DGBass

There has been some comparisons between modern high quality 10s and 12s and "traditional" 15s and how these modern drivers can out perform the trad 15s which is probably a valid point that also encompasses modern cabinet designs. Saying that, will a modern high quality 10 or 12 with an 8mm excursion be able to move as much air as a modern high quality 15 with an 8mm excursion? And will a modern 10 or 12 ever actually sound like a modern 15? 15 inch speakers in my experience also have a tone all of their own which I personally like, and I think this still makes them a valid choice for me. Perhaps BF are thinking along the same lines and feel the need to fill a gap in their product line with a new up to date take on a 15 cab ( which they originally did ). These days its an easier sell doing a lightweight 2x15 cab, or a 15 + 12 cab or maybe even a 15 +10 cab( all cab designs TE did back in the day) which will be bigger from the outset, rather than trying to market a 1x15 cab as a compact option. 15 inch speakers sound different from 10s or 12s which still makes them valid tonally imho, and modern neo 15s( like the Faital pro 15-PR400) in particular are a world apart from "traditional" 15s of old. 15s also 'feel' different and I think that's something that's sadly lacking where the bass maybe heard a lot easier these days with modern 10 and 12 cabs, but is no longer felt the same way as 15s can deliver. 🫤

I'm still unsure what the point of the comparison is other than 15" speakers are perhaps still a viable option, and depending on any feedback or demand for them BF recieve they may build 15" cabs again. But as Mr. BF mentioned it would likely be a 2x15 only they would be interested in building. That's still going to be a physically large cab even if they apply the same sonics and design philosophy as they do to their smaller driver cabs. It would also likely have a pro crossover and tweeter adding to size and complexity, and i'll guess a potential £2k plus price tag. Personally I like 15'' speakers, always have done, still use them, and for a particular sound they make and how they feel in use. The 1518 cab in the video sounded the best overall imho and reminded me of the 1518 I owned which was an early 90s grey tolex with the Celestion C15J-300. It really could handle a lot of bottom end but also had that extra mid/brightness the older cab with the Fane has. The cab in the video is an 80s version and ten years is a sizeable gap in speaker design that imho made the 90s grey tolex TE cabs much more useable. Still, it's nice to see and hear a near 40 year old cab still has something to give tonally, as long as you are using an amp from the same era ,eg. something like an AH150/200/250. And of course if you are happy to lug it about. Well designed high output 15" cabs that can deliver prodigous low end , have meaty mids, and sparkling highs are never going to be compact, cheap, or ultra lightweight. Thats one reason it would be difficult to persuade players to exchange their lightweight ten and twelve cabs for a 'decent' modern well designed 15" cab. I'll be the first to applaud if BF could work their magic on such a cab that doesn't end up costing a king's ransom. So, thumbs up from me for any development into modern 15" cabs, especially single 15 inch cabs.

Something like this rubber nonslip mat, with a soft carpet top. Rolls up and fits in the gig bag easily too.

Screwing rubber feet onto shiny new Markbass cabs might affect your warranty, and with a lot of lightweight thinner walled cabs, there often isn't a great deal of wood to hold a screw for a decent sized rubber foot. I recently road tested an LFSYS Goodwood cab and it had no feet, but did have hard plastic stackable corners. At under 9kg, there wasn't a lot of weight to 'plant' it on a hard wood floor. The simple solution was to use a 'mighty mat' non slip carpet mat, the type that can be bought cheap at most DIY or convenience stores. Protects the cab, stops it slipping around, also protects the flooring, and no need for rubber feet. Saying that, I will always fit decently large rubber feet on bigger and used cabs and amp heads, even if they have stackable plastic corners like Markbass kit has. For brand new stuff with a warranty, I'd prefer using a mighty mat.

Thats a proper old school unit, thanks for posting a pic. I must admit never having had any issues with overheating or fans on these types of Trace Elliot amps. My last 4x10 combo was a ( MK4) GP11 with the PM2-S setup and Papst fan which ran silently. It was probably one of the most original old TE's I'd come accross when I bought it. Same with the (MK4) AH150 head I still gig occasionally, its a PM4-S with the same Papst fan that runs silently. I did previously use an older GP7 head and the fan on that was noisy but I think that was just wear and tear / worn bearings from decades of use.

