Martelino

Hi all,

off late I am getting more into playing with a pick, especially the faster funk of Bobby Vega, Cody Wright etc.
I usually play fingerstyle (funk, disco, jazzrock, rock) with 45-105 DR LowRiders on my Spector NS4CR. Nice tight attack, deep full sound, long life.

Would a different (lighter) gauge be better for pick playing?
What would the difference be tonally and on playability?
What strings do you prefer for pick playing?

Thanks for all input!

18 hours ago, Hellzero said:

You already have my answer, and honestly you will be the one playing it, with the way you pluck the strings, the way you fret the notes, the way you adjust the gain, the type of strings, and so on.

I mainly play sixer fretless through a TrickFish Trilobite (or a MarkBass Stereo Ground Preamp too) going to the FRFR 12 + 6 + tweeter (I like the flat sound those FRFR amplified boxes can reproduce and maybe it would not be up to your taste), and yes it's going low enough to ear an F#0, not the fundamental, of course, but then comes the psychoacoustics in with your ears, brain, education, social level, ... decoding the harmonics and making you hear the notes the correct way... for you. That said, most of the cabinets made are totally unable to even reproduce the fundamental of an E1, the A1 being often the first note entirely reproduced (55 Hz !!!), but here I'm arguing (not disputing), so won't go any further...

I know it's hard to try GSS products anywhere, but there are loads of videos here to make up your mind and see (hear would be better) if the tone colour is up to your taste : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYZIWNoEQvw0D-4RQQk_W-w/videos

Most of the people playing through my main system (Trilobite or Stereo Ground Preamp + FRFR) don't like it at all as it's too flat for them, missing the low mids colouration of an especially for bass designed cabinet and going way much higher than any bass cab.

I had a GSS Single 12 Coax with a GSS Sumo power amp and a Warwick Hellborg preamp too and it's quite close to a MarkBass Alain Caron first generation, less coloured

The summit was the Warwick Hellborg preamp and GSS Sumo power amp coupled to an AudioKinesis 18134 (1 x 18 inches + 4 x 3 inches) : ears climax !

I also had a small 06B400 combo that was quite terrific despite the very small footprint.

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much, this is very helpfull. Indeed I am looking for an FRFR (a term I didn't know before), just amplifying all the aspects of my playing. And it seems GSS is one of the ways to go, especially since Didier is so easy to get in touch with.

54 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

I've owned and still own GSS products, including the FRFR 12 + 6 + tweeter and they do what they are supposed to do, but the way some are arguing for arguing is not what I'm used to read on BassChat.

That's all, and I'm not hi-jacking this thread, just a lot tired by this way of proceeding.

Ask the questions directly to Didier Elchardus or invite him to discuss here instead of guessing. This way, we will have the correct answers.

It really looks like a trial court.

Hi Hellzero, I see you use GSS products. As you can read in my opening post I want to assemble a small rig and am seriously looking at the Baby Sumo and a Single 12 coax. I have had contact with Didier and he filled me in on the technical details. Since I cannot test them in my country I’m very interested in your experience as a user! Especially the sound characteristics and how they hold up in live situations.

Please don't hi-jack this thread and start arguing about arguing for arguing. I asked for ideas about GSS 12" cabs and am glad with any advice. In the longer and arguistic posts is still a lot to of information for me.

14 hours ago, chyc said:

I don't feel there's any dishonesty on Celestion's part. They publish the spec of their drivers after all (typos and all!)

Are there other drivers that absolutely demolish the BN12-300S in terms of low frequency output purely by virtue of their lower Fs, ignoring the xmax? I think there's no doubt there.  Can you put a HPF on these others drivers and get a cabinet that can do what  the BN12-300S does, and more? Again yup.

I agree with everything you say, but the reason I'm still tempted by the GSS Single12 is that I wouldn't call myself an electric bassist. Given I HPF around (I don't know the exact frequency; I twiddle a knob until it sounds good) 80Hz, I'm grateful that there's a cabinet that does something different by being smaller and lighter than the competition, at the expense of things I don't care about. I used to walk two miles twice a week with a double bass and combo, and still walk to rehearsals and gigs, so those things matter to me. Pretty niche and mad granted, but just to say there are mad people out there.

On 13/11/2020 at 00:32, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

63.5 Hz and 62.1 Hz Fs are both too high for electric bass. I've seen dozens of drivers advertised as suitable for electric bass that shouldn't have been. These are two of them.

I mailed Didier and asked about the speakers, this was his answer:

"The Single12coax' speaker is a Celestion TF1225CX while the "standard" Single12 is loaded with a Celestion BN12-300S.

All the best,

Didier"

I mailed Didier and asked about the speakers, this was his answer:

"The Single12coax' speaker is a Celestion TF1225CX while the "standard" Single12 is loaded with a Celestion BN12-300S.

2 hours ago, chyc said:

Incredible, two Yodas talking to each other!

I own a GSS cabinet, albeit not the 12" one. As Bill says there's a compromise here. I get the feeling that GSS cater more for the lighter genres of music, such as jazz, samba etc. That suits me perfectly, as does the cabinet I have from them. I'll let you decide if that's your situation too.

One bit of info I can relay is that the two 12" cabinets GSS offer are not equivalent in terms of tone. The one without a  tweeter has a BN12-300S, the Coax one is (I think) an FTX1225. This is what Didier@GSS had to say on the difference when I asked:

I was a little curious about putting the BN12-300S in a box for bass as it seems more used in guitar cabs. I emailed Celestion about it. This was their response:

So in short, yes it's a compromise and the lowest frequencies will not be as forthcoming as other cabinets, but I'm personally really glad such cabinets and drivers exist because not everyone has the same requirements. I'm predominantly an upright bassist and having windows rattle during sets is not important to me, unlike fitting my gear into the car.

True it is, not often two Yodas meet.

Thanks so much for the very clear response. I'm not looking for to much volume either, clean and honest reproduction of my bass is most important, and size. But the difference leaves me with a difficult choice between more percussive punch without- or clarity with tweeter...

1 hour ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

I'd be wary of getting the smallest 1x12" you can find. Search 'Hoffman's Iron Law'. 

Thank you, I knew it is a challenge to find good sound and small footprint, didn't know Hoffman's Iron Law though. Just trying to find how small (and light) I can go with a 12" and still have good (clean) sound.

Yes, I saw his other products and they're very interesting. I really want to go with a 1*12, so if you mean 'standard' compared to his other designs, that's ok. Just hoping they're better than the other usual suspects. At least they're the smallest 12" I've seen.

Hello bassfriends,

I want to assemble a small rig with my Eden pre, a power amp and a 12" cab. As a power amp I was looking at the Baby Sumo (300w at 8ohm), and saw on their website the Single12 cab. I have seen some reviews of the Sumo, but can't find anything on the Single12 cab. Anyone tried or owned one?

https://www.guitarsoundsystems.com/gss-single12coax-coaxial-12-bass-cabinet-c2x25882857

Thanks for any advice.