Beer of the Bass

[quote name='bassace' timestamp='1320577018' post='1428402'] on a double bass never, but once the tail wire let go on a gig so does that count as four? [/quote] I had several double bass strings break when using Thomastik Dominants, though when tuning or in transit rather than while playing. I think it's the stranded nylon core they have. Eventually I stopped using them. Otherwise, I don't recall ever breaking a bass guitar or double bass string. Even guitar string breakages are rare for me.

[quote name='Monckyman' timestamp='1320495983' post='1427536'] I honestly don`t think it worth your time and expense to keep worrying about this. Just insist on a mic. If you can`t get one you can`t get one. At the very best the eq and level are decided by the "engineer" and whatever signal you give them will be subject to their tin ears and apathetic ways,so my advice is relax, enjoy your cab and let the gig take care of itself. [/quote] Fair enough. The audience were enjoying the gig well enough, and that engineer would probably have screwed up any sound source equally badly! In a previous band, I had to stop using my double bass for a regular gig in that venue as the same sound guy couldn't figure out how to control the feedback when he turned the subs up. I don't think a straight DI is inherently bad sounding, it's just a shame that everyone ends up sounding the same, regardless of the sound they've found to work in their particular band.

This particular gig had only two bands, and we were the only one with a bass player. I think it's just laziness on the part of this particular sound guy, combined with a weird passive/aggressive thing of pretending to agree whilst doing the opposite! We had emailed the venue in advance about our lineup and requirements. I actually run my amp pretty clean, but it's providing some compression, rolling off the high frequencies which are otherwise obnoxious with my effects and giving some extra presence around 2k compared to a straight DI. I could probably come up with some complicated signal chain to deliver something similar to the sound guy, but why bother? I have wondered whether a speaker level DI is worth experimenting with - i.e running a DI box off the amp output (in parallel with the speaker) with a 40dB pad on. It would miss the speaker colouration, but my DI box has a 4kHz lowpass which can be switched in which might do some of that job. Any thoughts on this?

People who mic cabs live, how do you get the soundman to co-operate and actually run a mic on your cab? Are you carrying your own mics? I had a gig last night, I had a chat with the soundman early in the evening and asked him if he would mic my cab. I play through a valve amp and use overdrive and fuzz quite a bit, so it's not really an outrageous request. Plus we're a guitar/bass/drums three piece, so not exactly a difficult gig for soundmen. He gave the impression of agreeing, saying he would run a mic and DI, but then did the opposite, with just a Behringer DI and proceeded to kill the bass sound by boosting the sub bass and having very little mid or highs. I didn't want to push the point, as he was in control of the "suck" knob that night! He was also using a trigger for the bass drum, with a completely inappropriate sound, so getting any sort of decent sound that night was a damage limitation exercise. It doesn't seem unreasonable to use a mic along with a DI in certain cases, so why do many sound guys make you feel like a prima donna for asking?

A small amount of out-of tuneness is part of that sound, a bit like a tremolo tuned accordion (where a second set of reeds is tuned slightly sharp) or detuning one oscillator on a synth. I have quite a high tolerance for this before it becomes unmusical, others can't stand it! I don't think it's my sense of pitch being bad either, just variations in where people draw the line between sounding interesting and being a racket.

My band pester me to bring my 8-string, so at least they notice...

They have most of their range on eBay if you're concerned about the security of their website. I've just got some blue pearloid stars to match the pickguard on my 8-string.

How about the Eminence Basslite s2012 for a pair of smallish 1x12s? I've seen them at decent prices, they have lower Fs and Eminence have designs on their website for sealed or ported 1x12s.

[quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1320233989' post='1423999'] For a pair of 112s I'd maybe look at some cheaper, pressed-steel frame woofers. As a rule they don't sound as controlled with power in the bass as the cast chassis, but they're generally lighter and at your power levels it wouldn't matter too much. If you can find them at the old, cheaper price or secondhand you might consider the celestion orange label neos, not many people here rate them on spec because everyone's focused on xmax but they extend nice and high and with good sensitivity again, I think they'd be voiced to your liking [url="http://professional.celestion.com/bass/pdf/BN12-300S8.pdf"]http://professional..../BN12-300S8.pdf[/url] There's a 4-ohm version as well. I have to say I haven't modelled the bass response but I've heard a cab loaded with orange series drivers and they sound articulate. Btw even xmax figures are presented differently by different manufacturers so I wouldn't be too put off even for higher-power SS applications - esp on double bass. [/quote] The BN12-300s are on offer for £69.99 at Lean Business, but unfortunately only the 4 ohm, not the 8-ohm version. The 8 ohm is £138.20! That could work, but two 4 ohm 1x12s would need to be in series to keep the Carslbro happy (it has 4,8 or 16 ohm taps). I would need to figure out what volume and porting they're happy with, but it looks like an option. For double bass use, I always use the highpass filter on the Clarus anyway, so excursion could probably be well controlled in that application.

Interesting stuff, Lawrence! The chart for the Kappa 15 has a peak just below 2kHz and drops off quite steeply after that. [url="http://www.eminence.com/pdf/Kappa_15A.pdf"]http://www.eminence....f/Kappa_15A.pdf[/url] This can sound quite aggressive, but kind of dull above that. I've modified my amp with a bright cap which increases gain above about 2K at lower volume settings, and this has got me closer to the sound I want. My other cab, an EA Wizzy 10 cab I use for double bass gigs goes up to 5k according to the manufacturer - from the sound of that, I don't need to go any higher. The Wizzy actually sounds good with the Carlsbro, but doesn't get me the volume and lows I'd want in places bigger than a pub backroom for electric bass use. So 2.5k-4k is indeed the range where I'd like a bit more. On heads with more sophisticated EQ, I usually find myself boosting this range to get the sound I like. DIY is not entirely out of the question, but needs an empty house for a couple of days so that I can get my workmate out and take over the kitchen! For some reason, I'm happy to to do things with instruments and valve amps, but wary of cab design as I feel like there's a lot I don't understand thoroughly. I also considered selling the Wizzy 10 and the big ol' 1x15" and going for a pair of 1x12" cabs, so that I could use one or two with either my Clarus head or the Carlsbro depending on the situation.

Picato are definitely at the darker, thumpier end of flats, at least when I've tried them. A new set of Picato flats were darker sounding than D'addario Chromes which had been on for a year. If that's the sound you're going for, you may like them, and they look and feel well made.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1320049837' post='1421498'] I too asked TC for specs on their cabs - they did reply, but said they didn`t have them. I found this a bit worrying, that a company doesn`t know it`s own products specs. [/quote] I got this response from TC, having asked them if they had a 1w/1m sensitivity figure for the BC212; "I'm sorry, but we don't have further details on this available at this point." Poor show, IMO.

Looks good, but is also a bit larger than my vehicle situation needs. I'm not sure extended high frequency response agrees with fuzz pedals either.

[quote name='ShergoldSnickers' timestamp='1320048984' post='1421493'] To this day I am known to position my finger twixt lips and wibble them about whilst verbally fishing for a cup o' char from the kids. They do not understand. Nor do they make any tea. Bastards. Mike Howlett - I remember Master Builder (I think) on the 'You' album as a good example of his art. [/quote] Ha! My 12 year old stepson sings the bit from Flying Teapot when making tea. Have a cuppa tea, have another one, lovely cuppa tea! Never makes me one though...

I've emailed TC to see if they have a 1w/1m sensitivity figure for the BC212 - I wonder what they'll say? The Ashdown LB212 might also be worth a shot if I can find one. They don't publish any specs for it, but if it was designed to be used with the 30 watt LB head I presume the designers would have been going for efficiency above all else...