I've never come accross an early 4x10 combo that had switched speaker sockets, or any speaker sockets for that matter, especially on the PM2-S output boards. They were usually wired direct from the output board via male and female spade terminals to the green/orange wires from the cabinet. The back panel usually had blanking plugs, probably to discourage owners from using extension cabs. The 4x10 cabs were also 8 ohm so these type combos were probably not pushing out much more than 100 watts and were never intended to power an extension cab. But they were loud. The PM2-S versions run a lot hotter than the PM4-S versions, and there was normally a large cast frame Papst cooling fan that ran permanently on. I guess that's just how it is when dealing with amps that are 40+ years old. You can never be totally sure what is original and what is not. Even the most reliable kit will need servicing at some point, which might include modifications that could cause unexpected reliablity problems in the future. 🙂

That is a good question. Wish I could answer it with 100% certainty. I can only say from experience working on these type of boards. Tant's are as far as I am aware more expensive, have a longer life span, and from experience seem to have tighter tolerance than comparable electrolytics so are more stable. Yes, on these boards, and also on most Ashdown amps in recent years, tants are often employed as input couplers. Most schematics for these type amps specify components are replaced with the same original part specification which for me at least is good enough reason to replace like with like.🙂

Changing the tantalum cap for a standard electrolytic is unfortunatley something i've come across in the past. It will cause instability and random noise when done, but won't stop the board working. It's an easy fix done mostly because standard electrolytics are more commonly available in the parts bin. If you have a test meter you could try measuring the pot to see if you get a reading both sides of it. Be careful though as once you open up things, there will be hazardous voltages, especially from those very large smoothing caps. It might be time to consult a tech if you aren't confident in testing or swapping out a few components.

The MPB2 Issue 2 boards on the older TE models were usually 150 watt units. They just sound like 300 watt units. There is sometimes a circular sticker on the front that will say which configuration it is, either PM2-S ( two hitachi mosfets ) or PM4-S ( four hitachi mosfets). The issue 2 boards were usually fused on the board, wheras the more common Issue four boards were not, but had a seperate speaker fuse on the back panel. Here is a photo of an MPB2 Issue 2 board from a 150 watt combo unit PM4-S. These ran off a 40V-0V-40V tap on the transformer. The PM2-S version had a larger supply voltage to get the 150 watt rating. IMHE, servicing points I always look out for on these boards are the open frame preset pot, these often go open circuit, and the tantalum bead capacitor can cause signal gremlins eg distorition / intermittent noise. The mosfets rarely give any trouble. If I was servicing one of these boards, I'd change all five small transistors as well even if they test ok, renew the open frame preset with a sealed one, and renew the tantalum bead cap while the board was out of the chassis. Clean the multi plug contacts as well. The resistors, diodes and passive caps also rarely give any trouble but its worth testing them anyway if the board is out on the bench.

I don't really get excited by the latest and greatest bass out there these days. I have a main and a backup P-Bass and that does me fine for everything. Saying that, I saw this bass advertised for a ridiculously small amount of money and got very curious about how much lefty bass guitar I could reasonably expect to get for just fifteen quid. Being fretless, or looking fretless, also intruigued me as i've never owned or played a fretless before. So, I picked it up, gave it a good clean and set up to my liking( never actually set up a fretless before either, so just guessed what it should be) and took it along to a rehearshal. The verdict is that this was indeed a lot of bass for the money. It also played really well and I'm now a convert to fretless basses. It also sounded great through my Ashdown MAG 600 straight in with no effects. It's well made, has a slab rosewood finger board that would shame many a Fender, and the pickups are AXL branded EMG Passive J's. Not high output, but have lots of clarity, and are very toneful. All the hardware is sort of generic fendery type stuff, does what it needs to do quite well, and with no fuss or bling and stays in tune and intonates well. I don't know much about these instruments other than they were made between 2001-2005 in China so its at least two decades old. The only real downside so far is that its a tad neck heavy because the body is quite light. It's maybe made of basswood or something similar instead of alder and is slightly thinner than most J basses I've come across. It's certainly a gigglable bass and solidly made. So has anyone else found a budget lefty that's peaked their curiousity, and has turned out to be a diamond in the rough? And giggable?

