Fraktal

[quote name='Moody' post='382419' date='Jan 16 2009, 03:22 PM']Fracktal, 151 eh? hmmmm... I'll have a look into that![/quote] This one [url="http://www.markbass.it/products.php?lingua=en&cat=2&vedi=32"]151 HF[/url] By the way, barefacedbass.com cabs have very good reviews (VERY light and VERY loud) and much cheaper than markbass, in case you dont need to match brands. This one would do the job perfectly, going for 375 only: [url="http://barefacedbass.com/thecompact.html"]BarefacedBass.com The Compact[/url] Cheers!

I have your same combo and it couldnt handle the low B string at the volumes we usually play, so I recently bought a second hand 151HF. The reason for choosing this particular model (now discontinued, unfortunately) was based on reports claiming it was the Markbass cabinet with more low end frequencies, wich makes sense since it is their biggest 15" cab. I am EXTREMELY pleased with the results. The combo alone was pretty loud but with this extension cabinet the volume is insane and I love to feel my trousers flapping. So, not only I didnt help you choose, now I gave you another model to think about, heh! Im sure you can find a 151HF in the second hand market or maybe even an old stock one. Good luck!

Im dying to try these new pickups. Here is a video that explains the technology behind them: [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI8sMJVjHrY"]Lace Alumitone pickups explained[/url] And here you can listen to their sound: [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NDhKQJcODsQ&feature=related"]Lace Helix bass review[/url]

Oh, BTW, here is one example with pic of what I said about the delicate LCD screen: [url="http://www.mundoanuncio.com/anuncio/pedalera_line_pod_x_live_por_1160934043.html"]Second hand X3 broken LCD[/url] Quick translation from spanish: The dude says the drummer seat fell on it and broke the screen even though the hit had minimal force... scary! I have seen at least 3 more cases like this here around in Spain, checking the second hand market adds. Its a real pity that such a relatively expensive piece of hardware has such a reliability issue.

Dood, could please link me those reviews? Im very curious if my impressions about this unit are shared by more people, specifically the quality of the compressor. You know, sometimes trying to be fair could be complicated, we all have personal tastes that might affect the final evaluation. Thank you very much!

[quote name='TheBrokenDoor' post='376414' date='Jan 10 2009, 09:08 PM']Is that the CE-2 or CEB-2? Thanks, Dan[/quote] [i][b]CE-2B[/b][/i] Best bass chorus ever, IMHO. I hate Boss pedals, but I have to eat my words every time I hear that one.

I have tried the kidney bean X3 during a week or so. The compressor alone is worth the whole price of the unit. Supposedly its a simulation of the Teletronix LA-2A but as you can imagine I didnt have the original to A/B them. It doesnt really matter, I have used several dozens of compressors through the years and not a single one gave me such a clean, natural, uncolored tone. You wont notice any signal degradation using it EXCEPT using extreme settings and plucking really hard your bass, then the attack of the note gets affected somehow: I dont really know how to describe the attack sound except for the fact that it isnt an unaltered signal, it has an "organic" feel to it that I love, its really musical, warm, harshless... As I said, worth checking the X3 if only because of its compressor. By the way, this is NOT one of the stompbox compressor models they have under that category, those are crap in comparison. Im talking about the standalone, dedicated compression. Obviously, this is all up to personal taste, you might prefer a different kind of compression, but I liked it so much that in the future I will hunt a second hand X3 if only for the compressor. The amp models are just your classical line6 stuff, some of them are useless for me, some others are really fun to overdrive. In my opinion most amp models are overequalized by default, some of them have very poor dynamics and generally its too easy to overdrive them (with unpleasant results more often than I'd like) Nothing new here, I may have perceived a slightly higher sound quality compared to older line6 models but dont take my word on it. I had a lot of fun playing Larry Graham's "Earthquake" with an amp model called "frankensomething" and the drive control to the max, really pleasant, musical, usable overdrive that performed very well on the low end. You might also like the amp models much more than me, Im a bit "purist" and usually love recording bass using only a DI box. I didnt mess too much with the stompboxes, since the whole point of line6 gear seems to be built around their amp+cab simulations. They are very good though, and there are a few very original, though nothing new from the good old XT. You can use 2 bass amp models and mix the signals however you want, though hardcore tweaking might be needed to make such a combination sound pleasant to the ear without extreme frequency peaks and valleys. This feature is perfect for guitar though (remember the X3 is the same model for guitar, bass and voice) and also very useful if you want to use effects in parallel, such as a distortion in one channel and clean lowend in the other, and even better if you play an instrument and sing at the same time, you can use an amp+fx for your instrument and a valve preamp+reverb+delay for your voice (just an example), effectively doing all your signal processing with single, portable, powerful and versatile unit. This is probably one of the best features of the X3. [b]FLAWS:[/b] Hissy outputs with the kidney bean version. Possibly solved with the balanced XLR outputs available on the Live or Pro versions, but I didnt have enough time to try those 2. Flimsy cheap plastic with the Live version. Unfortunately its not made out of rugged metal as its predecessor, the XT. I have already seen an alarming high number of spanish dudes selling the X3Live second hand with broken LCD display. They improved the LCD panel size a lot compared to the old XT, but gave no protection at all and made the whole floor unit out of plastic... tsk, tsk. Feel free to ask any questions, I may have skipped an interesting point or 2...

