Lfalex v1.1

My set-up runs thus; Pre-amps >>> 8 track mixer >>> Sennheiser HD215. The HD215s are a pair of mid-priced, closed-back, circumaural headphones. They are DJ-oriented , and keep a lot of the noise in and out (if that makes sense!) Bass (the frequency range - not the instrument!) is not difficult to reproduce in headphones, it just lacks the physical effect that we're all used to experiencing from loudspeakers; There's no Floor shaking or booming room. As a result, it's often perceived that the system lacks bass. When one listens beyond these traits we usually associate with "good" low frequency reproduction, it is found that headphones (especially the better ones) are refreshingly free of many of the problems that no loudspeaker system can escape in terms of; Time smear, frequency response, bandwidth, room interaction and sensitivity, to name but a few. Plus, you can get up and play at 3am and not upset anyone! On the downside, they can be SO revealing, they'll betray all your bad playing habits and any weaknesses elsewhere in the set-up! Also, if you use headphones for a long time, it can be disconcerting when you switch back to cabinets! Finally, watch the volume! Headphone volumes have a tendency to creep up as you practice, so you have to make a concious effort to keep the levels down!!

And then there's this.... "[i]There was a terrible fire at my barn. Everything in it was destroyed, including many basses and amps. I heard about it the same day, and drove home after that night's show. Of course I was saddened by the loss, and sifted through the remains. One charred relic of a bass caught my attention. Its blackened body was shrunk to half its size, with the pickup melted right onto the charred wood. The neck was gone - the truss rod had survived, but the heat had bent it in half. All four strings were annealed to the bridge, and stuck out at odd angles, one with a tuning peg melted onto its end. A sad sight. I took the bass to that night's show with **** ******* in New Haven - we set it up on stage next to the other basses- quite a sight. And it smelled awful. In doing that, Michele, my tech, noticed that it had no volume controls, which meant it must be the 3 string bass which Music Man had custom made for me, and which had been featured on a magazine cover only months before. They had put so much work into the bass, having to redesign the neck and pickup for only that one instrument. How could I break them the news that it was gone? I shipped them the bass, and preceded its arrival with the following fax[/i]:" Hello Sterling. I am having some trouble with the neck of my custom 3 string, and have shipped it to you to adjust. Sincerely, **** ***** [i]Days later, I received this answer:[/i] We have received your bass. Please be advised that this instrument is out of warranty. California no longer allows smoking in bars, which has substantially reduced the odor problem your bass exudes. We have otherwise checked it out and everything appears to be to factory specifications. Regards. Answers on a postcard. There's a huge clue in there, though.

I knew that was [i]his[/i]... There's a description/picture of it in "The Bass Book", which states that the horn dug in his ribs and that he'd re-shaped it!

I didn't have this made for me, but I bought it from "new". Zoot Chaser Prototype. Quilted Maple (1/2" thick) over Swamp Ash. Rosewood Fretboard. PurpleHeart Accent layer between the Maple and Ash. Maple Neck (Bolt-on) Proprietary Bridge Seymour Duncan Basslines MM HB Pickup 18v East E-Pro EQ with Bass, Treble, Bright, Full Passive Bypass, Series/Parallel switching, Passive tone control. Sounds best on lighter gauge strings. Must get some DRs or Elixirs for it at some point. I neglect it too much! Sounds? Think "[i]Stingray[/i]" and then some, but that passive tone can really smooth it out if you need it.

Audere?

That black one is superb. I like the bound ones! I have only one gripe- Why do they insist on using pick-up selector switches? I'd much prefer a pan pot or 2x Volume controls to eke some more subtle tonal variations out of it. The tones available are all good, but all very "meaty". Bet they're good "in the mix" though.

Good grief. That's rather nice! I'm a mite confused, though! The Avalon is a pre-amp, right? Is the cab "active"? There's a big heat sink and a power switch on the back... If so, is mains power delivered to it by that (Blue) Speakon-like plug instead of an IEC 1 (kettle) lead? Or is there just a BIG power amp hiding somewhere just out of shot?

[quote name='BigRedX' post='214966' date='Jun 8 2008, 04:39 PM']Hi silddx, glad you found something you liked! I'm stilling GASing for a Spalt Hybrid myself. One day...[/quote] I keep saying that about a perversely coloured BassLab L-bow... One Day!

