LawrenceH

[quote name='dangerboy' post='674177' date='Dec 4 2009, 01:59 PM']But then I've never found a Hartke I liked. It's a very subjective thing.[/quote] I was trying some j-basses out the other day and the shop demo amp was a Hartke 4x10 combo. I was looking for the classic jazz growl, all I could hear was the Hartke. Every bass I tried through it sounded exactly the same - absolutely nothing in the mids, and that was with the amp set completely flat, all eq/shape options out. It was a good sound for some stuff, but it was the only sound the amp seemed capable of making and nowhere near what I am after. I ended up switching to a Marshall practice amp and at least I could hear the different characters of the different basses in their mid voicings. So I'd go GK by default! EDIT - just noticed the OP is going for separate heads and cabs. In that case I'd probably think about the Hartke LH500 and pairing it up with a more neutral-sounding cab, since those heads seem to have a very good rep here for a clear sound. I suspect it was the drivers that were responsible for most/all of the deficiencies in what I was hearing

[quote name='bigthumb' post='669672' date='Nov 30 2009, 12:27 AM']Cheers Lawrence. I remember going to Aston university (I think) when I was a kid to be assessed, doing all kinds of tests etc. Long time ago now so I cannot remember much but what I do remember and will never forget was being called thick by a teacher at primary school. Also my parents anguish about having a 'slow' son. Still hopefully times have moved on now and kids can get better help and more understanding from their teachers. Thank God for spell checker! [/quote] There is some interesting research about the possible positive aspects of dyslexia - correlations with particular types of creative thinking. My wife is amazing at linking together apparently disparate concepts, I definitely wouldn't call her slow! I hope attitudes like that of your teacher, presumably born out of ignorance, are a thing of the past among the teaching profession at least. One thing I've encountered is that people aren't always very appreciative that dyslexia, like many other things, varies in its severity. And this can colour their attitude towards an individual depending on what they've encountered before.

Hi. I just wanted to chip in here as it's something close to my heart. I'm sure people haven't meant any harm responding with jokey misspelled text. But consider how incredibly confusing a text-based medium like the internet can be for people who suffer this problem - particularly given that text-based searching is really the only means yet available for using the internet effectively. Then consider how much the internet has permeated society and how being excluded, particularly for younger people, could hamper their ability to participate fully in modern society. Dyslexia was simply not an issue in the past as it is now, because on average our lives are far more text-dominated than at any other point in history. I don't have dyslexia and I used to be a bit of a spelling Nazi when I was younger, much to my shame. Misspelled words irritated me, slowing my reading. But being married to someone who has dyslexia, as do most others in her family, has transformed my understanding. We have had many conversations about how the letters seem to shift around on the page/screen - how when I read, I take in whole phrases in a glance but she has to decipher each word one at a time, sometimes letter by letter. My wife worked incredibly hard on her reading and writing skills and is actually doing very well as an academic (she has degrees from Cambridge, Exeter and Edinburgh). But it's important to understand that whilst (very) hard work allows people to improve these skills, dyslexia can't be completely overcome. It's lifelong so you have to cut some slack. The mental effort my wife expends when concentrating on getting it right is significant, if she's tired or trying to hurry her accuracy drops considerably. And whilst internet search functions have started to include spelling suggestions these don't always work with some of her more creative attempts at a difficult word. An issue if you're working in obscure academic subjects with their own special jargon! I do believe correct spelling where possible is a useful thing for everyone, but I find it incredibly irritating when people have a go at others based on their spelling rather than their argument, despite the fact that they've understood the words. Or if they lord it over them based on spelling. That's just pathetic. Anyway a bit of a rambling rant and not intended to have a go at anyone, just wanted to try and help people who've not got much experience with this condition to look at it from a more informed perspective. Cheers and apologies if this sounds a bit preachy.

[quote name='NickH' post='669598' date='Nov 29 2009, 11:00 PM']A sneaky trick I learnt from a very wise man. Instead of one big vocal foldback speaker, get two cheapies. Make sure they have a phasing option. Put one out of phase with the other. If you're running one active monitor with a slave cab which has no phase option, custom-wire yourself a phased speaker cable. Mark it clearly as the phased one though! Ditto with two active cabe fed from XLR's from the mixer, or if one has a signal out XLR (As will be the case with the Mackie SM450 mentioned) - solder up a phased XLR lead and use that between the out of the first cab and the input of the second. Set them up a distance apart, both toed in towards your signer. This should nicely point them into opposite back corners of the stage or thereabouts. The trick works because a mic is a single sound-receiving source whereas your signer has two ears a distance apart which can work very well independently. The mic receives two signals from the monitors in antiphase which means it feeds back very little.[/quote] I know it sometimes gets touted but my experience of phase reverse-type tricks has not been good. Your monitor/mic/singer positioning has to be accurate and remain constant. And although common sense says it shouldn't matter, I've had early reflections from multiple speakers apparently stuff things right up. End result is things on stage have sounded freaky and wrong in a way that's hard to get to grips with. It's useful having a phase-reverse switch built into a monitor system as something to try, but it's going to be very case-by-case. But if you've had experience otherwise, then of course I respect that and I'm glad it works for you

