Sean

Just now, Buddster said:

Question to anyone who's been, and been to one of the main stages. How annoying are the flags? It just looks like, in some places all you'll see is the back of a flag, or sea of poles. 

Me, me, me, me, me, virtue signalling, me, me, me, me. 

Hello mum. 

Annoying. 

I wish I'd had a tenner on Nile Rogers at William Hill. Clear winner. 

https://bassmagazine.com/spector-bass-welcomes-megadeth-bassist-james-lomenzo-to-their-family-of-artists/

I see James Lomenzo has joined the Spector roster. 

Makes sense to me.

18 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Because of the stupid old way instruments are sold, with an official price and a street price, which is often 30% less and is the price you really pay.

Is that a US thing or does it apply everywhere?

Why is everything "discounted" on the Peavey site all the time? 

List Price: $4,499

Our Price $3,499

It's not like that's a retailer having a clearout, that's the manufacturer's website for a new-to-market product. What utter nonsensical crud on so many levels. 

Hats off to Peavey for their choice of builder, though. But I would say that based on who it is. 

Good condition generally but with the customary tolex separation that the majority of these seem to have. 

It has the high quality Hot Cover, it's the model with the switch (4ohm/12ohm). 

I also have a black one for sale. 

Collection from Gloucester or meet up.

Good condition generally but with the customary tolex separation that the majority of these seem to have. 

It has the high quality Hot Cover, it's the model with the switch (4ohm/12ohm). 

I also have a surf green one for sale. 

Collection from Gloucester or meet up.

13 hours ago, stevie said:

Yes, that's the experience most people have. Odd, isn't it?

 

The orientation of the horn is one aspect. Another is that the compression driver takes over from below 2kHz, which means you get a controlled dispersion throughout the range of bass guitar frequencies - no matter where you're standing. 

 

I've written a short article for @Sean and will probably post it on the website once I get some explanatory diagrams done. I already have some frequency response curves that show what is going on.

Thanks to a really comprehensive but easy to understand article, I've got clarity now on something that has always been an issue for me to varying degrees and has just become more evident lately with cabinet choice (TWO10 w/o tweeter). 

The manifestation of this issue is at its worst when you momentarily can't hear any element of your sound while performing and this causes you to make mistakes. That's not a good place to be. 

18 minutes ago, chris_b said:

 

With BF cabs it's mud in, mud out. I'd be looking at my EQ for that one.

I sounds glorious out front. 

32 minutes ago, chris_b said:

You can't hear a Two10, 8 ft in front of it? That's not normal.

 

What music is the band playing? "I tend to have my sound pretty sorted". Have you changed cabs or any other gear recently? Is the band loud? Is the guitarist "stealing" your frequencies?

 

My guess is your band thinks you are "so loud" on stage because the dispersion from BF cabs exceeds most other cabs. They can hear you because the design of the cab makes it happen. Another guess, your problem might be your EQ.

 

I'd try a gig with no pedals and see what happens. I'd also experiment with the position of the cab. Maybe move it forwards on stage, maybe angle it away from the band. 

Looking at it, it's probably more like 3-4 feet at the last two indoor venues. Both "PA venues" with house sound guys, foldbacks. The music is standard rock covers. I agree, it doesn't seem normal but that's the reality. I can experiment with the position of the cab but it would have to be done with the band playing. At level check when it's just me hitting single notes for the sound guy, it's all tickety boo.

I think it's worth reiterating that when we do soundcheck I'm setting the rig at a level where I can hear it standing on my spot, that's when they say, "too loud" and I roll off. When no one else is playing, that soundcheck volume is definitely too loud. For gigging levels, I can't hear myself properly, or I can't hear my sound, just mud. 

4 minutes ago, stevie said:

I can explain why this is happening and why LFSys cabs have been designed specifically to fix this problem. But I'm sure someone else who's not as heavily invested in LFSys will explain.

@stevie Happy to PM me? 

19 minutes ago, ossyrocks said:

 

I don't understand why this is happening for you, as it's not my experience with the 10" BF cabs. Plus the fact that your bandmates "are wondering why you're so loud". What's the rest of your rig, and what kind of sound are you aiming for? 

 

The BF 10" cabs really fill the space, and sound good from anywhere on stage in my experience. I have a BF Three10 and a One10, and last night I used my One10 at Matt & Phreds in Manchester. It could be heard very well and clearly all around the stage, and in fact the sound guy asked me to turn down a tad after the first set. The FOH was doing most of the work, but on stage it was great. The amp was a GK Legacy 800 with the top end rolled off a bit, with a P bass with flats.

 

Rob

I tend to have my sound pretty sorted, at least it sounds good to me when I use wireless and go out front during soundcheck. I switch back to a lead for the show. It's a GK Fusion 550 (EQs mostly between 11 to 1 0'Clock). Spector, Nickel Rounds, no dirt, just some compression, and occasional chorus and EQ pedals. The last gig was fine, it was outdoors and I had some distance between me and the cab. Previous gigs have been just dreadful with the same set up. I can hear my rig OK when it's just me doing level checks but when we're playing as a band it seems to get lost on stage when I'm close to the rig.

