Mottlefeeder

[quote name='Musashimonkey' timestamp='1431846953' post='2775415'] PHil Jones Bass 'Double Four' with a laptop battery back?... [/quote] I can't see anything on the PJ website to confirm that this will run on batteries - it appears to be a mains-only practice amp. The PJ Briefcase will take the same battery that I used in mine. David

I don't know if you are into DIY, but you can run a car stereo amplifier in bridge mode to give about 90 watts into 8 ohms, and a 12v 7AHr lead acid battery will give you 3-4 hours of use in an acousic pub setting, or about an hour outdoors keeping up with with guitars and vocals through a small pa. The amplifier input will match the output of an active bass, and you can walk to a gig with a 1 by 10 speaker in one hand, the amp/battery assembly in the other, and a gigbag on your back. [url="http://s285.photobucket.com/user/Mottlefeeder/media/DSCF0972_zps22a94527.jpg.html"][/url] The speaker is 30*30*40cm (12*12*15 inches) and the amp 'plate' contains the battery in the box with the logo. Ignore any idiot that chips in with 'don't believe the specs of car amplifiers' - the better brands now quote true RMS outputs in the specification (as well as painting peak outputs on the casing). David

You can also thread them through in reverse - feed them into the body at the bridge, and keep going until the end is wtthin reach at the sound hole. Tie a knot in the string and pull it back through again until the knot is under the bridge. David

[quote name='alstocko' timestamp='1421716027' post='2664353'] I'm based in Warrington and could give some technique/posture lessons to help relieve the strain. [/quote] Thanks for your interest - I'll send you some more information in a PM and then we can decide how to play it. David

Thanks for that - I've had a quick look, and the nearest ergonomics specialist is in Birmingham - that's too far for regular sessions to look at my technique. David

I have a health problem that causes my thumbs to go into cramp after about 90 seconds of sustained use. I'm currently using work-arounds and sloppy technique to get by. Any bass tutors in the Warrington / Manchester area interested in exploring whether I can improve my playing? Thanks David

In some cases, the position of the jack socket and the style of guitar stand will dictate whether you can use one plug or the other. A right-angled jack is more likely to get in the way of a bottom-supported stand, and a straight jack is more likely to make the instrument too long for a top-hung stand designed for shorter guitars. David

I've been to several open mic nights, varying from the 'We only cater for singer/songwriters' through to 'Pick a song and I'll lead on it and you play bass'. I've been to one where the self-styled 'resident bass player' told me to move on, and I've also stumbled into helping to organise one. In my view - Week 1; go early, without the bass, talk to the organiser and then check out who is playing what. Try and get a list of songs that feature regularly, and their keys. Practice some of those songs. Week 2; take the bass, arrive early, talk to the organiser about what you would like to do - give him/her a better chance to find you a slot that suits. David

One of the issues with changing a port is that the air speed through it changes, and that can give you problems. You could try modelling a cab similar to the one you buy, and then model the half size version, and check that the tuning and port air speeds are as you want them. Having said that, if you are already playing with WinISD, you may already have considered this. David

I bought a 5-string acoustic about a year ago, and it is now my main bass. At home, I don't need to plug it in, and at the venues I play, an acoustic fits where a solid body would not, and I like the sound it produces. Having said that, it is always amplified when out of the house - I have a battery rig for rehearsals and outdoor gigs, and a mains powered amp for the others. Also, based on past experience, if I am not controlling the PA, I would probably fall back on the solid bodied bass. Some PA operators have no idea what to do when an acoustic bass starts to feed back. David

The biggest issue with this type of modification is likely to be the porting, and you do not have any, so it should work for you. However, there is a health warning that one speaker will give you less than half of what you got from the pair, but you probably already know that from your current se-up. David

From what I have heard, a semi-acoustic instrument will be better regarded in Jazz/Folk arenas than a solid bodied one, but I never reached the point of using an EUB in either situation. Also the Stagg/Palatino style is longer, and more difficult to transport - the NS ranges have short bodies and longer stands, which makes it easier to fit them in a car, but they do look 'different', Some of the NS ranges also accept standard DB length strings - the excess length below the bridge goes through the body and fixes into slots on the back, so you are not locked into a limited number of string options. David

My experience of AT goes back several years, as I recovered from a back injury. The initial results were amazing, but then seemd to tail off. When I started asking about the next milestones we were aiming for, the answers gave me the distinct impression that I was part-way through a standard course, and I was going to pay for all of it whether I needed it or not. I stopped shortly after. David