Hint: Check the barefacedBass link on alexclaber's post. 2 BarefacedBass cabs loaded with 15" speakers could be exactly what you are looking for. Low weight, very high sensitivity (aka speaker efficency) and loads of low end.

[quote name='Mr.T' post='376324' date='Jan 10 2009, 07:13 PM']I am not sure what you mean by 'not attenuated'?? So... I'll try gutting at 1khz and boosting at 2khz (or turn my tweeter up?).[/quote] Sorry Mr.T, looks like I wrote a "spanglish" word there, I mean make sure you are not "damping?" "cutting?" "reducing?" the tweeters. And yes, you need to reduce a certain frequency that by the "clank" of it, sounds to me to be around 1kHz, and to boost [i][b]above[/b][/i] 2kHz, not necessarily 2kHz. The precise frequency depends on personal taste, I personally tend to boost around 8kHz when slapping, even though electric basses dont have much of it, but those highs are usually clean and subtle, ie. way less painful to your ears than 4-5kHz and more "hi-fi". Your "high" pot is a curve that starts slowly around 1kHz and goes up to a peak around 10kHz. Check the Markbass manual that I attach here, you can see the EQ curves of every pot on your amp. Very handy!

Hmmm that sounds like a mid bump between 1kHz-2kHz and a slight rolloff of all frequencies above 2k. Dont take my word on it because its complicated to see whats wrong without actually being there myself, but your explanation sounds very precise to me. You could try adjusting the highmid potentiometer down to 10 o'clock and boosting the high pot . The highmid pot is centered at 800Hz but it will surely affect 1kHz almost as much as 800Hz, so that should do to get rid of the "clank" you mentioned. The high pot will affect every frequency above 2kHz, boosting it should help with those pull-offs. This might sound rude, but please take no offense: Have you checked all your tweeters are working properly and are not attenuated? How long have you been using those strings?

I love my Ibanez SR505. Its the second most comfortable bass I have tried (the first being a headless bass), light weight, ergonomic, thin neck, tight string spacing, it is very versatile sound-wise: Those Bartolini pickups and preamp will allow you to dig in whetever tone you want. I always say playability goes first, tone is secondary, scr*w the aesthetics! But with this bass, playability is superb, tone is first class, and aesthetics are really nice: Pretty woods and slim design. When I started playing bass many years ago, the basses with comparable specs to the SR505 (5 strings, Bartolinis, 5 piece neck, exotic woods) back in those days were so expensive there was no chance I could ever afford one. These are happy days for bassists, its amazing how cheap it is to acquire a truly professional bass now. O tempora, o mores!

[quote name='Mr.T' post='372618' date='Jan 7 2009, 12:43 AM']The Markbass seems to be very easy to over EQ (If that makes sense?).[/quote] Yup. 4 EQ bands + 2 very powerful filters can give you a few headaches if you abuse them. Maybe I can help a bit? This might sound weird, but a bass sound that sits well in a band mix is not necessarily a bass sound that you hear alone and think "whoa, that bass sounds great". Generally, to cut through a band mix, you need mid frequencies (anything between 250-700Hz, up to personal taste), while those mid frequencies are usually the first ones you cut when listening to your bass alone, probably thats why you were using the VPF filter, thats what it does, kill the mid frequencies. You could try to EQ your bass in the middle of a song, when everybody is playing, and adjust it so it has not only a pretty sound, but also character and definition and everybody can clearly hear the bass lines without effort. Did I make any sense at all?

