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alexclaber

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Posts posted by alexclaber

    Coolest Bass Player

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [quote name='paul, the' post='40899' date='Aug 3 2007, 01:56 PM']The coolest bassist has to be some fat black man with the deepest bassiest tone.

    Who has never slapped. Ever.[/quote]

    Does that mean that Mark King is out of the running? :)

    Alex

    Ear Plugs

    in Accessories and Misc

    Posted

    [quote name='chardbass' post='40923' date='Aug 3 2007, 03:01 PM']...and a tenner for the cord so I could look like Larry Grayson between sets)[/quote]

    I put mine in before I go into the venue if the soundcheck has already started and certainly before anyone hits any snare drums or starts ringing out PAs and then don't take them out until I'm loading the car at the end of the night. Sometimes even drive home with them in, possibly disturbing the neighbours when I arrive and the subwoofer is going some!

    Alex

    Ear Plugs

    in Accessories and Misc

    Posted

    [quote name='warwickhunt' post='40920' date='Aug 3 2007, 02:53 PM']I know my hearing is worth that but I'm sure I've seen moulds being made at Game Fair trade stands (shooting type game fair NOT Warhammer, D&D etc) for £60-£70![/quote]

    That £160 includes the price of the filters, which from what I recall of the spare filter prices is about half of the total cost. Shooting ear protection is much simpler, aiming to block as much sound as possible instead of evenly filtering it by a fixed amount.

    One boutique effects pedal or good hearing for the rest of your life?

    Alex

    The Reluctant Recording Blog

    in Recording

    Posted

    Saxophonist has almost finished his parts. I haven't heard it yet but he's multitracked some parts so he has the sax playing in two octaves (live he just plays the higher part), plus sometimes an additional third part playing the fifth or third. Should sound like a small horn section has just appeared!

    Alex

    Anyone here have or used to have an Ampeg 810?

    in Amps and Cabs

    Posted

    Never owned one but I can see the appeal. I would never pay the obscene prices Ampeg charge for what is essentially eight cheap 10" woofers in a simple box. This is near as dammit the speaker they use:

    [url="http://www.bluearan.co.uk/menu/index.php?id=EMIALPHA10A&product=Eminence_Alpha_10_150W_10!dquote!_Driver&browsemode=category"]http://www.bluearan.co.uk/menu/index.php?i...semode=category[/url]

    Keep an eye out for a well used one, or consider building your own - make it from 1/2" ply and make it a 6x10" instead of an 8x10" and you'll save yourself a ton of weight but get the same tone and only fractionally less output.

    Sealed cabs tend to roll off at a higher frequency - usually around 150Hz and then the response gradually decreases eventually dropping at 12dB/octave lower down. Ported cabs stay flatter lower and then drop at 24dB/octave - but many have a mid-bass hump tuned in around 100Hz to fake sufficient bottom.

    Alex

    Jon Shuker Signature 7 string bass

    in Build Diaries

    Posted

    [quote name='dood' post='40391' date='Aug 2 2007, 11:39 AM']I am quite a 'utilitarian' if thats the right word to use. First and foremost I treat my bass as a tool and a tool has got to work well, (at it's best even) be it ergonomics or whatever. So it was just a case of figuring out how to get rid of all those annoying things about other basses that I hate. Jon has an eye for making whats left look really pretty![/quote]

    Exactly the same here! The bass is a tool for making music and therefore the sound and feel are paramount. I went through numerous ideas on scale length and string count, from 34" four to 33-36" fanned six, before settling on 36" five. Likewise with electronics - although the Q-Tuners were an early choice it took long time to decide on the exact positions and I considered all manner of controls - from onboard preamps with lots of EQ to all passive series/parallel switching on each pickup, mid cut and control bypass switching in addition to the simple vol, tone, 4-way pickup switch I finally settled on. I knew I wanted good balance and a big cutaway but Robbie came up with the body shape that solves the problem and looks good.

    We just differ on finishes - I prefer non- or lightly figured bare wood with oil/wax finish, so it may dent and scratch easily but big problems can be easily sanded out whilst small marks just add character - I guess your fancy finish is much more damage resistant in the first place.

    Alex

    if you could only use one brand

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [quote name='The Funk' post='40399' date='Aug 2 2007, 11:53 AM']Weren't they built by someone else? Did Bergantino make the cabs?[/quote]

    Bergantino designed and made the cabs. I think Koch Electronics (who make the Eden valve head) designed and built the head. Real shame that the amp didn't sell well because it's a very nice design.

