Obrienp

I think the very existence of physical musical instrument shops needs to supported. I always try to buy something when I go into them. It’s a super tough market for them and they are competing with the online box shifters who don’t have the same overheads (sorry for restating the blindingly obvious).

I know he was planning to go on holiday for a couple of weeks, so he might still be away. Don’t give up if you don’t get an immediate response.

A compensated bridge saddle will help with the intonation and there are masses on fleaBay. Just make sure you get one that is close enough to the width and thickness of the OEM, otherwise it’s a lot of work with sandpaper to get it to fit. It needs to be snug in the slot to improve transfer of vibrations to the top. If it is an electro acoustic, with an under saddle piezo pickup, a loose saddle can cause uneven string balance amplified and it needs to be flat on the bottom to exert an even pressure on the pickup. Material wise bone or Tusq will provide better tone than the cheaper plastic ones. It’s worth the extra, especially if you change the bridge pins. Go for harder wood (rosewood or ebony), or bone/Tusq pins for the improved tone. Some people rate brass but it sounds a bit harsh to my ears.

I’m getting boring but have a look at Tony Edwards Guitars https://tonyedwardsguitars.co.uk. Tony made me a short-scale to my spec with Babicz bridge and his own hand wound pickups for around the £1K mark. Now things have moved on price wise but I still think he will be very competitive and you get it to exactly what you want.

It’s called the Glaven Bistro at Glandford, near Holt (and Blakeney). I think they spent a packet doing the place up, so it’s not the cheapest around but the grub looked pretty good to me. Wine is a tadge expensive because it’s all English, in fact all from Norfolk I think, as is the beer.

Did a gig with the covers band, at a fairly newly opened bistro, yesterday evening. I had my doubts about this before because, however low we turn down, a four piece (keys player not able to make it) is still going to make it hard for the diners to hold a conversation. However, it went well and people enjoyed it. We did the more mellow part of our repertoire, with a load of originals written by our lead guitarist. This was split over a couple of one hour sets and got a local solo singer songwriter to do a half hour set in between. There could have been more folks there and I was disappointed that a few friends, who had said they would come along, didn’t show up. A few of the other guys had the same. Why do people do this? Raise expectations and not deliver. I wouldn’t be bothered if people just said nothing, rather than promise to be there and not show up. Now I’m a bit miffed at them. Despite not getting as many diners as they would have liked, the owners were very pleased with the evening and said they were going to have us back. I guess it takes time to build these things and live music can be a draw. The pay was OK for Norfolk as well. Gear wise, I used a Guild Starfire 1 with rounds for most of the numbers (tuned down half a step) and a Nordstrand Aacinonyx with flats for the numbers we do in standard tuning. This went into a Flyrig v2 -> Harley Benton GPA100 power amp -> LFSys Monza sitting on an Auralex isolator. It was the first outing for the GPA100, which had arrived the day before, so it was a bit of a risk but I had my Warwick Gnome iPro as standby. I was happy the way the GPA100 worked for this low volume scenario. The Gnome really doesn’t like going that low but with the GPA100 volume at 12 o’clock it was comfortable without working too hard. What surprised me was just how different the rig sounded in the bistro (basically a converted barn), compared to my studio. I am going to have to work on the EQ and drive settings a bit more. I was getting a touch of break up on my clean channel. About half way through the first set I noticed that the peak light was flashing on the Flyrig, so I was obviously digging in a lot more than I do in rehearsal. Dropping the drive setting a bit and turning up the volume on the GPA100 cured it. More work needed.

Interested to know how you got on with the HB after that. I just received mine. I’m running it into a LFSys Monza with a Flyrig v2 in front. It gives me a low volume option and I find it much less aggressive sounding than my other small amp: a Warwick Gnome iPro. The latter can be turned down to a certain point and then it’s like flicking an off switch. The GPA100 seems to be able to go to lower volume and still keep it together but I’m not sure how sensitive the Monza is at such low volumes; after all it is rated at 600 watts AES @ 8ohms. I also noticed that the GPA100 gets a bit distorted much over the 3 o’clock position and this is without the Peak light activating. If I turn down the Flyrig output level, the distortion goes away but the overall volume drops. I guess this is about the GPA100’s operating ceiling. I haven’t tried it with my 4 ohm cab yet. I’m hoping for a bit more headroom with that. I’ve noticed the GPA hardly warms up at all even after an hour’s use, which is pretty impressive given there is no fan and is much better than Gnome. So far, I think the GPA100 is amazing value for £68.

Tony Edwards built me a short scale PB a few years ago and it came in at around £1K. Things have gone up a bit but I would imagine he could do a 32” well within your budget. https://tonyedwardsguitars.co.uk. I happen to know he is on holiday at the moment, so you might not get a response immediately, if you do want to follow up with him. I am very happy with the bass. Babicz bridge and Tony’s own hand wound pickups. Probably not the best picture and this was to my design, so might not suit everybody’s tastes.

