Beer of the Bass

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1340870715' post='1710647'] Just a thought - anyone know if a non-compliant amp would pass a PAT test these days? [/quote] ROHS compliance wouldn't affect PAT testing, since the PAT is mostly about safety stuff; earth continuity, polarity, insulation and a visual check for damage. ROHS regulations are about environmental protection during manufacture and disposal, not safety in use. Plenty of older, pre ROHS equipment still passes PAT tests.

[quote name='heminder' timestamp='1340748125' post='1709219'] I've only had one lead go funny. Interestingly it broke because the little plastic between the tip and the sleeve vanished somehow. [/quote] It wasn't a Warwick Rockcable, was it? This is exactly what happened to mine...

Axesrus had one, but the shape is a bit different to the ABM. [url="http://www.axesrus.com/AXEBASE.htm"]http://www.axesrus.com/AXEBASE.htm[/url]

Result! I'm usually one for leaving dings as they are, but it's a different story when they're on the back of the neck and you can feel them everytime you play.

Sounds like an interesting one! I bet I'd have recognised a few faces there. I've played events with a similar crowd a few times, and it's always a hassle in terms of organisation but a fun audience once you're actually playing.

The way I've seen it done is with a soldering iron, so hot enough for the water to steam but very localised. Sort of like this: [url="http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Technique/Finish/SteamOut/steamout1.html"]http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Technique/Finish/SteamOut/steamout1.html[/url]

If the wood is dented in rather than scraped out, it might be possible to raise the dents using heat and moisture. I've watched my brother (a guitar builder) raise similar dents using a bit of wet cloth over them, heating quickly with a hot soldering iron, to the point where they were barely visible. A bit nerve-racking though!

The only time I've noticed not having enough sustain is on a dead spot. Unfortunately flatwounds seem to bring them out in basses where I don't notice them with roundwounds.

As another Edinburgh bassist, I can only say "Wasnae me!".

I could see the appeal of an onboard pre-amp for players who need a specific EQ voicing to get their sound (as opposed to the usual tweaks for room acoustics etc), as it would enable them to apply that EQ right at the start of the signal chain even when running a DI straight from the bass. Although I imagine this could be a sound guys worst nightmare if not used with some restraint. There is also the risk of plugging an inherently mid scooped preamp into an amp which already has a similar voicing built in and ending up with that rumbly yet clacky mush we hear all too often!

I have a Klotz cable I bought in 1995 which has done many hundreds of gigs and rehearsals and is still fine, though a bit grubby looking. Come to think of it, I've only had one cable fail so far, a Warwick RockCable where the plastic insulator between the tip and ring cracked and broke, causing it to short out. I have lost a silly number of cables though!

A slightly off-topic query for the old-timers; A couple of posts have made the distinction between "covers bands" and "originals bands" and their ability to make a living playing live. I'd agree this is the case at present, but it strikes me that most bands from the 60s and earlier cut their teeth playing mostly covers and only increased the proportion of originals in their set once they had already developed a following, so that distinction didn't always exist. So I'm wondering when that "covers band" versus "originals band" division kicked in in the lower reaches of the live music circuit.

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1340204712' post='1701007'] So, bands that broke through off the back of the internet? Arctic Monkeys? and - er ... [/quote] My missus-to-be (who was at college with them) points out that the Arctic Monkeys broke through mostly off the back of playing loads of tiny venues, both locally and up and down the country in the time honoured fashion, in addition to the internet following.

I'd like to see someone attempting to argue that Carol Kay or Joe Osborn aren't real bass players. These are people who helped define the conventions of the electric bass! Most of us have pinched at least one of their lines at some point, conciously or otherwise.

[quote name='phil.i.stein' timestamp='1339784821' post='1694434'] he's also a ... (no i can't say it) [/quote] transphobe? (Not trying to be ranty here! I was a big Pumpkins fan in my teens but hearing about his spat with Devi Ever put me off the guy somewhat.)

In terms of the OPs amp situation, I doubt you'd notice that a healthy 100 watt valve amp was less powerful than either of the 150 watt amps in your sig (the difference in SPL would be practically imperceptible), and with the valvey perceived loudness stuff going on it may even seem louder, especially if you enjoy a bit of grit in your sound.