"You have posted more images than you are allowed"! Oh well. Here's the rest; Yep. That one. [s]Captain Ribena[/s] Yamaha Attitude Billy Sheehan signature 10th Anniversary. Didn't buy it for that. Or the colour. It's a tone thing! OLP MM3. Won in the raffle at the last Northants bash. Changed the controls, but that's it. So far. [s]The Twiglet[/s] Warwick Infinity SN4 Weighs a ton, despite being chambered. Zebrano sure is weighty! Hohner B2A 5. Or is that B2A 3? Currently tuned D,A,E. Loosely inspired by Tony Levin's (now destroyed (by fire)) Stingray "3". But Cheekier. Musicman Stingray 5 Fretless (1990) Used to belong to Boz Burrell (RIP). Allegedly. Tuned C,G,D,A,E by the way. That's all, folks! Until the next GAS attack...

This is most of them. Only the Westone Raider1, Ovation Celebrity electroacoustic and Arco EUB are missing from this batch. Honourable mentions to the Colombus Series II Jazz Fretless (RIP) and The Ibanez EDB600 (KIA) Otherwise; Squire VMJ Ibanez SRX700 MIA Fender Jazz (2004) (S1) Vigier Passion Series III std 5 (1996). Differs from Luke's, Ped's (though not his Series III fretless) and the Doc's Arpege in that it has Alder wings. Warwick Streamer LX6 (1997) Iceni Zoot Custom. The prototype. No Serial number. 18v East E-pro Electrics, full passive bypass, passive tone, series/parallel switching.

That's what I thought when presented with "Sparkly Telebass"... They're wicked good (IMO) but they're US only. They don't do a Korean "Tribute" model. Not too easy to find, and not very cheap when you do. Cass Lewis sometimes used them in [i]Skunk Anansie [/i]if you want to hear what can be got from them...

I know how you feel. I'm GASsing for a Status Streamline at the mo' Not that I'm in a position to be spending that kind of money right now. Time to rotate the collection again... ...That can help to alleviate trapped GAS!

Nice Bass. Not too Dissimilar to Alex Clabers RIM in some ways...

[quote name='ianwild16' post='213922' date='Jun 6 2008, 03:57 PM']I've never had a blister from playing bass / guitar, and i've never broke a string when actually playing...[/quote] Me either. And judging from what I witnessed at the bass bash, I play harder/dig in more than most...

[quote name='silddx' post='213886' date='Jun 6 2008, 02:47 PM']I just tried the Yellows and I am also very impressed. Felt nice in rehearsal too, got a bit sweaty and they still sound new.[/quote] Having tried Reds, Yellows and EMPs, I have to say that I favour Yellow labels. Not tried the Blacks yet. EMPs weren't a patch on Elixirs for tone or durablility. On a Warwick bass, too. Caution. Warwick 34" sets can come up a bit on the short side if used on string-thru-body instruments. You end up with silks or tapering going on "south of the nut", as it were!!

A guitarist friend of mine did this on his 80's Squire Strat (and what a guitar [i]that[/i] is!) He removed the 'plate, rubbed it down VERY lightly to "key" the surface, wahsed it down in white spirit to get any residues off, and sprayed it using an aerosol can. He changed it from white to black, and it worked very well for a long while. Ultimately, the tip of his plectrum began to wear it away on his longer downstrokes, and he ended up with a white patch showing through again. If you use a plectrum, you may experience this issue. If you play finger style, you're likely to get a dull or shiny patch over time in any area that you frequently touch the scratchplate. Maybe a coat of lacquer might prevent this from happening?

[quote name='jon999' post='211327' date='Jun 2 2008, 07:42 PM']it looks good and good price but i live in cornwall lol. i wud hav gone 2 music shops and tried some basses out but there are only 2 that are close and they are very small (not many basses), expensive and i dont think they would let you play the basses as there is no room.[/quote] Have you been to Manson's in Exeter? It's arguably the best shop in your part of the world. Depending upon where in Cornwall you live, it still might be a bit of a trek, though...

