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W1_Pro

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Posts posted by W1_Pro

    The Yamaha BB mega-thread

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    I have a BBP34. Its a magnificent bass. I love it. Great sound, top notch components and build. Furthermore, as far as I can see, everything that Yamaha make, from mixing consoles to motorbikes are  well thought out and supremely workmanlike devices. They do what it says on the tin very very well for a very very long time. All that being said- and I hate to sound cynical- what the IRA treatment boils down to; They take the bass, shake it for a bit (albeit at various specific and pre planned frequencies), and that is meant to make it sound better? I mean, who am I to judge.....?

    Basses you hardly ever see for sale

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, ash said:

    Mine was rewired by Martin Nash (RIP) who was on here some years ago. Martin and I became friends via a lot of Shergold and Hayman dealings and email chats. I bought the bass from eBay from the original owner’s widow. When I opened it up to have a look in the control cavity I found a note and wiring diagram…..from Martin! Must have been fate - I told the original owner’s wife who was amazed at the coincidence. She also told me her husband had been in a Joy Division/New Order tribute and that the bass had been played by Hooky at a local gig. Here’s a pic of Martin’s diagram…

    IMG_0165.jpeg

    That is very cool. I'll dig mine out at the weekend and have a look inthe cavity.

    Many thanks.

    • Like 1

    Basses you hardly ever see for sale

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, ash said:

    Pickup on mine is strong so it may be a faulty one or wiring issue. The Eastwood ones seem to have a generic humbucker. It didn’t sound like my original at all.

    I'll have a look when I have a mo. You wouldnt happen to know what the resistance accross your one is would you? If its the same as mine then I might just be expecting too much...

     

    Basses you hardly ever see for sale

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by W1_Pro

    45 minutes ago, ash said:

    Shergold Marathon 6 only around 100 made  originally - most owned by Peter Hook 😉.
    I’ve had four over the years and had an Eastwood version which I sent back as it was really heavy compared to my original one. 

    I've got one of the original ones. Its a lovely thing but the pickup is a bit weedy I find. How does it compare to the Eastwood ones?

    Also, I wrote to Paul Day (The Guitar Guru) in the pre internet age looking for some information on the bass. I seem to remember he said they made 73 six string ones. Which seems like a suitably bizzare number...😆

    Basses you hardly ever see for sale

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by W1_Pro

    23 minutes ago, snorkie635 said:

    There was an Overwater 'original shape' on Bass Direct this morning.

    Worth holding out for an early one with the Bill Lawrence Blades, IMHO. I have two with blades and a much later Artisan with Kent Armstrongs. I like the Armstrongs a lot and the Artisan is a fine bass,  but the blades are by some distance the best passive humbucker I've ever used.

    • Like 1

    Basses you hardly ever see for sale

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    20 hours ago, Wombat said:

    I was going to say Manson. There must be JPJs out there but you never see them second hand.

    Or the old Kestrel basses. I've been looking for one for ages. Plus of course my seemingly endless quest for a Manson Explorer... 

    You also very rarely see Gibson Victory basses in  the UK. 

    15 or not 15? What do you think?

    in Amps and Cabs

    Posted

    22 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

    If you like the sound of 15s (and don't mind carrying them), the technical arguments are irrelevant, even if they are true

    Thats the whole quote in context ⬆️.  Seems reasonable enough to me.

    • Thanks 1

    15 or not 15? What do you think?

    in Amps and Cabs

    Posted

    23 hours ago, crazycloud said:

    Ditto. One of my fave basses, the ATK is 5.22kg and one of my SR 6 strings, just on 5kg. I haven't played a 4 hour set in ages, but I have stood practicing and writing with both on a strap for that long.

    No, as I still have a 1x15 and a 2x15 from the 80s and 70s respectively, but I like the ease of air movement that larger drivers have. I agree with the earlier comments about dispersion, but for 40y I've gotten around that with multi way cabs as I've preferred a clean wideband speaker that I can EQ to my tastes, not just having it baked in and smothering like an old Ampeg. These days with multiFX and modellers, I can make my cabs sound like just about anything, good enough for me and anyone else except for maybe the one old tone cork sniffer I might run into every few years.

     

    The cab currently under construction is a 15 + 8 coax, in 2 boxes so it will fit into the back of my sedan. This adds a little weight to the total, but it's 2 smaller boxes so each are easier to manhandle and the coax can be raised on a stick to ear height. I designed it for what I wanted as there aren't any commercial boxes available, new or S/H that do what I want.

    I really like the idea of having the small box on a stick at ear height. I wish a commercial manufacurer would build something like this- actually they may do, but I'm not aware of it. Can you post pics when the build is complete?

     

    15 or not 15? What do you think?

    in Amps and Cabs

    Posted · Edited by W1_Pro

    54 minutes ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

    Could be, but plugged in? the last time I saw ZZ Top they had two dozen or so Magnatones on the stage.  I asked their road manager how many they were actually using. He told me Billy and Dusty were using two apiece, the rest were 'eye candy for the kiddies'. 😄

    Theres quite a lot about them (Asamovel) on Insta, Bill. They are obsessed by their wall of Marshalls and what drivers are in each of them. I completely take your point about the Magnatones. Not many making a noise but they certainly look pretty.  I'd love a Magnatone. What.a. machine. 

    15 or not 15? What do you think?

    in Amps and Cabs

    Posted · Edited by W1_Pro

    Asomovel. Thats the one. Thanks Lozz.  A proper old fashioned heavy metal band and the bass player uses a rather lovely Washburn B20.  I have a feeling (responding to Reds point above) from watching their social media all of the boxes are real and loaded. I remember a couple of gigs I did about thirty five years ago with Saxon (in a very lowly PA tech type capacity). They were doing small rooms and we were touring a PA. Biffs only rule was that everything had to go in.  A 45' trailer of Martin F2 plus twenty eight Marshall 4x12's.  All of them loaded with four speakers. That was hard work, but I suppose I should say, your trousers did flap.....😆

    • Haha 1

    15 or not 15? What do you think?

    in Amps and Cabs

    Posted

    14 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

    To judge those 15s, you must listen using decent headphones or speakers. As I heard it, the Trace sounded best followed by the Barefaced next and the Markbass sounded like a P bass with 90-year-old rounds on, no clarity at all.  I know that Markbass cabs are Marmite. In a cab shoot-out. In consequent years, at the South west Bass Bash, Markbass were voted best and worst cabs.

     

    In 2025 surely the benefit of 12s and 10s, in a well-designed cab has been proven. Cabs for Barefaced and LFSys have proven that 12s are the modern sweet spot for bass, especially when crossed-over properly to a decent compression driver horn combination That gives you the benefits of that Trace 15 with the power handling to go loud.  Even the simple crossover on the BC110T sounds better than most commercial cabs.

     

    I think you hit the nail on the head in your post. Its subjective. People like different stuff at different times...even the same time...for different reasons.  Red also made a valid point which is almost certainly correct (IMHO anyway) about a sensible use of band cash would be sacking the backline altogether and paying an engineer.  However, lots of people still use Marshall stacks in unfeasible multiples. I've been following that heavy metal band from Doncaster (can't remember their name) who've been supporting Airbourne on thier European Tour. I think I counted twelve stacks (so 24 boxes) which most of the time they seem to have to carry in and out of the gig themselves. None of this is rational. At all. 

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