Count Bassie

[quote name='Mr Rabble' post='840888' date='May 18 2010, 09:24 AM']The GP12SMX was introduced much earlier than 1999 I bought mine back in 1993[/quote] More like it. Now I think mine was more like '94, '95...

Thanks for the run-down. Still interested in more detail about the 80's editions. It seems to me that back in 1996 or so I was aware of the GP12 SMX. I had a 210 cab back then, and had been playing in a little post-psyechedelic band called Plan 9... I had the GP-7 preamp for a bit then, and had a brochure on the SM/SMX stuff.

[quote name='Bassman68' post='839942' date='May 17 2010, 12:25 PM']The best cabs IMO were/are the earlier MK V's & before, that were made of ply-wood with proper internal bracing & porting, anyone that's picked up a MK V 1048 would know why they were so heavy! they were also filled with an accoustic foam/lagging type material that was visible through the narrow porting slots, i don't know how much help this had on the sound but, to me, always exuded an air of 'quality'....[/quote] Bassman, do you know around what year the MK III-V amps were built?

That's great- thanks for the primer Bassman68! Some concise, linear info is what I was after. So I'll look for the chrome corners- not that it's actually an issue, but I have a picky aspect, being a carpenter of sorts. Might also look into that Precision Devices driver... thanks everybody.

[quote name='Merton' post='839459' date='May 17 2010, 02:32 AM']Carpet came in end of the Kaman era, along with mdf construction, around 1995 iirc. Gibson took over in 2000 and led to poorer quality electrical components, black vinyl covering and a Trace-saturated market. I think [/quote] So before Kaman's carpet, boxes were plywood? The concept of MDF kind of annoys me for some reason. It's heavy, pulpy stuff, what we've sometimes used for interior trim in building construction (it gets painted). Doesn't seem like what I'd want a rugged gig-cab to be made out of. However I suppose it can take a bump and it won't splinter. But is it as rigid as plywood... Anyway, I've been interested in being able to trace (pardon) the Trace Elliot line in a chronological way, like you can pretty easily do with Acoustic Control Corp. or Ampeg if you look on-line, etc. Is there an 'unofficial site' where this kind of thing can be found? For instance, I have an old AH250GP11 MK-IV head. If I wanted to put together a period-appropriate rig using it, I could go to that source and see what cabs were built the same year... I've seen the Wiki, and there's a thing from using Google about Mark Gooday, all interesting enough. It's kind of an obsessive-type endeavor I guess ( ), but I only ask because I have had little luck in finding any of this info. Thanks for the help Merton!

Okay, one for the fanatics: Is there a difference in sound or quality in the 1048H speaker enclosures, depending on whether the covering is carpet or the old Tolex? Did the carpet come along as a "cheaping down" by Gibson? What else did they do to cheap it down- anything, or is it the same cab and drivers? I must know... thanks.

[quote name='Mog' post='838535' date='May 15 2010, 06:44 PM']I run an Ampeg B410HE with my TE. Plenty loud at 150 watts. Then again I hate too much sound coming from the stage and prefer if FOH sorts out what is heard by the crowd.[/quote] The whole front-of-house thing is something that until now I haven'ty dealt regularly with. I've recently gotten into a Portuguese-traditional/Anglo-pop band, and they always use a complete sound crew. Generally it's a large-stage affair and sound needs to be heavily managed, so I'm looking a little differently at my rig nowadays. I'm not all about trying to push out into the room anymore, I just want to be heard on the stage. Needs to be punchy, vital, but I don't need to rumble the bottles off the bar across the room! That's no longer my part of the business in this context... Last night we played our "Launch Party" at a large hall with full FOH, light show, and fog machine (what a gas- my kids loved it). After sound check I cleaned up my sound a bit, as the monitors all over the stage and 4x double-18 subs in the large room created quite the morasse with what I usually dial into my rig. Had to get the blur out as much as I could. So what I think I'm after is clean and clear, with good dispersion. I've played in seedy rooms that can hold 60 people for the last 20 years (mild exaggeration), so this new format is sort of a low-level 'life change'! It's like getting a bigger, new comfy chair! Thanks for the rec's, yeah and I would like to keep the 'Trace signature' going on, I'm having a good time with it. Seems to me speakers take care of a bulk of that signature, so maybe that's where I should be looking (at Trace, I mean). Alrighty, I'll be checking back in, thanks all.

