silverfoxnik

Sad but true story about the perception of audiences to the bass and bassplayers.. Bass playing friend of mine played for years in a Cajun / Blues band and they had a gig at a US Air Force Bass. He bet the whole band their wages for the night that he could detune his bass a semi-tone, play the whole gig as per normal and that no-one in the audience would notice. He did exactly that and went home that night with the whole of the gig money!!! They even had punters come up and tell them how much they enjoyed the gig and how good the band were

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='59331' date='Sep 12 2007, 03:49 PM']Well I just got back and spoke to the singist - my job's safe!!!! Apparently, I fill out the bottom end better which I take to mean my arse is fatter [/quote] Glad to hear the job is safe...Nice photos, looks beautiful and relaxing...

[quote name='obbm' post='59702' date='Sep 13 2007, 08:57 AM']A final postscript. I 've just got back from 10 days abroad and found this letter waiting for me. Well done everyone.[/quote] That's fantastic - thanks for posting that Dave and for thinking of the idea in the first place.. Nice item of post to return home to after a holiday instead of the usual bills etc that lie waiting in anger on the doormat. Hope you had a good one... Nik

Hi Bass_Junkie The pick ups on the BB range are excellent in my opinion and a good variation on the P/J style configuration. I doubt you'll be disappointed.. Nik

Great collection Pete! Is the Yamaha a recent addition as well? Nik

[quote name='fusionbassist1' post='58399' date='Sep 10 2007, 07:34 PM']for future reference and for anyone reading the thread with similar problems i'll chuck this thread in here aswell about excess humming etc from amps and likely causes. very well writen and detailed. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=194"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=194[/url] I had the same problem from an all valve amp and didn't want to venture forth so i ended up shopping it back instead hah[/quote] Thanks for that link - lots of common sense stuff there and some good technical info too, especially the article by Rane. Johnm - will have a check to see what Beyer would charge though I suspect it'll be expensive as compared to a local option. Latest update on this whole issue is that the person I bought it from has offered to have the amp repaired which is good news. I'm just negotiating now as to how and where to get it done... Will let you know the outcome as and when. Thanks again for the help! Nik

[quote name='Gazm' post='57988' date='Sep 10 2007, 01:09 AM']The ratings need not be exactly the same. Similar ratings (+/- 10% maybe more in my opinion) would suffice. Different replacement types will even work without a major change of tone (ie. polycarbonate/polyester instead of ceramic). However, make sure the voltage rating of the replacement is at least as high as the existing cap especially for electrolyic/tantalum bead and ensure polarity sensitive components are correctly polarised. Pete. PS. I would change the capacitors first not last, especially if the amp is aging a bit. PPS. +1 on that but won't hurt to do so![/quote] Cheers Gazm! Am getting a local tech person to do it...It would never work again if I tried to do it.... Nik

[quote name='Bass_Junkie' post='57922' date='Sep 9 2007, 09:25 PM']well its usually caused by the application of milk to rice krispies, it will then 'snap, carckle and pop' for a short while. try using a spoon and things should clear up in about 5-10 mins. sorry, someone had to say it.[/quote] LOL Thanks for stepping in with that one as it needed to be said... And thanks for the safety advice Subthumper - I've heard that said before so will be appropriately cautious should it come to that, Nik

[quote name='WalMan' post='57607' date='Sep 9 2007, 01:42 AM']So here we go then. Everyone's back from hols and we are back on the road again - some months better than others [u]2007[/u] 15 Sept - The Crown Littlehampton - Including the first outing for two new "toys" Gosh this is so exciting, I haven't had a new toy for ages & then two come along at once 28 Sept - Red Lion Stubbington 05 Oct - Cheers Bar Bognor Regis 06 Oct - The Crown Littlehampton 12 Oct - The Fountain Chichester 13 Oct - Admiral Drake Portsmouth 19 Oct - The Heroes Waterlooville 16 Nov - The Swan Woolston, Southampton 23 Nov - The Crown Littlehampton 01 Dec - The Fountain Chichester 07 Dec - Red Lion Stubbington [u]2008[/u] 04 Jan - Cheers Bar Bognor Regis Rock covers along the lines of Aerosmith, Deep Purple, Billy Idol, Whitesnake, Gary Moore, The Tubes, etc. We tend to [i]try [/i]to do slightly different than the standard numbers. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. MySpace with examples below. Say hi if you happen to make one. Cheers Al[/quote] Hi Al, I'm looking forward to Sat 15th!! New toys for you - new experience for me; i.e. seeing you play, hearing the band and seeing the Sub 5 in action... Cheers Nik

