Beer of the Bass

[quote name='Bassnut62' timestamp='1420235696' post='2647113'] Valve pre and SS power just doesn't work in my book.... [/quote] I'm not so sure, as putting something like an Alembic F2B (based on the Fender Showman preamp stage) in front of a powerful SS power amp is a bit of a classic setup. If you wanted it to sound like a Fender Showman you'd be disappointed, but this sort of rig can be great in a cleaner, more modern sounding way.

[quote name='Mikey R' timestamp='1420144647' post='2646146'] Hey, did you manage to resolve your problem? Did you go master volume, or attenuator? [/quote] My bands gigging schedule is kind of patchy, so I haven't done anything about it yet. I think a simple master volume might be the first thing to try though, installed on the back panel so that if I don't like it I haven't left an ugly hole in the front of the amp! Come to think of it, I've got a gig on the 10th. I may get round to trying it before then...

A lot of amps (though not all) still use the same input jack wiring as the old Fender amps. I would expect that the LH500 does, as the preamp is derived from the Fender Showman/Alembic F2b design. In that case the high input is both high impedance and higher gain, while the low input has a lower impedance and is padded down. There's a good explanation of how the two inputs work here: [url="http://www.tdpri.com/forum/amp-central-station/287285-input-1-vs-input-2-blackface-amps.html#post3511035"]http://www.tdpri.com/forum/amp-central-station/287285-input-1-vs-input-2-blackface-amps.html#post3511035[/url] So the low input is primarily used to prevent instruments with a hot output from overdriving the preamp, but will also have a different tone with a passive bass due to the lower impedance. On guitar amps I've sometimes found this useful to mellow out the high end from an overly bright instrument.

I also had one of the early MAG200 combos, mine was the tilt-back 1x12" version. I liked the sound at lower volumes and it was dependable, but the sound didn't hold together very well when it was turned up. It had an Eminence Alpha 12 in a small sealed box. Years later, I simulated the cab in a speaker design program out of curiosity and found out that not only did it have a huge midbass hump of around 4dB, it was excursion limited to less than 30 watts at 100Hz. It does seem like rather an odd design decision! I paid £499 new in the late 90s, so it wasn't a cheap bit of kit either.

I think the one time that I've actually found Facebook likes to be a useful indicator was in figuring out just how many bands cheat in online battle-of-the-band votes! A couple of times I've noticed that certain local bands get substantially more votes in these things than they have Facebook likes, without doing any promotion that I could see.

I've done worse with mine and usually got away with it. AFAIK the situations to avoid are sudden changes in climate or unusually low humidity. Trying to get it into the marquee a while before you play is your best bet. Even if there's no harm done to the bass, warm tents are usually pretty humid and your hands will leave condensation all over a cold bass which can be annoying.

There's a passing resemblance to some of the early Aria and Japanese Epiphone basses. It's not quite the same as either, but could potentially be related. I'm thinking of some of the ones pictured here: [url="http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=4573.msg72672#msg72672"]http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=4573.msg72672#msg72672[/url] It looks like someone has gone to town on yours with a pot of household gloss paint though!

I haven't had any basses in or out this year, though I did build a new neck for my homebuilt five string and put a set of Sadowsky flatwounds on. It's not that I'm particularly non-materialistic or anything like that, just that I don't really have the disposable income to do much about it!

I've converted one the other way (from metal grille to cloth), though mine was a prototype cab and I don't know if it is identical to the later S12s. The metal grille version is constructed differently from the cloth version as it has a raised wooden section around the edge of the baffle to support the grille. On mine this was glued with a fairly soft adhesive and could be carefully pried off to make room for mounting a cloth grille and frame, but if they later changed adhesive I can see why converting metal grille to a cloth grille might not be possible. Converting a cloth grille cab to a metal grille ought to be possible, but you'd need to add that wooden section around the edge of the baffle to support it.

I'm in a funny place in terms of bands. This year I left the band I'd played in for several years and I'm starting to wonder whether I should fill the gap. I have two projects on the go currently, one where I'm playing double bass in an acoustic setting and one in which I play guitar. Both of those bands gig fairly sparsely so they don't leave me feeling overly stretched. What I'm not doing in either of those is playing bass with a drummer, which is something I miss. So I guess my goal for the coming year is to find a band or project to play bass in. It's been a while since I've had to actively look for people to play with (people have usually asked me), so I've almost forgotten how to go about it...

I like the headstock re-shape, as the HB headstock is a little inelegant. I wouldn't have bothered with the Fender decal myself, but it's your bass not mine!

I've noticed Rae McIntosh in Edinburgh has Chromes, they seem to have a pretty good choice of strings. Before the internet retailers took off I always had trouble finding flatwounds. Lots of places would have Rotosounds but they're a bit of an acquired taste, and a couple more told me they could order Ernie Balls but only if I committed to buying a box of six sets at full retail!

[quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1419274634' post='2638265'] Now I have a dilemma. I don't know how to cut a neat round hole for the speaker in the baffle. I also don't know the correct tool for rounding off the edges of the cabinet. Any advice gratefully appreciated! [/quote] A router is good for both jobs, with a circle cutting jig for the baffle and a round-over bit for the edges.

Pushing the preamp with a clean boost works on most valve amps. It's not the same sound as turning the amp up but can be good for a little grit. The two channels on the Heritage might respond differently, as I think the 1964 channel has two gain stages and the tone controls before the volume control, while the volume control in the 1966 channel comes after the first gain stage. (I don't have a B15 myself but I'm building a preamp based on one, so I've spent a bit of time looking at the schematics)

You've done a neat job of that. What sort of ply did you use?

Those are reasonable points. I think in my case of wanting to connect two 4-ohm cabs in series, the simplest and least mishap prone solution would be a single speakon on each cab and a specially made series Y-cable with labelled ends. Switching jacks seem to be one of the most common failure points on line-level equipment, so I'd be a little wary of using them with a speaker signal. This is a bit of a digression from the design diary, but I guess Speakon vs Jack is a relevant consideration for anyone building their own.

[quote name='mickcope' timestamp='1418926247' post='2634975'] I have just started (newbie) playing Double bass in a Bluegrass Band - using an Old 3/4 Bass - the fiddle player suggested that at lot of bluegrass players use 1/2 as they are now bowing and so don't need the size. Never having tried a half size - is there much difference in them in terms of the volume of output from the instrument? cheers Mick [/quote] Dare I suggest that your fiddle player has got his sizes mixed up? Larger 7/8 or 4/4 size basses tend to be seen in orchestral settings, 3/4 size basses are as standard in Bluegrass as anywhere else.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1418952563' post='2635247'] Most likely! And to make a point I might wear my red shoes to and play my newly refinished red Jazz, with my red hat and red sunglasses... what? too much? Well, I'll drive to the venue in my red car too Will you be there? Does Jen have a new bassist yet? [/quote] Isn't it SeaBass Kid, NUF and Delighted Peoples on the bill? I'll be there with NUF.

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1418986374' post='2635452'] Cool, there is the potential for at least 21 more years bass service in me. I might even be competent by then [/quote] Yeah, that's the other thing. I'm in my 30s myself, but I've jammed with quite a few older musicians. A lot of those guys can really play but tend to be less flash and more economical about it than younger players who've attained that level of ability. I'm kind of looking forward to that...

Most of that "rock n'roll history" was made by people who were young and dumb with little respect for their elders. Even a band like the Beatles started out with simple pop songs and got more sophisticated later. Early on, I'm sure none of them would have cut it as working musicians playing the popular music of the 1940s or earlier. If musicians are still starting out with that attitude I'd say the genre is in good health. If not, it will become fossilised, an exercise in pastiche and imitation. Some would say that is happening already...

I'm sure there were people back in the 60s asking where the younger generations' Cole Porter or Irving Berlin were too...

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1418922236' post='2634932'] It's simple to wire with switched jack sockets, just wire the sockets in series so they short when the plug is pulled out. [/quote] That's true. I'd been a bit stumped trying to figure out a way to do it with speakons, but using jacks wouldn't be a big deal. Are switched jacks trustworthy with speaker level signals? I've never checked whether they have a current rating.

For me the mp3 vs CD difference seems to be very dependent on the source material. I can easily miss it on a dense rock mix, but I really notice it on things like piano trios or folkier things with some space in them. I'm not great at describing it, but the thing I hear seems to live in the higher frequencies and is especially noticeable on the decay of notes.

Ooh, very red! Will you be be playing through them at the Sea Bass Kid gig on the 10th?

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1418915857' post='2634811'] B & C drivers are as good as pretty much anything out there, so why not just try them in the smaller cab. I'm just having lunch so all I've done is look at the T/S parameters but I think they'd behave better in the 35l cab than the SM212's. Qts and Vas are lower than the SM212 which helps. Xmax for the SM212 is better and the frequency response is flatter but the response peak in the B&C is probably much better for a bass. The only problem I can see is that a single one would be 4 ohms and you'd need to wire one of the cabs so you could get a series connection to use them as a pair, they are Neo too so there's a weight saving, nice drivers. [/quote] Yes, the 4 ohm impedance is the only thing putting me off doing that, as the B&Cs are good sounding drivers and it's possible that with a flatter driver I'd miss the upper mid peak that they have. If I can come up with an elegant way to achieve the series connection with two separate boxes that may not be a bad idea.