    Alex

    Another poweramp question

    in Amps and Cabs

    Posted

    [quote name='clauster' post='40113' date='Aug 1 2007, 06:07 PM']It's your cabs I'm thinking of using (O10 at 4ohm and T39 at 8ohm)[/quote]

    Check out the new Omni 15TB as well, for an all-in-one solution:



    Though if I didn't already have some small cabs I'd seriously consider the O10 plus T39 to give me a modular solution.

    Alex

    Whats the most reliable (heavy duty) bass amp

    in Amps and Cabs

    Posted

    [quote name='warwickhunt' post='29182' date='Jul 9 2007, 05:08 PM'][Re higher impedance loads]Do you know if it can have an effect on the tone?[/quote]

    You would theoretically gain tighter bottom due to increased damping factor but I doubt it's audible.

    rodl2005, maybe you could put that stuff about valve amps in your signature, save you retyping it so often. :)

    Alex

    if you could only use one brand

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    My old bass was built by Warwick in the '80s. My new bass is being built by Robbie of RIM Custom. My preamp is made by Avalon Design. My power amp is made by QSC. My cabs are made by Acme. My strings are made by DR.

    All these companies just do pretty much one thing, be it bass, amp, cab or strings, and do it very well.

    So which brand of shop do you like to get your clothes, food, media, electrical goods, from?!

    Alex

    Advice needed, which head to buy?

    in Amps and Cabs

    Posted

    If you measure the resistance of a cab with a multimeter it will read about 75% of the nominal impedance, so 3 ohms for 4 ohm cab, 6 ohms for 8 ohm cab, and so on. Impedance is the sum of the voice coil resistance and the inductive reactance of the voice coil within the magnetic field. Voice coil resistance is constant whilst inductive reactance varies with frequency.

    The power handling rating of your cab isn't terribly important - any amp with from 50% to 200% of the power rating will get most of the SPL from the cab. Less than 50% of the rating and you're missing out on SPL because you're not really getting into the power compression area even at full power. More than 200% and you're so far into power compression that more power is unlikely to bring more output and will increase the risk of damage.

    Alex

    Cheap "Flat" cabs

    in Amps and Cabs

    Posted

    [quote name='Bigwan' post='39702' date='Jul 31 2007, 08:26 PM']Don't think I'd bother stumping up the extra over a Beta 10 for a deltalite or basslite 10 for the Omni 10.5 though![/quote]

    I would! The DeltaLite II is particularly well suited as its rising response in the midrange compensates for the lowpass effect of the horn, resulting in flatter response. Add a bit more sensitivity, almost twice the excursion limited power handling and a 1kg per woofer weight saving and the fact that DIY cabs are SO cheap compared to comparable cabs I don't think it's worth skimping on the drivers.

    But if you already own some suitable speakers then using them seems the wisest course.

    Alex

    Gain, power and volume - a confusing ménage à trois...

    in Amps and Cabs

    Posted

    I found myself writing something relatively coherent about this in the bass guitars forum so I thought I'd move it over here:

    In response to Parker's question about his bass being too quiet for his amp to be heard when rehearsing:

    "It is very rare for an amp to have insufficient gain to reach full volume even with a very quiet bass. The only way you'll get a 35W bass amp to be heard over a drummer is by sticking the amp in the corner of the room for maximum bass reinforcement, cut back your lows, add midrange, and give the drummer hotrods or very light sticks.

    Gain and volume (or more accurately Sound Pressure Level) are two very different things. It works like this:

    Movement of strings due to plucking generate peak voltage of, say, 1V in the pickups. This goes to the preamp part of the amp which adds, say, 5x gain, with the knobs at 12 o'clock. Thus the voltage is now 5V. This goes to the power amp section which adds gain of say, another 5x, with the knobs at 12 o'clock. The voltage is now 25V. This power amp is driving an 8 ohm load. 25V into 8 ohms equals (25x25)/8=78W.

    Now, say this amp has a maximum output of 100W. This means its maximum voltage output is 28V. Let's say that if you turn the preamp gain to max you get 10x gain. Let's say that if you turn the power amp gain to max you get 10x gain. This means that the amplifier has a maximum gain of 100x. So if you put your 1V signal in the amp will try to put 100V out - BUT IT CAN'T because the maximum voltage output is only 28V.

    If you put a preamp or booster in front of the amp you might be able to put 10V into the preamp but you still won't be able to get more than 28V out of the power amp.

    If an amp is not loud enough, no amount of louder effects pedals, outboard preamps, pickups, will make it louder.

    There is one thing that will make it louder and that is more sensitive speakers, or simply MORE speakers! The more sensitive the speakers the more dB SPL out you will get for the voltage in. So if you were to plug the power amp output of your little 35W combo into a very large efficient speaker cab or two (like a BFM DR280 on top of a Titan 48) then you would actually get enough volume to easily keep up with a drummer. But you wouldn't want to have to move that..."

    Alex

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