[quote name='Mog' post='836413' date='May 13 2010, 12:41 PM']I've those moments all the time. Most common is plugging in to the output of my pedalboard and taking 15 minutes to realise![/quote] I can relate- this latest was just an expanded version of the kind of small "where's my sound?" episodes that happen on a regular basis. What did I not plug in, turn on/up, etc... I'm sure there are more of us out there!

Two days' worth of blonde... Good to see it was edifying to somone!

Just a quick addendum here. At rehearsal last night my SMX cut out. Not suddenly, I was asble to listen to it taper off to total silence during a tune. Bum city. We put me into the PA, played a couple tunes. The keyboard player said "Let's try this..." and plugged me into his little Roland KC300 keyboard amp (it's a small room). That was all "okay" (i.e., "lousy") until we found we had blown his speaker. Finally I remembered my second bass. It never occured to me that it could be the bass- my Squier parts-plank with the 25 or so year old Duncan in it. I put the Dillion 5-string MM copy, with its very hot output, into my SMX head and boom! So it was the Squier bass and not the amp after all. And there was great rejoicing. I had been playing just the Squier for several days and it never occured to me that it was the source of the problem. Of course now I have to find the dude a new 12" driver for his amp. So I've been pretty busy, and the shape of our day-to-day life is fairly demanding here. You only get so much room in your personal file cabinet (brain) to remember/process whatever sundry information comes in a day. Besides, I wasn't nicknamed "Space" in high school for nothing... Anyway, the amp is fine. Sorry!

[quote name='TheRinser' post='835687' date='May 12 2010, 04:14 PM']Yep. 2x300 @ 4 ohms each. So you may only be getting half(ish) the power out of each of those power amps anyway. Assuming the bagends are 8 ohm?[/quote] They are 8 each, yes. The 600SMX isn't going to happen though, and I'm opting now for a nice deal on a Peavey Tour 450. This'll also leave me a little scratch for that Boss LS-2 loop/fx blend pedal. Fine... Thanks everybody for the info on the 600SMX though, good for future reference- although maybe that's just not the head I actually need after all. Godd to find these things out!

Hey folks, I know, "Get a trace cab". But they seem to be rare in these parts, and I thought I'd look around for options. I remember having a 200GP7 head years ago and ran into an old Guild/Hartke 410. Currently I'm using a 250SMX into a pair of Bag End 15s and it sounds just fine. I'm looking for a second rig, and wonder about something maybe a little less expensive. I love 15s, but if I had just one cab, and depending on what it was, maybe I'd go back into a 410. Any thoughts or recommendations?

[quote name='Earbrass' post='833137' date='May 10 2010, 10:25 AM']I'm all for using the cheapest gear I can. However, extreme feebleness has forced me to compromise on this principle when it comes to amps - you just can't get cheap, loud [b]and[/b] light. I use a MarkBass CMD 121P because I can carry it without strain yet it has enough power for any situation I might reasonably expect to encounter. The moment Behringer bring out a <30lb giggable combo, though, I'll gladly trade down to that.[/quote] Really? I can dig the ethic of low-end (look at my basses!), but why trade down from something pretty dang nice? But you bet Behringer will come out with a micro. They're always somewhere in line, back a few spaces, watching... Tell you what, I want a Fender Precision, and I'm going to have one. Cheap is not its own purpose for me.

