Beer of the Bass

Has anyone succeeded in killing one of those Klotz leads? I used my 1995/6 vintage green specimen at a rehearsal today, and it's still fine.

I'm just back from jamming with it, and I'm well chuffed with how it sounds. It's an easy sound to fit into the mix; plenty of mids without sounding boxy and a nice bit of grunt when pushing the front end. It held it's own with the drums and guitar using a single one of my 1x12"s, so it should be good for most of our gigs with the pair of them. I might fit a bright switch in the empy jack hole though, as a touch more edge wouldn't go amiss on a couple of songs. So I think this will be coming out on some gigs with the bluesy rock trio I'm playing with. Now I need to figure out a strategy for using it on PA-assisted gigs. I'd like to get some of the amp-y colouration into the FOH, but I need to consider the soundguy acceptance factor. Possibilities are; 1- Add a preamp line out to the back of the amp, before the master volume. This could go through my DI box (a BSS AR116) into the PA. The DI has a switchable lowpass which would serve as a simple speaker emulation. This would only capture the preamp colouration, but I think that's a lot of what I'm hearing. It also has the advantage of being unaffected by the master volume setting. 2- Use the DI box with 40dB pad engaged, running off the speaker output. This would get more of the amp sound but the level would vary depending on the amp volume. 3- Obtain and carry a suitable mic. I've heard good things about the AKG P2. I suspect the first option is the least likely to annoy venue sound guys, but the other two might also have their plus points.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1489050772' post='3253927'] I started this thread... and I have a new favourite string, but this one is MUCH MORE FAVOURITE LaBella White stainless steel nylon tapewound. 750T 50-65-85-105 They have that plasticky feel that tapewounds have but it's easy to get used to, and they're soooooo smoooooth. They're also very bright, they are more like roundwounds than flats. A lot more. They have a beautifully balanced low end and presence... the G string never sounded better. And they are very low tension. If you enjoy bending strings and adding vibrato here and there... these strings make it very easy. I put them on my Jazz and I can't stop playing it. They sound and feel fantastic... [/quote] I enjoyed the D'Addario black tapewounds for quite a while, and I too was surprised at how bright tapes can get. I kept overplaying them and making them go "splat" though - it took some real concentration not to. I tried a used set of the LaBellas very briefly, but for whatever reason the D'Addario were more up my street.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1489148489' post='3254742'] a set of gauges like those used for car spark plug gaps are useful [/quote] I use a couple of Dunlop picks stacked up as crude feeler gauges, since I seem to have loads lying around and the thickness is marked on them.

I get confused about what's considered high. I think of my bass as being set quite low at the moment, at 2mm (G) to 2.5mm (E) at the 12th fret. But reading through this thread, that might be considered high? I think double bass has messed up my perception of this stuff...

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1489060466' post='3254014'] Good eye! After Stevie's double-check and my triple-check to the drawings that missed us. I've sent a new file to Stevie with the correction. If any of you spot any other mistake please tell me or Stevie about it. A PM would be great as i get a e-mail notification instantly. Hope you're saving up for this build, this cab looks lovely in the specs, i allready have a clear idea of how i'm going to build mine, i'm just waiting for the rain season to stop Cheers [/quote] Alas, I don't have an excuse to be building more bass cabs any time soon, since the pair of 1x12" cabs I put together last year are doing a fine job, and I'm already keeping myself busy with a guitar combo project! I'm mostly following the thread out of curiosity, and was checking out the drawings to see how the proportions of the box compared to mine. This new design is looking well thought-out, and it's interesting seeing how the choices around the two-way design are made.

I still haven't figured it out. The guitarist in the trio I'm playing with is keen that we get some backing vocals in there, so I should probably start working on it.

Wow, has it been a year and a bit since I got this? I'm terrible at staying focussed on a project! I've just finished modifying the Dynacord with a valve preamp, replacing two channels of the original transistor preamp. I've squeezed a little board in with a single 6sl7 valve and built a James style tone stack on the back of the pots, it's essentially a late-60s Ampeg B15n preamp circuit. I found that the new preamp didn't quite have enough output to drive the Dynacord power amp to its full output, so I've cheated a little and used a simple high-voltage FET stage in between the tone controls and power amp board. The new preamp section is on the top right in this picture. It's mounted using right angle brackets to holes that were already in the chassis and I've kept the parts that were removed, so it could be done without hacking the amp up too much. The rest of the original transistor preamp is still in place, just with two identical channels instead of four. I won't have a chance to try it out at band volume until Saturday, but it's sounding good in the house. The new preamp is very good at doing that kind of subtle grit that barely sounds dirty but thickens the sound right up, and the power amp is made to run on the clean side of things. We've been recording our rehearsals lately, so I might be able to come up with an audio clip of it doing its thing. If it gets through that first rehearsal without going bang, I'll try gigging it...

