Beer of the Bass

[quote name='funky8884' timestamp='1412765665' post='2571726'] Weight is a consideration so can go modular , it seems GK, TKS , and Barefaced have lightweight ferrite's available so we may see some great sounding , lightweight more affordable cabs appearing soon . [/quote] It looks like the DIY design being put together in the 1x12" diary thread leans in that direction too. The Beyma driver they used looks very capable for the money and appears to compare well to many of the popular Neo drivers.

Passive DI's can be muddy sounding with a passive bass, on both the DI send and the linked amp due to the lower input impedance. Even a high quality box like the Radial has an input impedance of 140k which will have an audible effect. Some people don't mind that, but I don't like what it does to the sound. If you want it to work well with both active and passive basses, I'd choose the active DI.

Is the unmentionable bass the RB-414CS? I may be way off the mark here, but if the trademarks of a certain litigious manufacturer only cover the body shape, headstock and truss rod cover then it may be different enough to be in the clear. There is a trade dress registration on the toaster pickup cover, but it looks like it may be US-specific. I'm still not going to link to it, just in case!

I agree that there is often a knee-jerk reaction against a certain type of technically focussed musician, it's just that I'm not sure I'd identify the same guitar/bass division that you do. The recent Dirty Loops thread is an example - there are lots of comments along those lines but not a guitar in sight. Although it's possible that the established roles of electric guitar and bass might be a factor. A bassist cutting loose with fearsome technique can be sort of refreshing, while a guitarist doing the same is almost cliché.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1412511295' post='2569433'] Why is it that highly technical bassists largely seem to be loved on Basschat, but highly technical guitarists seem to be denigrated? [/quote] Can you give some examples of threads? It strikes me that highly technical bassists get their share of derision too.

Unfortunately I sold on the 1028k when I fitted the Copperhead. The amp is based on the AA1164 circuit, with the exception of a larger Deluxe Reverb type output transformer and 40uF at the first stage filter cap.

[quote name='3below' timestamp='1412449757' post='2569066'] Current speaker is 98.8 dB sensitivity. Change speaker to lower sensitivity model e.g. Celestion tube 10, 94 dB might be way forward? [/quote] That's a possibility, but the problem is that we've had a handful of gigs in hired halls with cobbled together vocal-only PA and lively audiences - while those only make up a small percentage of our gigs, it's nice to have the extra loudness on tap for when that does happen. I used to have an alnico Eminence 1028K in there, which was good at low volume miked gigs but broke up too early in the unmiked, larger room situations. But thinking about it, a speaker swap only involves a small number of screws and 15 minutes at the most. So maybe it wouldn't be crazy to install a less efficient speaker, use that most of the time but keep the Copperhead in a box on a shelf in case that type of gig comes up.

[quote name='BurritoBass' timestamp='1412438499' post='2568969'] I'm with Kirky in that I don't think a new amp is the answer. My guitarist in my main band uses an attenuator and something like this [url="http://www.gak.co.uk/en/thd-hot-plate/7081"]http://www.gak.co.uk...-hot-plate/7081[/url] would be a good investment. I play guitar in a band with a 15w tube amp and I have to say that I don't have the same problem and we're a pretty quiet band. This could be down to what pickups we use etc (I'm low output pickups on an archtop kind of player) or just the room etc. [/quote] Do I remember that you're using a Blues Junior though? I wonder if the master volume makes the difference, as the single volume control on the Princeton is rather like having the master volume stuck on 10 and adjusting the pre-volume. Attenuators are another route I'm looking at, though things like the THD are somewhat out of my budget. DIY isn't out of the question though. If I do build or obtain another amp it would be more in the interest of variety than to replace this one. Among my stash of bits I already have valves and transformers salvaged from an old reel-to-reel which would do a singled ended EL84 amp nicely, plus an original Jensen C8R pulled from a dead organ. Those are almost crying out to be some sort of guitar combo, whether I need one or not!

[quote name='Kirky' timestamp='1412437635' post='2568967'] My PP18 ampmaker build is also very loud (but fantastic). He does a kit that reduces the voltage in his amps - see [url="http://www.ampmaker.com/infocentre/thread-47.html"]http://www.ampmaker..../thread-47.html[/url] It might be a suitable mod for your amp. [/quote] It's a shame the ampmaker VVR kit is only for cathode biased amps (mine is fixed bias), otherwise it looks promising. I think there is a VVR kit for fixed bias amps available from Hall amplification in the US though.

Threads about whether a 15 watt amp is loud enough to gig have been a staple of guitar forums since the advent of the internet, but I find myself experiencing the opposite problem I use a home-built copy of a Fender Princeton Reverb with a 10" Eminence Copperhead. At most gigs, I'll turn the volume to around 2 (9 o'clock) during the soundcheck, invariably to be told by the sound guy that I need to turn it down, often "way down". Most venues we play mic the amp, but I've had the same thing happen in small venues with no mic. We're not that quiet a band, but I guess the presence of trumpet and violin may affect the stage volume we can use. I like to keep the amp fairly clean but it sounds best from about 4-6 on the volume control and I can only really get away with that at outdoor festivals or private parties with large rooms full of dancing people and minimal PA, and these are types of gig we do only occasionally. With the volume at 1 or 2, the amp sounds OK, but everything just seems more lively with it up a little. The volume control in these amps comes earlier in the signal path than the reverb driver, so the reverb sounds better with the amp up a little too. So I'm looking at options to make things work a little better at that low volume. It seems ridiculous that a Princeton is too much amp for the band, but that's the impression I get. I don't want to fit a less efficient speaker as from time to time I do need to carry a louder room and I don't want to lose that capability. I could fit a master volume (post phase-inverter), which is generally considered unnecessary on this type of amp but might be worth trying. I could use some sort of attenuator between the amp and speaker, perhaps even something as simple as a 100-watt 8-ohm L-pad. Alternatively I could look at building or buying a smaller amp (a single ended job of 5 watts or so) but I like the reverb and tremolo on my amp and it would be a shame not to use it.

