MoonBassAlpha

Hi all
I did my first loud gig last weekend with this setup^, guit. bass drums lineup in a smallish pub room, good vocal pa.
There was no time for a sound check, so it was set and leave.
The EQ was left flat with no "shapes" set, passive (humbuckers) bass, input gain just about right up, master on just under half.
I found that as the gig went on, the input clipped a bit more than I would normally set it (getting excited? at MY age?), but also the output clip/limit light was coming on a lot in the louder bits - what a nice sound!
The way it transitions in to clipping gives the same sort of feel that a valve amp does, it seems to articulate in a very similar way.
The balance with the drums was just right, and we somewhat ruled the guitar between us!

It struck me that higher powered Shuttle users would miss out on this sound because it would simply be too loud to get to this nice clipping zone.
I felt at the time that if I wanted a really clean sound at this volume, then the Shuttle 3.0 doesn't quite do it, though backing off the input gain a tad and taking the master up might just do it. It's a shame there wasn't time to experiment, but there was a ton of bands to get on/off that day.
The cab sounded fine throughout, tilted back a touch (tight stage) and apparently reached the back of the pub just fine!

Jules

[quote name='Alien' post='562294' date='Aug 6 2009, 09:45 PM']Was your BSc an 'ology? You're not a scientist unless you've got an 'ology!

A[/quote]
Many physicists would disagree with you on this one too!

MMM, I had my neighbours round the other day, and not in a good way. It appears the bass is louder than it used to be.....

Out of interest (Alex), what is the -6dB (upper) point for a Compact?

When you put negative relief in the neck, string it (relief goes too far positive), when you take it off again, is the negative relief still there? I think that if it isn't, it is likely the nut has slipped, ie stripped. If it is the nut portion, not the rod then a new nut alone might fix the prob.
You aren't using massively heavy strings are you?
Hope this is some help.
Jules

Fro anyone considering the Celestion from Watford Valves, they are doing them post free, a special offer ending today! (6PM)
Mine arrived Thurs, ordered Tues and was about £48 n a bit all in. Seemed a good deal to me.

Just got to decide on the size and shape of the box now...

I think it needs about 1 cu foot (correct me if I'm wrong)
If I put a slot port in, should that volume include or exclude the port?
And I'm still thinking of angling the speaker up a bit, say about 15 degrees.

Any comments, as always, most welcome.
Cheers
Jules

I Sold a Shergold 6 string fretless to a guy who came up from Bristol. Wasn't anyone on here, was it?
It had the bridge moved and a Gotoh soapbar at the bridge.

Oh, and [u][b]Bump[/b][/u] - nice looking bass - if I could get round to shifting a couple of my Jack basses,I would be tempted

Dil Katz on Wilde Tales by Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia. I think he is the first person I heard doing sliding harmonics, or could've been Percy Jones, or John Giblin for that matter. Nice player with great tone.
Jules

The crackle is likely to be a dry joint. It's often the big psu caps (if they're pcb mounted - I've got one of these amps and never even looked inside- most unlike me!) The vibration makes the solder joint fracture. I've just done a repair like this on a cheap Marshall guitar amp. Look out for large resistors, fuse holders etc. as I've seen this happen on different amps.
These are decent amps, not light, but not the heaviest you'll ever pick up either.
I'd say go for it!
Jules

Well, lightly amplified acoustic and 2 vocals through a little PA is what we usually get, and possibly a quiet drummer.
I currently use a Lowdown 110 (75W) and that easily covers what i do with this outfit.

I could see giving up SPL might not be too much of a problem, since the amp is relatively high powered for a practice amp, so there would be the power available to push air out of a less efficient driver. I'm out of touch with hifi stuff - are we talking high 80s efficiency as opposed to the claimed 96dB for the Celestion?

Hi Alex
what it says, really.
I'm looking to make a small light cab to go with a Shuttle 3.0 for when I just don't need the size and oomph of my Compact (which is working out nicely with it, incidentally)
I've only looked at the Celestion BN10 200X (neo magnet) from Watford Valves at £42 odd + vat + post.

Are you aware of anything better, value or performance-wise that would be worth checking out?

Also, would a slot port at the top of the cab angled upwards somewhat have a similar effect to tilting the whole cab back?

Cheers
Jules

I would expect it weighs a LOT. Looks to have more wood (!) than a std 450B and they weigh 12 0r 13 lbs

[quote name='ivansc' post='539589' date='Jul 13 2009, 07:11 PM']Hi - Ivan from Wistow near Peterboro.

