Marty Forrer

Hi Phil, Yes, it exceeded my expectations. All my band mates commented on it. Our drummer is the bassplayer in another band and he was very impressed. I had folks wanting to know about the modelling for the cab design. That's way to techie for me but I based it on the GK Neo 112 cab I already had and extended it to suit. It came out the same dimensions as a Barefaced SuperTwin, and weighed almost the same as the GK 112 cab, due to my using 12mm ply. I wont change anything other than adding the 4 pole speakon and possibly changing to series wiring to allay agedhorse's fears of me blowing it up with 900 watts! And, of course, he is quite right.

Yep. I didn't have one in my parts bin, hence the 1/4". I've got a Speakon on order.

I had an old GK Neo 112 and aquired a new matching speaker, so after humming and hahing (?) I built a cab to hold them both. Just plugged in my Genz Benz Streamliner 900 and man, this thing slams. The difference between the 112 and this 212 is huge. It weighs 18kg ( I guess that's about 40lbs) and is only 150mm taller than the 112. I built in a tilt handle and recessed castors so it can be wheeled around easily. 600 watts of punch! Looking forward to a gig Friday night.

My Acoustic Image Clarus 600w head has 1 meg and 10 meg inputs. No difference with magnetic pickups, but piezos sound a little smoother with the 10 meg. Having said that, they work pretty good on the 1 meg too.

I didn't word that well. I meant PA monitor system (4 wedges) and lighting stands. I'm running a Genz Benz Streamliner 900 into my 300w GK 112. I really need to get that second speaker going before I blow the first one to pieces! I like to keep the bass out of the PA to keep the vocals pristine. If I really have to I will build a clone, but I will do some experimenting.

I'm adept at woodworking, I have built two Greenboy Fearful 12/6 cabs in years gone by, so I'm going to do some experimenting and see what happens. I will build a sealed cab, see what that goes like, then try a rear port, and if neither work I'll scrap it and build a 2x12 cab based on the GK cab. My need is to keep this as compact as possible due to space restrictions in my vehicle. I carry my PA and subs, my monitor rig, my light rig as well as my bass rig, including an upright, in my Honda Odyssey, hence my need for things to be compact.

OK, agedhorse and Bill Fitzmaurice are people I respect greatly, so I will accept that a sealed cab is not going to work.

I think it's a quite different driver to the 150MB.

I was hoping not to build a copy of the GK cab because I would like to reduce the size of the new cab.

I have a GK Neo 112 cab in which the crossover and horn are disabled (I dislike horns). I have just picked up a new GK Neo 112 driver and am going to build a cab for it. I would like the new cab to be smaller so am contemplating a sealed box. I figure because the drivers are identical there should not be any issues. Am I correct? I have all the low end response I need from the ported GK cab. An alternative would be to rear port it like 90's SWR cabs (basically just a large hole in the back panel) but I'm thinking there may be some low frequency phase issues between a rear port and a front port. Thoughts please?

On my Manne Design Malibu 5 I set mine as per Sadowsky's setup. 12thou neck relief, B = 7/64" at 12th fret with capo on 1st, G = 1/16", graduated B to G. Perfect.

Played a gig with it last night. Holey Moley! I strung it with TI Jazz Flats and used my Genzler Magellan 350 into a GK Neo 112. Probably the best bass tone I have ever had, and I've had a Wal, MTD, Yammie TRB and Pedulla Rapture, as well as various Fender Js and Ps. Not a lightweight, but balances perfectly so no problem with a 3 hour gig. Nice comfy neck and perfect frets too.

24 fret, full access, balances perfectly, sounds great, plays like butter.

I doubt anything is going to be better than an F112.

I find digging in makes it sound like a fretless bass. Playing light and playing Ray Brown style with the side of the forefinger sounds much more like a double bass than playing with fingertips. IMO.

I have removed the nylon tapewounds and installed an old well-worn in set of TI Jazz Flats off my Fender Jazz bass. Wow! They speak with more authority than the original Chromes and the tapes. Do they sound like an acoustic bass? No. Do I care? No. I have an acoustic bass for jazz and rockabilly gigs. The UB804 is just the beez kneez for my blues, americana and latin/gypsy gigs. Tinyd: I play a lot lighter on the Upswing than I do on the acoustic. It's a natural thing for me as the Upswing doesn't actually physically allow me to "dig in."

I can make mine sound real close to my upright acoustic. LaBella black nylon tapewounds and a Nordy NinoMute do the trick. If I remove the mute I can get it to sound like a fretless BG. I don't much like the factory supplied strings (DÁddario Chromes). Too metallic and snarly.

I recently picked up a new Ibanez UB804. I've played bass guitar since 1963 and double bass since 1990. The 34" scale of the UB804 is no problem, I can switch between the 34" and the 41" scales no problem. A set of LaBella black tapewounds and a Nordstrand Ninomute give a nice thump for salsa, blues, country etc, and removing the mute gives a nice jazz tone. I find the Chromes that this bass comes with are a bit too snarly for my liking. The stand is brilliant and the whole thing is so well made it makes a Stagg look clunky. I have previously had a Stagg (never again) and an Eminence (didn't like it much). I play through a Genzler Magellan head and two Barefaced One10 cabs. The UB804 is a definite keeper.

These are probably closer to a Jazz bass than humbuckers, but they are dead quiet.

My hot-rodded 2002 Yamaha BB605. Delano pickups, Aguilar preamp.

My BB605, born 2002, to which I fitted Delano pickups, Aguilar OBP-3 preamp with active/passive and mid-shift, Dunlop flushmount straplocks and TI Jazz flats. I have been able to get the action incredibly low (3/64" on G string, 24th fret) and it plays and sounds incredible.

A Genzler Magellan 350 is my choice. Fantastic tone and grunt to Africa.

I found Velvet Garbo E and A worked well with both guts and Superior Dirty Guts.

BTW: when I got it, it had the typical rotating, crackling barrel socket. I got a new barrel socket from a music shop and found a big star washer that fits over the barrel. The star washer keeps the nut from working loose and holds the barrel solid, even without a rubber ring under the flange. Perfect! This may help anyone that's still having problems.

One point to consider which no-one seems to have mentioned. BF cabs throw the sound out, probably more than any cab I've ever come across, including the mighty Ampeg 8x10! I have zero experience with TF, but plenty with BF. The sound the audience hears from a BF cab is almost always louder than the bass player hears. I discovered this after watching videos of my band's live performances. I was horrified to hear how much the bass was too loud, throwing the band balance out. Next gig I used a wireless to go to the back of the venue and set the balance. Back on stage I was amazed how much quieter I could be. I have no idea whether TF have this same ability, but it's worth considering for a bass player trying to bring stage volume down. Sorry O/P, this has no relevance to your question.