[quote name='TheButler' post='668323' date='Nov 28 2009, 02:49 PM']I've had crap both, can't say there is any correlation between gender and sound engineer goodness.[/quote] I've very rarely encountered them. Each time they've been very good. I assume this is because for women, they have to be pretty keen/competent to make it in a male-dominated arena. One could also argue that traditional 'female' skills, like good verbal communication and empathy, are pretty useful for the job in hand! Of course there'll always be men who're great at that and women who are lousy.

[quote name='Hit&Run' post='466816' date='Apr 19 2009, 04:01 PM']+1 It shouldn't affect the cosmetics of the instrument & is easily reversible.[/quote] +2. S1 mod is the way forward. Dirt cheap, reversible, and the old tones still available should you need them.

[quote name='spinynorman' post='666203' date='Nov 26 2009, 01:28 PM']Cutting on-stage volume is a nice idea, but I rarely get my volume knob above 2.5, which is as low as it'll go without losing all the tone. Guitarist is in a similar situation. I've got a 50w Crate combo, which in a lot of places we play would be enough, but audiences - and landlords - seem to expect at least a waist-high pile of gear, even in a broom cupboard with a bar. We did a straw poll of some bands who inhabit the same circuit, expecting someone would have cracked the problem, but they all said they couldn't hear their vocals either. Someone should write The Basschat Guide to Cheap PA, it would sell. @Phaedrus: I saw some reviews of the dbx231 that said it was noisy. How have you found it? It's a bit more expensive than the Behringer, so I was expecting it to be better.[/quote] Stagecloth. Loads of it, especially round the drums. In a venue with hard surfaces, it's like aural magic. Powersoaks on the amps is another option to wring more tone out of the amp, though this won't give you speaker distortion. But really, getting amps that sound good quiet is just a more elegant solution. The guide is a good idea, but really the answers are all out there, it's just a question of whether people are prepared to implement them. Make sure amps aren't firing into vocal mics, you can even fire them crossways (this works well) if you don't mind the look.One really fundamental problem is that people have an idea of how a band 'should' look set up, but that idea is based on how soundsystems were 30+ years ago and often in venues that have totally different requirements than your average British gaff. Mics in the past were expensive, and PAs were crap. But if looks are a problem then you can 'fake' it in various ways, just use dummy gear.

Hi, I'm sure I've read online about modding them internally to do this. It involves changing a fuse as well as changing some jumper settings IIRC. Obviously depends on how daring you feel! And how competent... Just had a search - have a look here: [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=422716"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=422716[/url]

[quote name='markdavid' post='664544' date='Nov 24 2009, 11:46 PM']How is the stock tone of the SR500 , ive got a maple Sr505 (5 string version of the Sr500) which is quite bright and bouncy sounding and would be interested to hear how it compares tonewise[/quote] That's interesting - I'd say it has a pretty dark, thick stock tone. Which is why I swapped out the pickups. Tone is still dark/warm but a lot less boring to my ears. I didn't know they did a maple version, when does it date from? Mine must be around 2005-ish

[quote name='Kongo' post='663289' date='Nov 23 2009, 10:56 PM']Yeah Mahogany has quite a thick low end sound from my experience whereas Maple has defined highs and SHOULD be snappier...As it is unplugged but not plugged in...I really must look into this but I do wonder if it's worth doing or not I mean, it might do nothing or sound worse...and cost a bomb in doing so! I'm not sure...there's so much to think about.[/quote] If you were near Edinburgh I'd say come over and try my pickups in your bass. As it is, why not ask your friend with the Nordies if he'd mind doing a little experiment? Or anyone else you know with pickups that'd drop in. You don't even have to screw them down to get a rough idea of what they sound like. Based on my own experience I'd say it will definitely improve things swapping out the Korean Barts, and if the bass sounds good acoustically that's gotta be a good sign. Be interested to hear what you decide and how it goes.