I was given this the other day for 'evaluation purposes' by a fellow bass player. Never seen or heard the like of it before. I suspect it has been a custom made pedal and possibly a take on an old Tonebender distortion pedal. Sounds very nasty, and makes the user want to play evil riffs. Apparently🙄

This weekend's rig of choice was based around some old school Ashdown kit. A big mag and a wee mag. The wee mag 200 is tried and tested, and was brought along as a back up to the big mag 600. Reason being, the big mag was bought as a parts only unit a few days ago. Both are UK built, and the big mag 600 only needed some minor repairs to get it going again ( new input and output volume pots, a new sub harmonic pot, and lastly a new VU meter bulb). Serviced and fully cleaned. Did its first gig in alledgedly years, sounded brilliant and performed brilliantly. I've owned a few mag 600 evoII before, but never bonded with them. This old UK built one sounds so much better than any other MAG i've used. The only real difference is that the UK ones came with very high quality and high output Demeter transformers instead of the generic PRC ones. Bass and pedals - same as it ever was. Cab is my 4 ohm Laney R210.

Just my tuppence worth on these new standard basses after seeing them in the flesh today at a well kent guitar store down the Trongate in Glasgow. They look well made with good fit and finish, however a few examples of Player and Player II basses hanging next to them easily outshone them for looks and overall finish imho. The Player basses were between £200-300 more expensive but would have got my money if i wanted a Fender logo on my bass. The black Fender logo on the standards looks a little tacky and cheap, and perhaps too reminiscent of budget Squier Affinity models imho, not that i'm knocking Affinity basses. Comparing them to another raft of Squier basses hanging next in line, the Squier basses looked just as good if not better than the standards. Again, the price difference between Squier and Standard varies between £200-300 and it looks like a deliberate pricing structure from Fender to fill a gap. Of course looks, fit and finish are only a small part of it, how they sound and play/feel is probably more important. I would have loved to have reported on the sonic aspects, but of course as a leftie player, Fender have all but removed all leftie Squier options these days (except one black Jazz) and completely removed Player/Player II leftie options. I'll get my coat before a leftie rant ensues😉 Anyway, im sure the new standards sound fine. You can't see the headstock while you are playing anyway so does it really matter to the masses if its a solid black Fender logo or a traditional gold / silver spaghetti logo?

same here, still nothing arriving from basschat at all.

The solution didn't work for me mainly because i'm not even recieving anything in my spam folder. Nothing is arriving at all from Basschat and hasn't since the server update. All other mail is arriving normally in the account I use for Basschat.

It sounded very good indeed. The ABM for me has always had a very flexible sounding pre-amp. Pairing it with this new LFSYS cab opened up a new dimension of flexibility and sound. I haven't really had much experience using full range design cabs before and I could hear so much more detail sound wise. The cab is not so much an FRFR design, probably nearer to what I would say VMFR( vintage modified full range ). It's a warm sounding cab and that may because of the choice of a Celestion driver. It works really well with the ABM, and has given me a new appreciation of just how good a swiss army knife of amps an ABM can be. The cab and amp worked well together and I think thats mainly because the cab does need an amp with a bit of available headroom to get the best from it. An ABM sits nicely on the cab in landscape mode but the dispersion horn would ideally need to be rotated 90 degrees to maintain the sonic benefits of the cabs design in a landscape setup.

Thanks for checking, although still haven't had a single basschat email since yesterday. My email is working fine otherwise. Alerts are showing fine when logged in so its not a problem.

I'm still using my Overwater bass from the early 1980s. The build quality back then was and still is exemplary.

Is the mail server queue / mail process stuck? I haven't recieved any alerts to thread updates since the earlier wobble on the BC site today? I'm guessing if it is stuck, the queues will be fairly sizeable by now🙄

I've always had a soft spot for GK bass amps and have owned and used several Backline and RB amps over the years, the last being a wonderful 700RB model. I lost interest in the MB/Legacy and Fusion stuff they moved to in recent times although I have only heard good things about GK class D amps. These new models are quite exciting, and I wonder if GK are acknowledging that in hindsight their RB amps were such good products, they deserve a modern take on a classic design, and that hopefully bass players will be willing to buy a modern up to date RB thats isn't class-d based. No pictures of the 1001RB Legacy, but i'll assume its also a 3U chassis until I see otherwise. I'm glad I kept my rack case, I may need it once these things start to ship 😉