[quote name='BOD2' post='57745' date='Sep 9 2007, 02:54 PM']I agree with what dirtystatic said above .... Assuming you've removed all trace of "Rice Crispies" from the amplifier... In order of ease of operation the possible solutions are 1. Clean the pots and jack sockets using a contact cleaner fluid (e.g. Superservisol) 2. Check the circuit board for dry solder joints 3. Check/replace capacitors The second option requires you to be handy with a soldering iron. Solder joints should be shiny and silver, not dull and grey. With a little care you can resolder "dry" joints fairly quickly. Option three is much more serious, especially as it requires you to source new capacitors of exactly the same ratings. This is not something to undertake lightly - it's time consuming and there's no guarantee it will fix the problem.[/quote] Thanks BOD2 and dirtystatic..the consensus is pretty telling in itself. What I'm going to do first is go back to the seller and see what happens next. I know there's one or two good amp repair wizards locally so I might go and see them as well. Appreciate all the help folks - while you're at it, got any suggestions as to how to get my head repaired too! Cheers Nik

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='57683' date='Sep 9 2007, 11:42 AM']You are not having much luck are you.[/quote] Correct analysis of the situation John! Combination of foolishness and being impetuous plus huge blind spot in the common sense department.. Nick - your solution is probably the best route to take i think, should I keep the amp! Cheers Nik

Hi Folks Looks like I'm posting a weekly gear problem thread, which is not a good sign for me...Anyway, this weekend's instalment of bad news at Silverfox Towers is that I have just bought a Gallien Kreuger 700RB head, which sounds great, is easy to use, compact and gives out a lovely tone.. But in a scenario typical of buying untested s/h gear (why have I not learnt this lesson yet ), it has problem which is that it makes this hissy sound which I can only describe as 'snap, crackle and pop' . Though the three different sounds do not always occur at the same time. It happens more when playing through it but not exclusively as it also happens if the amp is on and there's no lead in the input socket.. I've checked my speaker cable, mains cable, instrument cable. Also, ran another amp on same mains circuit as a comparison, but other amp is clean of this unwanted noise??? So, before I go back to the seller and ask for a refund or whatever, I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone has a clue as to what could be causing this noise and how easy/difficult, cheap/expensive it might be to fix.. Because I love the tone of the amp it'd be good to keep if it can simply be fixed. Thanks as ever! Cheers Nik

[quote name='Beedster' post='55751' date='Sep 5 2007, 09:57 AM']Just been looking through some bass manufacturers websites. Do you remember that classic moment when Dennis Pennis fronted Demi Moore at some film premier or other and asked her whether, if the part demanded it and the script was right, she'd consider keeping her clothes on in a movie. Well I wanna ask some bass manufacturers if they'd consider making a bass that isn't Custom Shop, Reissue, Limited Edition, Anniversary etc etc etc. It seems that these days it's hard to find one, and - I've owned three Fender Custom Shop basses, a couple of Anniversary models and a Limited Edition so have some idea - given it's often hard to tell the difference between the standard model and the more expensive version, and that's being bloody generous to Fender's Custom Shop, does anyone feel like I do that many manufacturers are simply taking the p*ss? Rant over Chris[/quote] +1 Chris And that Dennis Pennis sketch was bloody funny!! Back on topic...as usual, it's all about marketing and selling style over substance..

Shelia E and Levi Seacer, Jr. who played drum and bass respectively for Prince on his Sign 'o' the Times and Lovesexy tours were a brilliant rhythm section.... She was quite good looking IIRC..... Am now seriously in danger of straying (or have strayed) way off topic

[quote name='Bloodaxe' post='56796' date='Sep 7 2007, 01:44 AM']Sid Played?[/quote] LOL Good point.....

