Beer of the Bass

Bill Kelday in Fintry would be worth talking to, he's the last guy I went to when I needed a minor repair. I don't know if they still have the same resident luthier, but I wasn't so impressed with Stringers when I had some work done by them. I explained that I would usually have the string height at the end of the fingerboard at roughly 7-10mm, and he looked disparaging and proclaimed "that's cello setup". I'm sure he's a competent luthier, just not very receptive to modern (i.e in the last 50 years) pizzicato bass setup.

Hard to read the panel in the thumbnail, but it looks like the model name starts with B, and no midrange controls that the larger amps had. So likely a B25 which are somewhere around 50 watts.

I still haven't used the silent recording function on my Ampeg PF50T, to be honest. I'm aware it's there, but I've mostly used the DI for live situations or rehearsal room demos where I want the speaker anyway.

I haven't seen the schematic for the Supergroup, but the "Power Simulator" units were simple slave power amps so that's likely to be an output post-preamp. Most passive DI boxes with a speaker setting attenuate the signal voltage with a simple resistor divider before the transformer, so whether it's suitable for your output level is more about how much attenuation it's designed for than the transformer spec. I'd say there would be no harm in trying it when playing at a relatively low volume, but if it starts to sound bad or give you too hot a DI signal as you turn it up then you'd want to try a different DI. Also, when using a speaker level DI, I'd always prefer to run it from the second speaker jack on the amp, provided they're wired in parallel as most are. That way the connection from amp to speaker isn't running through the extra set of jacks and PCB tracks in the DI box. If you're going for a dirty bass sound, the speaker adds a lot and a mic may be better, but for a little colouration on a mostly clean sound the DI may be quite useful.

The guitar cabs with the Celestions make a big selling point of it and have "Vintage" in the name as they use Vintage 30s, but there are also cheaper models which use more generic speakers. I feel that if the descriptions and model names of the bass cabs don't make a big deal of using branded drivers, they almost certainly aren't using them.

That's true, Phil, and I bet the 1x15" with a little revision to the porting and a nice neo 15" like a Faital or Eminence could be equally good value.

I feel like tele bridge pickups are one of those things that can be kind of obnoxious playing by yourself at home, but often exactly right in a band context. A lot of my favourite instrument sounds have this property...

Thinking about it, haven't there been a few cases where manufacturers have used a proprietary power module, run into reliability issues and discontinued support of them after a short while? That would make me lean slightly towards amps using ICEpower or modules from other large, established makers just because they're likely to be more of a known quantity and have continued parts availability.

As much as I'm enjoying the valve amp and coloured speakers approach for bass guitar (OK, it's not very logical but it's fun and fits the vibe of my band), I would think seriously about something like this for double bass amplification if I had the gigs to justify it.

If you're going used, I'd rather go for a steel core string like the Spiros too, as they tend to stand up to being taken on and off better. Some synthetic strings don't take well to that.

Bootsy has always been pretty good at getting his complex fx chain to work with the music! Sometimes by having synth bass in the mix too, but it works...

This will depend on income etc, but in any situation where a 100 watt valve amp was loud enough I'd prefer that to a 300 watt version because it will be so much less expensive when it's time for new power valves.

Peacock's family have now confirmed his passing to NPR, so that seems to provide some certainty. RIP Gary... https://www.npr.org/2020/09/07/910054995/gary-peacock-a-jazz-bassist-always-ahead-of-his-time-dies-at-85?fbclid=IwAR0iLTeNEif5ouHru8fsX5uHUVYV5VnDEDMSqRpoKOny9zL6-JhCZ-gqpLQ&t=1599501388367

Though DeJohnette apparently did post that and then deleted it once the hoax rumours started circulating, which is why it's not there now.

I'm less certain - the source for the claims that it's a hoax appears to be a particularly dodgy looking website where much of the content looks bot-generated. It carries word for word identical "death hoax" stories on multiple celebrities.

Effects do require some extra thought and preparation to work well live. I don't use more than occasional fuzz and a Mutron clone that pops up even less frquently, but even with those it's noticeable that what sounds great through a bass rig during rehearsals doesn't always play well live when you bring a DI into the equation. I don't take this to mean I shouldn't use them, just that there's a slight learning curve to really get them working well.

I think Ampeg's UK distribution is changing since the company changed hands, so it may be a case of Polar wanting to shift their existing stocks, similar to the deals a lot of us got on the PF50T and PF20T heads.

The one reservation I have with the Stentor 1950 is that the examples I've tried have been rather small proportioned for a 3/4, and personally I'd prefer a little larger. I have always wondered what kind of size the "4/4" version is, but I've never seen one in the flesh.

An 8x10“ with just a pair of side handles, no tilt-back castors and bar handle? It looks like good value, but I suspect not that many will end up being moved around and gigged!

I think they stopped making them, but Sadowsky Black Label flatwounds also had similar mid thickness to TI Jazz flats, but in a much higher tension, stiffer feeling string. The D'Addario Chromes, Ernie Ball and Fender flats I've also used don't have that same midrange character.

On the flute chat, are we talking about the sustained portion of the note, or the whole note from start to finish? I feel with flutes and whistles, a lot of the identifiable character is in the transient at the beginning of the note, so it could be possible to have a sustained tone close to a sinewave but still contain the complexity that makes the instrument recognisable. From experience, it's surprisingly hard to make a convincing flute patch using a sinewave oscillator on a synth...

Price is a big consideration for me, all my valve amps have been unfashionable off-brands and often bought needing work, except the Ampeg PF50T which I bought on Kenny's half price clearance and it was still the largest amount I've ever spent on an amp. And the compactness and weight of it definitely made it more appealing, since I'd already had heavier heads and found I often left them at home.

Interesting approach! I had wondered about using an external power amp if I ever needed to get louder with my Ampeg PF50T, but in practice it's been fine for me so far, and it might be that I'd look at a bigger cab first. I do know that through the 8x10" in one rehearsal space we used, it had a fair bit more oomph than my two 12"s.

I'm surprised there aren't more small form-factor, less than 200 watt valve amps with modern appointments like DIs etc, rather than large wood-cased heads intended to sit on massive cabs. It seems like they'd fill a niche for a lot of bassists.

My Ampeg PF50T is proving really useful for the kind of gigs I do, and importantly when the sound guy appears with their XLR cable it has good DI outputs that do get some ampy character across. Stage volume is enough for me with one or two reasonably efficient 12"s, and in a padded bag it's easy to move around. When I had a much larger and heavier old Carlsbro 100 watter with no DI outs, I ended up using my Gallien Krueger MB200 for a lot of gigs out of convenience, but the GK hasn't been out on a gig since I got the Ampeg.