Chienmortbb

The replacement bass arrived on Saturday and a quick look suggests a keeper. All my concerns on the first one have gone and with no adjustment I could gig with this one. I will change the strings, they are light gauge and of a standard that you would expect form a £150 bass. I will do a full review in the reviews section later. However here are a few things:

The hardware, bridge and machine heads seem OK and the machine heads are better than the stock ones on my Marcus Miller M2, a bass almost twice the price. The frets are smooth and reasonably well rounded, no sharp edges. The finger board is flat, 15" radius and the edges are not rounded. It is also a P bass width, 42mm at the nut. While I like a thinner neck, it is not a big problem. The neck is fatter than both my Aerodyne and M2 but its not a baseball bat like some P basses I have tried. The pickup is OK and the tone control does go from bright to really soft/dull.

As with the neck, the body does not have the curve that the real Aerodynes have but that does not really detract from the look. It also means you can choose a traditional bridge without modding the body, although whether there will be cosmetic damage showing from the exiting individual bridge pieces, I do not  know.

As I said earlier I could gig this bass if the strings were changed but all  in all a remarkable instrument for the money. Is it a Harley Benton beater? It is about the same standard. I have HB guitars that were good but not perfect and like them this has one small issue, the end of the fingerboard is not perfectly finished. However a coupe of strokes with a nail file should sort that. I will put lots of pictures on the review but I will add a few here later. One comment on the finish, it is lighter in colour than the G4M website picture as can be seen on the pictures above of the bass I returned.

On 15/04/2024 at 17:18, kodiakblair said:

@Chienmortbb

 

G4M have changed hardware, those mono saddles are not the same as shown on the website or on mine.

 

They're actually easier to string up and adjust 😎 No poking ball ends down into the gubbins when fitting strings, you just hook the ball end in place/pull straight up to the tuning peg/snip the length then wrap and tune up 🙂

 

To set intonation you slacken this grub screw then manually slide the saddle back/forth, tighten again when set.

 

 

 

To set the string height you first slacken this grub screw.

 

Then its a case of using the top 2 grub screws as per normal.

 

 

If the block bottoms out yet the action is too high, you whip the block out.

 

 

Place it on a flat file.

 

And take a bit off the bottom. Doesn't matter if you get a bit fierce, the 2 vertical screws will still raise the block while the horizontal one locks it in place 👍

 

 

Added bonus with these is you can shave the sides too, that gives you some string spacing movement; I'll have a photo from doing that if it's required.

Thanks for that. I should have thought of that but brain is in post viral fog.

5 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

It’s amazing how much extra energy a tight kick can give a band.

I wonder how some live sound techs learns their trade. I went to a gig about three years ago. It was to see Glenn Hughes, former Trapeze and Deep Purple bassist/vocalist. Every time the kick drum activated, it obliterated the rest of the sound until the compression released and that seemed like seconds.I could just hear the lead guitar but the vocals and bass went west.  It is not the only time the kick has dominated at a gig although the first where it so totally destroyed the mix. Now not all sound techs are like this but a lot are. What do you think is going on? Is the bass/wool heavy sounds of Dance music just altering the perception of a mix?

I have not seen the video but having disassembled a number of vintage pots, I would say put them to one side and fit new ones. The problem is that as the pots are used, the tracks become worn. The carbon tracks get a groove  worn in them and the pot wiper wears out. There is little that you can do to change this. My advice is to replace them with new, Conductive Plastic pots. These are much longer lasting. They cost more than carbon pots (although probably cheaper than CTS pots) but they will probably last  much longer.

Snap, just coming out, hopefully of a chest infection compounded by a second infection to my throat. Had a gig in the middle and it was close by so we did not cancel but I did not sing, due to both my stupidity in forgetting my mic stand and the throat. I am just waiting for the other members of the band saying the vocals were better that night.

I just don’t trust Google. I avoid them as much as possible.

I saw a band do this last year so I asked them. The answer was that the set the speakers up and then turned up to a volume where  feedback was just not occurring, Then adjust the other instruments to the vocals.

11 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

Disappointing to be lumped in with that sort of nonsense - I've had my Hotmail account since 1997 (pre Microsoft days) and I assure you it is very much in legitimate use.

The vast majority of Hotmail and gmail users are legit but many of the scams I have found have had Hotmail addresses.

I blame you two if I am wasting my money ZARs. Incidentally what shop did you buy them from?

I think that so many gmail/hotmail accounts are used for spam at best and illegal communication in particular, so it is not surprising if some emails systems block them. I have always distrusted those free email providers but then it is easy to set up a dodgy email service for a few £s.