[quote name='WalMan' post='56741' date='Sep 6 2007, 10:51 PM']How you all have the neck to keep stringing these puns out is driving me nuts. I don't think my truss can stand much more Oh all right I know I branched out to bass generally I ran out of bridge references unless it was by way of ball ends, which seemed to be lowering the tone a tad! Hadn't thought of Mervyn, but could give him a go on Saturday. I actually got in there last Saturday for the first time and wandered round saying "used to have one of those, used one of those, and those, and those" ad infinitum it seemed. Bit of a blast from the past gear wise. Traynor & Selmer columns, Copicats etc[/quote] Ok!! I quit Both yours and Pete's (Bloodaxe) responses have made it clear my humour is about as good as Sid Viscious's bass playing, or maybe it's even worse than that which would be unthinkably bad.. I know what you mean about Amps-n-Bits; it is a bit like a trip down memory lane.. But at least it makes a refreshing change from the glut of modern-day music shops that only want to sell you a Fender Squire bass, practice amp, lead , cable and gig bag all for £9.99 or something!!

[quote name='WalMan' post='56668' date='Sep 6 2007, 07:49 PM']Nik Until you said that I was going to say no problem but.........its no problem really. The WD bridge was just an idea - and its not hugely expensive, if overkill as Chris says. I sent MM an email & included an address in the vague hope they turned out to be one of those companies that would just stick a load of screws in an envelope and post them I think a quick toddle to the top of Guildford tomorrow for a better selection of keys is still in order. I seem to have a huge number of keys all roughly the same size just never quite the right size DOH! Some fit one side but not the other - wierd Still it sounded nice at the quiet r/h at our sound guys house Tuesday so I have no great qualms about the bass, and was certainly not having a dig - though again with the kwalidy of that pun perhaps I should [/quote] Phew - for a moment there Al, I thought I'd gone a bridge too far! On a serious note, please let me know if it gets to be an expensive problem to sort out.. Just a thought but Mervyn at Amps-n-Nits in Worthing deals with MM's importers all the time and I wonder if he could help by asking them directly for you? Nik

[quote name='Beedster' post='56559' date='Sep 6 2007, 03:25 PM']Truly awful Nik [/quote] Thanks Chris - always knew comedy and wit were not my forte.. Still haven't worked out what my forte is either ! Certainly not bass playing, that's for sure

[quote name='WalMan' post='56480' date='Sep 6 2007, 01:08 PM']Got it back yesterday & he has adjusted it by resting the saddle on a washer at the mo. Looks OK though, but I had no chance to check it out last night. Subject to a response from MM I think I shall probably just get a [url="http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/shop/products.php?category=206&product=2281"]WD replacement MM5 bridge[/url] and try to slide out the current B saddle and insert one from the WD temporarily. The Elixirs have only just gone on and I do not want to keep taking them off & putting them back. It looks like it should be easy enough to slacken the string and swap the saddle assembly over. I can always put the whole thing on when I next change the strings, but that will probably not be for a while now [/quote] Hi Al, I used my Wal allen key to raise/lower the B string which worked OK. You're welcome to borrow that if needs be.... Seems like you have a solution but I'm concerned you've got extra expense on this so we need to talk as I wouldn't have wanted to 'saddle you' with a problem!! Will call you on your mobile later, Nik

[quote name='outsider70' post='56411' date='Sep 6 2007, 11:09 AM']Hi Same thing happened to my BLX 210. Luckily it was still under warranty and the shop has agreed to repair it...................that was two months ago, they're still waiting for a replacement speaker from Gallien Krueger! Thing is now I dont need the cab and will sell it once it's repaired, they have offered to put an Eminence speaker in there but I would prefer an original (be it better or worse) as I think that would give me a better resale chance.[/quote] Sorry to hear that though it's good you have the warranty in place! Sounds like this might be a fairly universal problem caused by quality brands like GK using cheap components to create budget range gear!

