LawrenceH

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1336262378' post='1643389'] Easiest solution? Leave it. It's what it sounds like that counts. You've obviously got too much time on your hands. [/quote] From the man who put a custom name-plate on his DIY cab [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/105476-first-build-bfm-j12-check-it-out/page__hl__first%20build__st__20"]http://basschat.co.u...20build__st__20[/url]

According to a user here who has a Promethean, this is the driver employed: http://www.elderaudio.com/products/Loudspeakers/LowMiddle/2009/10LB075-U.html Looks a decent enough PA driver, with a cast aluminium basket and hefty magnet, though no response curves are shown as far as I can see. He wanted to upgrade to one with a longer linear excursion and lighter (ie neo). Though it's worth noting that if this driver was made by Faital, 18Sound or several other manufacturers they'd claim an xmax of about 4mm.

[quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1336060098' post='1640327'] They wouldn't though, because they would have to pay up or get out. [/quote] If you know who they are. Which takes considerable resources, burden of proof is on the educational establishment. Valve amps in particular are not forgiving of apparently minor acts of clumsiness, students can surely learn this on their own equipment. In the meantime something SS and reliable will address both the constant stream of damaged equipment and the need to monitor constantly everything they do while allowing them to still actually have a go at making music. I'd go Peavey over nearly anything else I could think of in that sense; certainly with the kit I've seen, when opened up they're more robustly put together than a lot of offerings from Fender, Marshall and the like. I dislike nearly every other aspect of them but hey! The problems Owen talks about are probably not so much indicative of general 'failings of society', but very specific failings of society to project an image where 'rock' is equated with 'moderate and careful treatment of unusually fragile (in some ways) electronics'. Can't think how this happened...

Bass direct into a really nice mixing desk, recorded using a well-calibrated tape machine driven hard so it's close to saturating, then run through a nice multiband compressor or several, is a sound that I would dearly love to be able to emulate with a £100 pedal! I suspect more recordings use tape or at least tape emulation for the bass than just the old stuff since the effect is so damn good. There is generally a lot less actual bass frequency on recordings, the fat tone is mostly upper-bass/midrange. This is important when setting up compressors to emulate that sound since without some pre-compression filtering the bass will tend to dominate the signal, you need to EQ down the bass until it's more balanced as far as the compressor's concerned, then adjust EQ to taste post-compression to bring back that live 'oomph'. Btw does anyone produce a decent tape emulator in pedal form?

The bass pod pro xt shouldn'tbe a problem as IIRC it has pro level (+4dBu) outputs, the zoom b3 I don't know about, often more budget kit is either consumer level or somewhere in-between. Depending on the power amp this can be a problem.

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1336057585' post='1640270'] You could try a PM to [url="http://basschat.co.uk/user/121-oldgit/"]OldGit[/url] on here, I think he has a P Bass lyte diagram. [/quote] Very sadly he's no longer with us. http://basschat.co.uk/topic/118975-the-official-oldgit-memorial-gig/

[quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1336056504' post='1640233'] It's the 80/20 thing. As owen has already said, 80% of the breakages are caused by 20% of the students. Assume say half of them leave then you still have 90% of the students on the course, and they are going to be more dedicated to actually getting a qualification. [/quote] But you've still got the other half of the students who were breaking everything, and you only need one person who doesn't/won't learn and the whole thing is ruined for everyone. Deposit systems require monitoring to be enforceable, which then takes time away from other things, like teaching... I'm with the Peavey Bandit option.

[quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1335982560' post='1639136'] they even put the value at much less than what it is actually worth in order to avoid having to fork out loadsamoney to customs. [/quote] Gotta be a bit wary of this on insured stuff though, if the item gets lost the couriers will go by this stated value. I never received a bass bought on ebay from the States once, luckily the guy had put down the full price paid so got money back from the couriers.

Do you mean using the toggle so each pickup is used in isolation? In which case cancellation won't be an issue. If used together they will still cancel. The thing about a PJ with the P in the typical position is that you can choose to (approximately) space the pickups apart so it sounds more like a typical (60s) jazz with both pickups on full, which actually means using 70s position for the J (since the P pickup is less close to the neck than the neck pickup on a jazz bass) but the 70s position can sound a bit thin in isolation. Or, you can position the J pickup in the 60s position which will give it a bit more body when used solo, but the pickups will be spaced pretty close and give a different characteristic when both are on full. I personally prefer the blended sound so would go with 70s position, and hope that the full, dark sound of the 84 meant that the solo'd pickup was still sufficiently full-bodied.

[quote name='topcat3355' timestamp='1335744902' post='1635459'] Well, I'm not looking to spend too much because I'm a student so I might have to think about building a cab. Eminence sell a 10's and you can get a pair for £96 in the link below which would match up to my head nicely. Is it a good idea to to get them if I know a person who has built several of bass cabs? [url="http://www.lean-business.co.uk/eshop/eminence-legend-bp102-4ohm-10-200watt-bass-guitar-speaker-p-867.html"]http://www.lean-busi...aker-p-867.html[/url] [/quote] I've built a few cabs now. Building is cool because it lets you get exactly what you want (within the realms of budget and possibility). But it can be cheaper to just buy secondhand! The price of hardware soon adds up unless you have an old cab to cannibalise.

