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Obrienp

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Everything posted by Obrienp

  1. Obrienp
    Sounding genuinely acoustic with amplification is so tricky! Even with an SM57 in front of the instrument the quality of the sound is changed. Mics also suffer from feedback issues and are difficult to use if you like to move around a bit, so it is much easier to use an onboard pickup (not saying they don’t feedback as well). Piezos tend to sound harsh and brittle, magnetic pickups don’t really sound acoustic, combined pickup/mic combinations sound harsh (to my ears) and I have tried quite a few. The best result I have had for acoustic bass (guitar, don’t know about uprights) was with K&K transducers but I also use a Zoom A2 preamp that has “correction”. The upright bass voice really does correct the sound to be more acoustic, plus it has automatic feedback correction (a real problem with bass) but of course, that is reducing the tonal spectrum. There are others on the market from Fishman, etc, for more money. I used to play acoustic and slide guitar in various “acoustic” bands. I tried just about every pickup on the market and various acoustic amps/PA combinations. I eventually settled on Taylor’s ES2 system through an AER acoustic amp (DI’d to the PA) for regular acoustic and a Highlander pickup in my National, also through the AER, with radically different EQ profiles for each. Perhaps an AER bass amp is the ultimate solution for acoustic basses but they are eye wateringly expensive. Bose column PAs also seem pretty effective for amplified acoustic instruments but again really expensive.
  2. Obrienp
    A little update on this: I spotted an unused iPro Gnome going for reasonable money on fleaBay and took the plunge. It arrived today. I haven’t had much time to experiment with it but my initial impression of it, connected to a BF One10, is that it may be voiced slightly differently from the 200 watt version. It reminded me of the TE Elf voicing in YouTube videos (through decent speakers). A very pleasing punchy but slightly less transparent tone. However, that was with Gain and EQ all set at 12 o’clock and Master around 8/9 o’clock: hardly ticking over. I haven’t wound it up yet, or tried it through the Two10. The fan seems even less intrusive than the 200 watt version’s. To be expected I guess but the iPro is a bigger unit than the 200 watt version. They looked the same size to me in the group shots I had seen online but the iPro is a few centimetres wider and deeper, and just a bit taller. It is also a bit heavier. Otherwise it looks the same, save for the addition of the USB port on the back. The extra couple of centimetres make it look less comically small on top of a speaker cabinet.
  3. Obrienp
    Excellent. Enjoy! Do tell us if you work out a way to add Loxx.
  4. Obrienp
    Interesting. I haven’t noticed any neck dive on my passive H1 but I do use a wide grippy strap.
  5. Obrienp
    Many thanks for the offer but the SW is a long and difficult trek from my neck of the woods, so I won’t be attending. WRT the BAM200; I am happy with the sound from my Gnome (200 watt) into my Barefaced cabs, I am just wondering whether it is worth upgrading to the 300 watt iPro version for more gigging headroom. I think the BAM 200 would be a lateral move for me. BTW your little combo looks ace. If I had the guts, I would be tempted to do something similar with my BF One10 and the Gnome but I think such a modification would massacre the resale value of the cab. I guess I could remove the Eminence speaker from the One10 and make my own enclosure like you did but part of the BF tone is in the internal construction of the cab and I don’t think I have the woodworking skills to replicate it. I have used the Gnome/One10 combo for the back line at a local acoustic blues jam and it sounds wonderful with various different acoustic bass pickup systems, even a stick upright.
  6. Obrienp
    I was just watching a couple of comparison videos on YouTube: Anderson’s and an Aussie guy whose name I forget. The Anderson’s video compared the Ashdown Ant, TE Elf and Warwick Gnome; the Aussie one was just the Elf vs Gnome. I have to say in both videos, listened to through decent speakers, I preferred the sound of the Elf with EQ at parity. I guess it has the Trace sound but the Warwick came across as completely transparent. The difference narrowed with some EQ twiddling. I didn’t care much for the Ant, which surprised me as I have always rated the Ashdown sound (if not the weight of their gear, Ant excepted). Of course, quite a lot depends on the speaker matching. Conclusion for me: if the Elf was the same price as the Gnome, didn’t have the noisy fan, and I wasn’t paring it with a vintage voiced cabinet, Trace might have got my money. Paired with my BF One10, or Two10, I think it would be a bit too coloured. An issue I ran into at a gig last weekend, when I combined my Orange Terror with the Two10 and a P/J with flats. Somehow I don’t get the same overly coloured effect with the Terror and two OBC112s (careful crafting by Orange perhaps). I am thinking that the Gnome might be a better pairing with the Two10 but has it got enough headroom for a medium sized gig? Would the Gnome iPro be a better gigging amp with the extra grunt and therefore headroom? Still cheaper than the Elf (at Thomann anyway). I am assuming that the standard and iPro versions sound the same, all things being equal. Anybody got the iPro and like to comment? Even better, has anyone done an A/B of the standard Gnome and the iPro version?