First gig of the year this afternoon and it was a dep for some old band mates. 4pm-7pm Sunday afternoon type easy going blues/jazz event at Baker Street in Stirling. Band going by the name Blues Delux this time. The name seems to change every gig at the moment for these guys as does the lineup. Drums/bass/guitar/saxophone/vocals and harp. Very enjoyable three hour gig and for the most part a bluesy jazzy jam with good friends. Only downside was not having a huge amount of room to set up. The new LFSYS cab was a godsend size wise and there wasn't really any room for anything bigger. New Mighty Mat carpet square is my latest gigging accessory and its job is to keep cabs and stuff off dirty pub floors. Works perfectly! Over-did the amp side of things but well I just had to hear for myself if Trace Elliot watts are different from all other watts😉 Good feedback from quite a few punters asking the name of the band, and surprisingly good feedback about the bass sound from several band mates. The cab was phenomenally good and it takes some getting used to hearing everything so clearly. It's easy to assume the amp is up far too loud, but it wasn't. Saw some folks taking video footage but nothing available yet. Home by 8pm, got paid, and relaxing with a nice Bowmore malt to see out Sunday evening. Lovely.

Something new, something borrowed and something blue...road testing this weekends rig of choice for my Sunday gig at tonights (Fridays) regular studio jam. I can't say much about the cab at the moment other than it's not a Monza, it sounds fantastic, punches way way above its size and weight, which incidentally is I think the lightest LFSYS model yet at under 9kg. All to be revealed in the near future.😉

Having a cab rated at twice the rating of the amp was certainly something that was widely suggested a good plan to have when I started playing many years ago. It may seem over cautious to some, but I've never blown a driver in a cab ever using this approach. I once asked a local repair guy in our local music shop why I needed a 200 watt cab for my 100 watt superbass, and why all the local shredders with their 100 watt super leads seemed to managed ok with their 100w greenback loaded 4x12s. The truth he said was that the shredders had their cabs back in for repair to blown drivers every three or four months. Over time the 25W Greenback drivers were all replaced with 50W McKenzie drivers and after that was done, the cabs never came back for repair again. The point being he said, having a bit of reserve in the tank thermally speaking is no bad thing where speakers are concerned. I've run a 500watt class A/B head into a 200watt 4 ohm cab in recent times as an experiment, and it worked fine for a lo-fi gig but I wouldn't do that on a regular basis. Listening carefully to a cab will often tell you whether the drivers are struggling long before they are ready to fail. Speaker ratings these days do seem to be getting more consistent and perhaps accurate with quality component manufacturers providing lots of technical data openly for their products. I wish i could say the same about power ratings for modern amps. The same amp could be rated 800watts @ 10% THD, 703watts @ 1%THD and 596 watts @ 0.01 THD. They may all be accurate figures for the same amp, but which of those ratings will sell the most units? I'm always a bit wary of claims where its said as long as you use a clean signal, you can use oodles and oodles and oodles of power without affecting your speaker even if its rated the same or below an amplifier rating you don't really know is real world accurate. Hmmm. Yes its all very confusing to me. As far as the OP is concerned, I'd love to know if BF asked to return the faulty driver for an investigation into why it failed in the first place.

I think its curious that only one of the two drivers has a problem. If they were both subjected to the same usage, I think it would be fair to expect both to wear at a similar rate. Re the 4 ohm/8 ohm thing, I'm sure the earlier BF210 were 8ohm/400w rated, that may have gone up to 500w in time which may suggest the later drivers were refined or improved in some way. 2 x 4ohm drivers wired in series? When i used two BF 110's I recall asking BF about replacement speakers for them and at the time they said for all the 110, 210, and 410 cabs they had sold up to that point, they hadn't had a single driver failure reported. Reliability was in fact very good. That was a few years ago now and I suppose driver specs may change so a current replacement may be slighty better than the original from 7 years ago. As has been said, it would probably be in BF's interest to do a post mortem on a failed driver, if only to rule out any late manufacturing issues that are only showing up after several years of use. Things coming apart due to dried out adhesives, or bits of a brittle coil former snapping of and rattling around in the magnet air gap, or a loose spider assembly are all things that can't normally be viewed externally. I'm not suggesting your driver has any of that but the only sure way to find out is likely taking the thing apart. I'm guessing the cab is well past its warranty date so BF would be within their rights to charge the going rate for a cab repair. There's nothing to loose by dealing with them in the first instance except maybe a few quid for a repair. Its worth getting it repaired with the right units so it can keep performing as designed. Sticking a couple of beta 10's in your cab might get it going and be cheaper but it won't perform anything like it has previously done. Still, i'm surprised a premium product like a BF cab has developed problems after just seven years. Speaker drivers do fail occasionally, and they always will as long as they are around. Seems a bit premature though.