to hear me very well, and also because we have wedge monitors for the PA, so we can just send a bit of bass through those if required to fill in on larger stages. Edit - forgot to mention IMO/IME putting these small amps on a crate or chair when on stage is a better solution than using the kickback feature, then you can get better projection and it's easier to get the amp in a position where you and the drummer can hear it. Kickback mode is very good for practice/quiet-rehearsal tho.

Not played one, and they are rare (not sure if he makes basses anymore), but my suggestion is a Don Grosh P4: http://www.massstreetmusic.com/store/show_item/3341-Grosh-P4-Bass If it's anything like the Retro Classic (strat style Grosh guitar) my brother picked up recently it'll be amazing

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1360597281' post='1973021'] Hi I have different figures for the SM212 Vas 150 and Qts 0.38. [/quote] Ah, I downloaded the pdf datasheet from here: http://www.europe-audio.com/Product.asp?Product_ID=3627 It looks like there are two models, the SM212 and the SM212E, I got the datasheet for the former by the looks of it - confusing! [quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1360597281' post='1973021'] Cut off frequency is a bit of a misnomer it is just the point where the output is down 3dB it will go on producing sound below this point. At this point i'd use winISD so you can model the output more accurately. Generally lowQ speakers 'cutoff' at a higher frequency but keep producing sound quite low whereas highQ speakers like the Alpha will cut off lower but very sharply. WinISD will show you this, It has the parameters for most Eminence speakers in already so you can mess about with changing things like box size without needing to enter data for these speakers. As anyone who uses an Ampeg 8x10 can tell you a speaker that doesn't go down to 40Hz can still sound quite bassy. Most of what we hear are the harmonics not the fundamentals. [/quote] Ok, thanks - I'll have a look in WinISD later!