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1319933647' post='1420377'] Excursion is no issue with a 100w head, it is the thing that matters if you puish power. All about sensitivity. A Barefaced Vintage or Super 15 will be really loud with 100w. I have a 100w Carlsbro and a S15, so could probably demo how loud. Reckon the fact my 70w Burman is loud enough is sufficient though. [/quote] Cheers for the real-world perspective - most speaker reviews I can find are from people using higher powered solid state heads,. We probably have different standards of "loud" though - no Doom required here! I'm loud enough with my current 1x15, so the main thing is not to be less sensitive than that. As far as I can gather from playing around with WinISD, the Kappa 15 in my enclosure has pretty decent efficiency for a 1x15 (around 100dB 1w/1m IIRC), I'd just like it to weigh less. I'm also the only driver in the band, so if I had something like a 2x15", we'd have to rent a van for every gig rather than using a car. As it is, we can squeeze into an estate car. The only efficiency specs I can find for the cabs listed above are 95dB for the Laney NX115 and 100dB for the GK212MBE.

Are the sensitivity figures quoted by most manufacturers meaningful, though? I've no idea if they're rated in any kind of consistent way between manufacturers.

My current setup with my band is a Carlsbro 100 watt valve PA head, paired with an old Peavey 1x15" cabinet which is loaded with an Eminence Kappa 15 driver. I get plenty of volume for my needs out of this, but I would like to change the cabinet for something a bit lighter, as carting a ~30kg cabinet up to my flat at 2am is not much fun and I'm sure I'll do my back in eventually. It also has a bit less upper mid response than I'd like. I'm looking at several modern, lighter cabinets, and I'm looking to spend £200-£300 ideally, or could stretch to about £350. My band isn't incredibly loud - the drummer can be quite rocky but he has decent dynamics, and the guitarist is using a little 1x12" Fender combo. I play a mixture of fingerstyle and pick, like to use overdrive and fuzz pedals on some songs and play a five string, but I'm not too heavy on the lower range. I'm considering the following options: -Buying a TC BC212 and possibly disconnecting the tweeter -Ashdown LB212, if anyone still has them in stock -Laney NX115, though I'm wondering if it'll have high enough sensitivity with a 100 watt amp. Are there any other options people would suggest, or opinions on the cabs above? I don't actually need to be louder than my current speaker, though a bit lighter would be nice. Most 4x10" cabs would be heavier than I want. Unfortunately, my budget doesn't stretch to things like the Barefaced cabs, and I don't have the work space for DIY.

I've only discovered them recently, starting with this performance. I stumbled across it as I have an old Hohner Pianet, like Hammill is playing here, and was looking for examples of them. His delivery does remind me of Withnail on occasion, but there's a genuine intensity about it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzoaWrRYg98

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1319879396' post='1419528'] Mr Hillside got on well with Jimmy Pursey. Jimmy ASKED Steve to play with Sham 69 at Reading when they met a few months earlier. There's some hippie-punk on the 4th side of Live Herald, and some on Open. [/quote] I have a copy of Planet Gong's Floating Anarchy 1977, a post Gong Daevid Allen project. That's pure hippy-punk too! I guess Gong and co were genuinely underground and far enough outside the mainstream that punk didn't seem like a threat to them. I think my favourite actual Gong album is Camembert Electrique, as it's somehow a bit spikier sounding than the later stuff, though I love the Radio Gnome trilogy as well. I saw them live last time they were touring, and it was great. I like the way Daevid Allen is still really going for it, but doesn't try to look like a young man. A good example for other aging musicians to follow!

I had this happen at a festival in May. The house amp (curiously enough, another Marshall) died two songs into the set and wasn't coming back, but my DI was in front of it, and the gig was already running late, so I kept playing. We could sense some bass from the FOH, but it was completely indistinct. According to friends in the audience, it was fine out front. It wouldn't have worked on a double bass gig!

There is a "report" button for this sort of thing.