This is quite well covered in the stickies at the top of the page. It would be wrong to state "[i]x[/i] valve watts = [i]y[/i] solid state watts" as watts are a measured unit with no room for subjective judgements. But, depending on your tonal preferences, a typical 100 watt rated valve amp will usually sound louder than a typical 100 watt rated solid state amp when both are set to their maximum usable output into the same cabs, due to the factors listed by Mr F above.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1339709188' post='1693301'] The hollow body bit mostly, which disapplies all the following statements as their significance are specific to hollow bodies. If my electric bass isn't plugged in, its an acoustic instrument, just a fairly quiet one, but I can play a tune to someone in the same room and they can hear it fine. [/quote] Ah, so it's a matter of semantics rather than actual disagreement. That could have been made somewhat clearer. Personally I feel that calling a solid bodied electric bass an acoustic instrument is a bit of a stretch, as they are seldom (I would say never, but there may be exceptions I am unaware of) used this way in public performance or recorded applications. I'd prefer to borrow a term from the keyboard world and call the electric bass an electro-mechanical instrument. I would agree however that the line between acoustic and electric instruments has been blurred by the prevalence of amplification.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1339708224' post='1693273'] The assumptions made about acoustic instruments. I know they are incorrect because I know what I'm making and the acoustic principles it is built around, and the assumptions don't apply. [/quote] Unless you can explain [i]why[/i] you consider each specific statement incorrect, that looks an awful lot like lazy condescension to the casual observer. Can you do that? I'm not trying to stir things here, I'm genuinely curious to see where you're coming from with this.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1339706534' post='1693233'] Whole bunch of incorrect assumptions there. [/quote] Which assumptions, and in what way do you consider them incorrect?

[quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1339679336' post='1692541'] Hmm, P pickup in a vaguely 'ray-ish position, on what looks to be a short scale? I bet it'd sound interesting with a DiMarzio Model P! [/quote] Go on, Lawrence, you know you want to! Imagine the looks of admiration when you pull that out for a gig.

[quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1339611690' post='1691549'] Hmm, thinking.. on a cab raised substantially off the floor you will unavoidably get some cancellation that'd typically affect the low mids - could it be that? Since it's a cancellation node EQ can't compensate for it but moving the cab close to the floor and tilting back would solve this. The ICEpower module in the tonehammer is capable (actually more powerful than that used in the Genz or GK MB500 even though they're rated similar outputs) so I'd be surprised if it didn't work well at 8 ohm. Yes, absolutely an F2b type pre in a micro would be great! I suppose the micros are aimed at people who like 'more' features in general. My reservations probably would concern both EQ and gain, but particularly the latter (I think the passive tonestack in the F2b/whatever Fender clone is actually pretty mid scooped anyway...). I am really tempted to switch my F1 for a Fusion if I can find an extra £200 somewhere! But I'd need to try it first as the F1 is great - be pretty interested to hear your MB200, gigging with it sometime soon? [/quote] Saturday 23rd at Nobles in Leith. If that's not too much of a thread derail!

[quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1339605730' post='1691379'] That's not really how it works... more that all (I think) of these micro valve hybrids, with the notable exception of the GK MB Fusion, are running 'starved plate' designs where the plate voltage is much lower than the design spec of the valves call for. It may distort, but it's not a 'true' reflection of the 'classic' valve sound of old studio or Fender/Ampeg preamps. It's the subtle harmonic enrichment before audible breakup in high voltage designs that gives that 'magic smooth sheen' to classic valve pres. I'd be very interested to know if any of the other designs use a high plate voltage but I doubt it, as it's more expensive to implement and they'd be able to make a big thing of it, as GK have rightly done. That's why I am really keen to try an MB Fusion! Just concerned that it'll have been voiced to give too much of the signature GK aggression. [/quote] I don't know how far the family resemblance goes between the MB Fusion and the other MB heads, but my MB200 definitely has a baked-in smile curve. A guy over on Talkbass did some measurements and found that the MB200 [i]can[/i] be set more or less flat, but with the Contour off, Treble and Bass at 10 o'clock and the high and low Mids at 2 o'clock and 1 o'clock respectively, not with the knobs centred. Or is your concern more to do with aggressiveness in terms of gain? I'd agree on the disappointment of starved-plate designs. Even though I'm a big fan of valve amps and gig with one whenever it's not too impractical, when I've tried hybrid heads which have the typical blendable valve stage for "drive", I've always preferred the sound without the valve stage blended in. I'm not sure why nobody has yet come out with a micro head with a simple Fender/Alembic/Hartke LH style clean valve preamp - I reckon a lot of players would be very happy if someone did.

The strings look like Thomastik Superflexibles from the colour of the silks - do they also have aluminium barrel-shaped ball ends with numerals on the end? Those are fairly high tension strings, so you could definitely find something softer feeling. The pickup looks a bit like one of these: [url="http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product/2435-KRIVO_HUMBUCKING_MAGNETIC_UPRIGHT_BASS_PICKUP_INCLUDES_FREE_JACK_MOUNT.html"]http://www.gollihurm...JACK_MOUNT.html[/url] I'm pretty sure it's not a Kent Armstrong magnetic, as those are slimmer without the offset poles.

Have you ever seen his Accordian Today magazine? It's made up mostly of plugs for WEM accordian products, with the occasional rambling cockney rant in between. He does indeed seem like a bit of a character. I reckon they should give him a Knighthood while he's still around!