swansongrecords

On 30/07/2018 at 11:09, bassmayhem said:

What is the most important thing, that it sounds old or looks old?
A friend of mine who plays in a Beatles tribute band use a MarkBass combo with Vox speaker cloth on. Just for appearance. Find yourself a nice sounding "top loaded" combo and change its clothes.

If the sound/tone is a main thing, well, you can always add a nice preamp in front...

Or: get a Peavey VB-2: the most underrated fantastic all valve amp out there. Sells for coffee money...

The sound is the most important bit, i can deal with how it looks as discussed earlier. A VB2 is a fantastic idea, however finding one is another matter, i'll have to keep an eye out.

4 hours ago, Jack said:

I think the issue with putting a class D amp in a bog wooden box is that, whilst lots of the weight in a head is the transformer, the psu, etc etc, LOTS of the weight is actually the wooden shell. I wonder if all the effort would be worth it.

 

Do you reckon that just a (period-correct) cab would look ok for backline? Like, do you need a head? I bet most people couldn't tell. What about like hiding a modern head behind the cab where no one could see it and then using something like a sansamp? For that matter, how feasible is adding a plate amp to your current cab? That way you can just use a pedal preamp and no one would be any the wiser IMO.

 

EDIT - Or this.

A head is a given I think to be honest. It’s not weight in itself that’s the issue, it’s that plus the rarity of the head, difficulty of replacing it if it’s stolen, servicing etc. It’s an original V4 and it’s wonderful but if it’s nicked I may never find another one.

its sounding like reboxing a head is the answer, if I can get a big box Marshall head cab and make a new faceplate for an amp of choice then I think that’s the ticket. So far the Hartke is winning but open to suggestions for superbass tone-age. Although ‘tube DI’ is not a stupid idea for super lightweight touring ability I must say.

You’ve all been top so far, thanks 

4 hours ago, BassBod said:

Two thoughts.  The Hartle LH500 is essentially an old “Fender” preamp mated to a late 70’s style power amp. Not expensive, but worth a try.  If it does the job put some vintage knobs on it and put it in an old style case. 

 

Or - get a powered cab, dress it up, and use a Sansamp VT for your sound (stage and DI for the PA).  

Both could work very well. 

Thanks for all the replies so far, they’re most helpful!

This is the sort of thing that would be most useful. It doesn’t have to be spot on authentic it just has to look and sound right. The sort of sound I’m aiming at is an overdriven superbass a-la Jack Bruce, I can build a head cab that’s good enough to fool most people, I just need to work out a way of sorting the ‘innards’ out as it were. I’m quite happy to build a pre if I need to and can’t buy what I’m after.

i suppose what I really mean now is what preamp and power amp can I hide in a fake vintage head cab?

I could also rehouse a stand alone head, always open to ideas, as said, I’m not that familiar with the market so your input is most appreciated.

Thanks again 

Bear with me chaps...

To cut a bit of a long story short, I play in a band which is very hot on its authentic equipment. The backline has to look right (and of course sound right). This is entirely wonderful but i'm the one that has to carry the Ampeg V4 and 2x15. I'd like to save my vintage gear and my back.

What I'd like to do is build myself a much lighter 'fake' setup as it were. I'd like to build a preamp and power amp section into a head cab that looks the part but weighs a lot less and packs a bigger punch. Im not worried about cabs for now, theres a lot of info out there about that.

Any idea how I could potentially achieve this? Im afraid im not that clued up on the modern bass setup, as i've always used vintage gear. I don't need it to be anything complicated, that said If i could replicate a superbass/ampeg/sunn preamp of the late 60s and have it run into a simple standalone power amp section, that would be perfect. 

Sorry if that sounds like madness, but someone might understand where im going!

Thanks in advance.

Well, here i am...

Thought i'd better say hello, I actually became a bass player out of necessity (I suppose a lot of us have), but now i've got a '71 EB0, a '72 EB3, A 60w Superbass style creation and an Ampeg V4... I tend to favour 15" speakers but im yet to try a proper 10" setup.

Looking forward to having a good look round this forum!