Beer of the Bass

A cab with a tiny footprint that I enjoyed the sound of is the Ampeg 210AV, and the cosmetics are quite living-room friendly. I haven't heard one in a gig setting, but it was fun to play through at rehearsal room volumes.

It's a regular thing for me to put on the radio and try to play along with whatever comes on. I figure that to be a useful skill and good ear training even if I never hear those songs again.

This thread is a couple of months old, but I've just picked up a carbon fibre rod from a luthiery supplier that I'm going to use in a mandolin neck, and it seems noticeably different from the material I used in my five-string bass neck. The rods I used in the bass neck were 6mm square from a model aircraft supplier in the UK, and the rod I've just picked up is 1/4" by 3/8" from Luthiers Mercantile International. While the different size makes the stiffness difficult to compare, the LMI material feels a lot stiffer and I can barely flex it at all, even across the 1/4" dimension and it rings with a high pitched chime like a piece of ceramic when knocked. The stuff from the model aircraft supplier has some spring to it, though it is still stiffer than a 6mm square rod of most hardwoods. I presume that different grades are available for different purposes. So it would appear that not all carbon fibre rods are the same stuff, and it may be that if maximum stiffness is the goal it could be worth paying the extra from luthiery suppliers. Although the bass neck is doing fine after 18 months of medium gauge flatwounds, so using the more flexible material doesn't seem to have been catastrophic.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1450448562' post='2932948'] Well, I'd agree that the S112 is a great little cab, a real tone monster and as light as they come @ 10Kgs which is about as light as it gets.... ?? AND it is ceramic which I currently prefer. I'm sure they could be a downside, but that doesn't register at the moment. Very well built so not about to take one apart anytime soon. I think to be able to engineer cabs of this kind you need a consistantly good ear. I'd suggest Bergantino as another cab maker who knows what he wants to hear in a cab.. or at least, recognises something when it works. Not wanting to harp on about this but the S112's do have a magic little x factor in the mid range..either by accident or design..but that is why I bought them Would I cal them both boutique...?? probably, does that matter...not really, IMO. [/quote] It's interesting what high regard these are held in on basschat, as on paper they look decent but unremarkable; a quality but not premium spec Eminence driver in a 40-something litre box, and (going by the sensitivity) figures, tuned for a small mid-bass bump. It's clear that in the flesh they have a sound which people like though. In the new year I'm going to put together a pair of cabs with what I'm fairly sure is the same driver as the S112, but mine will be built in true shed-fangled DIY fashion. When I've got those done, it would be a fun exercise to compare them to the S112s if anyone up here has some.

How's your soldering? It's not hard to get a little extra low end out of a tubescreamer with a simple capacitor change and that might be sufficient, but it does change the character of the distortion somewhat. Although to some extent the bumped mids and lean bass are part of the tubescreamer vibe.

[quote name='Musashimonkey' timestamp='1450306527' post='2931631'] If you've already got a pre amp shaping the electric bass, then just a cheap and simple a-b foot switch with dual inputs and single line out should be ideal for your needs. (If I understand the question that is!). I'm sure I've seen these go for £10 before... [/quote] The only issue there would be that I couldn't tweak the EQ of the double bass without affecting the electric bass, and it sometimes needs that. Though perhaps I could make up a little pedalboard where the electric bass goes through the Flipster, double bass goes through a Boss EQ or similar, followed by an A/B box. That would be a bit more flexible if I needed to use it with a borrowed amp sometime too.

[quote name='sk8' timestamp='1450344988' post='2931781'] Overall very pleased with. I would say initial results to my ears it doesn't seem as smooth as my OBC115 although that doesn't Infer that the Chili is harsh. [/quote] Looking at the Faital website, the 15PR400 goes higher than most 15" speakers, but in an even and non peaky way. So you probably will hear some more treble than with the OBC115, but it should respond nicely to EQ if you need to tone it down. I bet that's a good sounding rig with the AD200!

I have a potential new project on the go which is going to involve alternating between double bass and electric bass. For double bass, I'm happy with the sound of my pickup straight into my GK MB200, so that side of things is straightforward. I'm trying to figure out the most elegant way to bring in the electric bass without either having to adjust the amp EQ each time I swap or spending large amounts on gear. Has anyone tried using a preamp pedal with an adapter cable into the 1/8" Aux in socket on the GK? The manual does not give any info on what signal level is required by the Aux input, so it's hard to tell whether that would be effective and would achieve sufficient output. I was thinking that the double bass could go straight into the GK and go into the PA using the GK's balanced output set to pre-eq. The electric bass could go through a preamp pedal (I have a ROG Flipster pedal at the moment, and I'm considering trying the Ginger, their improved version) followed by my BSS DI box going to the PA and a 1/4" to 1/8" cable into the Aux input. I would probably have to make up a suitable cable, but that wouldn't be hard. The Aux input comes after the EQ and volume controls on the GK, so the double bass would be controlled by the GK's controls and the electric bass solely by the preamp pedal. The downside of this would be the lack of independent control of amp volume and line output on the electric bass. Is there a more sensible way of doing this that I haven't thought of, or is this scheme worth a shot?

