Beer of the Bass

There is some truth in this, but there are also people who just like the sound a tele makes. Probably best not to pre-judge!

IIRC there were transistor amps under the same name, which will be less desirable than a valve Simms-Watts. It might be worth checking which this is.

Has anyone watched Les & Mary's 50's TV series, sponsored by Listerine? The episodes are up on youtube, and they're fantastically kitschy. In retrospect, the air of domestic bliss is somewhat ironic, but the songs (and the Listerine adverts) are entertaining. I always get Mary Ford confused with Betty Ford though, which would have made things interesting. Anyway, I digress...

If it had to be one of these four, I'd pick the tele, though I'd stick a Bigsby on it. I'm not a huge fan of them visually, but I really like the brightness and texture of the sound - I blame Zoot Horn Rollo!

No pictures today, but my package arrived from Ampmaker and I've started putting the tag boards together. The next few days are a bit busy, but I anticipate I'll have it together and be testing it some time next week. Keeping the wiring neat in this small a box will be a bit of a challenge!

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1343086890' post='1745204'] Lot of energy in their live show, I imagine. [/quote] It's George Duke! He's one of the last guys you could accuse of lacking energy in his performances, especially during his keytar phase, or playing the plexiglass clavinet with a whammy bar in the 70s. Look up some of his old stuff on youtube... I do wonder what this software will sound like when programmed by some mediocre producer, rather than when played by an accomplished musician who has worked with many of the great bassists. I suspect it won't be nearly as impressive.

I'm going with the DC heater supply partly because it's in the design I'm basing the power supply on, and partly because it may reduce my chance of hum, especially in a fairly tight layout like this one. It'll be handy for the status LED also, as otherwise I'd have to run AC through one pole of my bypass switch to power the LED, and I'm pretty certain that would hum.

Give LawrenceH on here a poke - he's recently done a nice job of Plastic Coating on his fretless and might have some pointers...

After playing around with overdriving the preamp of my valve head using a booster, I thought it might be handy to build a pedal to get that kind of sound when I'm using other amps. It will also be used in my guitar setup if I like it. I'm basing the power supply and general concept on Fred Nachbaur's Real McTube design, [url="http://www.dogstar.dantimax.dk/tubestuf/mctube.htm"]http://www.dogstar.dantimax.dk/tubestuf/mctube.htm [/url]but I'm adjusting the plate and cathode resistor values so that it behaves more like a conventional amp front-end. I'm also adding switchable cathode capacitors (to cut the low end, Marshall style) and a single knob tone control. The power supply is unusual in that it uses inexpensive low voltage transformers rather than a purpose built valve amp transformer. It uses one transformer to step the mains voltage down to 12v, which is then stepped up with a 230:24v transformer used in reverse to give a B+ voltage which should be somewhere around 140v after rectification. The 12V supply is also rectified to power the heater filament. Here is the schematic I've drawn up, but I may change things after I've put it together depending on the results. I've left the bypass switch out of the drawing, but it will have one. I have the transformers, ECC83 and box, but I'm waiting for the other parts to arrive before I can put it together. It's going into a diecast box which is about 180 x 120 x 55 mm. The power supply and audio circuitry are going to go on two small tagboards, with the valve mounted on standoffs inside the box. In the meantime, I have prepared the enclosure and painted it with Hammerite. If anyone is wondering, this is not my first valve project, as I have a couple of small amps under my belt (the last one was copied from a Fender Princeton Reverb). More to follow when I've got my parts...

That Hofner looks like a fun guitar. I'd be tempted to put some sort of really old-school magnetic pickup on it if it were mine, maybe one of the chrome Schallers or similar.

Here are a couple of photos of mine: Pete Beer Parlour guitar This was built by my brother, nowadays he's building excellent classical guitars but this one is from his college days nine years ago before he went professional. It's made from Cedar and Indian Rosewood and is very, very small! The size and proportions are based on some of the older Martin and Washburn models before larger guitars became fashionable. It's really sweet sounding though quite light in the bass and responds well to classical style right hand technique despite being a steel string. Kalamazoo KG-21 archtop: This is the one I play most. These were a budget line made by Gibson alongside their standard models, and this one is a small bodied Spruce and Mahogany archtop. The woods are solid but the arching is acheived by pressing the top over domed braces rather than by carving, so it's a kind of archtop/flat-top hybrid rather than a true archtop. The Order Number inside dates it to around 1936, and it's held up surprisingly well. It could probably do with a re-fret in the near future however. The pickup is a later addition, and since it mounts to the pickguard by a bracket at the side, there is no permanent modification to the guitar. The sound is midrangey and strident, and good and loud when played with a pick. It's great for old style bluesy things and for slide, even if that's not my main style.