On 07/04/2024 at 20:54, neepheid said:

Once I have the replacement I will post pics of the wjole kaboodle.

All good advice @Phil Starrbut one thing to say about dust. Mos of the dust/debris inside pots is caused by bits of carbon that flake off the track in use. It’s one of the reasons I chose conductive plastic pots on my builds.  They last more than twice as long as carbon pots but of course also last twice as long at least. 
 

From a manufacturer’s point of view, especially a “value” brand such as Behringer, the extra cost of pots with a conductive plastic track could make a mixer uncompetitive. 

Having worked on Behringer mixers, I would not try to do too much inside. Yes shoot some cleaner, Preferably DeOxit as it is designed for pots. The other thing to try is literally rotating the knobs back and forth 20-30 times, sweeping the full rotation of the pot. it helps temporarily to clear some of the clag.

On 12/04/2024 at 11:15, Gasman said:

Next up we played the Mere social club, a tiny venue with the acoustics of a concrete prison-block shower room.

Were you in the Bar or the Skittles Alley, we have played both.

On 12/04/2024 at 11:15, Gasman said:

Most recently played at the Marnhull British Legion - fabulous acoustics (real wood floor) perfect mix, good crowd, and as compiler of the set list I 'accidently' forgot to include Sweet Home Albania - result!

The Rebbels played Marnhull a few weeks ago. I agree about the acoustics, we were constantly asked to turn down, although we are not the worlds loudest band.

Which pub did you play ion Shaftesbury? Shaftesbury is usually a live music wasteland.

On 07/04/2024 at 20:54, neepheid said:

True. I was going to but…,

I got my tools out and started to adjust the relief then the string height. I got the relief spot on but the bridges would not let me lower the action to a sensible point. 
 

It’s going back but a replacement is on its way.

Fine with 2FA but Google....nah. They are the Evil Empire. Will try the other way.

12 hours ago, agedhorse said:

Not getting any sympathy here!  Preparing some racks for another season on the road:

Takes me back to my time at Panasonic. When we did a big trade show everyone from the department manager to the order clerks were roped in, wearing casual clothes to load and unload the trucks and then place and connect all the equipment on the displays. Out biggest rival (usually) were another Japanese company, a four letter word beginning with S. They had a Rig crew and all the sales and technical staff just appeared from nowhere on the day of the show. Our sales guys learnt more about the product on those pre-show days than they ever did on formal training and it really did encourage both team spirit and bad backs.😃

I suspect @obbmwill tell a different story!

I have had my Monza now for a few months. I deliberately held back from commenting until now.

I don't want to go over too much history but I have had all of @stevie's recent designs back to the DIY cab, the BC112. I had a Silverstone when it was made and had my Silverstone converted to a Monaco some time later. All are/were excellent cabinets  but like many on here I am getting older and am looking at ways to reduce the weight of my gear. So I have ended up (so far) with the Monza.

As I have left reviews  of the other cabinets soon after I acquired them, I have waited to have a few varied gigs and rehearsals to give my three pennyworth. The disappointing thing is that I have little to add to what others have said. One of the halls we rehearse in has horrid resonances for bass and this was definitely a real problem for the Silverstone but the Monza took far less drastic EQ settings to get a good sound.

The gigs have varied from pure rectangular rooms with no real damping to purpose designed clubs with lots of carpets, curtains and soft furnishings. Each so sonically different but with each, a small adjustment to the bass control on the amp got me to where I like to be. It is light and easy to carry with the same top handle as the other LFSys cabs. It is lightweight, although not the lightest on the market but certainly an easy carry for this 72 year old.The custom (Hot Covers?) LFSys cover protects really well.

I use a Zoom B2-Four both as a tuner and for some tone shaping on some songs, what stands out on all @stevie cabs is that I can really hear the differences between the patches. The differences are not great but I can hear the changes almost as clearly on stage as I can at home practice.

Like all the LFSys  cabs, the real difference is the dispersion. Despite being well over 6ft tall, I can hear myself clearly even when directly in front of the cab. Although the dispersion is biased towards the player's head, the horizontal dispersion still really helps getting the real sound out to the whole audience. I have never got the cab anywhere near to its rated power, my amp(s) both poke out about 700 watts into 4 ohms but fewer than  400 watts into the Monza's rated 8 ohms.  Rough calculations say that  is approaching 120dB with the amp(s) full out. I know one BCer has two of these and that would make a monster rig. Its not as small or as light as a Barefaced 10 but it is a totally different beast. Could you carry it around on the Tube/buses? probably not. However there are no compromises made with this cab and if you want a simple one cab solution, I can recommend the Monza.