  7. Obrienp
    I am very glad to hear you are happy with it. I thought my passive version was good and well made but the active one is obviously that, plus, plus. 👍
  8. Obrienp
    I should have used mine at the gig I played on Saturday. I had a very vintage signal chain: P/J with flats, Orange Terror Bass head, BF Two10. Without the benefit of a proper sound check and despite the Auralex isolator, I was just a background rumble. The Gnome would have been plenty loud enough, even without PA support and a lot more neutral. It makes a good pedal platform as well, like you say. I can get enough colouration from my Valeton Dapper for my needs. It’s just, even on the Two10, it looks comically small, whereas the Terror looks more in proportion 🤔.
  9. Obrienp
    A little update on this because a lot of my gear has changed but not the Gnome. My main amp is now an Orange Terror Bass 500 Mk2. I sold one of my BF One10s but kind of regretted it recently; needing the extra grunt of a second speaker but not always having enough space at gigs for my two OBC112s, I bought a used Two10S off a fellow BassChatter. Arthritis also forced me to go short scale with my basses. During all this change of gear, the Gnome has been a constant. Subjective I know but I think it is a great sounding little amp. Definitely more “modern” than the Terror but good in its own right. It is surprisingly loud through the One10 @8ohms, even louder through the Two10S @4ohms. These two combinations are loud enough for rehearsals with both bands I play in (Dad Rock and Blues). In fact, with gain at 12 o’clock and EQ flat, I rarely have the volume above 9 o’clock with the former. All this in a head that costs around £130 for the basic model I have. It gets used much more than my main gigging amp, doing home practice and rehearsals. I use it nearly everyday and so far, not a hint of trouble. The fan comes on pretty quickly but it’s not loud and despite the hours of operation, hasn’t started to rattle. All the pots are still good, the knobs still in place, nothing has come loose. I always though it was built like a tank and it does seem to be living up to expectations. It fits neatly into a gig bag pocket, or in my case goes into the bag with all my leads, etc that I take to gigs, so it’s there just in case. Drawbacks: the only one so far is the jack out instead of speakon connector. This means I have to carry a jack to speakon cable with me to gigs. Not a big issue IMO. Some people would want an Aux in socket and the headphone out is full sized, rather than miniature but personally I see that as a plus. Apparently the USB socket is bidirectional on the “i” version and the Pro has another 100 watts as well, which I guess gives it more headroom. I’ve never run mine at the ragged edge, so I don’t know how it performs at full chat. Maybe the extra headroom is worth the cash. I don’t know how this compares to an Elf, or a BAM 200 but it seems like good value to me. Definitely worth considering if you are in the market for a miniature head.
  10. Obrienp
    Not wanting to trivialise what happened but that might cause most people up here to kick-off! Seriously though, that puts my gigging problems into perspective! We’ve had the odd drunk but they are mostly peaceful.
  11. Obrienp
    Played a village hall gig, which was basically a favour for a friend of one of the guitarists. Usual squashed into a corner stuff made worse by said guitarist/vocalist having messed his back up and having to sit throughout the gig, reducing available space even further. Band had nearly split up a month or so ago when the drummer walked. We had a new guy who had done a couple of rehearsals with us. Fortunately he is our local equivalent of Charlie Watts and slotted straight in with metronomic precision. Plus side also is that he brought an electronic kit, thus requiring less of the meagre space available. Problems with the digital mixer meant we had virtually no sound check. I used my recently acquired Barefaced Two10S with my Orange Terror 500 for a small footprint and my custom P/J with LaBella flats. Yep, vintage, on vintage, on vintage, without the sound check to adjust EQ: note to self, if you want to be more than a rumble, use at least one modern voiced bit of kit. Fortunately it went well despite the other guitarist doing Here Comes the Sun with his capo a semitone out, forcing on the fly transposition: somehow a semitone is harder than a full step Guitarist no 2 just stopped playing for the whole number 😏.
  12. Obrienp
    I’ve had my SM58 pick up my cab off-axis and cause a rumble through the PA. The low cut filter helps (if you have one on your channel strips). On the odd occasion we have had the luxury of a sound man, so I get him to turn my mic up when it is needed (I’m only allowed to do a bit of backing vocals) and mute the rest of the time. The main singer’s SM58 Beta seems more resistant to off-axis interference but they are quite a bit more expensive. I used to use an AKG D5 and that was even worse for off axis interference. The right mic and careful placement can help but it is difficult to avoid this kind of stuff if, like us, you get to play in cramped conditions like most pubs and village halls.
