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Beer of the Bass

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Everything posted by Beer of the Bass

  1. Beer of the Bass
    Would you be using coated strings, by any chance? The poles on typical Fender type pickups aren't usually connected to anything (you may want to check this with a multimeter), but if your fingers are grounded by being in contact with the strings you don't get much noise when you touch them. With coated strings, your hands aren't earthed so the noise when you touch the polepieces becomes more noticeable. As long as your polepieces aren't shorted to the windings, which would indicate a faulty pickup, the solution will either be to insulate the polepieces or ground them as suggested above. I've just been through much the same thing after changing to tapewounds, which is why I mention strings.
  2. Beer of the Bass
    I love the old Meters stuff. I feel like they've influenced my guitar playing more than my bass playing, though George Porter is great too, economical and effective. There's almost nothing in his playing that doesn't need to be there, which I guess is what you mean by "dry".
  3. Beer of the Bass
    Up for sale is my Carlsbro CS100 PA, from around 1970. This is a great loud and clean 100 watter, it's in good health and working nicely. This has been my main bass amp for the past couple of years, and I have done a fair bit of work on it. It's had new filter capacitors, a number of out-of-spec resistors replaced, new ceramic sockets and EH 6CA7 valves in the power amp. Channel one has had the tone controls changed to a Fender type tone stack for an alternative sound, while channels two to four have the original, less mid-scooped James type stack. The preamp valves are Brimar ECC83s which appear to be original - the date codes on them check out to June 1970. Around the back, there are selectors for different international voltages and 3.75 / 7.5 / 15 ohms impedance. The mains connector has been changed to a modern IEC connector. This amp tends towards being clean sounding, with a relatively low-gain preamp and high voltages for lots of headroom. With my band I've never had to turn it up far enough for the power valves to distort, though the preamp can be overdriven if you use a clean boost in front of the amp. It's very usable as a gigging bass amp, or would be good as a loud, clean guitar amp for pedal freaks. I have been very happy with it myself, but it's not the best fit for my situation of city centre dwelling, tiny cars, non-driving drummers and soundmen who refuse to mic a cab! It's quite weighty at 18kg/40lbs approx, but the chassis is only 49cm wide (narrower than most valve heads), so it sits on top of typical 2x12" or 1x15" cabs without overhanging. I'm looking for[b] [s]£XXX[/s][/b], no trades please. That's cheaper than most vintage valve gear, and louder than an Ashdown LB30, making it a good way to get into the whole valve amp thing. A local sale would be ideal, but I can pack and get it couriered in the UK for about £25. If you're in or near Edinburgh, you're welcome to come and check it out in person, otherwise it can be heard on Jen and the Gent's bancamp page below, where it was used on all of the electric bass tracks. NOW SOLD! It'll be missed, but I have a valvey project in the works...
  4. Beer of the Bass
    The goo looks like glue from a gun. It's used to stop the heavier components from flexing around and stressing their solder joints. Re. valve suppliers, Hot Rox have been fine when I've bought from them, though I've had no problems with Watford Valves either, and they were helpful on the phone.
  5. Beer of the Bass
    [quote name='Merton' timestamp='1351512989' post='1851916'] If you have a very sensitive cab the MB200 can keep up with a Mode 4 no problem, mine has done on several occasions (Barefaced Vintage and S12...) [/quote] My cab should have similar sensitivity to the S12, but at 8 ohms instead of 4, it'll be a little less loud with the same amp. Mind you, this guitarist was stupidly, painfully loud, and I'd never expect a 140 watt bass amp through a 2x12" to compete with a guitar amp of twice the power through twice the cone area. With the more reasonable guitarists in my band, it does a fine job.
  6. Beer of the Bass
    I finally got round to gigging the MB200 with my 2x12" last night, so I thought I'd mention how I got on. My cab has B&C 12HPL64 drivers and is 8 ohms, so the MB200 would have been capable of around 140 watts. It was a three band night, and we all used my rig. For my band and one of the others, it did a great job - the available volume compares very favourably to the 100 watt valve amp I usually use with this cab, and the tone didn't compare badly either, though with a more modern character to it. This was with mic'd kick and snare, and guitarists using Fender Blues Juniors, to give you an idea of what sort of volume we were working at. One of the bands found they couldn't get enough volume onstage, but the guitarist was using a 350 watt Marshall Mode 4 with too much low end into a 4x12", and most of the punters left the room until their set was finished. So, I'd say it's a viable gigging head for me, but might not be if you have overkill guitarists.