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1488806112' post='3251880'] Granted that Dynacord only ever did 'clean' sounds, I'd still expect an 80W valve amp to kick out a LOT more useable volume than a S/S 200W. [/quote] It'll certainly be interesting to try it and see - it's out of action right now as I'm doing some tweaks to the preamp section. I used to have a 100 watt Carlsbro valve PA that never ran out of steam with my old band, but that band had a bit of a lighter feel about them. The drummer and guitarist I'm playing with now are a touch more rock than others I've played with, so this is kind of new territory for me! If the Dynacord does turn out to do it I'll be happy about that. I still wouldn't mind having a higher powered SS amp tucked away to cover eventualities though.

[quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1488724454' post='3251285'] The Red button is marked "Deep" Just been up the stairs to check. You can see it on the eBay picture too. [/quote] The fart button! Or at least that's what it did on the one my school had, which had the same controls as the one pictured but a 12" speaker without the flared port. I never did entirely figure out what those filter buttons did either - it seemed to sound best if I didn't mess with them.

I've repaired similar holes on guitar speakers and got away with it, but guitar speakers generally have treated paper surrounds rather than fabric and they don't have to flex as far in use. On guitar speakers, I've used coffee filter paper coloured black with marker pen, torn strips off it (so that they have soft, feathered edges) and used whatever flexible adhesive I had around to stick it to the cone. The paper forms easily to the folds when wet and adds very little extra mass. On the surround section that's already painted with a doping compound you have to look quite closely to notice that it's been repaired. The last time I did it, I used water-based neoprene glue, but that was just because I'd just fitted tolex to an amp and had some left. (And come to think of it, that glue behaves much like a less smelly Copydex) I'm not sure whether some other reinforcing material might be more appropriate with a cloth surround though.

[quote name='Gottastopbuyinggear' timestamp='1488662954' post='3250946'] I wouldn't rule out the Ampeg PF500. The issues were sorted out a few years ago, so as long as you pick up a relatively recent one then you should be okay. Mine is a couple of years old and has worked flawlessly. They go for relatively low amounts second hand too, so you could probably justify keeping the MB200 as well. Another possibility would be a GK 700RB - there was one for sale on here recently. [/quote] Since I first posted I've used the PF500 as a house rig and didn't like it much, but that may have been the cab. It was one of those Ampeg 4x10" cabs that seems to have a big hole in the high mid response between the 10"s and tweeter, just where I want to hear some clank and grind. It's entirely possible I'd like it better with my own cabs though. Things like the GK 700RB could definitely tempt me if one comes up at the right price at the right time. As it is, I can take my time over things, as my gigs for the next couple of months will either be in a place where it's easier to use the house rig or in another venue that should be relatively low volume. I've also got an 80 watt Dynacord valve amp I want to explore the possibilities of a little more, though I reckon the useful volume from that will be about on a par with the MB200.

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1488637340' post='3250677'] I learned using that Jim Gregory book too... [/quote] I had that book too, or it might have been my brother.

I had one of those Kay guitars above with the built-in effects for a while. I found it very cheaply secondhand, played it until the novelty wore off then listed it on eBay where it fetched about £100 more than I'd paid. The effects are hilarious - most settings are variations of a crap muddy modulated wah/tremolo sound, plus a very crude fuzz. If you balanced the bypass switch between on and off it would set up a feedback loop around the effects circuit and give you theremin-esque oscillation that you could adjust the pitch and tone of with the knobs and switches. Kind of fun in a way!

That's odd, while I've never owned one I've played through that version of the SVT and there was definitely some good-sounding preamp grit available with the gain high and the master low. My passive J pickups are probably lower output than your Thunderbird too. I suspect an unhealthy amp.

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1488572275' post='3250238'] It's of far less concern than no load. That's why Fender amps used a switched main speaker jack to short the output transformer secondary when there was no speaker plugged into it. As for low impedance loads, when we were young and stupid we'd run Fenders with 1 ohm loads that never bothered them a bit. [/quote] Yes, the 60s/70s Fender amps (and similar designs) are quite robust in that respect. Not knowing what the OP's amp is, or the amp of anyone else reading this, it is sensible to urge some caution. Not all amps use the same topology as Fender, in terms of plate voltage, primary impedance and biasing. Just as an example, I have a Dynacord Eminent II which runs a pair of EL34 at unusually high plate voltage, and I have heard of more than one case of the increased dissipation from a short or lowered impedance causing the valves to fail and take out components around them when they do so.