So there must be some cons, if I am being picky, its a long way down to adjust the amp when you are a long steak of wee. Also when you first use it or any of @stevie 's cabs. you may need to turn up. Certainly when I first got mine, the reports were that the  band could all hear me well but I was too low in the mix. I was not used to hearing myself so well and had turned my volume down.

On the plus side, below is a real picture of me about to set off for a gig. The Monza is on the right and the other two speaker are my Wharfedale Titan 12"PA speakers. The car is a Ford Puma and the tailgate did shut with my amp box and leads box tucked in the front of the cabinets. Please excuse the random bass stand and the small case and long blue bag are the two parts of my mic stand.

On 07/04/2024 at 15:28, Phil Starr said:

Again I haven't tried them but I did own a pair of Wharfedale Titans which were great for vocals and really lightweight but the plastic cabs resonated like mad  if you put bass through them at high power. I don't think you'd have that problem with bass through the MDF cabs.

You did not say that before I bought them….

Seriously though I have used @philstarr Wharfedale Titans. For vocal PA only they are really good. The other issue is that the are so light. An ideal speaker would have a concrete cabinet but apart from that an MDF can give the lowest resonances. Trace Elliot made many cabs from MDF, hence the weight. 

 

The Rebbels gig at Oakdale Conservative Club, Poole was great AND a nightmare. I forgot the usual analogue desk for the PA and monitor amp so had to rely on my backup kit, Allen and Heath CQ20 Digital Mixer plus using my spare bass amp, Asdown Retroglide 800 to power the monitors.

The first problem was that I could get no sound from the monitors even though the signal was getting through  to the amp. Luckily the singer has two powered mixers. We quickly drafted one of those to run the monitors.  finished just in time for the obligatory pre-set toilet break.

Half way through the first set, we had no monitors. We carry on like troupers until the break.  I trouble shoot while the Bingo was on.....after checking every cable knob and the computer screen, find that somehow the gain on the powered mixer channel had been set to 0. Now I do not believe in fairies, elves or leprechauns (except on St Patrick's Day). The singer swore blind he did not touch it but knobs do not turn themselves down. So the Bingo and the raffle finish and on we go. Second set, went OK although I completely forgot the key of one of our new songs. PIcked it up after about 4 bars though.

Oh and I also  forgot my mic stand but as I had a sore throat, it was probably a good move. There were dancers on the floor almost the whole night and we had some good comments from the crowd and the staff.  All in all a good night despite the stress. The final bonus was it was only two miles from home😃.

Good news. I would not go down the step down transformer. If you think of the power of that amp….

On 05/04/2024 at 07:25, BassAdder60 said:

Just found a PF800 on Reverb so I’ve gone for that ! 

It is not worth buying the PF500 second hand as the first 7 or 8 iterations of the printed circuit boards had major  design issues. The PF800 and PF350 seem to have avoided them. 

Go easy on the OP guys, he said he is looking for information, not wanting a near bashing. Also regarding IEMs, they are great but you have to get buy in from the rest of the band as it will probably cost a lot in total. With my lot of dinosaurs, it’s a non-starter. 
 

Once the OP give a full explanation we can try to help.

If something is unique and offers something others do not, some people will buy them and there is nothing wrong with that. 
 

The Mesa Amps that @agedhorse designs are fully featured, arguably better featured than any others. I would love to try one but I cannot justify the expense. As a weekend warrior, it would take a year to earn enough to pay for one. I could afford one, who needs a funeral fund anyway? However I will not. 
 

As a big RHCP fan I stupidly thought that I needed a GK rig. I flipped in in less than a month as I could not get on with it. 
 

Everyone’s opinion is valid but if someone none is happy to pay for a Mesa, so be it. 
 

Finally, it is rare for a manufacturer's representative to post on BC and @agedhorse often adds wisdom and clarity to the discussion about amplification, with years of experience to back it up. I am glad he is willing to post on here. 

Apologies for the lack of pictures still but I only have brief periods to look at it. 
 

The neck was far too straight so I got the capo, feeler gauges and Allen key ( hex wrench). Tomyrelief (sic) the truss ros adjusted easily. I quickly made the adjustments to set the 0.35mm clearance at the top of tb3 frets at the 7th fret. In fact I always check both the 7th and 8th frets. 
 

Next was to adjust the action/ string height. FAIL. I now have to look up how to adjust the height of the individual bridge pieces. More soon