  7. Beer of the Bass
    I had a Kappa 15 in a cab for a while. Although it doesn't go very high, the massive peak just below 2Khz can make it sound quite bright, in an old fashioned clanky rock sort of way.
  8. Beer of the Bass
    Many eBay sellers sending strings from the US will mark the customs form as less than the actual value to get them under the threshold for import duty. It's not exactly legal, but seems to be a common practice. IIRC this seller may have done this when I dealt with them, but I can't remember for sure.
  9. Beer of the Bass
    They've also got step drill bits cheap at the minute, which are handy if you're building effects pedals or similar.
  10. Beer of the Bass
    [quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1351201115' post='1848751'] Might not be what you're looking for but D'Addario Black Nylon Flats are similar tension to TIs (although less compliant) and substantially cheaper. [/quote] This is true. They're a touch livelier than many flats, but still essentially flattish sounding. I was not particularly taken with the B string on mine, however.
  11. Beer of the Bass
    [quote name='bremen' timestamp='1350462921' post='1839075'] Should I have doubled their stated Xmax figure, or are they really this crap? Or is WinISD very pessimistic? [/quote] Bill's post above suggests that Eminence Xmax figures are one way peak figures. WinISD uses the same format, so it would be entered as-is. Lots of cabinets have surprisingly low handling in the low fundamental range, but are still usable for many of us because the fundamental of our lowest notes is a small proportion of the total signal. Many drivers also have usable output beyond the quoted Xmax.
  12. Beer of the Bass
    [quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1350221923' post='1835896'] Yup. As I've delved further I've found all xmax's aren't created equal and behaviour beyond xmax differs between different drivers in an audible way, so I reckon take the numbers as a rough guide and use your ears. Your cab with the B&Cs sounded reaaally nice I thought! If for some mad reason you want rid of it, let me know [/quote] Oh no, that cab is definitely staying! It's my big ol' valve amp I might be reconsidering, so I had a fiddle around with WinISD just to remind myself of the capabilities of the cab. Trying the cab with your F1 made me wonder whether I really need to be lugging big lumps of iron around for the sound I go for, as there are clearly good sounds to be had from lighter amps.
  13. Beer of the Bass
    Thanks Bill. Are Eminence and others who quote a single positive number using peak-to-peak then? Edit; I did a quick bit of reading - it looks like WinISD uses one way peak figures (and I guess that's the convention?), so +/-4mm would be entered as 4mm. If I'm mistaken about that, feel free to say so.
  14. Beer of the Bass
    I've got a query for the technically inclined, to do with interpreting Xmax figures and using WinISD. I've got a cabinet using B&C drivers, and I figure that the excursion limited handling at lower frequencies is always a useful bit of information to have at hand. B&C present their figures in the format "+/-4.0mm" in their datasheets, which I'd always thought meant 4mm. I happened to notice that one online vendor quotes the Xmax of the same driver as "8mm". Have I got this wrong or is this particular vendor fudging their figures?
  15. Beer of the Bass
    Whoo, I'm really enjoying the Prescott stuff! There's a real sense of playfulness in there. If you gig north of the border some time, I shall have to come and hear you.
  16. Beer of the Bass
    [quote name='Evil Undead' timestamp='1349723696' post='1829718'] As I mentioned, I used to gig no problem with a 1x12 Ashdown combo which was only 180W and that seemed to do the job ok (was just really heavy). [/quote] If the Ashdown combo was loud enough, the 1x12" options suggested here (Barefaced Midget, Markbass 1x12" etc) will almost certainly get louder than the Ashdown did, if not necessarily as loud as your 2x12" could go.
  17. Beer of the Bass
    [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1349473573' post='1826979'] That would be good, sure. If you can find out and send me a PM I'd appreciate it. Thanks! [/quote] Will do. I've messaged my old bandmate, as I can't find Jimmy's business card.
  18. Beer of the Bass
    An old bandmate of mine had a load of gear repaired by Jimmy Gillan (he works from home near the cathedral), and he seems to welcome transistor as well as valve stuff. I've not dealt with him myself, so I can't offer an actual endorsement, but my bandmate was quite happy. I don't think he has an internet presence, but I'm sure I can dig out his number if you want to give him a shot.
  19. Beer of the Bass
    Hmm, it does sound like he dropped the ball in this case. Have you tried the send and return jacks to confirm whether the distortion is coming from the power amp? Your description (distortion/noise blended with the signal at constant level, more audible during quieter playing) sounds a classic description of crossover distortion in the power amp. If I had a transistor amp making this noise, I'd start by checking the power transistors and their bias voltages.