I quit playing bass professionally many years ago when I got trigger finger in right hand one and two.

Started playing one of those skinny stringed little things for a living but never lost my love for bass.

Now after retiring off the circuit I am playing bass again and my hands arent falling apart yet!

I made the mistake of selling my old bass rig to a pupil years ago and then made another mistake recently buying a poxy little laney combo amp.

160 watts and not man enough to do a bar gig with a proper drummer....

So I was attracted here by the tales of DIY cabinets, since this is how I started out in 1961/2.

There just werent any bass amps and cabs around in the UK in those days.


Hi There!
did you get treatment for the trigger finger? I've recently had it and it's pretty much back to normal after 1 treatment. I'm having another soon, and that should fully do it. Only takes about 5 minutes, but it does hurt a bit while they do it. It's just an injection (cortizone)
All the best
Jules
My first rig was a Philips mono valve hifi amp and a 22" jukebox speaker in an open backed 1/2" plywood box.

And that is about it.

I`m currently picking up a lot of dep jobs and doing the first fledgeling gigs with Catfish Jones, a nasty 3 piece r n b trio...[/quote]

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='536168' date='Jul 9 2009, 07:10 AM']Cool!

Sound wise, I imagine the Kramer would be not far off from my old 1984 BC Rich Eagle, which had a very similar design in terms of electronics and pick ups.. That was a fabulous bass..

Yes, the Wal is mine; it's a 1979 Pro IIe model and sounds fantastic! Cost me about £800 IIRC 4 years ago but they go for more now (unfortunately)..[/quote]

Unless the BC Rich has an aluminium neck they wont sound alike. Kramers have an amazing boingy piano like tone and sustain for ages.
They are really distinctive sounding. I imagine a Travis Bean may sound similar (I played one once years ago and I'm pretty sure it did!) but they're even more rare. I sold my B450 to a guy who had one - I wonder if he's on here. Lived in London, and didn't want to take the Bean to rough gigs!
Good luck with the sale!
Jules

agreed!, I think this is the best bargain I've ever seen on here. 2 bassists in previous bands I played guitar in used these - just perfect!

Someone MUST buy this!

[quote name='Eight' post='525758' date='Jun 27 2009, 10:17 AM']If that's true - then surely it would apply to all guitars with wood+ebanol neck combinations?[/quote]
I think it depends on how well the wood is sealed against humidity, I dunno! It did belong to the wife of the luthier that I normally use though, and he seemed resigned to having to tweak the truss rod regularly with changing weather.

The old metal necked Kramer basses used ebanol and they were anything but cheap at the time.
I've heard of one bass (a Cort Curbow) where the neck would bow drastically with changes in humidity - I guess the wood expands/contracts and the ebanol doesn't, but that's only one bass. The owner said you could use it as a hygrometer. Its tough ol' stuff.

[quote name='LukeFRC' post='514802' date='Jun 15 2009, 09:49 PM']ronseal dimond hard wood varnish is what i used.
no recomended really, hard as anything but to tends to flow a lot, so either it just slides of the radius of the fretboard or if you mask it in puddles and you loose the radius.
then its too hard to sand back! works ok though apart form that[/quote]
You could try rubbing that stuff on with a cloth. If its that thin it should go on a treat and you can put on really thin layers, as you can wipe off the excess as you go.

Looks like you just sh*t a little 2x10!

Would you consider selling the cab and amp seperately? I'd love to try the cab with my, err, shuttle 3.0...

Cheers
Jules

Same here!

I was looking on Watford Valves' website the other day and they had 200w celestion Neo speakers for a good price, ~I think!
[url="http://www.watfordvalves.com/product_detail.asp?id=1999"]just here![/url]

Seems like a deal!
All the best
Jules

I had the Marathon 6 string fretless which I sold about 5 years ago and there was absolutely no cracking in the finish, so that statement is bolleaux.
A lot may have cracking or checking, but not all!

[quote name='DHA' post='520495' date='Jun 22 2009, 09:05 AM']I have added a bright switch to the design. If yours is pre-bright switch mod then that will do it.

Just add a 470pF ceramic cap across the level pot with a switch if you want. Depends on how old the PCB is but there might be a position marked "bright" anyway. Or just wire to the LHS and middle of the level pot, RHS is gnd.[/quote]
Thanks for that Dave, I'll give it a go when I can. I think this is the reason I hadn't used it much tbh!
Cheers
Jules