[quote name='Kongo' post='662269' date='Nov 22 2009, 11:42 PM']One guy I know went Nordstrand pups, Audere preamp and SWEARS by it's tone which he says is "Second to none", and he got a lot of basses...But it's a costly endeavor if you get it wrong...Basslines do do soap bars but there active...I don't really want active pickups because 1) they wont drop right in and 2) some preamps such s as Audere say they dont work with active pickups...the pickups in my RD tell me that passive pickups are still good. Which is worth swapping first? I'd say the pickups myself and then see what that does...What say you?[/quote] I swapped out the Bart MK1s on my Ibanez SR500 and replaced them with Nordstrand Big Singles. They're slightly narrower than the Barts but I wasn't bothered about cosmetics at all. If I was, I'd fit a pickguard to hide the gaps. At first I ran it through the MK1 pre but have now gone passive, and much prefer the single coil passive sound. However there is something of the 'dark' character of the bass that remains, giving it quite a thick tone. I assume this is due to the body (mahogany) and neck (bubinga/wenge with rosewood). When I flip the S1 switch I fitted when I converted to passive, it sounds massive. My conclusion was that bad/poorly matched electronics can really 'choke' the tone of the wood, conversely a good bit will bring out the best in the wood's sonic properties. But the wood's fundamental tone is always there and you can't make mahogany sound like maple. I could be wrong.

[quote name='Phaedrus' post='661495' date='Nov 22 2009, 01:00 AM']Most effective fix? Reduce on-stage volume. Mark[/quote] +1. Noisy drummers/guitarists cut right into the vocal frequencies.

[quote name='spinynorman' post='660249' date='Nov 20 2009, 03:43 PM']Well, the only idea we could try at last night's gig, since we happen to have a spare stand, was to put the monitor up at ear level at the side of the stage. And ....... IT WORKED! Only downside was I had to be more careful where I stand, but she could have all the volume she wanted, and no feedback. On-stage sound generally seemed clearer. By the end of the night I was looking quite smug (guitarist was hugely sceptical). @Happy Jack: I've had mixed advice about feedback destroyers, brilliant or useless depending who you talk to. Was it you that was selling the Sabine and Peavey ones a while ago? I did seriously think about it, but didn't go for it in the end. I'm in leafy Warwickshire BTW. I think we'll still have to do something about the EQ, as the side monitor won't be possible everywhere, but looks like that's cracked it for most places. LawrenceH, you're a star.[/quote] Yes! Ever since I tried this, it's been my first-try solution to problem monitoring, and I feel like a crazy TV evangelist when I've told others to try it, because no-one else EVER seems to suggest it - really happy to hear you tried it and it helped A lot of people don't even bother trying I think, there's almost this idea that to sort out a problem you need to spend money, preferably lots and on something hi-tech (!). But a few years doing student gigs in cramped spaces where venue budgets were limited taught me that if you can get the acoustics of the stage right most of the problems just disappear. My other absolutely top tip for live bands playing indoors is to hang stagecloth behind the drums. Makes a massive difference to early reflections which muddy the sound and contribute to feedback, so you find you don't need to be as loud to hear yourself, and you've earned yourself extra headroom anyway - win-win. I think as you say, long-term EQ is still an invaluable tool. I'd have it even with the monitor on the stand. But if the monitor placement is sub-optimal in relation to your ears then with all the technology in the world you're still fighting a losing battle. Feedback destroyers - the Sabine are supposed to be better than the Behringer. But personally I find them a bit unnerving because they're a 'magic box'. You can't directly see what they're doing on automatic mode, which is fine when it works but if it gets in a tizzy it can do REALLY strange things to the sound. If you set them manually then really they're no more efficient than a 31-band and if you get a new feedback frequency mid-gig it's harder to dial out. I'd just go for a 31-band, they're easy to get the hang of and much more hands-on intuitive IMO.

[quote name='john_the_bass' post='660420' date='Nov 20 2009, 06:09 PM']True enough. I got the originals from the David Omerod hearing place at my local Boots. I've found them for £55 a set which seems to be the cheapest in the UK, I can buy a single one for £39.99, but I figure for an extra 15 quid I might as well buy a pair in case it happens again and ALWAYYS PUT THEM BACK IN THE CASE WHEN I'VE FINISHED WITH THEM F*cks sake - it's my own bloody stupid fault, but what a pain in the bottom.[/quote] Where was that from please? That's a good price, would probably be useful info for others. Sorry to hear you lost one, really annoying.

[quote name='yituool' post='659437' date='Nov 19 2009, 05:12 PM']But I love the Trace too [/quote] If you don't mind the weight your best option would probably be a second Trace cab, there's always some TE floating around secondhand. A speaker in a 15W combo is not going to be able to handle anywhere near the 100W output your TE would put into it - you'd destroy it.

[quote name='Marvin' post='658572' date='Nov 18 2009, 09:11 PM']My theory knowledge is woefully inadequate, but I think I understand what you're saying. A blues/minor pentatonic does seem to fit/sound ok though.[/quote] Unequivocally in Am blues/pentatonic. Whoever said F must've had the transpose button on - it doesn't even change roots throughout the whole song!