[quote name='Osiris' timestamp='1488568893' post='3250197'] Thanks for the help everyone. I have 2 different cabs, one is a 600 watt, 4 ohm, 2x12 and the other is a 300 watt, 8 ohm 1x12. And I only ever use one or the other - never both together. So using the scenario in my original post, if was to use either cab with a 100 watt all valve amp (using the appropriate output from the amp) then regardless of the cabs nominal impedance, I'd still be getting the full 100 watts through each cab? [/quote] Yes, that's right.

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1488562864' post='3250113'] In fact, it's the maximum. The rules with valves are the opposite of SS. Valves aren't even bothered by a short circuit, but they can be toasted when there's no load. [/quote] That's a generalisation that often holds up well enough to use it as a rule of thumb, but doesn't really describe how the amp operates. Output transformer failure is more likely with no load or a higher than intended impedance, but a lower impedance or a short will still run the valves outside of the operating point the designer intended and cause them to limit the current passed. On most amps this won't cause catastrophic failure but it will reduce the power available and change the sound of the amp. Depending on the operating point of the amp it may also increase dissipation, running the valves harder than necessary. The valves in amps which use a triode/pentode "half power" switch can be badly damaged by lowered speaker impedance when running in triode mode, and while that's something of a special case this feature is more common than it used to be. Since valves are considered a consumable and output transformers are expensive to replace, too low a speaker impedance is clearly a safer bet than too high. The extent to which this will reduce the power available depends on how the amp is designed, so without extensive prior knowledge of a particular amp (drawing load lines etc) or enough anecdotal reports of a successful result with that amp, using the intended tap for the nominal impedance of your speakers is the best idea. So "optimum" is a good word, I'd say.

[quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1488558129' post='3250048'] Valve amps have an output transformer with various impedance taps, usually 16, 8 and 4 ohms. You set the impedance to match the cab(s). The full output is available in all impedances. [/quote] +1 Just to add to that for the OP, the impedance marked on the outputs or selector is the optimum load impedance for that tap, not a minimum as is common on solid state amps. It's generally best to stick to that as not all amps tolerate a mismatch equally well.

Does anyone in Scotland remember guitars and basses labelled Hurricane that were sold by Varsity Music in Edinburgh up until some time in the 90s? I've no idea where they came from, I think the shop must have bought a load of them, stuck their own brand stickers on and sold them off over a period of years. My brother had a strat copy that was terrible, and I've seen a few in Edinburgh secondhand shops which have been equally bad - quite the lowest grade of copy that was around at the time. Because the shop still seems to hold onto stock for years, I suspect my brother's strat copy could easily have been a decade or so old when he bought it in the early 90s.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1488543827' post='3249836'] EQ mixing. It's why when you have a two guitar band you often get the volume wars where neither can hear themselves or each other. [/quote] It [i]can[/i] work with two similar sounding instruments and setups, but in that case the roles of the two guitars need to be carefully thought out, like Television for instance.

There is a friend's band I used to regularly dep with, as their regular bassist had a nasty break to his arm and was out of action for quite a while. They offered me a set rate per gig, which seemed reasonable. On some gigs they made less than that, on a couple they probably made more, so I think it was fair enough. It was a very strange experience depping for a guy who came to most of the gigs though!

That's a pleasingly clear set of drawings, and it looks like you should be able to get a pair of them out of a standard sized sheet of ply too. Is there a typo in the side panel size though? It looks like it says 510mm while the baffle and back are 540mm, or is it a combination of the image resolution and me not having my glasses on?

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1488539528' post='3249760'] I was mostly talking about "being told what to play" type of comments. If it is about the way an instrument sounds, then I'm open to discussion, why not. I have also encouraged a guy to go back to using a strat rather than the Les Paul he was borrowing, because I thought it fitted much better. Others did too, and in the end the guy thought "yeah, it's true" and is again using a strat. It's ok to suggest, why not? I never would bully him into dropping the Les Paul, but I speak my mind and expect others to do the same. [/quote] Multi-guitar bands are a special case when it comes to instrument choice IMO. A friend's band added another guitarist a couple of years ago to free up the singer from playing guitar so much. The existing guitarist was playing a strat style guitar, and when the new guy started he was playing a tele. I saw them live like this a few times and felt like the mix was never quite right. Then last year, the second guitarist changed to an SG and everything seemed to fit together much better. One guitarist is playing a strat into a clean amp and fuzz pedal, the other is playing an SG with a bit of overdrive, the two sounds don't tread on each others toes and each has its own distinct role. But apparently he'd always fancied the SG and didn't have to be nudged in that direction. Conversely, in the one-guitar band I play in, no-one seems to bat an eyelid whether I bring the jazzmaster or 335 type guitar, but oddly I get comments when changing my echo box...

I think the Kay Sound Fashion amps deserve a place in this thread. Wretched, wretched things!