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='210534' date='Jun 1 2008, 02:44 PM']You can get rack cases where the rack has some sort of suspension. But yes, hifi buffs can go to great lengths to isolate electronics and speakers but that has gone to rat sh*t with the advent of surround sound and centre speakers that live on the same racks.[/quote] Which is why all my stuff (HiFi- wise) is still determinedly "2.0" and doesn't share a room with a TV either!!

Further to the impedance issue, the usual quoted specification is MINIMUM impedance. The figure given is the lowest impedance the amp can deal with. If, for example, it's stated as 2 ohms, it will adequately cope with 4 or 8 (or anything in between). The power output will reduce accordingly as the impedance rises. Yes, most QSCs will run down to 2 ohms per channel in stereo. Generally (again!) when bridging, the amp will only cope with TWICE its rated stereo minimum impedance. Thus, an amp that is rated at 2ohms minimum in stereo will rise to 4 ohms in bridged operation. Remember that you get about twice the power, though. Many amps have all the specs printed on the back, just like cabs do. Don't think that power is everything, though. there's a lot to be said about frequency response, cabinet volume/driver/system efficiency and even where you position cabinets relative to the room boundaries (not to mention how you stack them!) when it comes to perceived volume levels! If your interested, search for posts containing; Efficiency, Hoffman's Iron Law, Cabinet positioning. Look out for posts from Alex Claber and Bill Fitzmaurice in particular. Whilst not all of us agree on some topics, these two gents are well informed when it comes to such things!!

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='210599' date='Jun 1 2008, 05:11 PM']...For the tubiest tone possible though, you're best off going for a set-up which drives a dummy load prior to the power stage. You're not going to get that with many (any?) pre/power setup...[/quote] I'd have thought that was mainly governed by the Pre side of the equation. Most Power amps aren't bass specific (pity!) or even musical instrument specifi As such, they're unlikely to include any kind of valve drivers or similar. There's certainly one Pre that I know to have (LOW) power tubes to drive its output via a buffer. The Warwick Quadruplet. I have a sneaking feeling that the SWR Interstellar Overdrive does too, but I'd check to be sure. Alternatively, when it comes to S/S pre amps, the world is your oyster. I'd kill for a Trace SMX pre, and there's a raft of good stuff out there from many established bass amp manufacturers. After that, there's the mic/instrument pre amps from Joe Meek, Pre Sonus, Avalon, even.... Behringer(!) With regard to the output impedance issues, it's common for the better PA amps (irrespective of topology and class) to run to 2 ohm per channel in stereo or 4 ohm bridged. Bridging will yield [i]approximately[/i] twice the power into the same load as running in stereo or dual mono.

Could it be the truss-rod creaking as it takes the strain? Some of mine creak and crack and groan as they're tightened or as strings are tensioned...

I have an Ampeg SVP Pro. Can be great, and never sounds less than "musical" compared to some amps. I had it partnered with a QSC PLX1202, bridged into a Trace 2x10 and 1x15. It sounded excellent until the QSC packed up. A good power amp will serve you well, no matter what you choose to partner it with, and you can pick one to match your requirements with regard to size, weight, power, features etc. (Sub 30hz filters are useful. Saves you caning your cabs with extreme LF and frees up power into frequencies you can actually use.) You can unearth some really weird surprises with a power amp; Zoot Chaser Custom (18v E-Pro) >>> Hartke VXL Bass attack (as a pre) >>> QSC PLX 1202 >>> SWR 2x10. Tried at BassMerchant. Everyone just stopped dead and just said "That's amazing" And it was! Pre/Power really can give you the flexibility you're after. At a price.

I have considered this also. Acoustic feedback ought to be an issue. It is detectable in HiFi systems, hence some of the stands and strange objects sold to help counter this. It really doesn't seem to affect musical equipment amplifiers, though. It might be worth isolating an all-valve head if it's causing the tubes to vibrate unduly... Doesn't some Ampeg gear benefit from stuffing foam in the cups on top of the cabs and standing the amps on that? In studios, when recording, I just take the head off of the cabinets and stand it on the floor behind! Combo owners are a bit stuck, mind you.

[quote name='Toasted' post='114999' date='Jan 6 2008, 10:30 PM']No - more problems / scrimping in design.[/quote] I thought Behringer liked to [i]outsource[/i] a lot of their R&D... In this case to Tech 21!