Oh, sorry for double posting, but although it's an 'industry standard' the SM58 is often not a great mic on female vox, especially through cheaper (read: not turbosound, nexo etc!) speakers. It does male rock voice very well, but for women it often lacks clarity and body in the mix which equates to not enough perceived volume and feedback problems. 9 times out of 10 I've had more success using a stage condenser with a bit of treble roll-off to tame feedback. Or the Sennheiser dynamics (e845/945 up). But mic choice is very much dependent on the voice, there's no one-size-fits-all solution so you HAVE to try them out for the person. Shure SM87a is often a pretty good bet though. Food for thought, anyway.

[quote name='spinynorman' post='657626' date='Nov 17 2009, 11:13 PM']Ok, thanks so far. The mic is Shure SM58. I take it the cheap plastic speaker is the SRM350 - it felt quite expensive to me, but agreed it isn't primarily a monitor. Gear is a constant compromise between size, weight, cost and performance. Can you give me an example of a monitor with smooth response, since we've more or less decided to replace the Mackie with something else? EQ may well be the answer, as there is limited EQ on the mixer. FOH is generally ok, the problem's always with the monitor.[/quote] If it's feedback that's limiting your volume then you've not run out of monitor power. EQ is the way forward and cheaper than a new speaker that will probably need EQ to maximise its performance in any case. But also good monitor placement is crucial. If the singer moves out of the firing line of the treble driver in particular then she will not hear herself no matter how loud it's cranked. One unconventional solution that has always worked brilliantly for me in smaller venues is to have the monitor on a stand behind the PA speakers firing diagonally back across the stage. The horn directivity is optimal with this placement and you don't get so much sound bouncing off the ceiling muddying things up and hitting the mic from a bad angle. The bonus is the rest of the band hears the vocals more clearly too. I don't know why more bands don't do this for smaller stages, you need fewer speakers overall and you hear it better. Wedges are better for larger theatre-type stages where you can't get close enough to the performers without obsuring them otherwise. BTW in my experience Mackie SM350s are a lot better than many dedicated monitors at the cheaper end of the market, plastic box or not.

secondhand is definitely the way to go, you can get a lot of small gig-able combos for £150.

[quote name='Spoombung' post='656330' date='Nov 16 2009, 08:07 PM']Under £300 in a shop in Herne Bay: Really slim, nicely contoured body in pearl white, and a slim, laminated maple neck. the finish was immaculate. Not so convinced with the sound, however, but now I'd like to investigate the fretless model - which apparently has a ebonol board. Anyone know who stocks them in the London area?[/quote] Hmm, interesting. I have an Ibanez SR500 which is a joy to play, but the tone of the woods used is dark - mahogany body with bubinga/wenge neck and rosewood fretboard. I replaced the Bartolini MK1 pups and pre with passive Nordstrand Big Singles which really helped (after a bit of jazz growl) but I still think maybe I'd be better off with a bit of maple in there. How was the top end tone on this, especially acoustically?

[quote name='7string' post='656609' date='Nov 17 2009, 12:46 AM']Any dirt that isn't moved by that can be treated with saliva (which works a treat)[/quote] +1. I once had a long conversation with someone who worked as a conservator for museums. They said the number one safe solvent for paintings, statues, pots, whatever, is a dollop of spit! A bit of water is fine on a bass as long as it's dried off thoroughly - it's long-term storage in a wet atmosphere that causes problems. Water is safer than many other solvents - if basses had water soluble finishes they'd run with the sweat from when you played.

[quote name='fatback' post='656047' date='Nov 16 2009, 03:55 PM']Looks like the LM2 XLR out is line level then (they say 10vpp, whatever pp is). From what's being said about DI, it seems that a mic level XLR Out would be vastly preferable. You don't want to have to use a sound guy's crappy DI box after spending a fair sum on a head, so you? Especially if you want to use the head's eq. Food for thought there. fatback[/quote] DI outs are often quite hot. Some desks share the same extended range pre-amp between line and XLR anyway so you can plug in no problem, while others actually have a 20dB pad so they can cut 'hot' signals before routing them to a mic-level preamp. Most modern desks I've encountered will cope with the signal. But a few desks, especially older ones, don't have the range on the preamps and/or they switch off the XLR input when you engage the pad switch even though the signal ends up running through the same circuitry (I think the older Soundcraft Spirits might have done this?). The solution is to buy/build an inline attenuator. This is equivalent to the 'pad' switch on a DI box which as far as I'm aware is normally just a resistor. You could probably wire this into one end of an XLR connector and have a short lead with your kit. I think you can use expensive resistors if you're a dedicated audiophile but in reality I think it's not gonna be a problem. This is the jobbie you need if you want to just buy one: [url="http://www.studiocare.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=63259&zenid=s8n7p3ekadh0816ih6baklic22"]http://www.studiocare.com/store/index.php?...0816ih6baklic22[/url] Bear in mind it's better not to use the attenuator unless you have to since you've got a better SNR at high level, and more pertinently it's one less connection to potentially fail!