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' timestamp='1342965762' post='1743205'] The early observation about more electrics than acoustics is understandable, since few acoustics are desirable or impressive, most being a limited tool to accomplish the task of backing a vocal. I've only ever played a couple of acoustics that made me want to own them, but they are an useful item, like a cross head screwdriver, in the toolbag of a master carpenter. [/quote] I'm not trying to be contrary, but my feelings about acoustic guitars are almost opposite to this! I guess it will depend where you're coming from musically. A cheap electric guitar can get most of the way towards sounding like an expensive one, if the setup and pickups are decent and it is played through a good amp, but a good handmade acoustic has something about its sound that a cheap one can almost never replicate. Consequently I have a couple of very nice acoustic guitars but my electric (which I gig with) is a cheapy AXL. I'll try to take some photos of my acoustics in the next couple of days and put them up here - they're a 1936 Kalamazoo (built by Gibson) archtop and a parlour guitar by my brother Pete Beer [url="http://www.petebeerguitars.com/"]http://www.petebeerguitars.com/[/url]

Good question. There was an eBay seller who used to have it, but they seem to have disappeared. Hot Rox in the UK have it, but a bit pricey. Antique Electronics in the States have it a bit cheaper, and they've been very quick and efficient when I've dealt with them in the past. [url="http://www.tubesandmore.com/products/S-G420"]http://www.tubesandmore.com/products/S-G420[/url]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1342955736' post='1743070'] Ampeg cabs weren't used in the UK in the 60's. If you want to be authentic you'll have to get some Vox gear. [/quote] Or just choose your favourite modern cab then install some Vox grille cloth! Most genuine 1960s bass cabs (excluding special cases like the SVT 8x10 or some of the JBL loaded american cabs, neither of which is very British Invasion) aren't something many bassists would really want to use now.

And the mudbucker style pickups on the Ibanez basses were usually a skinny single coil under the huge cover (at least on the one I owned), so the sound is closer to a stock ric than to a Gibson anyway.

I've been using ER20s for a few years, but have recently changed to Alpine Music Safe from my local drum shop. They're similar to the ER20s but I find them a little more comfortable, easier to clean as the rubber part can be removed from the filter, and they come with three different levels of filter. They're a bit more fiddly to put in though, as the stems are shorter.

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1342803859' post='1741329'] Could be my memory, or the fact I've never been a jazzer, but wasn't the place on Chambers St more a straight up jazz place rather than a funky place? I seem to remember one on Morrison St (Henry's???) that was funky? [/quote] Henry's is still with us, but it dropped the Jazz bit from the name several years ago, so it's more of yer typical basement indie venue now. The Jazz bar is doing quite a bit of funky stuff lately, especially at the weekends. There is also a Sunday night jazz session at Whighams in the west end, often with the excellent Jay Kilbride on bass. That tends to be more of a singer's session. It's got a bit of an upmarket, wine-bar thing about it though - I feel a bit out of place there!

I'm in Edinburgh, but I've got some gigs over that period so can't really lend my own bass. I believe Gordon Stevenson's violin shop has been known to hire out basses (though the loaner I had from them was not great TBH). I don't think the shop has a website, but the number is 0131 2292051. There's also a backline hire company who do instruments. I've not had any dealings with them, but at £240/week you'd need a gig that paid well! [url="http://www.dmaudio.co.uk/upright-acoustic-double-bass-fiddle-34-size/"]http://www.dmaudio.co.uk/upright-acoustic-double-bass-fiddle-34-size/[/url] I've travelled with a double bass on trains around Scotland, but never tried it on a longer journey. I usually end up standing with it, but that'd be a nightmare on a long trip.

I once found myself eating muesli, wearing sandals, stroking my beard and reading the Guardian all at the same time. At least the crossword is easier than the one in the Times...

It's just that they're popular with a particular style of US gospel player, isn't it? Musical genres are affected by a players background, and instruments often develop a genre-specific following, so it's not really that odd that they have that association. I saw an interview with Cordell Mosson (from Funkadelic) where he mentioned getting some stick from his bandmates for playing a Rickenbacker as it was deemed to be a Rock bass and not suitable for Funk, so genre stereotyping of instruments is not a new phenomenon.

Maybe the wording on the website isn't great (the "military grade" and "point to point" bits ), but I don't see anything resembling sub-par wiring in this gut-shot IMO. [url="http://www.jaguaramplification.com/i_guts.html"]http://www.jaguaramplification.com/i_guts.html[/url] It may not be built in the Military/Hiwatt style of lead-dress, but the chassis pictured on the website looks well built in a Marshall-esque construction style. If an amp is readily servicable and the layout doesn't cause noise or stability problems, then it is fit for purpose. As a DIYer I have built less tidy looking amps than that which have worked flawlessly, so I'd say the Jaguar looks like a nice amp. The issue of carbon comp versus metal film resistors often seems to open up a can of worms on amp forums. I use metal film in my own builds but there are plenty of very experienced builders who will choose carbon comp. Metal film resistors drift less and are less noisy, but there is a measurable distortion from carbon comp resistors which will affect the sound - it's debatable how audible this is, but some say they prefer it. The article below describes this quite well. [url="http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/carbon_comp/carboncomp.htm"]http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/carbon_comp/carboncomp.htm[/url]

Any more public appearances planned?

Very cool! It puts me in mind of a Stroh violin built on the scale of a dub system bass bin.

The leather is probably no thicker than many modern poly finishes, so if it sounds fine, why worry? It does look very cool, and I bet it feels good too.

Could it be that high-impedance passive type pickups usually have a peak in the response somewhere in the upper mids which makes the attack more noticeable, while pickups which are lower impedance like many "active" designs tend to have a flatter response which sounds more polite?