Beer of the Bass

It's a very, very small box for a 12", to the point that it would be small for most 10" speakers. If you can get an original replacement that might be your best option. I suppose you could make an adaptor ring for a high quality 8" like the Faital 8pr200 (used in the Crazy 8 cabs) and install appropriate ports if you really fancied a project.

It's an unfortunate thing when in writing a paragraph about the history of the Blues, the journalist namechecks "Howlin Woolf". Was he Virginia's brother?

Why is the shaft on the middle pot so much taller than the other two? I realise this is probably a pre-production model, but you'd think that if they were going to film it from that angle they'd take the extra five minutes to sort that out.

The B15n preamp doesn't really have a baked-in scoop unless you crank the bass and treble controls or use the Ultra-Lo switch. It should be somewhat flat with the EQ knobs centred. But if the Ashdown is your usual preferred sound, why not use that? Not all B15 models use standard jacks for the speaker connection - that would be something to check first.

[quote name='Chienmortbb' timestamp='1480276750' post='3183049'] All right of course but the AC30 just has something. As does a Marshall stack. The Who at Glastonbury is a case in point. Townsend was using a wall of Fender Combos, think Brian May's AC30 wall. It sounded thin and wispy washy on the broadcast coverage, in contrast to the usual Townsend Marshall sound and May's AC30 sound. As for the little 15/17 watt combos, most sound like strangled budgies. [/quote] Drifting wildly off-topic, but I wonder how much of that was the Fender amp voicing, with that big mid dip that most of them have. It's a cool sound in a lot of contexts but I could imagine it having less authority in a rock band than a Marshall or Vox does. I'm a fan of small single speaker guitar combos of 15 watts or so, but in a larger room they do need good PA to avoid sounding a bit strained. I've compared my own amp which is based on a Fender Princeton Reverb to the larger Twin reverb, (same preamp, but 2x12" and 80w compared to 1x10" and 15w) playing in the same band. At the same apparent volume, the Twin does have a lot more fullness in the low end when standing in the room with it, but close-miked the way most of us gig these days, the differences are less apparent, and if you want to get a touch of breakup out of it the smaller amp may even have the edge. For anyone in the habit of playing unmiked, or doing a louder rock thing, the larger amps do still have their place even if a 100-watt full stack is rarely called for these days.

I decided to try out the Fender 9050s, since I needed some new flats anyway and they're cheap. I went for the 9050-5l set, which are 0.40"-0.125", and the lighter gauge does make them quite pleasant to play. They'll need a couple of weeks to lose that brand-new brightness, but I like them. They're not miles from the Chromes and Ernie Ball sets I've used before, though perhaps I would notice some differences if I was to compare them directly. They do seem like a brighter and less thumpy flat than the Sadowskys were, which suits what I want to do with them. I had to do a bit of fiddling to get the B-string playing well - it's a tapered B but the tapered part is very long. Installed as is, it sounded good with decent sustain in the lower range, but the intonation was all over the place higher up the neck. So I slipped three M6 nuts over the ball end of the string to move the anchor point further back, placing the taper just forward of the saddle. It's a little inelegant, but it does now play nicely over most of the neck.

You'd be changing the internal volume too. If you're determined to fashion some sort of all in one solution, you could perhaps come up with some sort of bracket to anchor a micro head to the top of the cab.

That picture has become the amp forum equivalent of the "drummer at the wrong gig" video...

Where does the information about it being from Madrid in the 1960s come from? If I had to guess, I would think it may be more recent than that. The pictures are quite low resolution - could you confirm if it's a laminated bass or if any parts are carved? The tailpiece looks like the cast metal ones I've seen on cheap modern Chinese basses and the tuners don't look out of place for that either, but beyond that it's hard to say. Still, £250 is probably OK for almost any intact bass in playable condition.

Hazbeen's picture is an XLR/jack combo socket made by Neutrik, the sort of thing you'd see on a line-level input. Since you're talking about Speakon connectors, most can't be used with 1/4" jacks. The Neutrik branded Speakon/jack sockets are dark green and have the word "combo" moulded into the plastic so should be fairly easy to spot - the black Neutrik Speakon sockets won't take a 1/4" jack.

Do any controls affect the volume or tone of the noise? Is the noise present on the effects send, or just on the speaker output? Working that out will help you to pin it down to one part of the circuit.

[quote name='rushbo' timestamp='1479679540' post='3178454'] I think CrackerJackLee is really Carol Kaye. [/quote] Looking at the quotes posted from Kaye's facebook page, they use quite different styles of syntax and punctuation, so I'd guess not.

[quote name='howdenspur' timestamp='1479665987' post='3178285'] Quoted from Carole's timeline: "[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] And Bill Cosby would join in on tambourine for his TV show music."[/font][/color] [/quote] But Slutsky doesn't seem to quote Bill, as was implied.