My rig is a Markbass CMD102P combo + 151HF cabinet. The combo head is identical to the LM2, save the paintjob. I use these 2 sounds 95% of the time: 1: This is a good sound for playing fingerstyle. I reduce a little bit the volume of the neck pickup, or in case of a single balance pot I lean it a bit towards the bridge pickup, wich is basically the same. Now into the amp: bass at 2 o'clock, lowmid at 12, highmid around 9-10, high at 12, VLE between 10-12 o'clock and VPF off. 2: I use this setting mainly for slap and multitapping: Same as before, the difference being both bass pickups at full volume and VLE off. Both settings work wonders with my Ibanez SR505, I dont use the bass EQ at all.

A good friend of mine had a biscayne guitar. It was his first electric guitar, around 18 years ago. I think that was probably the worst guitar I have ever seen, at least regarding reliability. He usually had to stop playing after a bending or two to put the fret wires back into the fret slots, honestly.

I bought a markbass 115HF cabinet from Shaun: He was incredibly patient and kind while I had a few problems with 2 failed bank transactions and multiple paypal attempts. The cabinet is in perfect nick and it sounds like a dream. I can only say Shaun is a top bloke to deal with!

I bought a markbass 115HF cabinet from Shaun: He was incredibly patient and kind while I had a few problems with 2 failed bank transactions and multiple paypal attempts. The cabinet is in perfect nick and it sounds like a dream. I can only say Shaun is a top bloke to deal with! I realized too late there was a previous feedback thread for Shaun, so if a moderator sees this and bugs him, please delete!

I just added a markbass 151HF cabinet to my CMD102P combo and the results have been much better than expected: It improved low end frequencies incredibly, that helped a lot with my B string. It also improved dinamics, headroom, volume and power. Im extremely happy about this last addition to my rig. Not that the combo was missing much, but before the extra 15" cab it couldnt handle a B string properly.

[quote name='Musky' post='355678' date='Dec 16 2008, 11:02 AM']Just to correct something here - active pickups are often quieter than the passive variety. Because they use electronics to boost the output level of the signal they can get away with using fewer winds on the pickup, and hence a lower impedance output. A lower impedance pickup is less likely to pickup noise and can have more treble content. Proof of the pudding is, as always, in your ears. It has to be said that most people use passive pickups, but it's mostly down to taste.[/quote] Im sure you got a point there, but I have never heard any noise coming from my MEC soapbar pickups. No hiss, no halogen lamps hum, no interferences, nothing. Also, they have lots of highs and very often I have to attenuate the high frequencies. I must say that I replace the strings once a month, and that helps a lot with the highs, but still, new strings not only give you more highs, also a much more clean, stable, tight bass frequencies and defined mids, sustain, etc.

