Woodwind

I really like the vibe of this.

It's absolutely ridiculous and as has been stated will pose various amplification problem, but I can't wait to see a prototype.

16 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

I've been wondering whether there's a natural tone difference between the same model bass as a 4 and 5 string version. 

I've got a Sterling Ray34 and Ray35 which have the same body and neck material, same tuners, same bridge and same nut. The pickups are supposed to be 4 & 5 string version of the same pickup. They both have the same Daddario XL strings.

With the eq set flat, the five string sounds much fatter and just better.

Is this down to the wider neck or some other difference due to the extra string? 

I bet you my Ray34 sounds different to yours, even if I put your strings on 😎

The differences you're hearing are very likely from the electronics, but I don't doubt the neck will have some effect.

3 hours ago, PatrickJ said:

 

Though did I get the end right, despite all that fancy set up Warren just took the isolated DI feed?

I think what he was saying was for the DI signal he took it straight from Seans own DI box.

He didn't route that signal through anything else (compressor, channel strip etc etc).

Just now, Clarky said:

£4500, if memory serves me correctly (yes, its only a couple of days but festive alcohol was consumed last night!)

Cheers Clarky.

Considering that's being purchased from a shop that doesn't sound too bad.

That's great.

I love the look of the one pick-up Wals.

I missed the posting before it went in hold.

what was it priced at?

29 minutes ago, BassBunny said:

By "Third Party Insurance" do you mean Public Liability Insurance? This is the ones venues normally ask for.

We use AMPband and have done for years. Not sure what individual membership is, but for a 9 piece band it is £69 a year and that includes PLI up to £10m

Here's the website and if you decide to go with them put out membership number in, 61244, as an introducer and we get some credit towards our next renewal.

https://ampband.co.uk/secure/member_home.php

just did a quick quote - 49quid for solo performer.

I would want to know that would extend for PLI cover for workshops in addition to gigs so will drop them a line.

Thanks for the heads-up!

I will definitely put your referral in if I insure with them

6 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

All understood, and I'm NOT trying to persuade you otherwise, but demands that performers have Third Party Insurance are usually driven by a venue / agent / booker having their own insurance which requires them to ensure that YOU have insurance.

 

The driver is that, e.g. should a punter manage to trip over a cable, fall and hit her head, sustaining brain damage, when her family sues the venue the venue's insurance company will try to counter-sue YOUR insurance company.

 

Given your description it seems unlikely that you can avoid all this nonsense, in which case I imagine that arranging your cover through the Musicians Union will make most sense.

 

This whole insurance scam (as I see it, anyway) is one of the reasons why I prefer to stick to pub/club gigs. I have never once been asked for proof of insurance, nor have I ever once been sued.

 

 Understood and I agree.

I'm looking at arranging more of my own shows and use less conventional venues.

I have looked at one off cover for these before and may go that route again.

I'm not allowed to join the MU again (according to correspondence from them 12 years ago) 🤣 so although they would be a natural choice, I may have to explore other avenues

44 minutes ago, lemonstar said:

I am thinking about going down the M1/Logic Pro route (but on a Mac Mini) as an alternative to an Intel NUC i7 system - I don't think there will be much in the way of a price difference. Much as I appreciate the strong points of the Apple ecosystem I think iOS is useless as a "file system" so for some of the things I use my ipad for I find it frustrating and limited but.. processing is fast, display is great, touch interface is responsive, etc - can I live without having a windows machine in the house - that's what's bothering me - or will I have to put some cash aside for a less highly spec'd win11 machine? Hmm - don't know. Haven't used Logic Pro so just watching some YT videos ATM.

Can you do without a windows machine?

Well that depends, but I have never owned a windows machine and have been using Macs as a primary computing system, professionally and domestically for 25 years.

A Mac Mini is a very different beast to an Ipad, don't be put off running OS12 by the frustrating experience of iOS (I hate ios and don't use any devices that run it).

5 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

Under what circumstances do you imagine someone claiming against your insurance?

 

Quite a few venues I'm being booked for now ask for performers to have their own 3rd party cover.

I am a little taken aback by this frankly, but can see this situation only becoming more common.