  13. Obrienp
    I hope you are pleased with it. Given everything it has got on it in terms of hardware, that sounds like a very good price. Enjoy!
  14. Obrienp
    You are welcome. I can’t really say how Ray-esque it sounds, as I have only played a real Ray once briefly in a shop. However, the pickup is a full size Ray style brute, so it must be close, although the amount of wood in the body is pretty small, which must affect the tone a bit. That said, I have had some positive comments about the tone when I have used it a blues jam. I take it along to tease the purists who believe a Precision is the only bass for blues. Several people have said that the Starstream really cuts through and is the only bass that is not an indistinct rumble in that particular function room (it’s a very boomy room). I am assuming that means it’s got that Ray mid-presence. I wouldn’t take my word for it though. I would try before you buy if you can. The ergonomics, which come from the diminished size and the curves in the ABS outer structure, work for me but I guess they might not for everybody. The belly cut and the angle of the forearm rest are perfect for me but I am only 5’ 9”. I like unusual as well. I have a Nordstrand Acinonyx (now main gigging bass) and had an Ibby EHB1000 SS, which I only sold to fund the Acinonyx. I also have a Hofner Violin bass. Not everything has to be a Precision, or Jazz clone to be right.
  15. Obrienp
    Both the Music Man SS and the Sterling SS models are overpriced compared to their full scale siblings in any market IMO. They may be a smaller production run but the differential is just too wide to be justified by that alone.
  16. Obrienp
    The passive Starstream just has standard part bin hardware. The machine heads are Gotoh like. They look the ones used on the Gretsch G2220 and the ones on mine function fine. The nut is bone. Bridge as I said is fairly standard Fender 5 hole pattern. Chunkier than the one on the Gretsch and easily replaced with a Fender high mass (which is what I did), although not really necessary. No clues as to manufacturer of the pickup but it looks pretty standard Ray style. The electronics have a push/pull volume to switch between parallel and series mode but no coil tap. Passive tone control. Pots are usual Chinese issue and 250k to my surprise. The neck has a Jazz width nut and and is pretty shallow. It’s really fast and easy on arthritic hands (I like it a lot). The back is finished in a very light layer of satin and the board looks like Rosewood but I have my doubts at the price point. Ergonomics are brilliant. It’s really comfortable standing or sitting and it balances fine on a strap. It really is light too. The fit and finish on mine is good but I can’t speak for them all. Vox originally had them priced pretty high and then brought them down in price. A bargain IMO but you have to like different.
  17. Obrienp
    I used to think that a mirrored scratchplate could only look cool if Phil Lynott was holding the bass but that really works with the blue.
  18. Obrienp
    PM’d you.
  19. Obrienp
    Thank you. Actually that is very helpful for me. The kind of stuff I am playing requires vintage voicing, so I am afraid the cab is probably not what I am looking for at the moment but I am sure it will suit plenty of other people. It definitely looks the business and the weight/portability is fantastic. GLWTS.
  20. Obrienp
    Is posting out of the question?
  21. Obrienp
    Hi. I have been trying to find frequency response, sensitivity and SPL stats for these but there is nothing on the manufacturer’s website, or elsewhere on the web (as far as I can find). Ditto reviews, apart from one not particularly helpful demo on YouTube. Do you have any more info on it? Subjective I know but what is the bass response like and would you say it is vintage, or modern voiced? Thanks, Pat
  22. Obrienp
    Cracking job! I wish my work looked as neat when I do it!
  23. Obrienp
    I should imagine that it is because the split pickup, like the P bass pickup, is effectively a humbucker and therefore expected to be quiet. I agree there is no excuse for not shielding the control cavity. I always shield the pickup cavity anyway: belt and braces. That Mustang looks like a good candidate for copper tape shielding, which works better than graphite paint IMO. You might also want to check the grounding if it is very noisy. I join up the shielded cavities with ground wires and then take that to the ground on the output jack. Make sure the bridge ground wire is working properly too.
  24. Obrienp
    I agree. I play for enjoyment more than anything else but there are plenty of people who earn their living from music. If we play for nothing, we contribute to the devaluation of live music and undermine other musicians’ ability to earn a living from playing. As we all know, the money has largely gone out of recorded music and playing live is all that is left for most bands.
  25. Obrienp
    There have been some adverse comments around the forums. I have the Vox Starstream H1 (passive) and it does the ‘Ray thing pretty well for less than a Sterling SS and everybody notices it at a gig (if you like that). Mine is very nicely made. Only real issue with it is not being able to fit the usual culprits in strap locks: you have to use those rubber washer things. Otherwise it is extremely light, ergonomic and balances OK on a strap. I love the look of those genuine EB Ray short scales but the money they charge for them is just gouging the punters in my view. Even the Sterling’s are over-priced compared to their 34” offerings.
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