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1360580306' post='1972501'] OK I said I'd look at choosing a driver. Now I have to be honest and say I don't know exactly what a driver is going to sound like from a spec sheet alone. However having an understanding of the specs and a bit of experience gets me 80% there. A very simple approach will rule out the real duds and that is what I'll try to explain. I'm not going to use algebra but to really get any deep understanding you'll need to get to grips with it or trust the computer to do it for you. Basically if you know how heavy a cone is, how stiff its suspension is and how much air it is pushing against and add in the springiness and mass of air in the box you can work out how far the cone moves for a given force at a given frequency. If you know all about the magnet and the coil you can work out the force so for each frequency you can work out the sound level. If you get it right the box volumes and the speaker match up, called an alignment, and the output is more or less the same at all frequencies. (the engineers and scientists are probably going to shoot me down for over simplifying here ) [/quote] Ok, thanks for the clear, simple explanation - I'm not afraid to do a bit of maths and/or experiment with the computer [quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1360580306' post='1972501'] OK to choose the speakers I'm going to look at four parameters only, Vas which roughly says how hard it is to move the speaker cone Qts which is all the mechanical and electromagnetic factors lumped together, Fs is the resonant frequency and says how low the speaker will go and Xmax which is how far the cone can move before the coil leaves the magnet and is the true measure of how much power the speaker can handle. Now the speakers I am going to look at are the Eminence Alpha, Beta, Delta and Kappa (what happened to Gamma?) Alpha fs-49Hz Qts 0.77 Vas 121.5 Xmax 2.4mm Beta 47 0.46 120.1 4.4 Delta 55 0.43 81.3 2.4 Kappa 45 0.27 112 3.2 All the specs are here [url="http://www.eminence.com/pro-audio/american-standard/?size=12#speakers"]http://www.eminence....ize=12#speakers[/url] you need to download the PDF's Now you could just plug the data into win ISD or do the sums but if you can find an alignment chart, I haven't been able to find one on the internet but most books on speaker design have them. Basically for each value of Qts there is a fixed ratio between box size and cut off frequency. Low Q means a smaller box and a higher cut off frequency. Q of about 0.4 is ideal for reflex enclosures. [/quote] Aha! You reminded me that I have an old book on speaker design (ancient book from Tandy/Radio-Shack which I got back in the 90's!) it has tables as you describe, although they are a bit small so probably not that accurate. [quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1360580306' post='1972501'] So the alpha has Q=0.77 which is too high because it has a titchy magnet. this means the box needs to be roughly 3x Vas (360l 0r 12 cu ft) for the best response which still has a huge bass hump of over 6dB. You can put it into a smaller box but you are going to make the bass hump even bigger. This speaker just isn't suitable for a reflex design and the magnet is too small to even make a decent sealed cab really. It's a dud. The Beta has been redesigned recently. Q is ).46 which my table says means box size is Vas/1.03 or 120l which is big but practicable. The bass peak is 1dB which you will just notice. The cut of frequency is fs/0.97 or 46Hz which is OK too. Put it in a smaller box and you will get a bigger bass hump and cut off will rise a little but this speaker works for me. The Delta is a missed opportunity for me. They've added a bigger magnet but stiffened the suspension. this has raised Fs to 55Hz. The lower Vas and Q means the box size comes out at 70l with a bass hump of 0.5 dB which yoiu won't notice. The big problem though is Xmax of 2.4mm, this means the coil will move out of the magnet at relatively low powers and the speaker start to distort with any real bass. The kappa has a huge magnet, Q is now 0.27 and my design table says to divide Vas by 3.17 to get box size or 35l. the big magnet means a compact box. Unfortunately making Q so much lower than 0.4 raises the cutoff frequency which is Fs x 2.15 or 97Hz. This is too high for a bass cab where bottom E is 41Hz.. Xmax is 3.2mm which is still fairly poor. This is a speaker which would be much improved by having a longer voice coil and different geometry giving a better Xmax and a better bass performance at the expense of sensitivity. So I've surprised myself by coming down in favour of the Beta, the best of this group though it needs a fairly generous cab and will still have a warm and woolly bass hump. I might put the Deltas into winISD if I was bored but the other two are not worth looking at. I wouldn't buy any of these. So far I've only looked at bass response but that alone has narrowed the search. If Qts is outside of 0.3-0.5 fs is over 50Hz or Xmax less than 4mm I won't look any further because I am unlikely to be able to engineer a decent cab. If Vas is too big then the cab will have to be correspondingly large so that's a side issue too. [/quote] Ok, great, that worked example really helps a lot - thank you for taking the time to write that up, much appreciated! So going back to the Beyma SM212 which you mentioned earlier, which has a Qts of 0.25, and a Vas of 198l according to the datasheet, perhaps I can work through the same calculations to make sure I have this right: Charts give a volume multiplier for Qts of 0.25 of about 0.3 according to my small/inacurate graphs, so box size should be around (198*0.3)==59.4, so a box of about 60L should be OK? Then the next graph is tuning frequency factor, which gives me about 1.3 for Qts of 0.25, so that gives a cutoff frequency of (fs*1.3), and fs is 34Hz, giving a cutoff frequency of about 44Hz? So does that mean using the SM212 will make the fundamental of my low-E (I play 4 string only) 3dB down, or am I misunderstanding the meaning of the cutoff frequency? Thanks again for your help working through this!

If you're really interested in making a replica (rather than something which just sounds similar), you may be interested in fliptops.net: http://www.fliptops.net/catalog/categories Most of the parts required to build a replica cabinet and/or head seem to be fairly easily available - fliptops will actually sell you a ready made cabinet, but I'm guessing the shipping to the UK would be expensive. If you have the skills or know someone who does, then another option would be to buy a ~50w tube/valve amp and modify it to a B15 circuit using one of the widely available schematics, I've been considering doing this as an experiment on my (already much modified) Traynor YBA1. (** disclaimer **, working on valve amps is potentially lethal due to the high voltages involved! )

