TimR

[quote name='EMG456' timestamp='1396269064' post='2411540'] Bass Centre Elites? I've been using them for years and they do the job well and last a good length of time. [/quote] I'm sold on these. They're really good. I can't remember when I last changed them. Maybe two or even three years ago. Still don't sound dead.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1396273474' post='2411624'] d} Still in coma!!! [/quote] e} Not in the band anymore. I think his band will get PO'd with his antics very quickly.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1396202841' post='2410935'] I'm surprised so many are taking this seriously. It's clearly a wind-up, guys. [/quote] He's like a bad Dewey Finn from School of Rock.

I lasted right to the end. Really gets good around the 6minute mark. What a character.

I had assumed that was his logo. Well, there you go.

Get yourself some opaque acrylic sheet and a Dremel... What does Alex do? Maybe he's interested in buying a load off you if you can find out what the minimum order is. https://www.ponoko.com

[quote name='subrob' timestamp='1396095008' post='2409874'] Personally I think it'd be instructive to anybody to plug their bass into a mixer, through a di, and listen to the tone difference. Any decent pa rig should be aiming for low distortion (transparency) and, having done this, it felt immediately clear how much any bass amp colours this. It could be argued that the dosh you pay for your bass amp is that default colouration to the tone. The EQ is the table salt, pepper and condiment that you add, to your taste, to chef's preamp circuit dish. [/quote] Definitely. I think the sound I get from my bass when I plug it into my sound card on my PC is what I was aiming at when I bought my amp and cab. It's close. That's why you can get amp simulator plug-ins.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1396091962' post='2409823'] Desks aren't different in the sense that I'd expect to start from zero. [/quote] In a live situation I would engage the high pass filter on practically everything though. I suppose it depends on why you are selecting a particular default stance (other than everything flat) on your bass amp.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1396089189' post='2409785'] ... and if you hired a studio for a day would you expect to find all the controls on the desk at their zero position (not only the EQ) or would you not care If the last engineer had left everything all over the place? [/quote] Desks are different though. They're supposed to have transparent pre amps. If all the pre amps had humps at 2kHz to cater for vocals they'd be useless for any other instrument. Most bass amps have characteristics designed in for Bass guitars. So setting your amp flat is taking advantage of those characteristics. If you don't like them, then you need to select a different amp.

Excellent.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1396011895' post='2408991'] So on every single amp you've ever used you set the eq the same? [/quote] Pretty much if you look at my post yesterday. The eq just tailors the frequencies a touch, it won't alter the colour of the amp. Which sounds a bit counter-intuitive. However, what I mean, as pointed out above is, an SVT and a Hartakle sound different no matter how you EQ them. They'll even sound different depending on which cabs you use. So yes. Set the EQ flat. That is the standard starting position. Then if you find certain frequencies are causing issues cut them. If you want to create a hump then boost one. It's not against the law. That's the reason why you take YOUR bass to the shop and try before you buy and you select an amp that sounds good to your ears.

[quote name='skychaserhigh' timestamp='1395998948' post='2408743'] Call it what you like but if it doesn't sound good then It's pointless. [/quote] It's not 'what I like', they're industry standard terms. Go looking for a mixer with 'flat' preamps and see how far you get.

[quote name='skychaserhigh' timestamp='1395997626' post='2408709'] I'm not the one being picky ! I'm saying your bass isn't flat plugged in. I turn the knobs until I get the sound I like and that works. Imagine if sound engineers didn't use eq at live gigs or on recordings. [/quote] Read my post above. It's flat. You're talking about transparent. They're entirely different things.

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1395985766' post='2408610'] Agreed! I didn't know whether to raise my disgust with S4C or to continue laughing! For what it's worth, I used to go through the PA but for some unknown reason we started getting dreadful feedback through the stage monitors when it was a bass drum and my bass heavy part (we have an old Peavy system with proper bass bins), so now I just crank up my rig and wear earplugs! The problem with feedback for the singers and keys is now much better. I think it's system age. And Myfanwy and Da need to wind their necks in! [/quote] You may have been putting bass in the monitors and this would spill into the kick drum mic. Also a lot of people push the lower frequencies on the kick drum channel instead of around 120Hz which is where more of the punch is. Recipie for feedback. Avoid bass in monitors and use your rig for on stage sound unless you have good control over the monitor mix.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1395954219' post='2408421'] My thought as well. Strange question to ask someone on being introduced - probably more interested in gear than music. Still, it takes all sorts. [/quote] I suppose I should count myself lucky I didn't get stuck with him discussing gear. Or more likely him telling me what gear I should be using

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1395933473' post='2408144'] Well if it's an old desk then it might just be age catching up with it. Transformers have a finite life and there may have been a damaged component in the mixer for years which finally gave out. ... [/quote] Definitely.

Well it's blown twice. The first time was the transformer. The tech will tell you what it is this second time. I wouldn't even bother talking to them about it until the tech has had a look. He'll probably spot the problem straight away and you'll all just have made yourselves look silly arguing over it.

The supply power transformer? Sounds like there is a fault with the desk somewhere that hasn't been diagnosed fully and each time you're just fixing the obvious blown part. Get the tech to do a full check. Are you using phantom power at all? Are you using an active bass? How are you plugging in?

Funnily enough I was introduced to a guy at a party as 'another bass player'. His first question was what bass do you play. I have an Ibanez. He said 'Ah. I play a fender', then he walked off. He's a strange guy by all accounts anyway so no loss.

[quote name='JellyKnees' timestamp='1395913181' post='2407789'] I've got a little mark tube going into a barefaced bigun and it sounds best with no eq... i have the mix biased 60% towards the valve preamp so there is obviouly some colouration going on, but I've experimented with the eq/contour controls a fair bit and it definitely works best for me with no eq. Back in the 'good' old days (which is the 80s for me), I don't recall being able to do this with any of the various bass amps I owned - they all needed some serious twidling to get a good sound out of them. Modern gear is just so much better IMHO, arguments about transparency etc. not withstanding. [/quote] Yes. I think my first amp had bass and treble. The second had 4 frequency eq. Then I bought a Trace GP7 which has 7 band graphic, two 'shapes' and compression as far as I can remember. My Warwick is 4 band with bass boost and treble boost buttons. The compression is just a level control with on/off switch. It's usually set flat but I'll push one of the mids under certain room conditions. The compression is about 3. My active bass also sometimes sees the mid pushed a touch. But usually everything is flat. But then I have tweeter control which I dial back completely on one cab when I'm using both the 2x10s and just a touch when using one cab. The bass boost you get when adding the second cab doesn't really need anything done to.

Loads of waffle here as usual. Flat - all the controls set at their neutral point. Transparent or natural - an amplifier and speaker setup that changes nothing of the tone of the original source. All amps can be set flat. If you set it flat it is flat. Very few bass amps and cabs are transparent by their very nature. Let's at least agree the terminology.

Going to a gig is a social event. It very much depends on who you go with.

Fill your boots: http://www.theiet.org/forums/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=205&threadid=31036

Any amp over 500w should have soft start on the input. When the amp is turned on you get a huge inrush current to the transformer, the soft start limits this current. On some amps (like the Warwick) that are close to 500W they don't always use them. Hence the need for a 10amp fuse. The 'internal' amp fuse will be a 3 or 5Amp slow blow fuse. The 'kettle' lead should ideally be a 10amp but 13amp is ok.

As has been said many times. Cheap is not the same as inexpensive.