Haven't you had numerous Markbass in the past? It does sound like their F series would be your answer... or maybe since they've been discontinued that new one, the rather pornographically named 'big bang'?

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1335715895' post='1634914'] Well if the guys are happy with those tuners then so am I - I ain't no Fender expert. ... I don't have a MIJ here right now to compare but I kind of find it hard to believe as I have a less prestigious Jap bass here with way nicer tuners on it and a Jay Turser bass with almost identical ones to these. Is the bridge earth wire ringing any bells with anyone? I recently serviced a MIJ but it had your average hole through to the control cavity job. [/quote] I'm not either but I've owned a few... Fender Japan certainly used to make two versions of a few of their models, as Luke alludes to - one with lower quality hardware and another which is often supposedly US hardware. All the standard and 62RI Jap Fenders I've seen have had the bridge wire. If Luke has also seen standard jazzes with the truss rod access at the headstock end then that's probably ok too, the ones I've seen have been at the body though.

I think the body is a real Fender Jap apart from possibly the metal knobs. The stamp on the neck pocket is typical of Jap basses I've seen/owned and it has the appropriate shielding with no cheapskate routing aruond the pickups. Not overly familiar with their various models, but a 62RI made for export? If they ever did that, that is! The neck I'm not sure about but it's typical for Jap Fenders to have tuners which have a smaller footprint on the back than the old-style standard ones. My very similar 85 Jap jazz has that, as do others I've seen

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1335696960' post='1634626'] FWIW, my opinions of those boxes are that they are pretty much one trick ponies...which isn't the worst.. but if you can't get your bass to work with them you are stuffed. [/quote] I find that with all the EQ options and the compression they're one of the most versatile solid state amps tone-wise. Often too many switching options actually, can be hard to tell what's switched in and out! First thing I do is find the pre-shape and get rid of it since that just seems to override everything else. After that, play with the graphic to suit whatever bass I'm using. Their speakers can sound a bit tired compared to modern kit though.

Alternatively, I'd be interested in giving the coated Ernie Balls a go if anyone knows a local stockist? EDIT: Ah cheers Ou7shined, only saw your reply after I posted mine!

Hi all, If anyone knows where I can buy some fresh DR Black Beauties (4-string) in Edinburgh then I'd be very grateful! I've realised mine are, finally, totally dead and I'd like a new set in time for a gig on Monday. Thanks in advance! Lawrence

My Aerodyne J is superb. Bought to sell on as it was at too low a price, couldn't bring myself to do so, so the neck's now off and defretted to justify keeping! It's the 'export' version, which I have to say looks to me a whole lot sleeker without the scratchplate. Lovely feel to play and a monstrous 'fat' jazz tone.

Jam nights are all round the best way IMO, if you're in an area that has some.

Active bass with dying battery dropping output voltage? Can do exactly this.

Daphne blue is a fair bit darker/bluer than sonic blue...both good colours though!

I've sprayed Halfords acrylic and plastikote over 2-pack poly (factory) with no problems whatsoever

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1332796210' post='1593361'] Of course, there are certain problems at times, but maybe it is because I am too old to put up with it. If I can't do it properly from my POV, and that means as good a stage sound as poss then I'd pretty soon not bother. don't talk to me about my last gig ha ha !!! [/quote] That's the problem though, there's always that odd gig, apparently even when you're Muse! I agree it's so much better to have good (not just 'passable') sound, but I feel from a personal pride point of view that I need to be able to cope with those other times, plus if I know I can it makes me more relaxed whatever the gig, if that makes sense. I'll still look for the best sound I can get in any given situation though.

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1332411381' post='1587805'] Here's a good way to kill 5 minutes... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPfR9uH8vlg[/media] [/quote] That's fascinating - they check each wire under a stereo microscope?! Presumably that's just a single short sample from a really long wire or the'y need about 1000 times more workers looking into microscopes than at any other point in the factory!

My Markbass F1 seems pretty good, though I've heard reports of them developing clicks. With a lot of amps, as much as quality it's going to come down to age/usage since the bearings will unavoidably wear over time, if I had a noisy fan I'd probably look for a replacement part, preferably spend a bit more on one using nice bearings - still shouldn't be too pricey

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1332794082' post='1593303'] That is why the Muse train wreck went on for as long as it did.. [/quote] Interesting, not being fussed either way about Muse I've not heard of that - sounds painful/amusing. Perhaps an example of how, if you're used to excellent sound, then problems will throw you more as it's not an aspect of performing that you've rehearsed? I think bands that are more used to crap sound work out different ways of dealing with cueing issues etc., I've definitely worked with a real range of people in that respect I find gigs with audibility problems can be really hard work, and I don't enjoy them as much as a result, but I still want to be able to manage at them because on some circuits it's an unavoidable reality.