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1360371364' post='1969665'] Just off to bed but OK then. I'm not sure what sort of sound a Berg makes so if you find me a link to a good recording or you or someone else can describe it I'll be able to get close. If you can find a frequency plot that will be perfect. In the meantime there's a 12" speaker that is a real gem for bass that I actually use when I'm not DI'ing, the Beyma SM212. [url="http://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=BMASM212&browsemode=manufacturer"]http://www.bluearan....de=manufacturer[/url] [url="http://profesional.beyma.com/pdf/SM-212E.pdf"]http://profesional.b...pdf/SM-212E.pdf[/url] Why would I go for this? well Xmax is conservatively 7mm, tht's how far the cone will travel without distorting. This means that you won't lose output because the coil has left the magnet gap at high power. 2. there's good output up to 5,000Hz so there's plenty of top end there without a tweeter. This is done without a huge peak in output at 1-2kHz that a lot of the Eminence designs display. (not necessarily bad but it does colour the sound.) 3. Fs is lowish so you'll cover fundamental bass down to 40Hz 4. Qts is 0.38 which makes it relatively easy to tailor the bass to give a flat response. 5. It is nicely made with a cast chassis, sensitivity is OK too The only problem is that for a 12 it does need a fair size box ideally. The sound with bass is pretty open and clean sounding, you hear the strings coming through nicely. Bass is clean and deep without being boomy, just well controlled. Because of the excellent top end response you hear lots of detail too but without the Eminence cone break up the speaker doesn't add too much character of its own. I'll talk you through the Eminence and Fane ranges and try and predict strengths and weaknesses for you tomorrow. I've used both quite a lot but nothing matches the Beyma at this price point at the moment IMO [/quote] Thank you very much for the recommendation (and for answering my original question and sharing your knowledge without treating me like an idiot ) I've downloaded winisd pro, have loaded the driver data and am now going to start getting to grips with how to model the enclosure. Good learning experience!

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1360365870' post='1969592'] I feel for you a bit, not that the expert advice is wrong but it isn't very helpful. There's nothing wrong with the up-front recognition that a ceramic magnet is going to be cheaper than a neo for example. [/quote] Agreed! Not sure why the ceramic assertion got such a strong "must use neo" response, but there you go [quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1360365870' post='1969592'] First of all there is nothing wrong with 12's but what people are saying is that the sound isn't defined by diameter, 12's, 10's and 15's overlap in sound however you have to start somewhere, so lets assume you will build a 12 and that you aim to learn about speakers by doing this project. we all start somewhere. [/quote] Sure, I appreciate that - I've been building tube guitar amps for many years (including open back cabinets) so I know there are no absolutes, I was just trying to narrow down the choice to a specific size, which I see as appropriate to my requirements, and which I've heard in other cabinets and liked. [quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1360365870' post='1969592'] First of all can I ask a question? Are you doing this because you think you'll get your dream speaker, because it will save money or because you want to learn? You won't get your dream speaker because you won't really know what yours will sound like until you try it out, by then it is too late to change. You might not save money either, you can't source the speakers as cheaply as the main manufacturers or the other parts, the best way of saving money is to buy used, then you can try what you are getting and sell it on if you change your mind. You will however learn loads and end up with a giggable speaker if you listen to some of the advice. I'd advise building a 1x12, if you like it you can build a second, if not you've only paid out for one speaker If you still want to go ahead let us know and we can start looking for what you want. [/quote] Bingo! Somebody gets it! Of course, I want to build something so I can learn, because I enjoy DIY projects, and because I want to end up with a giggable, good sounding speaker without spending huge amounts of money. I know I could buy used, but I've got this itch to build a DIY cab, and I enjoy the process of figuring out what works and why. As I stated at the outset I was thinking of 2 1x12 stacked, and as you say I was absolutely hoping that by getting a fairly affordable driver I could build one first, then build another if it's any good, if not I've not wasted a huge amount and will still have had a good learning experience. Based on my guitar amp builds over the years (about 10 from scratch), I fully expect to build maybe 5 or 6 iterations before I even approach my "dream cab", but at least when I get there I'll understand why it works

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1360363246' post='1969542'] Good driver to built a box around: Kappalite 3012HO. [/quote] Gah! My request was for relatively affordable (ie ceramic magnet) good drivers - I made it very clear, I even put it in the subject. I already know the kappalites are good drivers, and I know that for some reason in the DIY cabinet community there's an absolute unwillingness to recommend anything else, but I've already said, several times I don't want to spend £200 per driver on something which is basically just an experiment. Thanks for your input, but seriously, how can the answer to the "please recommend a relatively affordable ceramic driver" question be "buy the absolute most expensive neo driver available"?

