Beer of the Bass

The hardware is a little like a slimmed down Synthaxe, though I guess most of the clever stuff happens in the software (I haven't watched the video yet). I'm surprised they didn't include a 5-pin Midi socket though - that would make it seem more like a useful gigging tool.

IMO the optimal trousers for psychedelic rock are neither skinny nor baggy, they're close-fitting at the top with a pronounced flare to the legs. So I reckon that's a trick question.

It's interesting that Trinity went for two channels, valve rectification and switchable cathode/fixed bias on their kit. Versatility is good, but a single channel B15-esque amp without the extra options wouldn't be a lot more complex to build than one of the 18 watter kits and might shave down the cost a little, especially if they went for SS rectification. If it could fit on a slightly smaller chassis too, that would be a bonus. I wouldn't be too worried about the low wattage, as I found that when I was using a 100 watter I never got it out of the clean zone. Actually, this is starting to describe something I'd like to build for myself some time!

[quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1425739495' post='2710230'] Have not bought one of the kits from that site but have got lots of bits from there (for a clone of a Fender bass amp). Barry's designs are well proven solid designs and he's a great bloke to deal with. The hard part is building cases for the amp, mine is stil unhoused after a year! I have many years experience of soldering, but this was my first 'lead-free' project and there were a few dry joints. [/quote] I've avoided going lead-free so far - I got a big roll of 60/40 from eBay which should last me for a couple of years at least.

Have you noticed how sneaky G4M's description is? They claim "Solid tone from spruce top", without actually saying whether the top is solid spruce!

I've ordered parts from them but not the kits. However, the kits look like fairly classic designs, use good quality parts and seem well laid out, so I'd be confident about going for one.

I've had the five-string version of this bridge on my bass for several years and it's been fine. My only minor grumble is that the through-bridge string holes are too small for most B-strings and needed to be drilled out a little larger. Is the chrome on the Gotoh slightly nicer looking, or do they just have better photography?

My EA Wizzy 10 cab lives in a padded cajon bag, and still looks almost new after about six years despite having been gigged many times and lugged around on the bus. My other gear has got rather shonky covers made out of post-office sacks and gaffer tape, which I should really look at replacing with proper ones!

All of you people who bought the acoustic basses, what are you doing for a gigbag? I didn't order one at the same time as my bass, but I could do with picking one up. Thomann have several different bags at a similar price, so I'm just wondering if a particular one fits well and is decent quality. There are some available from UK retailers but they're either more expensive or not long enough.

In the spirit of "the longer this goes on the better", I though I'd stick my audio thoughts of the day on to this thread. I have a fairly humble hi-fi setup which is a mix of old and newer stuff. I have a 70s Pioneer PL11 turntable, Cambridge Audio phono preamp, Denon DM39 CD receiver/amp and a pair of old Wharfedale Dovedale SP speakers. I've got to move flat next month and any flat we can afford to rent has a smaller living room than our current tenement. So I've decided to move on the massive Wharfedales in favour of some bookshelf speakers. I've just picked up a pair of 80s Kef C10 speakers for a tenner, and I'm sat here listening to them and trying to get used to them. I had to re-glue the dust caps on the woofers, but otherwise they seem in good order. The Wharfedales have bass that goes quite deep and they're quite relaxed and mellow sounding (not sure what words someone more into hi-fi would use here, but you get the picture I hope). The Kefs don't have the same depth in the bass, and they seem a bit more forward-sounding with anything rockish, but they feel a little more detailed somehow. So it may turn out to be less of a compromise than I had feared. Now I need to find some decent wall-mounting brackets...

[quote name='Caledonian_Enterprises' timestamp='1424918186' post='2701985'] Thanks for the comments guys, this is a field that i am not familiar with, i am a spark and engineer to trade. however, this project concept is something different to whats available todays market and innovative (it wont be everyones taste. Engineered properly it will meet the stated weight and price). The setup is constructed or unbreakable polycarbonate in order to show the valve glow, show something different, allow for LED controllable lighting and perhaps be a talking point. Its worth noting that the point was to construct it to be small yet boast massive power. [/quote] You keep saying it will meet the stated weight, size and price, yet it's hard to see how it can. Just to clarify, do you mean £600 for the 1x12" setup including 200 watt valve amp as the original post suggests? The only high powered (>100w) valve amp on the market that approximates that price point is the Bugera BVV3000, and that's made to a well established design which required little R&D, does nothing to address the size/weight issue, uses conventional metal chassis and wood housing and is made in China by a corporation with their own manufacturing plant, distribution network and massive economies of scale. Factor in custom hand-wound transformers, small-scale UK manufacturing and a case built from unconventional and expensive materials and your proposals seem like pure fantasy. It's very easy to [i]say[/i] it will be smaller, cheaper and more powerful than anything on the market, but again, how will you do this?

I know you weren't looking for a US shop, but I ordered a set of Sadowsky flatwounds from Bass Strings Online, they arrived in less than a week and cost slightly less in total than buying a set of LaBellas in the UK. Alternatively, LaBella distributors might be able to get hold of them if you ask, since they're made by LaBella.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1424865667' post='2701288'] Ah… Would this rep be selling stuff that isn't class D by any chance? [/quote] I'm going to extrapolate that one step further; Would it by any chance be a rep from Orange, who are releasing the class-AB OB1 amps amid rumours that the class-D Terror bass amps might be discontinued? This is pure guesswork, of course...