Aha, I've found my thread! Windy post, but hey. It's a forum and no one's over my shoulder! Exhibit A: I have a parts-assembled FrankenSquier P-Bass that took its own time and process to come together. A little bottom-feeding on craigslist and some parlance with cronies on forums came up with an old Duncan P-p'up, a super-fast (and mildly dinged) Squier P-neck and a bargain deal on a set of new Thomastiks. Time and baby-steps have made this bass a real dynamo of sound and playability. A Precision pickguard that got a custom paintjob years ago by a local street artist finishes it up for presentability. I had kept it just for sentimental reasons... It's a cool bass, and although I've toyed with selling it I think that would be a mistake. Exhibit B: I got a Dillion 5-string that had been on a wall in a local hole-in-the-wall shop for about 6 years. It's a MM Stingray copy, Dillion model VMB-500 (now discontinued) that I got for about half-price, and it plays beautifully. The (?) pickup has its own kind of dark growl to it, a real signature that stands out well in a mix when you get the mojo working on it. The strings don't line up real well with the pickup at the outside of the spread, but it seems to make no difference- and conveniently, no one notices! I'm picky about stuff like this, but simply because it works I'm leaving it (lessons learned). The high-G doesn't appear to be diminished, as is a complaint about the real Stingrays (it's designed for slap I think, in the first place) and the low-B is present and resonant. Exhibit C: 2x Bag End cabs, S15-D. CL bottom-feeding run- $100. It's got some overspray from a painting project on it. Fixable, sounds fine. Got the other through a trade for a bigger Avatar 2x12 cab (very nice by the way). These two cabs are small, not heavy, and stacked theyre lound and punchy, very clear-sounding. And are a perfect match for Exhibit D)... Exhibit D: Trace-Elliot AH250SMX. You guys know this one, and you either like it or you don't. I got it for $200 US, and it had a tube rolling around inside. It had been beaten on, but it passed good signal and the front panel wasn't damaged. I had to take it from its sleeve and end up rack-mounting it... Admittedly I've had a minor issue, expressed in another thread, which I'm fixing, but you don't always score a clean A+ if you're going second-hand. I might have offered a bit less for it in light of the standing issue, I'm still alright with it though. Point is if you use ears first, and if you're inclined to be handy, you can come up with a grand-slam. It helps to not be able to afford high end gear in the first place, of course! But my rig is first-rate. I really want to find a "Grail" bass, which neither of mine are- but I've been playing since '79 and feel I deserve it! Been a long road to admitting that kind of thing in fact, but I'm on the page now. I'm going to end up with a nice Precision at some point... until then I'm able to function and dig in without compromising my ears- and that's really where you want to be.

My amp is working again. Don't get it, but I'm sitting quietly until the events of the past few hours sort themselves out here for me. I do know that a metal clip-thing that was part of the jack was badly bent out of shape inside the amp. And that I wasn't getting useable signal passing through a circuit- now I am. I've left a jumper strapping the Send and return jacks at the fx loop, even though it works without it... maybe that bent jack was the bugger, and I'm just applying a little barnyard-style insurance. Thanks everyone for chiming in, I appreciate your time and consideration. I'm calling B.A.S. tomorrow, see if they can answer some questions for me, and maybe I'll send 'er in for a spell on their bench. There are a couple low-level, stray issues anyway I might as well fix up. Again, many thanks all, and Happy Mother's Day!

[quote name='deksawyer' post='832500' date='May 9 2010, 02:56 PM']Try reversing what you've just done - use the 420 as the pre and the 250 as the power, and see if that works. Either way though, you need to take your amp to a repairer......... D.[/quote] And if it works then it's just the link at the fx loop thing. I expect the power sectio will work, as it did produce a 'sound'. Righty-o, thanks.

I've had a minute to set up the amp and run the following, according to Mog's suggestion (thanks Mog): My gig-dawg Franken-Squier P-bass [b]>[/b] Input of my Trace AH250SMX. [b]Send[/b] (out...) from SMX fx loop on back panel [b]>[/b] [b]Return[/b] (...in) on fx loop of an AMP BH-420 head. BH-420 [b]Speaker Out[/b] [b]>[/b] single 15 cab. Voila, she's-a-worky nice. Things that do not function on the 250SMX in this arrangement are, from end of signal-chain backwards to the point of injury: Output Volume; Standby switch; Effects Level; EQ Balance; Compressor. This is obvious I suppose, if you know the workings of this amp, I just include the list for completeness' sake, and in case it's meaningful. I'm the guy who asks the otherwise-obvious questions at work.

[quote name='witterth' post='831913' date='May 9 2010, 02:12 AM']Trace Elliot problem?.....paging Dr "obbm"?.........Dr "obbm" to casualty, please! he fixed my less "serious" injury/question ..he'll know.. [/quote] [i]Groannn... *cough*[/i] Thanks, witterth... [i]...moannn...[/i]

[quote name='Mog' post='831887' date='May 8 2010, 08:33 PM']shorted? try by-passing the power stage if you can[/quote] Interesting. I'll run the Send to another amp's return I guess.