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1360346322' post='1969125'] What Mr. Foxen has hinted at but not said outright is that you need to either learn how to use speaker modeling software to find the driver with T/S specs that will give the desired result, along with the cabinet volume and tuning, or you have to find someone who does have that skill to design it for you. Inches and watts are only a very small part of the overall picture. No. Drivers may work well in a similar sized box if all the specs are similar, [i]or if they're totally different. [/i]The only way to know is with modeling. [/quote] Yeah, I'd expected to have to learn winisd or something, but what I was hoping was someone could say "this is a good driver to build a box around" then I could design the box around a driver which was known to sound good in ported bass-guitar applications. Sounds like I have a lot more research and learning to do, thanks for your response

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1360344372' post='1969097'] Don't think there are any single speakers that handle near to 500w, but Kappalite LFs get fairly close, the ones that will need a midrange to sound normal unless you want reggae/dub tones. [/quote] Well there were two mentioned earlier in the thread, the eminence kappa pro 12A and the Fane 500-12LF. Anyway, obviously I meant combined power handing, since I said I was planning to get a 500w amp, so assuming 2x12's each 8ohm, then 300w each specification should be sufficient to ensure they don't blow up the first time I turn up a bit too far. [quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1360344372' post='1969097'] Tube heads need sensitivity, because of the low power, that's the only real consideration. Vintage voiced means not much, but the classic ampeg sound is the sound of guitar speakers with barely any power handling and breaking up, no bottom end, midbass hump. Speaker diameters determine the size your baffle needs to be to fit them in, and that's about it for this purpose. [/quote] Well I appreciate it does indeed decide the size of the baffle (thanks for pointing that out btw!), but my ears tell me different size speakers sound different.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1360340101' post='1969004'] Voice coil and magnet size in themselves are meaningless, neos basically demonstrate that. Kappalites and Kappas aren't equivalent, the Kappalites, you'd need two or three Kappas/additional midrange drivers to be equivalent to the capabilities of a Kappalite in terms of SPL sensitivity and sound. The suggestion of two boxes means you can probably equal the capabilities of the two witha single neo loaded cab, but it all depends: you need to start with what you want to achieve in terms of sound, if it doesn't need much spl, then you can get away with not much power handling, if it doesn't need any highs/uppermids, then you can get away with an LF driver. All that is established is weight isn't much issue, and cost is, neo capabilities can be better across the board, not just in terms of weight. [/quote] I just realized we had a similar discussion several months ago (I was considering building a cab for my Traynor YBA1-A, but in the end I bought a cheap 1x12 combo as a stopgap due to lack of time), IIRC the conclusion was a single 3015 (non LF) I'm now looking at getting some bigger gigs where the combo (or the Traynor) won't be enough volume wise, so am looking at getting a ~500w used SS head and building a cab (partly cos I like DIYing stuff and partly cos it should be cheaper) So here's what I want to achieve: - Power handing of >= 500w - Must be able to fill medium sized pub/club venues - Must be relatively compact due to storage/stage-size limitations - If using two drivers, I'm leaning towards using two separate cabs which can be stacked, so I can just use one for small venues/practice - Ideally it would also work well with tube heads, as I'd still like to use the Traynor (and possibly build/buy another 100w+ tube amp) - Vintage voiced, I don't care about slap, tweeters, hi-fi or anything other than fingerstyle rock/blues/country/alternative, it's got to be organic, punchy, thick low-mids (Ampeg-ish I guess?) - I'm specifying 12's because I've generally liked the 12" cabs I've tried, I see them as a compromise between 10s and 15s, and a single one in a cab should result in a fairly portable box.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1360333555' post='1968831'] If you start specifying ceramic, you are already asking the wrong question. If cheap is the aim, ask for that. [/quote] Sorry, I don't understand this comment - ceramic speakers are much much cheaper than their neo equivalents, for example an Eminence kappa pro is around half the price of the neo equivalent kappalite models. The ceramic comment means I'm deciding that I'll sacrifice light weight in an effort to get something which still sounds good and will cost me less than the same cab built with one of the popular neo drivers like the 3012ho or 3012lf. I've got no preference of magnet material, I'm just keen to try this DIY experiment without speculating £400 on two drivers, effectively ruling out neo models. If I go ceramic I'm estimating I can probably get two pretty good drivers with 3" voice coils and big beefy magnets for ~ £150. Is my thinking totally wrong?! [quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1360333555' post='1968831'] If you know enough to understand the specs, then you know how suited something is for a small enclosure. Needing to ask means you probably don't understand the spec, so don't use them as a point of comparison. [/quote] Well I was just comparing the Fane driver with one of the Eminence models I'd been looking at - same power handling, same voice coil diameter, same/similar magnet size. If you mean specs as in thiele small parameters, I never claimed anything was suitable for anything, nor did I compare specific parameters (although I noticed the vas was similar so they should both work in a similar sized box right?) I'm not claiming any great knowledge of cab design, but for reference, I have built several bass reflex cabinets in the past (quite a few years ago to be fair), done t/s calculations for volume and port tuning, and those cabs sounded pretty good, so if I get a good, bass-guitar-appropriate driver I'm hoping this won't be a total disaster! Anyway ... back to my original question, can anyone provide any first-hand experience of off-the-shelf, relatively inexpensive (less than £100 each) drivers which will work well in a stacked pair of fairly compact 1x12 cabs, or maybe a vertical 2x12 configuration.

[quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1360324113' post='1968549'] I'd have a look at Fanes. [/quote] Thanks - hadn't even considered Fane - the SOVEREIGN 12-500LF looks good from a specs point of view, and seems comparable to the (more expensive most places) Eminence Kappa pro Anyone got any first hand experience with these drivers for bass guitar in small-ish ported enclosures?

Hi all, I'm considering starting a DIY cab project, making either two 1x12 or one 2x12 cabs - inspired by the bergantino HD line which sound great from what I've read, but I can't afford, hence considering dusting off the power-tools and attempting to build something along similar lines. So my question is what driver to get - obviously this is the key decision as the box/ports will be designed around the driver. I'm planning to use ceramic drivers due to cost, and I'm keen on Eminence due to their reputation as a supplier to many/most of the big cab makers, and the fact that they provide example design datasheets (minimising the margin for error with box design) However, I'm a bit overwhelmed by the choice - looking at the beta, delta, delta-pro, kappa, kappa pro?! I'm after a punchy, more vintage (nice low-mid push and not necessarily that flat and "hi fi") sound - can anyone offer any suggestions? Not got a head yet (currently using a 1x12 Hartke combo) but will probably be a Markbass LM/LMT/TTE500 or maybe an Ampeg PF500 I guess what I'm really asking is, anyone know what eminence retail driver is closest to the ceramic drivers used in the berg HD line? Thanks!

Could you possibly describe a comparison between the LMT and TTE 500? I've been considering one of either the LMT500 or TTE500 combined with some sort of neo 2x12 so would be interested in your impressions (I know you said LMT800, but I'm guessing they are tonally similar?) I'm also looking for something warm, punchy, not scooped (fingerstyle country/blues/rock, no slap!), the sound in my head is what I heard the first time I heard a precision through an SVT and an 8x10, but in a more portable/small-venue-appropriate package

You say price is not much of an issue, so my suggestion is the QSC K8 http://www.qscaudio.com/products/speakers/k_series/K_series_K8.php These get great reviews and are really powerful. Alternatively at the smaller/cheaper end of the scale, check out the Mackie SRM150, we use one of these for the singer's foldback with two SRM450s out front and it works well provided the stage volume is fairly sensible.

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1360055280' post='1963981'] The relicing doesn't seem very authentic. Smooth wear only happens in very limited places. The rest of it should be chipped. There's smooth wear in all sorts of places where the body wouldn't be rubbed with regular playing. [/quote] I agree, and this is a problem with many/most heavy relic jobs from most of the manufacturers, look at Nash, Bravewood, even Fender custom shop - all the heavy relics look like someone's attacked the bass with an orbital sander (which of course they probably have). Maybe everyone else gigs with sandpaper dangling from their armpit, but I've never had the forearm contour wear through on any instrument, let alone the edges of the entire body?! IMO the lightly relic'd versions look way more authentic, and would become more-so after a few years regular gigging.