Twincam

Nice bass. You made the right choice.

Bigger or smaller frets don't affect action as you set the relief and string height via the top of the fret to bottom of string. Yes flatter boards get a lower action in general but not always.

I kinda think it looks cool the way it is.

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1479148009' post='3174348'] Eminence do make custom drivers for others and although there might be saving to be made the ratio between lightweight neo drivers and heavier ceramic ones would remain. There's also the question of demand. As well as weight there is also the question of size, Why carry a 200l cab when a 50l one does the job? Why take something that needs a van for transport when you could use a cab that fits in your boot. The reality is that modern speakers handle more power and amplifier watts are cheap. 500W into a 2x12 is going to be louder than a drummer and easy to carry. That's not to say there is no place for a lightweight 4x10, just that only a few people are going to want one and so only the boutique manufacturers are going to be able to make money out of building them. That makes them niche and expensive. [/quote] I fully agree.

Most Ashdown stuff I've used hasn't had anything like you describe. I did have an abm head though that had a very very slight noise I thought after the note decay so maybe it does happen, but it's not typical at all as I had another abm that didn't do that. Recently I tried a few small Ashdown combos an perfect ten and aaa I think. And no distortion in either of them although one seemed noisy in general tbh. I'm currently using an old mag 300 non evo most be one of the last British made ones, again no noise of any kind, in fact one of the quietest amps in floor noise I've heard. Is Clive Button still designing all the amps. Maybe something inherent? Have you tried the amp on a different cab?. So you know if it's the amp or cab. If it's the actual cab it could be the grill you could try it with it off. Rule out any anything obvious like something else vibrating in the room. Or the head vibrating on top of the cab. Obviously if it's the head then I would ask Ashdown to take a look. It's only little so shipping the head shouldn't be an issue.

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1479116104' post='3173952'] just a quick look at what a manufacturer would face in trying to make an affordable lightweight 4x10. Just a quick comparison the Eminence Beta10 weighs in at 3kg and the Deltalite at 2kg. Xmax is 3mm v's 4.2mm. The cost is £463 for four Deltalites and £237 for the Betas. The magnet on the Beta weighs 34oz v's 7ox for the deltalite. Presumably using a cheaper and lighter pressed chassis on the Deltalite could bring the weight down a bit more, about 0.75 of a kg per speaker. Crucially because of the more powerful neo magnet in the Deltalite you could make a smaller cab for a similar bass performance saving more weight on top of the 4kg you'd save on the speakers and making the cab more manoeuvrable. Other manufacturers would face the same economics so roughly you'd expect to pay double the price for lightweight drivers and would save 6-10kg in weight. [/quote] How much cheaper are custom drivers made by say Eminence for a manufacture over there off the shelf drivers. I assume a big manufacture would go the custom/special design route. Or ask for a discount on off the shelf drivers if buying x amount over x amount of years. Or go to a far eastern company and get there neo drivers made there. I'm actually surprised Berhingeror other far eastern brand have not just niked a successful light weight cab and driver design. They seem to like to take "inspiration" from others and they do everything in house, even there driver cone pulp in the case of behringer. I bet they would have the resources to put out a much cheaper lightweight cab. Obviously this would be wrong morally and the quality wouldn't be the same.

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1479056295' post='3173582'] Lucky you. A cheap instrument that really does it for you is the Holy Grail. Who cares about the label? Imagine you were blind. Which would you have? Any fool can hock the house and buy a Fodera or similar. [/quote] I like your thinking.

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1479050978' post='3173534'] A string's vibrational modes don't change no matter what the gauge/tension - the nodes and antinodes are in the same places - they obviously need to be otherwise you'd have a problem with how pickup position affects tone. Lighter gauge strings are usually easier to move than heavier gauge strings and I think we all know that how someone plays (light touch versus a heavy touch) suggests what height action to go for... but I wouldn't change the relief or what height the frets are when I change my strings over from say a heavy to a lighter gauge - I'd either change the saddle heights or adapt my playing style or both. We also all know what years of playing does to a fret and again I'm not left with an unplayable instrument due to having lost several thousandths of an inch of metal here and there. I honestly believe that you're looking for a problem with Plek that doesn't exist. [/quote] And I've repeatedly said I accept that my initial thoughts while not totally wrong were wrong lol.

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1479057560' post='3173603'] Thanks. That would make sense if it wasn't for the fact that, according to the manual, the light around the power switch changes to red if the amp detects an issue. In this case it stayed blue to indicate all was good. At no point was the amp turned off or reset. I should have tried but didn't. At one point I did strike the strings really hard and got a grunt out of the amp. Then nothing for a few more mins, then perfect for the 2 1/2 hours that we played. [/quote] It could of been a marginal issue that made the system go a bit funny.