In this setting I can imagine an audience member tripping over something etc

In terms of the workshops and mentoring I do, again it's quite often specified on the contract that I have "relevant 3rd party insurance".

Again I can only assume this is to cover physical harm to attendees related to my equipment etc.

Despite all risk assessments being made (I always do these whether a venue asks for them or not and have them archived on a page on my website) I know freak accidents can occur.

More pressingly I don't want to be refused payment for not having insurance.

I know the topic of insurance crops up every so often, so I thought I'd start a new thread for updated info'.

I'm looking to obtain third party insurance for my performances and workshops I run.

What insurance companies is anyone on here using for their groups etc and what is covered in the policy?

Many thanks for pointers and help,

for the moment don't worry about numbers on a dial, but how loud are the two cabs sounding when the clip light engages?

The thought of two big babys running when an amp is clipping terrifies me volume wise.

Is the sound distorted or cracking?

Have you got a lot of bass boost going on in the eq of your helix?

It might be that with whatever eq you are running you have hit the maximum of what that power amp can deliver.

If you just run one speaker cab with the amp settings in the same place how much of a volume reduction is there?

4 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

 

I think that may well work well. It appears you're not looking for huge volumes. That's an assumption, based on the fact that you are looking to augment small PJB combos. I'm a PJB fan and user, btw. I have several of his 4x5 cabs, which I like very much. You could think about trying a C4 with a suitable amp as your sub'. That will certainly give you good quality bass. I have even tried my C4s as subs (with a suitable crossover and amp) to augment my home hi-fi and they worked very nicely. However, any clean powered PA cab should to it, too.

I'm a bit of a phil jones fanboi to be honest.

I love the sound and aesthetic.

I discovered them while I was still playing the double bass and have stayed with them for amplifying my woodwind instruments.

If I had the money I'd already be using a third double4 for this sort of playing environment and I really like your idea of using a C4 as a sub!

On 03/12/2021 at 17:32, Dan Dare said:

I agree with Bill. Domestic subs, even quite powerful ones, won't cut it in a larger space. Good subs are also expensive (cheap ones sound vague and tend to suffer from one note bass). Given that your PJB stuff will sound clean, you'd need something decent to complement it, which means not cheap. I'd be thinking of hiring if it's only for a one-off series of shows and you're not likely to need it again in the foreseeable.

 

I think I'll try at a rehearsal space just using a powered PA cab on the sub output.

As I said to Bill above the effect is noticeable even on monitors.

However I could well believe a domestic sub won't be worth experimenting with, so thank you for that pointer.

Normally I play in venues with PA systems where the moments when the sub pedal comes in are glorious, but this run of shows are very much in a chamber music vein.

I'd like to retain the musical aspect of the octave down coming in, but I could probably lose the "air sucked out of the room" that proper sub array delivers.

Cheers

Thomas

On 03/12/2021 at 15:43, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

I doubt if you need a sub based on your audience capacity. Home audio subs won't work, they lack the sensitivity/output to work for PA.

Thanks Bill.

I only use my Hulk pedal at specific points in the music.

The effect is noticeable even on my monitor speakers and I would like to recreate this if possible live, but yes it won't be the same as a full on PA supported performance.

2 hours ago, Bridgehouse said:

Cor, old thread and big gaps in posting, but seeing as it’s popped up I ought to add a pic of Uberhorn 001 I suppose.

 

African Blackwood on Mahogany. 
Piezo and under-board Nordstrand Jazz

John East preamp system

 

It’s been though the wars but it’s stil #1..

 

 

Wow!!!!

On 27/11/2021 at 14:25, MacDaddy said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I absolutely love this bass!!!

One for PA owners I guess or those that work in sound etc

I have quite specific amplification needs for my upcoming shows.

They'll be electroacoustic, in-the-round performances in reasonably intimate spaces (20-70 capacity). Speakers set up spatially rather than backline.

I have my acoustic instrument and a Phil Jones double4 for my effects, another Double4 for tonal samples and another amp for drum samples.

 I have a dedicated sub signal from my Mantic Hulk that when in conventional stage/audience PA based spaces has it's own channel in the mixer.