On 21/06/2025 at 13:33, cetera said:

Monaco is the best all in one solution cab I've ever played through. Proud and delighted owner here!

Does it help you with on stage monitoring? You know when you're close to a rig and it's kiling the people in the front 5-6 meters away but you can't hear it, does it overcome this issue? I'm starting to lose the plot with my current rig even when it's elevated.

I've been looking at LFSys lately as there's one thing on the website that really resonated with me and I need to understand more. 

It says on the About LFSys page, and I quote, "The lightweight amps were great but the cabs proved a disappointment. First, my (highly regarded) compact cab regularly ran out of steam when I needed to play really loud and second, more importantly, I struggled to hear what I was playing when I was standing close to the cab. Which was more often than not."

This is my biggest issue gigging. I've been using one of my (no tweeter) TWO10s vertically on an 18" high platform (alu workbench) and a Gramma isolation pad so I can hear it but the guys in the band are wondering why I'm so loud on stage when we're setting up and soudchecking. When I come down to an acceptable stage volume, I can't hear my rig very well, I just hear the room (but obviously on a lag). I'm between 3-8 feet in front of it depending on venue and where I stand. 

Now, the "really loud" isn't an issue for me, the venues are pubs/clubs/marquees and I never need the second TWO10, in fact the folding aluminum workbench has replaced the second TWO10 as that was being used as a shelf in some cases. 

Is a Monaco going to meet my need to hear myself better on stage and if so, how does it do that and why doesn't the TWO10 do it? Also would it still need to go a platform? The guys in that band are "a bit wary" of me having the cab raised as they've never really seen that before.

Deviating slightly from Tonerider but heading to a solution, I recently went through a little project where I needed/wanted a very specific tonal quality from a pair of pickups that I had to have custom made due to the configuration. 

I approached a few pickup makers and chose Laverack Guitars, they make Toltec pickups. Lee, who owns the business was able to interpret what I wanted tonally from a phone conversation and nailed it. They aren't expensive either. He does a range of J and P and will wind exactly to your spec or desire for very reasonable money indeed. Customer support is of the highest quality too. He has an eBay shop but always approach direct and have the conversation. 

https://www.laverackguitars.com/

I'll be taking at least 3 big old valve monsters (with valve power sections) to the South West Bass Bash and if anyone has an 8x10 they could bring along, we could do a VAV initiation for a small donation. 

2 minutes ago, Beedster said:

 

Nil points  

You beat me to it, Chris. 

These VAVs don't know what they're missing. And a valve pre-amp with a Class D is like Guinness Zero (I knows, I got one).

I don't have a No.1 per se, they're all favorites for different reasons. 

With the "drive-time Rock covers" band, I use a pair of Spectors (a Euro 4 and a Euro LX 4) that have the same pickups, same pre-amps, same set-up spec, same Eb standard tuning and same strings. It's run/standby redundancy. They're tools, albeit very pretty ones, to do a job. 

With the "obscure covers" band, I use a Spector Euro 5 LX with a BBP35 as backup, although I would like to find a Euro 5 or NS5CR. All four are absolute peaches but they get used out in the real world. 

I have basses that don't go out at the moment but that's mainly because they aren't what I use in these bands. They've all been gigged in the past except the one Spector and that's just because it's new and I haven't taken it to jam night yet. 

These are the bomb. I use mine with a Spector with EMGs (proper ones, not the X versions) and the HAZ clone pre, through GK amps and I kid you not, even punters tell me my bass sounds good. 

Is this neck-thru?

That'll sort it. Probably double the cost of the pickups but...

.145

I've just got back in from seeing SatchVai Band in Wolverhampton. 

Two words...

Kenny Aronoff. 

I've seen him a couple of times before but I swear he keeps getting better. He can do it all. It was like like 2 hours of some guitar blokes and Marco Mendoza keeping Kenny company while he wiped the floor with 99.99% of other drummers. And he's 72 and as fit as a butcher's dog. 

The people I went with said that the guitar playing was decent but then again, I wouldn't have thought Kenny would have played with anybody shoddy for a minute 😉

It's a Mesa thing. I've searched and searched and can't find it but there was an article or some written explanation by Randall Smith about why they did it that way. It used to annoy me when I gigged my 400+, Carbine M9 and Walkabout. The explanation made sense from a tone point of view but was in practice, nothing but an inconvenience.

I ended up using a DI and that just killed the whole point of having the Mesa as a gigging amp. Only the band could hear it.

I still love Mesa amps, though but it'll be a GK Fusion 550 behind me on Friday evening. 

On 15/06/2025 at 19:40, SteveXFR said:

I took my Euro LX along to an audition today. It sounded amazing. The band is fairly chilled our alt rock so I wasn't sure if the Spector might be a bit out of place but it was spot on, it cut through lovely and had a huge bottom end. 

I swapped to my Fender P bass after a couple hours but after the Spector, it just didn't hit the spot and felt a bit awkward. 

The band must have liked it, they asked me to come back next week. 

That's so positive to hear, Steve.  I've had a similar experience with my new band recently. 

What rig are you playing the Euro LX through? 

I'm back where I was 15 years ago playing Spectors with HAZ preamps through GK heads into modern quality cabs.