[quote name='essexbasscat' timestamp='1479062236' post='3173642'] Thanks BC I checked the wattage of the iron I used earlier and found it to be 25 watts. I changed it for a 40 watt iron and this helped a great deal, especially after leaving the iron to heat up for at least 15 mins before using it. Now the tone pot isn't working [/quote] Sometimes the heat can kill them especially if there old or been through soldering a few times. Its best imo to do it as quick as possible to avoid heat soak. My method is to set the iron at a higher temp. And get in and out as quick as possible.

As others has said. But also getting a good iron helps. Temp variable. And the right tip for the job, I find a slightly larger tip is better for the back of pots rather than a fine soldering one. Also get some of the older lead solder as said.

If it works fine every time at home then could it not be its slightly sensitive to the power supply quality? so to say. And for some reason if the power supply monitoring/section etc is advanced then the not as optimal supply from the socket is making it act up. I've seen myself some amps not liking certain places and heard about similar stories. All the amps had a bit more advanced/monitored power supply sections. Maybe a power supply conditioner in that case may help, if indeed that's the issue.

[quote name='Chienmortbb' timestamp='1479047369' post='3173498'] The driver is one one aspect of the design. The cabinet is as much if not more, that is why some of the boutique makers charge so much. Add to that they are made in the developed world, not the far east and in many cases are pushing the designs, and supporting the customer, in ways that major manufacturers are not. And of course if you don't like the price but the cheaper one. [/quote] I get his meaning and yours at the same time. I'm thinking though lots of the extra costs between far east and UK building is one of overheads rather than the initial designing also the driver costs, cheaper cabs use much cheaper drivers and that's a huge part of the cost. There's probably so many aspects of the cost differences.

[quote name='EMG456' timestamp='1479047663' post='3173499'] Twincam, I think what you may be missing about the Plek system and also what has not been mentioned by anyone on this thread is the inherent inconsistencies in a wooden neck. In general, whether you like a fingerboard which is perfectly straight or you prefer varying amounts of relief, in both cases it is ideal for every fret to be the same height above the fingerboard. As has been stated, traditionally this has been achieved by levelling the frets with the neck straight. When the strings are then put on and tuned to tension, the neck is pulled into a forward bow which can then be corrected by applying tension to the back of the neck using the truss rod. The problem is that whilst the truss rod can broadly compensate for the tension applied by the strings, it cannot *exactly* compensate due to various factors - the strings exert their pull at a point above the surface of the neck, the truss rod at a point buried inside the neck; the strings pull from the bridge to the headstock at an angle which varies depending on how far the neck has already been pulled forward; the truss rod pulls from usually around the nut to a point usually not as far as the end of the fingerboard etc. etc. Add in the fact that one piece of wood is likely to have varying stiffness, strength and density along its length and you can see that in precise terms, the amount of bend caused by these competing tensions is likely to vary along the length of the neck. Indeed, very few necks can be returned to absolute perfect straightness after all the tensions are applied and many necks tend to take on a mild s-bend shape with the truss rod seeming to apply more back bow down towards the first 7 or so frets and nothing at all at the top end of the fingerboard thus giving the classic "ski jump" at the top five or six frets. And this is of course assuming that the fingerboard was in fact perfectly straight to begin with - many are not. What the Plek machine can do is measure the exact profile of the fingerboard *while* it is under string and truss rod tension. When the strings are then removed for the fret levelling, the machine knows exactly how much material to remove from every fret to make them completely level with each other *when the neck is once again under tension*. On a beautifully constructed neck, using high quality and well chosen woods, carefully fretted and dressed by a master luthier, the end result is likely to be very similar. But all necks are not like that, all woods are not like that and indeed, all luthiers are not like that. I have only one bass which has a Plek setup and I would say that it is equal to the best I have tried. Cheers Ed [/quote] Indeed and that was part of my thinking in that plek could cause an issue because of how it analyses and cuts the frets. So I do know what it does and in detail. Because it sets it up perfectly its for that 1 setup relief and string tension. So when you put on different strings because the frets are cut for a different string tension and neck relief could it cause issues as the new strings are a different tension and won't exert the tension over the neck like another set of strings. Also they will have a different vibration arc so even if you put the relief the same the whole setup could be just enough out of whack to upset things. After thinking of it more and reading others comments I do think now that even if it was slightly out the measurements differences are that small it should be totally fine anyhow.

Just bought a 410tvx its big and heavy. Its currently taking up much of the living room. My lass doesn't seem to impressed especially as its slightly scruffy. It does sound great but think the tweeter or crossover has an issue as its very noisy when on, turned off its fine and the cab still sounds good but I might fix it.