This happens with nothing connected and the output volume off, connected to the Spark, or connected to an external preamp. No effects in the chain. The noise disappears for a second when you switch the input between the mini-jack socket input (for the Spark) and the combi inputs. When I said the noise disappears when you play into the cab, I mean you don’t notice it. I don’t know whether it disappears, or is just drowned out be the instrument noise. As soon as you stop, it’s there again, so I guess it is just drowned out.

Good on Andertons: they are arranging for the cab to be picked up for a return. I guess they will want to check it before coughing up. This time I literally removed the cab from the packaging, switched it on, heard the noise and repacked it. I didn’t put the Spark on top, as it left feet marks on the previous one after only an hour or two on top. I didn’t even open the accessory packaging. Consequently, I am confident that I will get a full refund. They could sell this one as new, no problem. I feel quite disappointed about the Spark Cab. It has the potential to be a really good piece of kit. Unlike some active FRFR cabs, it isn’t a repurposed PA speaker. You can actually stack your Spark “amp” on top without it sliding off. It also makes a good preamp platform. It doesn’t boast massive volume for bass at 140 watts but is more than adequate for guitar. It is compact, light (under 14Kg) and well built. I really liked the bass tone that it produced and I think it would be loud enough for intimate gigs (coffee shops and the like). Just a shame that the power amp they put in it has such a loud noise floor and this gets through to the DI out. Close but no cigar Positive Grid!

Further update: Andertons sent a courier with a replacement cab and collected the return at the same time. Great service IMO. Unfortunately the replacement unit is just as noisy as the previous one. I really debated with myself about keeping it, as the bass tone it produces is very pleasing either with the Spark 40, or my preamp pedals (Battalion and Flyrig v2) and the guitar voices are pretty good too. It has a lot of useful features to go with both and is a nice looking piece of kit. It really could be a great universal cab for guitar and bass but the noisy DI out tipped it for me. You don’t hear the noise when you are playing an instrument through it but a noisy DI is going to come through loud and clear in front of house/PA. I really don’t understand how a Class D amp could be so noisy. I have asked Andertons to give me a refund and I am now waiting for their response.

I agree about the headphone jack, it does look clunky. Shame they couldn’t have made the Aux socket on the back of the Spark 40 two way. At least the cable would be hidden then. Andertons have scheduled a handover for Monday. The courier will bring a replacement unit and I give them the duff one. I like that. I don’t have to wait until they have checked the duff unit, they send me a replacement on trust. Fingers crossed that the replacement is quiet 🤞! I really don’t understand why a Class D power amp would be noisy, if functioning to specification but I have discovered more reviews online that complain about it. Looks like a common issue. I can’t say I am confident that the replacement will be better ☹️. As an aside, I discovered that Thomann knock out this little HB power amp for under £70 : https://www.thomann.co.uk/harley_benton_gpa_100.htm. 100 watts @8 ohms, 190 @4 ohms. The reviews I have found are all positive, so I have ordered one to work with my Flyrig 2 into my LFSys Monza, as a low volume rehearsal/intimate gig solution. This covers one of the use cases I had for the Spark Cab, so the replacement unit is going to have to be perfect to justify me keeping it. P.S. The other benefit the Spark Cab has is its multi-instrument capability. I did try it out with both acoustic and electric guitar, and it worked well. You do have to play with the EQ a bit, as the cab tends to be a bit bass heavy (good for bass use obvs) and the twin tweeters can accentuate piezo brittleness. I always found the Spark 40’s default acoustic voice very effective and the Clean guitar setting; not so much the more driven settings. The Spark Cab just gives you them louder but being FRFR it also makes their drawbacks more obvious. Again judicious use of EQ might help.

No response from anybody on this but I thought folks might be interested to know how I have got on with one, having taken the plunge. My NCD was Monday but apart from unboxing, I didn’t have a chance to try it out briefly until Tuesday. The unboxing was a good experience, in that Positive Grid have obviously taken a leaf out of Apple’s book when it comes to packaging. Very well thought out and slick. The cab itself looks well made and matches the Spark 40 with the gold piping and cloth grill. It looks like a mini stack with the Spark on top. Power comes through a standard kettle lead into the back of the cab (no bricks or wall warts). The plus is that there is a 19v out to power a Spark 40 (cable supplied) and USB C port as well (to power other Sparks). The slickness goes a bit when you have to connect the Spark 40 to the cab via the headphone out into a mini jack socket on the cab. There are also 2 combo XLR/1/4” jack sockets which you can use to connect external preamps providing line level input. There is also an XLR DI out socket with level control and ground lift. A drawback is that there is a switch to select the mini jack input, or the XLR/jack combi inputs. You can’t have them all live at the same time. The unit is rated 140 watts RMS into a 10” driver and two 1” tweeters. The cab is ported. All of the above sounds good to me for what I wanted (a louder Spark 40 for practice and preamp platform for quiet gigs) but the reality didn’t prove quite so great. The problem is/was the noise level. Just switching the cab on with the volume rolled off there is 54DB of white noise and an oscillating rumble. Standing back from the cab it sounded like there is a very noisy fan inside but in front it is clear it is just very noisy on idle. This noise disappears when you play through it and it does sound pretty good for bass. The Spark 40 bass voice tends to push the driver to break up at around 85 DB volume (measured at a couple of meters) but I found it coped very well with my Flyrig V2 to nearly full volume (around 95DB). There was plenty of bass response down to low E but I think it might fall off with a low B. Unfortunately, as soon as you stop playing, that idle noise returns and the DI output is noisy too, so no good for using front of house to beef up the output on louder gigs. Now I had heard that this noise issue only affected the first batch of cabs and it had been sorted out on later batches. Consequently, I have asked Andertons for an exchange. I am waiting for the collection at the moment, so hopefully I will get a replacement unit next week. I will keep you posted on whether it has the same noise issue.