However there is no PA for my new, quieter shows so I'll need a small sub.

I'm looking at powered speakers.

As these are quiet shows it's entirely possible a regular powered PA speaker would be enough for these extra lows when they occur, but I thought I'd ask here if anyone has experience with small Subs.

I'm looking at borrowing a domestic HI-Fi sub to see if it's powerful enough, otherwise I'd be hiring something. It needs to be small for transport purposes.

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

On 14/11/2021 at 21:26, Velarian said:

So, I pulled the trigger and got an M1 MacBook Air. Great value for the power and I love the fanless design. Cool bit of kit 😎

A few weeks in how are you finding Logic on the Air?

1 hour ago, steve-norris said:

I’ve been slightly delayed by melting my input jack, now I’ve been soldering since I was a lad, so over 40 years! I’ve modified pedals etc with delicate components. What the hell is is this new solder!!!! It just won’t flow, I eventually resorted to my high powered gas iron, the jack melted before the solder flowed. I need to find my stash of old fashioned ‘naughty’ solder. It’s I the house somewhere. I know this as I used it on a bike dynamo connection, same experience there, used the new stuff and couldn’t get it to work, used the old lead stuff and Job done in seconds with nice shiny joints.  
 

If I can’t find my lifetime supply of proper stuff can anyone recommend something which actually works?

I hate modern lead free solder and whether it is fluxcore or plain I tend to use some Bakers No.3 Fluid Flux on the surfaces to be joined.

you can mask off areas using tipex and get some really neat solder joints.

13 hours ago, stevie said:

Phil Starr, Chienmortbb and I had one of our irregular meet-ups over the weekend.  After an hour or two measuring and auditioning high-end bass cabs and drivers, including a well-known active PA cab favoured by a number of Basschatters (very interesting!), we plugged this little critter in.

I'd briefly heard it before, but not seriously auditioned it. This time, we turned the volume up as loud as we could dare without annoying the neighbours - and the sound was impressive. It needed a bit of bass boost, although not a huge amount it has to be said, but we certainly didn't come away with the impression that this was a cheap cab.

It's tiny size means that it's ideal for home use, because you can easily stash it away in a cupboard or behind the sofa. It'll  go louder than you'll ever need at home and it sounds really sweet toboot. We were unable to drive it to its max, but I can see this tiny box handling acoustic and not-too-loud gigs with ease. You'll be surprised

This is by far the simplest Basschat DIY cab project so far. If you've considered building your own cab but haven't done so yet, this is a great starter project. Once you've finished, you'll have something that's very usable.

I can't wait to make one of these!

On 27/10/2019 at 18:36, John F said:

Hi has anybody seen one of these cabs before because i was suprised to find sai orange cabs did not know they did them 1978 cab 200w gauss 18"

I have done quite a bit to it because it was in very poor condition bought it from a bass player. been all over the world with it so he said.

wow!!

I absolutely love the look of this cab.

Absolutely impractical for any musical context I'm in though.

Are you looking to try and sell it?

The crack on the soundpost side is going to be a bit of a job to fix, but standard practice for a decent double bass luthier.

My worry is the discoloration around it. Has a DIY fix been attempted at some point? That might cause more problems than the crack itself.

My guess is a late 19th century German workshop bass, but not a blockless wonder. 

Get it to a luthier for appraisal and a quote on getting it in tip-top playing condition

By the lack of any hearing protection on anyone in the video my guess is it was underwhelmingly quiet.

Spitfire has and works with some pretty serious engineers and there is no way any of them would be damaging their ears.

They probably cranked it just enough to excite the resonance and reverb in that amazing sounding hall and got some good spatial recordings for the sample pack.

I would imagine any of the Bjork live Blu-rays would be well worth investigating with the obvious caveat you'd need to enjoy her music.

(I say imagine as I haven't done so myself, but this thread makes me want to investigate myself)

I've been following them in Instagram for a while.

I wouldn't be rushing to buy one based on my current musical contexts, but I am very pleased they exist.

The fewer Fender clones in the world the better as far as I'm concerned.

I hope Robin does well.