Jazzjames

I am also running the BB800 with an F112 and concur that it’s a good pairing! It’s a winner sound-wise and doddle to move around.

B stock Gary Willis signature, if that price is a little better? https://m.thomann.de/intl/ibanez_gwb205_ntf_gary_willis_b_stock.htm?i11l=en_GB%3ADE.EUR%3AEUR Back in the day I got some basses defretted at the Gallery in Camden and Martin did a fantastic job. If you find a bass that has frets, but you wish it didn’t, I can recommend it. It wasn’t expensive, either.

Bassists that play thumb and index finger (at least some of the time): Paul Westwood Pino Palladino Doninique Di Piazza https://youtu.be/Nyec7ssI7Lw Different sounds and vibes but all pretty cool. Play however you think sounds best, as long as it’s a choice, not because it’s the only way you can play!

I use the program transcribe to help me loop/slow down the passage if it’s tricky to hear. I’ve been transcribing frequently as part of my practise regime for many years now. The process starts off slow and inefficient, but as your ears and musical knowledge get better, you don’t need to search for every note, you’ll be able to hear that a phrase is scale X, or scale Y with chromatic approach notes etc. If you transcribe a few solos from the same person, you’ll probably start to hear they have their box of tricks and you’ll be able to recognise them more quickly. Have fun!

I would respectfully disagree. A more efficient speaker enclosure, or simply more speaker surface area will move more air and produce more volume than just throwing more watts at a cab. I admit that you can go seriously loud nowadays with compact setups, like the Tonehammer 500 DB112x2 setup mentioned. It sounded to me that the OP is having problems with the power delivery of the TH500. In my experience it was really loud, but loose at the volumes I needed to play at. To answer the OP’s question directly: I would try another head (not necessarily one with more watts) to see if that new amp can handle the volume you need in a more controlled and effortless manner.

The DB112 cabs sound fantastic and they can lap up power from big amps. My old rig was a SVP-CL preamp into a Warwick Hellborg power amp into one or two DB112s. It sounded epic. The DB112 is a lovely sounding vintage voiced cab that can punch with the best of them, if you have the right amp driving it. I would keep your cabs, I miss mine. I also used the Tonehammer for a long time, and whilst good sounding DI and reliable operation, it didn’t deliver at higher volumes. It was replaced by the Ampeg/Warwick system, which while also producing 500w was a completely different level of punch and presence. Now I’m using a Quilter BB800 which seems to be a good half way house, as it’s got a good amount if balls, but is easy to transport like the Tonehammer. you could buy a second hand EBS HD350 and always move it on if you don’t get on with it?

Thomann are selling Hellborg stuff real cheap recently, so I wouldn’t sell that, just because you’ll lose a fair amount. I’ve played the trickfish stuff and it is lovely but the Hellborg stuff will still work in 100 years, and can always be repaired. The hellborg 500 stereo was the best amp I’ve ever owned/played through. Lovely stuff.

I can recommend the Quilter Bass Block 800 head. Very reasonably priced with tons of performance on tap. In my experience its power delivery is significantly more robust than its competitors at the price point. Should leave you with enough money to get a decent cab, too!

Greenboy F112? I see that you mentioned an F112, but not 100% sure that we're speaking of the same cab. If you didn't like the F112, then maybe one of the big brothers? F210? I've also played through the Bergantino HD210 cabs and they are really nice sounding, but not light, so not sure what you'll win in terms of portability...

Buying a used amp is always a bit of a lottery, you don’t know who has used it, or how. I have used the Eden, the GKs and the SWR Redhead. I’d go for the Eden out those on your list, because it sounds warm and articulate. I found the others more challenging to sit in the mix. however, if I were you I’d get something modern. Like cars, bass amps’ performance has got a lot better over the years.

I’ve been down this route and have used all the usual non-moulded Shure/Sennheiser IEMs. I read up a bit on talkbass and KZ AS-10 came up. I thought for £50 at the time it was worth a punt: Worth it! I genuinely really enjoy their sound live; great clarity and good fat bass. 5 drivers per ear. Much better sounding than the other non moulded IEMs at a fraction of the cost. Even if you end up going fully-moulded, it’s not a bad idea to have a pair of these chinese beauties in your gig bag in case the expensive ones break/get lost.

I don’t wish to generalize for all cabs, because I use a Greenboy Audio cab that is light and uses Neo drivers, and it is amazing. I love it, so maybe don’t apply what I say to all cabs as I take it on a cab by cab basis. The DB112’s increased weight doesn’t only come from the speaker material, does it? If the cabinet material and design is different, in the quest for lightness, that would explain the sound difference. I’ve never seen the inside of the SL112, so I don’t know. All I can say is, the DB112 is a very punchy cab which kicks suprising donkey when required.

