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.

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.

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.

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.

They've also got step drill bits cheap at the minute, which are handy if you're building effects pedals or similar.

[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.

[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.

[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.

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.

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?

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.

[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.

[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.

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.

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.

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.

[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.

[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.

[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...

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.

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.

Kay basses are pretty scarce in the UK and have all those old Americana associations, which will probably increase the market value. The bass I borrowed when I started out was a Kay - I grew up Dunoon where there used to be a big US naval base and I guess some imported items came over with them. From what I recall of the bass, the standard models are not better than the old European plywood basses which are more plentiful and sell for less, but still a respectable plywood bass. The skinny neck may not suit everyone either.

The DHA box is a different kettle of fish altogether- since it's powered by 12V DC, the valves appear to be running in starved mode, which can work well for distortion devices but it's not a proper high-voltage valve preamp. It does look like Alex Bass has some parts fabricated to order, which will be pricey in small runs. I'd bet that by the time the custom transformer, PCB manufacture, enclosure and front panel fabrication are paid for, he doesn't have any higher profit margin than DHA does.

[quote name='voxpop' timestamp='1349006421' post='1820534'] Are you going to offer to make it for fellow basschatters ? [/quote] I'd be wary of making things for sale, given that it's mains powered and I'm an amateur working from my kitchen table with no bits of paper for safety certification, sorry! Pretty much any custom amp builder could probably run you up something similar though.