Interesting to hear all the opinions, but I have a question for those who feel you have to get it absolutely right - are you in a covers band or a tribute band? Apart from the distinctive riffs, if there are any for that song, surely a covers band needs to play something that sounds tight, good, and recognisable in total, while a tribute band has to be as close to the original as they can get. My background is in playing generic songs from chord sheets - it is only now that I am having to think about how 'accurate' my bass lines should be. David

[quote name='Mottlefeeder' timestamp='1386681098' post='2302985'] ...The 300W rig I referred to was my normal gigging setup at that time, pressed into service for an outdoor event. It was powered by an invertor connected to a caravan battery (85AHr). It worked, but is not a serious contender for this job (Hartke HA3000 - 12kg-ish, Hartke VX115 - 20kg, battery - 18kg, trolley etc - 5kg: total 55kg-ish - doesn't do stairs)... [/quote] Just found this picture while looking for something else. [url="http://s285.photobucket.com/user/Mottlefeeder/media/IMG_0099_zps7398178f.jpg.html"][/url] David

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1387109700' post='2308221'] Are these car amps all class d these days? Only asking, as class d is going to be a lot more efficient, critical for battery operation. [/quote] Most amps at the budget end of the market are switch-mode power supply and class AB amps. One on-line retailer had a class D amp at almost the same price as its class AB equivalent, but that was a special offer, and the company returns policy did not give me the confidence to go for it. David

[quote name='fonzoooroo' timestamp='1387100324' post='2308128'] brand wise -anything should be good from: alpine, infinity, JBL, Phoenix Gold, Kicker, JL, Focal, Sony, Kenwood, JVC, Blaupunkt, Orion, Rockford Fosgate, Hertz, Rainbow. Fusion have had some good reviews, but they always look like a budget product... Vibe do a good range and a cheap range. MTX should be good - they were a bit over hyped by all accounts due to sponsoring "pimp my ride" - but as a 2nd hand bargain, that becomes irrelevant! That lot's not an exhaustive list, but should give you an idea of what'll be a better buy than a new £50er. [/quote] Thank you - that's the sort of information I was hoping to get. David

I think the buyers fall into two camps - the wannabees who will buy cheap, not read the spec, and boast about how loud the bass is, without listening to the system with critical ears, and the serious ones, who take advice, throw serious money into the project and end up with good sounding systems. I'm aiming to be at the budget end of latter category. David

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1386977421' post='2307234'] If you are using car audio as the basis for your portable rig, be aware that the power ratings claimed for them are basically LIES dressed up with terms like 'Peak Music Power Output'. They think of a number and double it, then double it again! [/quote] Less so now than it was in the past. Most reputable companies now specify their outputs into 4 ohms at 1% distortion with a 14.4 volt supply, in accordance with a 2006 industry standard. The marketing people then take the peak power, in bridge mode, at maximum supply voltage (16V-ish) and paint that on the front of the amp. Hence 60W RMS per channel becomes 500W. I wouldn't consider an amplifier if it was not specified according to that standard. David

[quote name='fonzoooroo' timestamp='1386941446' post='2306650'] I've actually done this!... I built a little battery combo using a maplin "flight" tool case, a random 10" driver I had, a cheap car amp and a 12V lead gel battery.(the battery was the only bit I bought new) ... I used it with bass guitar and EUB for pub trad folk sessions. Battery life was fine (ran for hours - charged it before each session, never ran it to flat), plenty of volume, sound was technically a bit poor (due to the enclosure resonating/flexing/rattling a bit!) but adequate- the resonances gave the sound a bloomy, acoustic quality which, though it was a sound I'd never WANT to achieve, worked nicely! As for brands of amp, I've had a couple of "Mutant" amps running in cars, a "Boss" (no relation to the Roland/Boss we know!) ... I never spend over £25 on an amp - 2nd handers off ebay are always available. Clearly, if run flat out, the cheapies are more likely to struggle than a Phoenix Gold etc, but you're unlikely to really run it that hard. [/quote] Useful stuff - thanks My main problem with the ebay stuff is that I don't know whether it is reasonable quality, or poor quality stuff that previous users have grown out of. Coupling that with typical prices of £25 for the amp + £10 to post it, and I start to think that maybe a £50 'postage free', new one with a guarantee might not be such a bad idea. Anyhow, it's good to know I am following a path that thas been travelled before. David