The DB112 punches much better than the SL112. I a/b’d them when I bought my DB112 cabs, and it was clear after 20 seconds that the DB112s sounded better to my ear. If you can find someone who has one but is tired of the weight, maybe a swap would be in order? The DB112 is one of my favourite cabs ever, it sounds lovely loud or quiet.

Yeah my Ampeg SVP-CL all tube preamp plus hellborg 500w power amp into 2 DB112 cabs was the rig to end all rigs in my opinion. The Aguilars sang and thumped so nicely with the ampeg and hellborg feeding them. However, it was no fun moving that lot around after gigs in the night. I’m now running a Quilter and Greenboy F112 and don’t feel like it’s a compromise sonically. A couple of colleagues have actually said that they can hear me better now than before. I attribute that more to the F112 though because of the mid driver and tweeter arrangement. The rig reacts really well with all my basses. Fantastic and lightweight that really doesn’t sound lightweight at all. Anyone that says neo sounds crappy and class d has no guts needs to hear this setup.

The EQ section works very nicely indeed. What’s even more impressive to me is the power delivery. Rock solid and the tone remains the same even at high volumes. I’m coming from a Hwllborg 500w lead sled, which was great too, but when I received the Quilter I realised I would be selling my Hellborg. It’s really that good.

For anyone who may read this thread at a later date, I found a permanent solution. This works for any Boss ACA 12v pedal, not just the OC-2. I followed the information here: http://stinkfoot.se/archives/1019 For the OC-2: Remove Diode 3 and resistor 17, and solder in wires in the same locations. This means the pedal will now run properly on 9v regular power supplies. You can see D3 and R17 sitting next to each other on the schematics attached. My pedal now has a bright LED light and operates in a much better way than before. The tone is fat! I realise that these pedals are getting a bit more valuable, but mine is from Taiwan, and I bought it for 20€ so I doubt I'll ever sell it anyway. Thanks for everyone's help.

Amp one owner here. Enjoy, they are great combos.

Good idea, I’ll try the daisy chaining, thanks! The LED gets brighter with 12v but still behaves in very glitchy way. With a battery it tracks nicely and doesn’t misbehave.

Hi all, I'm looking for someone more technically minded than me to shed some light on an issue I am having with my old Boss OC-2. It's a Tawanese model, but says "use Boss ACA" adaptor on the side. It works okay with a 9v battery in it, but with my pedal board (running at 9v or at 12v, my power supply can provide both) it doesn't work properly, and will only create the sub octave if I play really loud, which isn't right. I've got 3 basses and it's the same with all of them. Why could this be happening? Thanks! James

No. A HPF will simply reduce/remove lower (unnecessary) frequencies from a signal before the power amp. The damping factor is a perameter of the power amplifier, the result being how the amplifier controls the movement of the speaker. If the amplifier doesn’t have adequate control of the speaker, it will not move as desired, either not producing the signal completely, or producing unwanted frequencies. The practical result of this is an indistinct or mushy sound. Read more here: https://www.quilterlabs.com/index.php/productpage/bass-block-in-depth Pat Quilter (from QSC) explains how a bass amplifier should operate in conjunction with modern cabs. I appreciate that this explanation is specific to his Quilter bass amp, but he does a good job of highlighting important elements of amplifier construction and performance that are specific to bass amplification as a whole. I am not an electrical engineer, but have a good ear and can appreciate the importance of this perameter. I’ve used all of the main lightweight bass amps, and the Quilter nails the job for me. I’d also be interested in this new Mesa head because it looks like they’ve included some interesting new features that could prove to be really useful.

Surely a preamp pedal can’t control the damping factor of a power amp?

I did this too, but only so when I’m carrying the cabs I don’t have to put them down directly onto the side of the cab. Worked well.

Looks nice! For those who are skeptical about class D, check out the Quilter BB800. I bought one to try it from Thomann, seeing as the price is so reasonable. This little thing will change your mind about what class D is capable of. Wicked amp. It is so muscular and defined. My musical colleagues in many different bands have commented about how the sound is very present and focussed now. It’s a joy to play through my Greenboy F112. This combination is killer, and fits into the boot of my car without putting the seats down! One of the reasons the BB800 sounds so muscular is because they focussed on getting the damping factor right for bass. Read all about it on the Quilter website. And it looks like Mesa have joined the party: The new WD800 also features the Subway D800 Plus’s highly effective HIGH PASS FILTER and a new POWER AMP DAMPING control, which allow tuning of the sub-low frequencies and power response options respectively. The POWER DAMPING choices enable you to tailor the tracking and feel of the power amp. The LOW setting produces a looser, more relaxed and blooming character reminiscent of Tube power. HIGH tightens the low end, adding punch and accuracy in tracking, while MEDIUM provides a blend of these opposite ends of the power response spectrum. If executed correctly, this should make this amp one of the best in the class.

The latest generation of fender rumble combos are really good for the money. We have the 500w version in my music school, and I am always impressed with the sound, no matter which bass I have with me. The sound is pleasing to me, but it may not do that trace elliot sound...