[quote name='howdenspur' timestamp='1479663933' post='3178262'] Perhaps a confusion of Cosbys going on here too [/quote] Yes, I was wondering about that. I can see that Henry "Hank" Cosby is quoted, but I'm not sure where Bill Cosby comes into it. Are they related?

The history of popular music is full of figures about whom I find myself thinking "Fantastic musician, I wish they didn't do [i]that [/i]though". On the scale of things [i]that [/i]could be, making potentially exaggerated claims about your discography is pretty innocuous really. So like some other posters, I'd rather listen to and read about her playing than go over and over those claims.

Looking at some pictures, the bridge matches that model Baldwin bass too, albeit with the thumbwheels mounted in the wrong place. I think you might have successfully identified the parts donor.

It's curious that Gibson chose to revive the Epiphone name for their budget line, when they'd already had a line of budget instruments under the Kalamazoo brand from the 30s through to the 70s. Although those might be slightly different in that they were made in the main Gibson factory rather than outsourced. If I ever sell my '36 Kalamazoo archtop (which I won't, 'cos it's lovely), I would absolutely mention Gibson in the advert title.

I'd be tempted to leave the headstock as it is, because "Thunder Supreme Voyager" is such a gloriously tacky name! Regarding pickups, I've just put a pair of Vanson '57 humbuckers from eBay into my Aria PE Studio which were less than £30. They're surprisingly nice sounding pickups, and I notice that they also do a humbucker sized alnico P90 that might be worth a try.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1479199835' post='3174619'] exactly. some people get too precious about "their tone" or feel too insecure about receiving suggestions. I've seen that with guitarists quite a few times, where either a humbucker or a single coil based guitar was preferred by the band. In fact the guitarist would often bring the matter up for discussion. While I have my own personal preferences based on sound and feel, ultimately it's about what sounds best in the band. I won't be 'dictated' what to use, but we should listen to the opinion of the rest of the band too and not be so precious. We're not even talking about being suggested to buy a new instrument, but about choosing an instrument from the ones we use already. [/quote] I reckon I've had more comments from bandmates on gear choices when playing guitar than when playing bass. It tends to be more over effects than instruments, like the fuzz that no-one liked, or the flaky old tape echo that a couple of bandmates seem to be disappointed if I don't bring. On bass, I've had far less feedback from bandmates. Although come to think of it, I did pick up an Ashbory bass a few years ago, and both of the bands I was in at the time hated it! That didn't stay around for long...

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1479383679' post='3176078'] I like all my basses to be constructed in California, keeps it simple. [/quote] Might be tricky with the double bass! Though for EUB, Azola would work.

I wouldn't put a wooden front like that on a corner-ported cab. You would need to keep those open for the cab to perform as designed.

I've had Sadowsky Black Label flatwounds on my 5-string for about 2 1/2 years, and have just recently decided that they were getting a little too dead for me. Out of curiosity I stuck on a set of stainless steel rounds I had lying around (they're Warwick Red Label 0.045-0.130"). I don't think SS rounds are for me overall, as they're so clanky and I just can't get the same character out of the upper strings in particular, but there are some qualities I like about them; the slightly more flexible feel makes them feel easier and a little "faster" to play, and the B string is suddenly usable all over the neck. I've yet to find a flatwound B that speaks clearly above about the 5th or 6th fret. So far I've had the Sadowsky, a D'Addario Chrome, D'Addario tapewounds and a brief dabble with Status Half Rounds. All of those gave me more or less of a muddy, inharmonic thud higher up the neck, while almost any roundwound sounds good on the same notes. I feel like this may be related to the stiffness of a flatwound B, and I wouldn't mind a slightly more flexible feel across the board. So, do I seek out some lighter gauge more flexible flats, perhaps the 0.040-0.125" Fender set, Thomastiks or anything else I'm not aware of, or do I just mix and match and keep a roundwound B with a set of four-string flats?

I have to ask, did BFC stand for "Big F****ng Cab"?

[quote name='The Jaywalker' timestamp='1479088269' post='3173870'] I'm in agreement here. Whilst I don't agree at all that TB folks are "ahead of the curve" they do tend towards using decent equipment and don't appear to regularly sing the praises of £30 piezos... (unless that's what ambient was hinting at in a gentle way :-) ) I'm sure it's a very good system - probably a bit over priced; but good gear often is, sadly. There are exceptions, but like as not we get what we pay for. [/quote] I think the J-Tone comment was supposed to be a bit flippant there. The £30 piezo in question is fine for what it is, but I'd put it up against other simple piezos like the Bass Max, Shadow or Rev Solo II, rather than as an alternative to a high-end microphone, and the gigs you'd take them out on are not the same. The guys on talkbass do occasionally get enthused over less expensive gear, like the MSP contact pickup from Japan.

I find it often helps to scuff up a small area on the back of the pot with fine sandpaper immediately before soldering, then it will take the solder much more easily. IMO the old style tin/lead solder is much friendlier too.