Beer of the Bass

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1476352853' post='3153508'] Chromes for me, too. If you want real old skool, La Bella, but Chromes more versatile and an easier chpicce for someone making the switch from rounds. I've an idea the new Fender flats may be re-badged Chromes. They are very similar - gauges, specs, etc and even have the coloured ball ends. I suspect D'Addario is making them for Fender. [/quote] This has been discussed a few times over on Talkbass. It does look likely that Fender flats are made by D'Addario, but there are some differences in the materials and construction between the two. So there's probably some family resemblance but they're not simply re-badged Chromes. I'm using Sadowsky flats, which likewise are made by LaBella to a slightly different recipe than their own strings. Those have a reasonable balance between old-school thump and clarity, but are a couple of steps darker than Chromes.

Yes, that's the one. I've seen more mixed reports about the other model with the red and green sides.

[quote name='tinyd' timestamp='1476195443' post='3152180'] Thanks very much for posting that - nice playing! The pickup sounds pretty good as well - like you say, a bit "artificial" and compressed, but to be honest I'm struggling with my more natural sounding Revolution Solo pickup. When adjusted it can sound great, but live it's ridiculously sensitive to movement and having something a bit more even is what I'm looking for. Thanks again for taking the time to send that on. [/quote] I had a Revolution Solo for a few years, so I've been able to compare the two on the same bass. It was a bit more open in the high end than the J-tone, but for some reason I could never get it evenly balanced across all four strings and it could come across as a touch harsh and scratchy on my bass (even running into a preamp). The J-tone has more thickness to the sound, is more forgiving with fitting and positioning and the "plug it in and it works" convenience of it is nice. I'm thinking of moving back to my AKG C411 contact mic for jazzier gigs as it gets a bit more of a woody tone, but I'll certainly hang on to the J-tone.

[quote name='tinyd' timestamp='1476186942' post='3152041'] That would be great @Beer! Not to worry about the recording, I'm with @TPJ - my playing sounds rough without the the fun of beer and late nights [/quote] Here you go then; [url="https://thechaosquartet.bandcamp.com/track/caravan"]https://thechaosquartet.bandcamp.com/track/caravan[/url] This was recorded with the pickup running straight into my GK MB200 and using the pre-EQ DI output to the board. It sounds a little darker on this recording than it usually does in the flesh, but that should give you some idea. IMO it has kind of a compressed character and doesn't get the full acoustic character of the bass, but that's common to a lot of bridge-mounted pickups.

[quote name='tinyd' timestamp='1476175029' post='3151901'] I'm seriously considering getting one of those J-Tone pickups but I can't find any sound clips anywhere - if anyone can point me to any sound clips or videos I'd be most grateful! Cheers [/quote] I think there are some board recordings where I was using mine - I'll see if I can dig them out and send you a link later. It was a rough late-night performance at an event with free beer, so I've been a bit shy about posting them here...

The best choice will depend on what sort of setting he's playing in, whether it's going to include much arco playing and whether it's likely to be through backline or into the PA. I also have one of the J-tone pickups linked above, and it gives a solid, even bass sound which works well into my amp and sits well with a forceful drummer. On the other hand, it's not the most natural of sounds in settings where you really want to reproduce the acoustic sound of the instrument and it's not fantastic with the bow. They're good value and I like it as much as a more expensive bridge-wing pickup that I used for a while, so it's just a case of figuring out if that's what you need.

That looks promising; I can't imagine that not being good once it's finished. If you're up for passing the question on to your son I'd be curious to know who his supplier was for the transformers - are they off-the-shelf or custom wound for this amp?

A few years ago I was pretty busy, but right now I'm gigging less than I did, due to reasons not all that dissimilar to Geek99's. Infrequent gigging is a situation I can live with, but any time I've had a spell of not gigging at all I find that hard to deal with. At the moment I'm still getting out and playing, just somewhat less than weekly. But I guess I'm firmly out of the "never gigged" category. When I've had spells of not gigging, I tend to hardly pick up bass guitar at all, but somehow the double bass sustains my interest a little more. I play guitar around the house a fair bit too.

