luckydog

At risk of heading toward the techy long grass, Class D amps have an odd requirement of the PSU: that it can sink as well as source energy to the speaker load. This is because energy returned from the speaker due to non-ideal behaviour of drivers/cabs cannot be dissipated in class D amps, it is returned to the PSU. This is prevalent at lf where drivers/cabs often behave non-ideally.
It can all be taken care of with proper design, but might offer some explanation as to what is going on with heft?
However, I don't think one can generalise as to amp class and performance: there's good and bad, and plenty of opportunity to interact with cabs in many amps of all classes IMHO.

LD

It can only be good to support local peeps playing I figure.

Next stop FL's on Sun then.......

LD

Like RhysP, my first bass was short scale Jenson (?) and I sold it to buy my first proper bass in 1978, a 2nd hand Jazz which I bought from Macaris and still have.

What is most memorable about the Jenson is that I bought it from someone in a flat on the 18th floor of a tower block where the elevator didn't work...........!

Hey, MBA's gig at the Jericho last night was good - it's a proper 3 piece, song based pop-prog, loads of content, great bass which carries lots of the melodic themes as is the way. Look out for them, and MBA is a nice guy !

LD

That's cool, see you guys later - I'll be there about 9. I'll be the one in the trenchcoat........

LD

[QUOTE]Discrete said "What I want to know is if a 50W all-valve amp can be successfully gigged without PA support. Going by what my 100W all-valve amp was like, I'm guessing that it can."[/QUOTE]Oh yes, for sure.

LD

PS: Should add "with the right speakers".

There is an inevitable tradeoff for low action versus how hard the strings can be played without fouling. Usually it's the fretboard that fouls, as it seems to be in this case from the video and audio I think ? It really doesn't look like the PU that fouls ?

If one is going to play hard for tone/punch, as I do for example and you do too, I find a high action works and sounds far better....... makes it physical for left hand but a bit of that is not a bad thing IMO, and at least you know you're playing it !

I suspect that if you got it set up, either the problem would persist or it would come back with a higher action and no problem. Bridge height adjustment really should do it for you, but at penalty of raising the action. I'm so used to it by now that it seems natural. The clearance at the 12th fret on the E string I have is 5.5mm from centre of the string to top of fret, for 110 gauge.

HTH!

LD

[QUOTE]Or, does someone have a suggestion? Great quality sound, very portable, loud enough for pub gigs up to about 300 people, money no object.[/QUOTE]IMO the most important part of a great sounding PA is the engineer - so if you want to sound great and take the whole burden from the band, first stop is a great engineer as a non-playing member of the band - he'll need need paying and feeding, but it's worth it and makes an enormous contribution to sound and the band's performance because you just know it's gonna sound great !

As to hardware, well check out KV2 or Martin Audio for speakers/monitors. Get good monitors and subs. Spend yer money on speakers, mics and flight cases. Play quietly enough to let the engineer have control of FOH, relax and enjoy as will everyone.

Wow, I love a money no object brief !

LD

Sure, MBA, I'm up for that ! The band is Charms Against The Evil Eye.

LD

Wow, bassace ! I'm past surprise and into wonder.........

LD

My 2p worth: get a good quality lead that's quiet, long enough, tight fit in sockets, and plan to keep it. Always use it, think of it as part of the rig. Don't lose it!

LD

I think bands mostly audition the person, aside from their playing, whether they know this or not. For things to work out, it matters to be yourself and see how that meshes and how you honestly all get along. Wear what you normally would for a rehearsal, and feel comfortable in.

Be confident in your competence as a player, just play and don't fuss with gear unless that really is what you do normally (in which case stop it now!). Use all your own gear inc amp full rig, and use the sound you normally would. Check out the drummer's timing and see if you can live with it; check out the guitar for overplaying, check out the keys for left hand that needs amputation, check out vocalists for pitch and personality !

Do the prep, be nice, be humble, and play simply with good timing, and be happy !

LD

I think a court might look at it that if a punter in good faith believes he is making a gift to the band by donating to the band's tip jar, then that gift belongs to the band? Who else could it belong to ?

LD

OK, I'm tempted and must try them. You had me at Joe Jackson........

LD

P- and J-Bass copies are sometimes referred to as from/before 'the lawsuit years', which AFAIK was sometime in the 70s and concerned some very good guitars from Japan. Some of them go for a decent price now and by accounts play and sound very well.

Presumably the lawsuits had some basis, so some form of protection must have existed then I suppose ?

LD

The rig in my avatar is a 1973 50W valve Bassman and Bassman 2x15 cab. This is plenty loud and good - there's level to spare for gigs, plus it sounds lovely with a M88 mic on it for venues with serious PAs.

Watts were bigger and better back in the day.......

I will say that the cab in that rig is a big part of achieving proper sound and level from just 50W. !

LD

Ah well there we differ, TimR. I think it's implicit in the word 'tip' in the mind of the tipper that tips go to those who provide the service. Well that's what's in my mind when I put my contri......and I do care, not sure what I'd think as a punter of passing a tip jar round for the landlord ! Probably fine if it is clear.........

LD

It's not good for the punters, who might reasonably expect tips to be tips, ie a bonus paid straight to the band. It's not good for the band, who might reasonably expect tips to be tips.

The more popular the band is, the more in the tip jar, the cheaper it is for the landlord ........er what ???!??

Don't think I'd go back........

LD

Thinking about it, presumably split coil P bass PUs are made with 2 mirrored PUs ie reversed coil sense and mag sense?

Yes, of the small number I have had the pleasure of, Fender Jazz's pickups are in mirror pairs IME, and do a good job of bucking hum when both vols are set full on, or at close settings

I've no idea how that changed over the decades, and whether all Fender Jazz basses are intended to be that way?

The PUs don't need to be close together to buck hum, but the vol settings do need to match, and so that restricts tonal variations. Full on for both is a common enough setting for J basses. The PUs need to be mirror pairs though.

LD

Oh dear, that's embarrassing...........

Imagine the possibilities....... imagine if Stanley Clarke had the opportunity.........

LD

If the combined PU is going to buck hum, the two PU magnets need opposite sense in the pole pieces below the strings. Not sure if this answers your question, but I think that means the two PUs would need to attract when placed side by side... I think !

LD

PS: There's bound to be interaction between closely spaced magnets which affects PU sound. But that is completely seperate from the effects of coil sense, and par/series. To buck hum the 2 PU coil windings need opposite sense AND THEN to have correct signal output polarity the 2 magnet senses needs to be opposite. Hope this isn't total gibber!

If memory serves, the original is in Eb. So it's necessary to tune down a semi, or use drop tuning, then the few flick riffs finger naturally, IIRC. Or persuade the band to play it in E !

LD

FinnDave, here's a closeup of my grip while playing. You can see the 2nd finger is not involved at all and the grip is pretty relaxed. Thought this might suit or help? You can't see the pick because it's a stubby, it's small and maybe only 1/8" sticks out, the pointy bit. HTH!

LD

My bad, I missed the other thread - oops. I get it now, neck PU is 4 wire humbucker. Fun project !! +1 if you can figure a way to get coils to be switchable in series that opens up tone possibilities maybe.....

LD