I think this has got to be up there, either the studio version or this live take. How cool is Jerry Jemmott? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCVffNZFc1U"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCVffNZFc1U[/url]

[quote name='tinyd' timestamp='1450181840' post='2930293'] I think that this is a pretty common pattern: 1) Someone figures out a new way of doing something, 2) Everyone admires the person, 3) People start copying, 4) Other people refine, 5) Years pass.... 6) Original person's innovation seems a bit crude / obvious / naive compared to later refinements. I think that 6) can be true for some people without detracting from the original achievement. Personally, Jaco's first album is one of my favourites, but I can take or leave a lot of his later stuff. [/quote] I like this. It also encapsulates how I felt checking out Jerry Jemmot after hearing Jaco talk about him in interviews. You can hear how Jaco has taken on board Jemmot's fingerstyle funk approach and moved it on to the next level. It's interesting to think about what Jaco's legacy is and exactly where the greatness lies. His 16th note groove playing is fantastic, and it's surprisingly hard to get the feel of that right even if you can get the notes down (I have spent quite a bit of time trying to!). He also came up with that unique lyrical, singing fretless voice that was all his own. For either of those he can be regarded as a true innovator. I do wonder whether history might not judge him as one of the great improvisers and soloists though, as IMO there can be a touch of unfocussed showboating there, stringing together stock licks with no intent other than to say "hey, get this!". This is even more noticeable later in his career. I think this may be where the "aimless noodling" accusations come from. While I wouldn't go that far as to use that term myself I can see how it could appear that way, and I say this as a fan.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1450129798' post='2929951'] And let me assure my position remains. I also think there is an age and generation distance element to this debate. Blue [/quote] What age do we have to be to appreciate the music of a bassist who did his finest work in his mid-20s?

If bassists noodling in guitar shops sound like an imitation of him (usually a poor imitation), is that not just indicative of the level of influence he has had?

Oops, I've just re-read your first post, and I hadn't noticed that you're inside the 14 days. If you contact the seller directly you might be OK.

If you're outside of the 14-day period when you have the right to return any new item bought from a dealer online, it's entirely down to the good will of the seller. At this point I think it's probably yours.

[quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1449745465' post='2926396'] 1967? so you never met the original PM then? Just as well, it may have added confusion. [/quote] Do I detect the hand of Del Var Omni Global industries in the fake Paul conspiracy?

[quote name='neilp' timestamp='1449656118' post='2925545'] I don't like Jaco. I won't deny his technical skill - what would be the point? Or his mastery of theory. IN MY OPINION, though, there's nothing else there. No sense of beauty, or human quality. Its a structurally perfect, exquisitely detailed empty vessel. I won't deny he's been hugely influential either. Whether that's a good thing is another matter.... [/quote] Regarding human qualities in Jaco's playing, I would disagree with you here. His playing contains humanity in abundance, but it reflects a personality that rubbed up a lot of people the wrong way and some may feel that the more tender moments were overshadowed by that. There was a larger-than-life self confidence and brashness in both the man and his playing which perhaps not everyone warms to. But for all that, he's one of the greats.

I keep wondering about having a little more taken off mine. I've got adjusters, but they bottom out at about 6.5mm on the G. I was playing a lot of unamplified stuff when I had my current bridge fitted, so the luthier set it up with that in mind. My fingerboard is well dressed and I'm pretty much settled on Spiro Mittels, so it could certainly stand to come down a little. Due to neighbour issues I'm not getting in the practice time that I'd like and I feel like I may as well make things as friendly for myself as I can. Both Herbass and The Jaywalker I've heard playing and not felt like their tone was lacking in any way, so that makes this thread a useful reference point.

Didn't Jamerson have difficulty finding work later on as producers felt his sound hadn't moved with the times? With hindsight his work comes across as classic rather than dated, but I guess there was a time when it didn't seem that way to everyone.

I'm a fan of Jaco but I do hear a bit of aimless noodling, not so much in his early days but it's certainly there later on, particularly live. I know he wasn't a well man so that's not intended as a dig, but I much prefer to listen to his work from the days when he was really firing on all cylinders.

If we're discussing whether young people are getting into the Beatles, I should point out that my 16 year old stepson loves them and listens to them a lot more than I do (I like them, but there is so much other music I'm enthused about that I don't put them on often). That's a tiny sample, but young Beatle fans are clearly out there.

[quote name='cytania' timestamp='1449408998' post='2923237'] Some nice basses on the website and the man himself pops up in a chat sidebar. Just watch out for the 'Used Alvarez World Bass' which is a very strange marriage of parts. [/quote] The truss rod cover on that bass looks identical to the ones on 70s Alvarez acoustics, but the styling would place the bass some time in the 80s or 90s. That makes it hard to tell whether the bass has anything to do with Alvarez or if someone has just put on a spare truss rod cover that happened to come from an Alvarez acoustic guitar. Given the different branding on the body and pickups, I'd be hesitant to link it to Alvarez unless it's marked anywhere else. This is a bit of a guess though.

I don't think he has any intention of selling it, I just can't imagine that his motivations are as comprehensible as that. If you accepted his offer and sent the money I'm sure he'd still find a way not to go through with it.

The sounds they chose to demonstrate it with make me suspect that it might not sound that great. Most of the audio is with high gain distorted sounds, the only moments of clean or lightly overdriven sounds are really brief and always staccato playing, they don't let you hear the notes ringing out and it seems sort of plunky sounding. Yes, it sounds like a strat, but does it sound like a [i]good[/i] strat? It's kind of cool as a concept and I'm sure it'll spend most of its life as a wallhanger.

I can think of a few, but this one is fun. The intro to this is just so abrasive, jagged and uncomfortable that I break out in a massive grin every time. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXFSVvnA7X4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXFSVvnA7X4[/url]

I think Gumtree insists on a picture with each advert now, so for adverts which are not an item for sale, you've still got to come up with some sort of picture. Last time I posted one, I just used a picture of my double bass. It didn't do me much good though - I'm not convinced that Gumtree adverts are a worthwhile way to find other musicians. The majority of responses are either for something completely different or are from people who start out sounding enthusiastic but then go quiet after the first couple of messages.