[quote name='alexclaber' timestamp='1475847088' post='3149200'] It's easier to make a high accuracy speaker using neo or alnico magnets than with ceramic magnets - the big difference is that the former are conductive metal alloys whilst the latter is a non-conductive sintered composite. I'd say that over 95% of the difference in tone between our 12XN and 10CR drivers is due to other things than magnet material. [/quote] I was trying to be a bit careful with how I worded things (saying certain ceramic drivers rather than ceramic drivers in general) as I don't know how much is down to the magnet material rather than the whole design approach of the driver. I'm just curious as to whether some of the distortions that those high accuracy modern drivers (many of which use neodymium magnets) might be designed to avoid are a part of what many bassists seem to like about less accurate drivers (many of which use ceramic magnets). So if bassists looking for a certain sound tend to find it in ceramic-driver cabs it might be as much correlation as causation, but still seems to occur.

Hey, if the tolex ever does peel, you could view it as an excuse to have it re-covered in red! But I'd hope it's something they've got sorted out by now. I wonder if they're using the water-based type of tolex glue which would be kinder on their staff and easier in terms of H&S paperwork than the old style solvent based stuff, but seems a bit more finicky in use. I find it interesting that they've gone for ceramic drivers with these, and it sounds like they capture a lot of what you like about the sound of ceramic drivered TKS cabs. I was sceptical about the ceramic vs. neo threads for a long time, but maybe there's something in the idea that certain ceramic drivers have some sort of characteristic colouration to them.

Other than being optimistically priced, is the concept a sound one for guitar use? And do the shaped bits and cutouts do much that a simple angled perspex screen wouldn't?

I'd be surprised if the Ashdown could match the output of the Barefaced when played at high volumes, simply because the sort of drivers that can do that tend to cost more than would seem likely for a cab at this price point. It could still be a pleasant sounding cab though, and looks like good value.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1475432483' post='3145875'] Anything Marshall that hasn't been modded. [/quote] I used to be quite fond of my brother's 70s JMP Master Volume combo, unmodded. That sounded good. I'd agree with all the mentions of the MG series though.

It looks like a solid-state amp, especially if it has a heatsink on the back. Does it come on immediately when you switch it on? Valves would take 30 seconds or so to start making sound.

I've seen the Custom Sound Trucker combos, and I guess this is the same company. The trucker combos were quite cheap SS combos made in England, and the ones I've come across never sounded great. I suspect the Fane might not be original to the cab, as it wouldn't have got scratched up on the back like that bolted into a closed-back cab.

Could there be some weirdness going on from running 8-ohm drivers with a crossover designed for 4-ohms? I don't know much about crossovers, but it seems like it could move the crossover frequency around. IIRC these Peaveys use a proper crossover which low-passes the woofers, so would still affect the sound with the attenuator turned down.

It wasn't particularly indulgent in terms of expense, but a few years ago I had a guy make me a hand-tooled leather strap with my name embossed on it. I still feel a bit self-conscious about it, worrying that it seems uncharacteristically flash of me. Not quite enough to stop using it though!

I'm sensing a theme emerging here...

[quote name='FuNkShUi' timestamp='1475067137' post='3142752'] I firstly want to say I've had a 4ohm Two10, and loved it. No problems there at all!! Great sounding cab. Not trying to troll here, but genuinely interested what spec you've read or know of (i know you said you were an engineer later down the thread) that qualifies this? I have 2 X S112s . To me, it felt they were louder. Maybe to do with the amps they were paired with? [/quote] I presume that's based on the volume displacement (Vd) of the drivers used. The driver used in the S112 has about the same Vd figure as one of the drivers used in the two10 (from the specs I've been able to find), so the amount of air it can shift in the lows before it starts to distort should be similar between one two10 and a pair of S112. But a lot of perceived loudness happens higher up in the mids, where Vd doesn't tell us as much. From the published specs, a pair of S112 appears to be more efficient than a single two10 so might well sound louder in some circumstances, dependent on how much amp power is available and how low-end heavy the desired sound is.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1474994697' post='3142162'] Ok, so it happened... single Two10 ordered. [/quote] I'll be interested to hear how you get on with it. From various forum posts, I wonder if it might be a bit mellower in the top end than the S112s are, but that's just a hunch.

Those 2x10" cabs further up the page are unusual - I don't think I've seen whizzer-cone drivers used together with a tweeter before. Usually whizzer-cones are used to extend the range of the driver upwards a bit without the complexity and expense of using multiple drivers with a crossover, so both together seems like a quirky choice.

I take it no-one else is admitting to having received their furry tail yet?

That pickguard material is lovely - it's a shame it's hard to find that stuff now.

Are the Hydrive cabs sealed? That might explain the difference in low end efficiency with other cabs.

Somebody should show this to Ken Smith, a man who is not noted for his easygoing attitude...