[quote name='alexclaber' post='55728' date='Sep 5 2007, 09:03 AM']That would be unlikely to blow the speakers unless you were constantly clipping the amp (causing increased average power and thus thermal damage) or expecting too much bottom from a small cab (causing overexcursion and thus mechanical damage). As you were using a single 2x10" with a 200W head for what looks like a fairly rocking covers gig, both problems probably happened. It wasn't really an issue of too much power for your cab so much as an issue of not enough SPL (power x speaker sensitivity) capability from your rig resulting in pushing it too hard - like driving a car permanently in the red. The speakers in the Backline are unlikely to be as good as even Eminence Alpha 10s (their cheapest 10" woofer) which cost about £25 each from Blue Aran. Will the resale on the Backline even justify that cost? Dubious, methinks... --- Here's some good info from Jerrold Tiers (ex-Ampeg engineer) to help you diagnose what went wrong: "If the head is rated anywhere within reason of the speaker power rating, there should be no problem. That would be within say 2x the speaker rating, maybe 3x. DC certainly can be an issue for speakers, as it pushes the voice coil out of the magnet gap. That leaves part of the coil un-cooled allowing it to overheat. In a gig situation, you'd not notice anything until the speakers fail. As I recall, some Hartke amps had an odd protection scheme that could potentially produce DC if it was not working right. If you still have one of the dead speakers (the actual driver) you might look at it. Cut around the outside of the cone, and also cut around the threated cloth "spider" that is cemented to the front of the magnet. Snip the two wires and lift out the cone (if it will come out, it may be stuck in the magnet). Now, look at the voice coil, the coil of wire that was sticking into the magnet. if the coil is over-heated or burned-looking, possibly has shed some wires that are now loose, it was probably over-powered. If there is a blackened ring around both ends of the coil, it likely got a lot of lows, and was over-powered. If there is a pretty clear blackened ring around ONE end of the coil, where it is blackened etc, then I would tend to suspect DC that pushed the coil out of the magnet "gap" on that side. If it looks perfect, except for loose wires at the end, or other damage to the end, then it probably was hit with lows it could not handle, and the voice coil was banging on the magnet backplate." --- Actually, I've just thought of a good option. Buy a couple of Eminence Beta or Basslite 10"s and put them in your cab. Whilst that's keeping you running build a BFM Omni 10 cab and once complete then shift the woofers over to that. Then throw away the Backline (firewood?) Alex[/quote] Hi Alex Thanks for the detailed post... Your comment about 'firewood' is probably the most sensible approach to take with this really, all things considered. Going off topic slightly, having just read the '3 daft Geordies and a whole bunch of gear' thread in Amps & Cabs posted by Warwickhunt and re-read my own comments here about how an old 1x15 cab that cost me less about £50 sounds great to my ears, it makes me wonder about what we're all chasing in terms of the perfect sound from our rigs? Especially as we all intermix technical info/data with subjective adjectives to describe what we like and hear - e.g. SPL and 'punch'. As we all differ so wildly in terms of what we think of as a good or great sound and because most of the venues we play in with our gear have really bad sounding rooms, isn't it almost impossible to achieve any consistency and define what is really good? Anyway, mad musings aside and going back onto topic, I'm going to put in some cheaper 10" drivers and sell the cab, along with it's companion GK 1x15. Then, I'll continue with my old 1x15 for the immediate future because it sounds 'good' to me at the moment. And i'll try and do some proper research about what I really like/want from a speaker but that may take me some time.. Hi Al, had a chuckle at your last post about Graham and Drum & Strum etc!! Has Graham set it up now and if so, how is it (going off topic again...)? Nik

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='55693' date='Sep 5 2007, 07:18 AM'][url="http://www.bluearan.co.uk/menu/index.php?category=Speaker_Components&masthead=Loudspeaker_Drivers&subheadnew=10_inch_Drivers"]Blue Aran[/url] have a good stock of cones although mostly Eminence, Fane or P-Audio. It might be worth looking on Ebay for other manufacturers like Celestion or JBL? Maybe other members can suggest good suppliers as well?[/quote] Thanks Steve - I'll have a look and see what's what... I'm quite looking forward to seeing how the fairly low-budget GK cab can be improved upon with better drivers. Nik