I sat in on a recent folk night and listened to two bands. The first had an acoustic bass, amplified, and the second, a P-bass, amplified. To my ear, the first was much more sympathetic to the music being played: the P-bass just stood out as an odd sound. My personal experience of acoustic sessions is that they can be in pubs where there are very few power sockets, and landlords will not allow you to trail mains cables across the floor. I'm looking into building a battery-powered rig because of this. When I first started going to thse events, I started by asking the organiser if an acoustic bass could be amplified, and he asked the landlord. That way, everyone is in the loop. Hope this helps David

[quote name='nottswarwick' timestamp='1386691726' post='2303142'] Interested. Do the plans tell you what drivers to use? I assume so.... [/quote] If you go to the forum on Bill's site, and check out the section on cab SPLs, each graph for the Simplexx range states the driver used. Most graphs show 10 or 12 inch Deltalites, with the Kappalites coming in for the 15 inch designs. David

mcnach - thanks for the clarifaction - it is smaller than I first thought, so I will keep it in mind if the current experiment fails jazzyvee - PJB looks good, but is quite expensive and think I read that the recommended battery only lasts an hour. Last night's session was 3 1/2 hours. David

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1386663981' post='2302692'] Can you put up a link to the EBS article on power requirements please? I've been looking for this sort of information. I use the Hartke kickback10 for this sort of gig though only with mains, It's an awkward thing to carry due as much to its shape as it's weight. My 2x10 is lighter louder and a lot easier to carry. I'm really not convinced you need 300W though, It is going to drain the battery pretty quickly and you will have to carry a correspondingly heavy battery. to reduce weight overall I would start with the speakers. Moving from Hartke's 92 dB/W to something like 102 dB/W would give you the same sound level with a tenth of the power. If you are prepared to compromise on deep bass you could easily use short throw speakers like guitar speakers which are much louder because more of the coil is in the magnet at any one time making electrical efficiency higher. There are drivers out there with intermediate characteristics that would give higher efficiencies too. My 2x10 built with ceramic magnet drivers and 18mm ply weighs only 17kg and has a sensitivity of 98dB/W and I'm sure I could achieve better if I designed for lightweight. This alone would give you the same sound output with a quarter of the power than using a less efficient speaker. I haven't measured the output from my KB10 but it is going to be around 112dB, in any case this is limited by bass excursion as i can hear it distorting if I push it hard. If the Hartke is loud enough for you but just too awkward to carry then you only need that sound level. Using a 100dB/W speaker would only need 12db of gain so 16W of amp. A 30w amp would be louder and save your batteries, and you wouldn't be driving the speakers beyond their excursion limits so your bass would be cleaner. [/quote] Hi Phil, EBS link - Oops, it wasn't EBS, it was TC - http://www.tcelectronic.com/rh450/support/ - the article is called 'TC Electronic bass amp power rating & Active Power Management'. Sorry if I've wasted your time looking in the wrong place. I agree the Kickback 10 is great, but I wish it was lighter. The component parts weigh in at: speaker 3.2kg, amplifier module 4.3kg and case 8kg - about 15kg in total. I can carry that for about 100 yards, but beyond that it goes a on a trolley. One option might be to build a replacement cab using thinner ply with more bracing. I think I could lose 3-4kg from the cabinet weight by doing that, or alternatively, build a separate amp sleeve and speaker cab, so the amp can go in a rucsack, and the hand-carry would be lighter - but still mains powered. The 300W rig I referred to was my normal gigging setup at that time, pressed into service for an outdoor event. It was powered by an invertor connected to a caravan battery (85AHr). It worked, but is not a serious contender for this job (Hartke HA3000 - 12kg-ish, Hartke VX115 - 20kg, battery - 18kg, trolley etc - 5kg: total 55kg-ish - doesn't do stairs). I'm currently experimenting with an Eminence Basslite S2010 neo speaker in a 1cu ft reflex enclosure. It weighs 6kg, is the right height to sit on, and allegedly puts out about 95dB. Stage 2 is to aquire a small 12 volt car-audio amplifier, and prove that the bridged 90-100W output gives adequate volume, and reasonable current draw, using the existing caravan battery. At that point I will have enough data to be able to size a lead-acid battery for a 3-4hr gig, and will be able to decide whether this is a runner or not. Your comments on more efficient speakers are interesting - I had not thought of going that way. If the existing design does not work, that is certainly worth considering. David