[quote]While I can see the logical basis of this argument, I can hear a noticeable difference between active and passive if I listen really carefully. When you say that something is lost every time the signal passes through an IC, what is it technically that causes that loss/adds noise??[/quote] Im sorry to deceive you but unfortunately Im no electronic engineer. The reason for a transistor (wich is the basic innards of an IC) adding noise and distortion has been explained to me once or twice by qualified people, though Im afraid I forgot the concepts behind it. Still, I can speak from my experience, and this has been tested, I think, every single day of my life, since every day I listen to signals coming from some kind of IC. It doesnt matter how good a transistor is, even the best one will always introduce noise and distortion. The noise might be easy to notice, most of the times being the infamous 'hiss' we all have suffered and hate. Distortion might be much less apparent, since human ear has a certain tolerance, a signal can have a bit of distortion, but under a certain threshold or percentage, you cant really perceive it, at least CONSCIOUSLY. There is always a fair chance you will perceive it subliminally before it becomes obvious. Whether that annoys someone or not, its up to each one of us: Some people are very sensitive to it, some others couldnt care less. Some classical music lovers with a very gifted and trained ear go to the extreme of listening exclusively vinyl discs through incredibly expensive valve amplifiers, because vinyl discs generate an analog signal with some harmonic distortion that is considered to be much more pleasant, natural and musical than that of CDs. Similarly, the distortion from valve amplifiers is generally considered to be much more pleasant, natural and musical than that of transistors, since it tends to boost even harmonics (valves) instead of odd harmonics (transistors). Not only that, but valve distortion is also much harder to perceive than transistor distortion, i.e. you need a much higher percentage of valves THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) to perceive it. Some other people listen crappy quality, low bitrate, highly compressed MP3s through Ipods with their factory default earphones. To each their own. In addition to noise and distortion, transistors also 'color' the sound, i.e. they boost some frequencies and damp others, yet another reason to use as few as possible in the signal path. [quote]I take your point on the principle, i.e. passive pickups and preamp being the same. I do like the clean sound of passive also but am beginning to open my mind and see the "sound science" possibilities with passive pickups and preamp/active pickups.[/quote] Thats alright, but as I said on my previous post, your amp or mixing desk or whatever equipment you are using to deal with the signal of your bass, already has an EQ, and most times a much better EQ than that of an active bass, so where is the point? Preamp circuits were included in bass guitars because old pickups had low output. When you combine low output with a very long cable, you lose/dampen some frequencies due to the capacitance of the cable and also catch some interferences thanks to the cable working as an antenna etc. Modern pickups usually have high enough output so the built-in preamp of an active bass is not needed at all. Manufacturers still include active circuitry for basses cos its a "feature" and that help with sales, even though you may not need it at all and never realize it. Have you noticed guitarists flee in terror away from active guitars? Active guitars are almost as rare as flying cows. Why does a bass need a built-in preamp, but a guitar doesnt? Its all just trends and shiny bits to sell stuff to the masses. A good passive bass gives you a perfect, pure signal with ZERO added noise/distortion/coloration. As a smart friend of mine used to say:"If it isnt broken... DONT FIX IT, FFS!". If a passive system works wonderfully, why introduce more complexity into it? You lose reliability and quality and increase costs. When I play with my passive basses I NEVER miss any feature from my active basses, and always enjoy a better sound. [quote]Probably a long shot but I don't suppose you've got recordings of those sounds???[/quote] Nope, sorry, that was a few years ago and it was a job for someone that paid for it, and he obviously kept the recordings and the rights.

Active pickups are kinda rare. Only a few brands make them: Most EMG pickups are active, and I have seen a few Seymour Duncan models many years ago. Most Pickups are passive, but when paired with a built-in preamp inside the bass, they advertise 'active', meaning 'active electronics', but most of the times, not necessarily 'active pickups' There is not much difference between active pickups and passive ones. Active pickups have very tiny electronics preamps embedded inside the epoxy block, so you have the magnets, the coils and the circuitry everything inside a single piece. EMG proudly advertises this technology stating that, since the circuits are so close (inside) the pickup the sound suffers less degradation/interferences/whatever, in theory because the wiring is minimal. Though in my opinion, the most harmful thing to the signal from a pickup is not necessarily the wiring, but going through an integrated circuit. Every time the signal passes through an integrated circuit something is lost, the signal will degrade, even if minimally, and the IC will add noise, distortion, etc so I have never been seduced by active pickups. The principle is the same than passive pickups+preamp, just everything tidier, smaller, more compact. I prefer a signal path with a minimum of integrated circuits on it: Passive pickups and NO built-in preamp (passive bass). We already have an EQ inside our amp/mixing desk/whatever, so there is no need to force the signal through another set of EQ filters and more ICs (the built-in preamp). The best, cleanest, purest bass sounds I have ever heard came from 2 passive basses (passive '75 Fender Jazz bass MIA and a passive Warwick) plugged directly into a protools system. Makes sense when you realize the amount of ICs in that signal path are truly minimal. The sound was so in-your-face that we didnt need to process the sound at all, no EQ, no compression, nothing at all. It cut through the mix like a knife, amazing definition, full of detail, low-end, nuances, harmonics... You name it.

With such wonderful songs at your myspace I have no doubt you will find a bassist in no time! Damn, gotta move to UK soon! Best of luck Musgraves!