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1424788659' post='2700479'] Wonder how come Ibanez/Hoshino are happy re-releasing a blinged-up C&W nightmare Jazz copy, but not its guitarry counterpart, the Custom Agent? [/quote] I'm going to guess some of the demand for the Black Eagle bass is from Nirvana fans, and the guitar doesn't have any high-profile users to fuel demand? It's a pity in a way, as I think that styling works better on the guitar than on the bass. It's quite Gibson mandolin-ish.

[quote name='stingraybassman' timestamp='1424775286' post='2700224'] I feel like someone should stick up for the OP a little bit here...... I'm guessing the design and prototyping of the Amp will be accompanied with a report/dissertation, half of the experience is finding the issues. This isn't a highly polished concept with sleek marketing and a huge R&D budget, this is someone trying to think outside the box (no pun intended), and do a project with some substance for university. A bit of open mindedness would help from everyone, he isn't going to harm anyone! (insert back related joke) [/quote] Possibly, but a bit of realism as to the practicality and cost wouldn't go amiss, and may even improve the mark he gets. Otherwise the design project will be like that ridiculous solar powered window-mounted mains socket which did the rounds a couple of years ago - an attractive concept but with absolutely no regard to the feasibility. Drawing a box and labelling it "500 watt valve amplifier" seems rather meaningless if you can't reasonably demonstrate that a 500 watt valve amplifier could be built in the proposed box at the proposed cost.

I have a short-scale tenor too, mine is an old Concertone open-back. Apparently these were made by Slingerland. I have mine in GDAE tuning, mostly because I already played mandolin and octave mandola and it makes everything more transferrable. Actually it's been a while since I've played mine and I keep thinking about selling it, but my wife won't let me because she likes it!

[quote name='Jenny_Innie' timestamp='1424729237' post='2699863'] It's the H&H I'm referring to. His like a snake they do - all of 'em. [/quote] The HH combos might (a lot of 70s transistor amps do), but the hiss comes from the amp rather than the speakers. Hiwatt amps are at the less noisy end of big valve amps as the design and build were scarily well done. I've dabbled with building my own valve amps and I kind of wish I could get mine as neat as Hiwatt did - they set a pretty high standard!

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1424718742' post='2699620'] Where dat? I can no BFM see. [/quote] The OP double-posted this on the amps & cabs forum (where Bill F commented) and a mod appears to have deleted the thread. Hopefully a kindly mod could merge the deleted thread with this one. If you were to guess that he was somewhat sceptical of the concept, you'd be barking up the right tree.

Do you mean that you're intending to make the speaker cab from perspex? I'm not sure how good an idea that is, since it would have to be thick and heavy to achieve the necessary stiffness, and speaker cabs should really be lined with wadding or acoustic foam which would spoil the visual impact of using a clear material. It does seem rather like design for design's sake. I'd be surprised if you can get a valve amp and cabinet to market at that price too (especially as a small startup company) unless it's a small single-ended design of limited utility to bassists. Or have I misunderstood you and the £600 is for the cab alone? It might be worth checking out the pricing structure of small UK amp builders like Flynn or Matamp to figure out what is feasible. A 200 watt valve amp is inevitably a large and expensive thing, and 500 watt valve amps don't really exist in the market. This is not intended to be overly negative, I'm just questioning whether your targets are realistic.

Listening to it a bit more I'm curious about the drums. There are one or two tracks where I'm not certain if they're live or programmed. Not that it makes any difference to my enjoyment of the music, but this sort of process stuff is interesting to know.

It'll work and it shouldn't break anything as long as the impedance isn't grossly mismatched, though some guitar amps will sound better for bass than others. Some guitar amps use small output transformers which limit the headroom at bass frequencies, and higher gain preamps often have a lot of low-end roll-off built in to stop the overdrive from sounding mushy. I'd say give it a go, and you'll either like it or not.

I'd say that antique looking instruments are definitely appreciated in the DB world. A lot of the finer instruments are over 100 years old, and typically an original finish is considered to be preferable to a new looking refinish. It's quite common for new instruments to be made to look old too, though usually in a more subtle way than in relic'ed bass guitars, as oil varnish doesn't tend to craze or flake off like nitrocellulose lacquer does. My own double bass is pretty weathered looking, though it's a combination of age, careless handling and a crudely brushed-on finish that didn't adhere very well to the original varnish underneath rather than anything deliberate.

There is a downside to that. If he cracks and accepts the offer, one of you will end up owning it!

I'm having a listen at the moment and enjoying it. There are some elements which are familiar from the Prescott album, but the feel is quite different overall. I shall be downloading this!

Perhaps I have cloth ears, but I've tried swapping modern EH and Sovtek 12AX7s with old Mullard and Brimar ECC83s in a couple of different amps, and any difference was so subtle that I couldn't be sure I wasn't imagining it. Both amps had fairly low-gain, clean sounding preamps, so it could be that the differences are in their behaviour when overdriven.