Try and keep one Bassman, even if you do most gigs with something lightweight. I sold my old valve Carlsbro, and I keep wishing I'd kept it around.

The 1977 is noticeably brighter and more open sounding than the others. I'm not sure if I'd immediately assign that to it being ash and maple though, as it could just as easily be a differently wound pickup or higher value pots (have Fender always used 250k?).

Is there some pitch correction going on on the voice, or am I imagining that?

The worst scenario for me is playing slow tempo bowed parts with long, legato notes in harmony with the violin player in my group. If one of us comes in with our intonation slightly out, sometimes the other of us has already compensated by the time the first one has. It's like the audible equivalent of that thing where two people are walking towards each other on the pavement and try to avoid each other by stepping to the same side! Good monitoring helps a lot.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1412147216' post='2566018'] Looking at the seller's completed items, it seems that everyone has been put off. [/quote] Aw, bless. They've been listing the same two items for weeks and will be sitting there wondering why they're not selling! Should somebody tell them?

It's been a few years since I looked at them (since I've been settled on my old German bass for a while now), but I think the 1950 and Student are the same model. There's also the Student II which is the next step up in the range, these are carved and sound a little nicer to my ears. One thing worth noting is that the Stentor Student basses are at the small end of 3/4 sized. I'm 6'2" and the stock endpins on them aren't long enough for me!

Check the seller name! Icing on the cake...

I've got fairly awful homemade covers consisting of Post Office sacks cut to shape with gaffa tape seams. These have the advantage of making my gear look grotty enough that no-one will wander off with it in the less salubrious venues. I've been plotting to make some better ones out of leatherette vinyl with yoga-mat type thin foam glued to the insides, but this is on hold until I can persuade my wife to show me how to use her sewing machine!

[quote name='Kevin Dean' timestamp='1412076329' post='2565335'] ....I'm considering fitting some decent inset handles myself .......Rant over & relax . [/quote] Have you looked inside? I suspect the type of bracing used may make it difficult to fit recessed handles.

The Stentor branded basses are made in China at the cheaper end of the range (I don't know about the more expensive models) while the Zeller basses are made in Romania and imported by Stentor. The Stentor student is one of the cheaper models, if I'm thinking of the right one it's a hybrid bass with a stained rosewood fingerboard. The Zeller basses come in carved, hybrid and laminated models. From the one I tried I have the impression that they can be quite heavily built but otherwise decent, and they have a proper ebony fingerboard. If offered the two at the same price, I'd consider the Zeller first, especially if it's the carved model, but you'd be wise to play both.

Gibson [i]have[/i] made some pretty basses IMO. The Thunderbirds pictured earlier are a prime example, as is the Les Paul Signature bass which was the basis of the Epi Jack Casady;

After spending several years trying to find the right in-between sounding strings, I've gone the other way and put on some fairly old-school sounding Sadowsky flats. I've read that they're a touch brighter than the standard LaBellas (who make these strings for Sadowsky), but they seem darker and with more thump than Chromes or similar. So they really don't cover roundwound territory at all, but it's a nice classic flatwound sound and they have something going on in the mids which I really like. Mind you, I've found myself between bands at the minute on bass guitar, so this may all change again depending on what else I end up doing and what sound that calls for...

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1411900503' post='2563605'] Get some Status Half-Wounds - then you'd only need one bass!! [/quote] I dunno, I had some on my five-string for a while and they weren't quite what I was after. They seem a bit "neither fish nor fowl" and on my set the lower strings are darker than the high ones. They turned out to be just the job on my fretless though, so they were a worthwhile purchase in the end.

I agree they should have discussed it with you before advertising, but I can see how saying "don't book any more gigs" might be interpreted as leaving the band. I wonder how quickly they'll find someone? I mean, playing bass while singing in Sting range seems rather a specialised skillset. It might be that you have a break for a few weeks and find that your spot is still vacant at the end of that.

[quote name='Chienmortbb' timestamp='1411043906' post='2555850'] I have already said that the supposed valve sound comes mainly from the power amp and power supply, so a hybrid where the preamp is valve based is not very useful. [/quote] It's true that a valve preamped hybrid won't capture the full character of a valve amp, but some of those valve preamps are very musical and can sound excellent when combined with a good SS power stage. The practical shortcomings of a valve preamp are quite small compared to those of a power amp (less iron required, less heat generated, longer lasting valves, no need for bias adjustment), so I'd argue that valve preamp hybrids can be a perfectly valid concept provided we're realistic about what they can and can't achieve. The popularity of line-level valve studio gear supports the idea that preamp valve colouration can be a pleasing thing in its own right.