Lol @ you raided the wife's Xmas gift fund. And I don't see what the issue is if you genuinely prefer a cheaper version of something. That's savvy buying and not that you can't afford something. Ok I'm currently using an old ashdown mag head. I could afford an abm or even a higher end brand. But I like the old mag over the abm range which I find the eq hard to use. I got the head cheap its loud sounds good to me. I also once wanted an svt 3 pro and I tried a few but then seen a similar(ish) amp the bugera did so I gave it a try and found I liked it better so I bought it. As a contradiction to myself I do hate the fact my bass says epiphone on it. Even though its a classic version and supposedly very very similar to the recent gibson models. But then again if they are really so similar I suppose again I can put it down to savvy buying.

There also the tc electronic bh250 amp head. I tried one in a shop seemed well made and a good tone. I like the tone print system for different effects seems like it would be very useful. Built in tuner so one less thing to carry. And it will fit in a gig bag. http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/bass_amps_detail.asp?stock=12070515385632&gclid=CL7nkcSSo9ACFY8W0wodwtsMeQ You get practically the same head onto the 2x8 cab in the tc electronics bg250 208 combo. Lightweight and sounded good seemed well built although the one i tested did have some rattling going on somewhere but others have said they had no issues. http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/bass_amps_detail.asp?stock=13091811294632

Is the point of Jazz basses to play Jazz? Lol

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1478906124' post='3172694'] Take the grille off and gently press the cone in. A rub is fairly apparent. Make sure you press it in evenly, and don't go mental with the pushing. [/quote] Yeah did that shortly after my post. No rub when pushed in equally but when tested directionally (gently) one area seems to have a slight rub. Turned the speaker around and no noises when playing. So best to replace the driver before it lets go I guess.

I will have a look into making it into a 12.

I want too play a Gibson Thunderbird. I have the Epiphone classic which is very close nearly identical materials and construction wise and has the same USA gibson tb+ pickups. To see if it really is as close as its more expensive brethren they say it is. The brand snob in me just hates the fact its an Epiphone but if it really is similar to the gibson version I could accept it as a money savvy buy.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1478885382' post='3172482'] I know what you're saying and completely understand your point and the same exact relief could only be obtained in ideal conditions but you'll never get wonky frets. The difference would be very minimal if the new setup is done properly and even though the new string may have a bigger "vibration arc" you can add a bit more relief in the neck paired with lowering the saddle to readjust for the new strings. In theory and inside my head this should be possible with minimal error on the final result but, as i've said, i'm not used to setup reliefs in my necks so i may be very wrong. [/quote] This is pretty much what I believe to be right. Im thinking I was kinda right but the differences are so minimal maybe only the more sensitive players may notice (if at all). So maybe plek won't cause problems like I initially thought. I would still like to test the theory a bit more but it looks like I was probably wrong as the tiny differences are possibly to small on this scale. Now for my thread were I pick fault with the buzz feiten tuning system...... Only joking

[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1478882273' post='3172428'] That volume is not really ideal for 15s. I could suggest a couple that would work but they're expensive. Your best bet by a country mile is to make a reduction piece by cutting a hole in some 1/2" MDF and fitting a 12. Lots of 12s will work well in 45 litres, like the Celestion bass guitar 12s or the Beyma SM212. [/quote] I understand, I know the volume isn't great. Unfortunately I don't have the tools for that. Is there a driver that would be the best bet though even if not ideal?

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1478884119' post='3172461'] I just can't understand why a plek'd bass can't be setup after a new string set to pretty much match the same neck relief it had with the previous set. Just use the old-proven method of adjusting in bits and look for fret-buzz, re-adjust and repeat... String gauge and tension would be of little significance unless people want to change from a .105 set to a .090 (in wich case, even with a tradicional setup it would allways need to take some attention from a luthier regarding the nut). Plek or not, it doesn't bother me a bit. I setup all my necks straight as a ruller because a have a softer attack and i can get very low actions in my instruments, plek wouldn't make a difference for me. [/quote] Because they adjust frets individually to match a certain relief and arc of the string. They are not levelled so to say. So in my mind after you change different string and adjust relief the frets that are cut for another relief and string arc could be out of whack by a tiny amount. This could possibly affect the setup for some players. The difference is probably minimal but still there. Imo frets should be levelled on a straight neck. And should all be of the same height apart from some roll off at the end of the fingerboard. That way also has downsides and isn't as good as plek for 1 setup. But again imo it could be better for people who swap strings type and brand. And in your case plek may help you get an even better setup. You could setup the neck totally straight. But have a tiny amount of relief cut into the frets by the machine.

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1478882862' post='3172443'] I made my original comment in the context that I've had plek'd basses. I didn't really notice them to be greatly different to non-plek'd. There again, I'm a ham fisted clod. [/quote] Its a great human thing that we ain't all the same. I'm ham fisted too but sensitive to tiny changes in setup. I've played 2 pleked basses and thought they were excellently setup. But not anymore than a equally good traditional setup.