  20. Beer of the Bass
    I have one of the tele style guitars, but haven't tried the basses. The finish is either interesting or startlingly ugly depending on your viewpoint, but the instrument is very good for the money. The "EMG designed" alnico pickups sound a lot better than the ceramic bar magnet jobs in most similarly priced instruments and the neck seems well made in a chunky sort of way. My only real complaint about mine is that the nut was crappy soft plastic which the strings dug into - I replaced this with a bone one right away. The rest of the hardware all seems solid and functional enough, which is about as much as you can ask for £99. I like mine enough that I gig with it.
  21. Beer of the Bass
    [quote name='woodyratm' timestamp='1349354633' post='1825169'] I don't understand us music types. We blow tons of cash against stuff to make the noise, but when it comes to protection we seem to ignore it. The custom ones are great - I got because my hearing is already mong'd. At 23 thats pretty rubbish. Get ones which are comfy to wear and allow you to hear everything. My ACS ones were 140 odd and it's the best purchase I've made. Practice sounds better since I'm not being deafened. I wouldn't substitute decent ones just cause other ones are cheap. I've used ER15s, Alpine, foam blah blah and always felt they removed the wrong frequencies or were just not comfy (ER15s made my ear itch). [/quote] Yeah, I see your point (and I don't take it as a dig, worry not!). I don't feel like I'm skimping on the level of protection with ER20s or Alpine, as they still offer a decent level of attenuation and my ears don't ring after a gig or rehearsal. But it's true that hearing yourself clearly is a big deal.
  22. Beer of the Bass
    [quote name='Darkstrike' timestamp='1349352115' post='1825100'] I have one on the way(the GK), should be here any day now, for just.... ....this purpose. Though I'll probably turn the tweeter off. I figure I'll be keeping the volume low enough that the noise, if there is any, should be no issue. [/quote] The hiss is not loud enough to bother me on mine, but it is there. It's quieter than my old AI Clarus was. I think the more annoying noise mentioned in some of the Talkbass threads might have been a lead dress/QC issue on the earlier batches. The MB200 sounds good, is tiny and is plenty loud enough for my needs with my cabs, so I still feel like it was a good buy.
  23. Beer of the Bass
    [quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1349340957' post='1824826'] The [url="http://www.noizezz.com/eng/product/gehoorbeschermers-universeel.html"]Noizezz[/url] ones use the same noise filter as the expensive molded ones, but feature a generic sleeve rather than a molded one. I've tried the Alpine and Ety ones and found they muffled/coloured the sound to much, as I also do the sound for some of the bands I play with its essential I get a realistic balance and protect my hearing. Now the rest of the band uses these and we can all hear each other. Best of all we can all have a normal level conversation with each other during practice without taking the earplugs out or shouting at each other! [url="http://www.noizezz.com/eng/product/gehoorbeschermers-universeel.html"]http://www.noizezz.com[/url] [/quote] That's useful to know, and I may have to check these out. I've used both Alpine Music Safe and ER20s at gigs, and I really notice that they cut a disproportionate amount of high end. A couple of times I've found that if I set my amp where it sounds right to me (especially playing guitar) wearing either type, the treble takes everyone else's head off! It looks like the PR20s posted by Brensabre are addressing the same problem. Maybe I can put off forking out for the custom fitted ones a little longer...
  24. Beer of the Bass
    I've not tried the Ashdown so I can't really offer any comparison, but on my MB200, the infamous hiss is only really noticable in a silent room, not in any sort of group playing situation. I think the hiss is mostly due to having a single volume control early in the circuit - it's like taking an amp with preamp gain and master volume controls and then running it with the master volume on 10 and controlling volume with the gain knob. Also, setting the treble control to 12 o'clock is actually quite a hefty treble boost due to the voicing of the preamp, which makes any noise more prominent. Really unless you're going to use it primarily for home practice through a cab with a tweeter, I wouldn't be worried by reports of noise.
  25. Beer of the Bass
    EDIT; I have deleted my earlier comment is it looks like Rick has had some personal circumstances to deal with and is now getting things sorted re. the melodica I bought from him. I'll update my comments when the deal is completed. UPDATE; I bought an item from him, he was delayed in posting it due to family circumstances, I got it eventually. This is fair enough, but I do think he could have dropped me a message to let me know what was going on. As it was, there was a period where his account showed he had been logging in, but not responding to messages. So, he's not a scammer or anything like that, but I will say that communication could have been better.
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