Nope. There was a distorted metal thing on the jack inside (I opened 'er up), and I bent it back into a reasonable shape. Closed it, tried the short loop patch (jumped it). No change.

Just happened, and I'm a little wigged. My daughter has a violin recital coming up and I'm accompanying her on upright for a tune. I got a Barcus Berry screw-on pickup for my old Czech doghouse and jigged a cable for it. I'd planned to run it into my 250SMX and a single Bag End cab. I plugged the cable into the input and got a very low-level signal. Then I plugged into the Return on back of the amp. Seems to me I've done this before woth other amps... anyway the jack was a little stubborn, so I thought a minute... then went and jammed the plug in there, thinking it was just a jack clips inside being stubborn. Dunno- did the amp not like what I was trying to do? Then I got a low-but-dangerous-sounding 'hum' from the head- which isn't going away. No signal from the upright's bridge-mounted pickup. No signal from my electric bass going to the input now either. %*@&... what did I do? By the way- the Level control for the FX Loop was at +4. Am I screwed until it can come back from a tech shop now? Very bad timing, I have a major gig in a week. Going to have to use the AMP BH-420, which is definitely not the 250SMX. Edit: I got the Barcus-Berry pickup- a 3150M- without the preamp. I have a mixer, and this Trace head... it was the cheap way to go and I thought I could make it work.

[quote name='BassBod' post='830783' date='May 7 2010, 11:14 AM']Stick with the Bag Ends! Trace cabs were always very heavy and big - you won't get an improvement, just a back problem...[/quote] NO denying the Baggies, they're gig-proven, fellow-musician-testified, and easy to cart, alright. But one of them isn't going to carry it for a lot of gigs. Sometimes I find myself with just one cab, so a smart idea is to have a one-cab rig. Bag Ends ain't cheap; a used Trace is less cake than a used Bag, most of the time. Weight doesn't bother me much. At 3 am it doesn't matter too much what the stuff I have to bring into the house weighs!

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' post='830738' date='May 7 2010, 10:14 AM']If you want MY opinion, for a one-cab gig with any trace head i think a 1048h is the best one. No 15"er can get the ammount of sound displacement as this four little suckers and it's tone is awesome! I was looking for one for me but decided to go for the new fashion of portable rigs. cheers[/quote] Really... and me a die-hard 15s guy... my 2 Baggies stacked are pretty amazing, actually. My band-mates think it's pretty unreal that those tiny boxes move so much air. But I think the displacement idea of more drivers makes sense, I have toyed- for a second- with the idea of a 410, but the mention of Trace gear being designed for its parts makes a good deal of sense, just about drives it home. I might just go with your advice here ([i]applause from studio audience[/i]). Thanks Ghost.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' post='830711' date='May 7 2010, 09:54 AM']I think they don't put out more. They're more precise and are designed and optimised to take the full advantage of it's potencial. Thats why you just can't get the same punch and quality using a Trace head connected to another brand of speakers. They're made to work together and get the best sound possible that way. They have a massive punch! I think other brands may be more generic and offer an overall good sound as the Traces are more focused in playing a particular tone but like no other can ... Love my Traces but unfortunatly my back don't...!!![/quote] Interesting. So I have now another question: I have here a GP11 head, an old MK IV (talked about this). There's a 1518T for sale around here... do you think I'd be better served picking that up for use with the MK IV? Thing is I'm looking for modularity when necessary... to be able to 'swap out parts' according to what I may have left at the rehearsal space if a gig comes up on short notice. That's why the SMX, to match the one I have. I'm using the 250SMX into the 2x Bag End 15s, those are my only cabs. Money is short, I have to choose, for now.

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='830263' date='May 7 2010, 01:50 AM']If the tone of your present amp and the 600 are the same but the 600 is just 350w more power, then I'd go for it. You don't 'have' to use the extra power but you have it on tap and as headroom. Have no fear you are no more likely to blow your BE drivers with the 600 than you are the 250; unless you are a complete loon and continually drive your amp into clipping... which you won't as you'll hear it loud and clear! [/quote] In concept I get this, I'm just aware that these heads put out more, apparently, than they are spec'd... or maybe they're spec'd right, and everyone else is just cheating! Alright then, thanks Warwickhunt.