I probably haven’t kept a bass for long enough to find out but I have had OEM tuners on cheaper basses that felt bad from the start and had tuning stability problems (other factors like nut slots, strings, etc taken into account). The Guild’s seem alright but do look like they are made to a price point. I’ll see how they go but thanks for your tips for extending their life.

Thanks @Chienmortbb and @Jean-Luc Pickguard for that info and links. Shame about the Resolites. The existing machine heads work OK but there is a touch of neck dive. I’m not sure Grovers are going to change that but I will certainly bare them in mind for when the OEMs start to play up (inevitable at this price point).

Anyone know if the Gotoh Resolite machine heads are reversible (like Schallers), so you can use them for two a side headstocks? I would like to replace the OEMs on my Guild NS Starfire 1 but at £120 plus, it’s not a cheap mistake, if they wont fit.. P.S. The Gotoh website doesn’t say.

I had the same problem with my Guild Starfire but it was sorted by some stick on foam edge protector. The stuff you stick on sharp edged furniture to stop toddlers braining themselves. Available for not much from various online sources, including Bezos’ cash cow.

🤞

Enjoy! I’m very happy with mine. As @pete.young said you do need to experiment a bit more with your eq than you might with other cabs that have a baked-in sound. The Monza will reproduce everything that goes into it. I found out how top biased my Warwick Gnome iPro was. @Phil Starr pointed out that the Gnome has anything but a flat response when the EQ controls are set at 12 o’clock and you certainly hear it with the Monza before adjusting the EQ. That lesson learned, I have really grown to love it. It pairs extremely well with my Blackstar u700 that has a number of preamp and power stage voicings. Most of the time I am using the more classic valve amp voices (covers and blues) and that is exactly what I get out of the Monza. If I want a more modern “hi-fi” sound, it’s there too. This is unlike, for instance, my BF Two10 that can only really do vintage (by design). The U700 classic voices with the Two10 can be too old school and a bit ill defined. Volume wise, I don’t have an amp that is ever going to push the Monza anywhere near its peak but TBH, even with 250 watts @ 8 ohms, I have not yet needed to have the master much above 12 o’clock for most pub gigs. I find I can hear it even when I’m really close to it, which you can’t say about a lot of other cabs. I did try it on top of my Two10S at an open air festival gig: 700 watts @ 2.7 ohms but that volume level was completely unnecessary because of the excellent foldback provided by the organisers. It was also somewhat unbalanced with the Two10 getting 2/3 of the oomph and struggling to cope. It did make me think how good a 3 x Monza stack would be though🤟😀. I’ll have to win the lottery though, at the moment I’m aiming at another Monza when my piggy bank is full enough. Sorry for the word vom. Enjoy your new cab day!

Guitar-Guitar did this with the end of line Vox passive Starstream basses about a year, or so ago. Going by the posts on BC, most of them were obviously B-stock/returns. Most BCers who bought them sent them back. They were selling for a massive discount (annoying for me as I was trying to sell an A1 version at the time) and there was no mention of them being B-stock. Like @Burns-bass said, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Guitar-Guitar seem to be serial offenders in this respect.

Just use EasySetlist on a tablet or phone. Cheap as chips and not complicated. I’ve converted 4 out of 5 in the covers band I play in to use it. It will store your chord sheets and allow you to create play lists on the fly and share them. No printing stuff. As they say, other set list apps are available.

My bitsa medium scale P bass with 2 x Tonerider pickups and Jazz neck. Neck side pickup reversed. Stacked vol/tone and single blend.

Thanks. I’ll look out for that. I’ve got to go through with it now, as I have ordered the varitone. It’s pretty big though, so I think I might have to remove the pickup to get into the body; I don’t think the f-holes are going to be wide enough to get it in. 😬

Thank you for sharing that. There are some good tips in there. I hadn’t thought of the tailpiece ground wire complication but it makes sense. I wouldn’t wire up a solid body bass without grounding the bridge.