Ancient Mariner

With all respect, a cable will not boost volume, although a high capacitance cable will reduce highs and a cable with a bad joint may attenuate signal.

Enjoy your new cables.

I don't know about SS amps, but with valve amps you would certainly tailor the output stage quite specifically for bass IF designing for that purpose.

Bass-novice here, as you're probably aware still.

I've been playing around a bit with different techniques, and one of the things that's obvious is that mixing rounded finger style tones with slapping and popping is impossible because of the volume differences. In the guitar world I'd throw a compressor at it (I love compression on guitar anyway, especially clean guitar) but on a bass it just seems to muddy-up the tone. Would I be correct in thinking that what is really required here is limiting, to prevent the enormous peaks in signal breaking through?

I quite like the sound of just the bass + amp, and don't want to spoil that. My instinct would be to put a volume pedal after the limiter in the signal chain, thus controlling both peaks and overall volume without sucking life from the tone.

That's not good - you should expect something that's at least fully functional based on the specifications, regardless of retail price. That is crazy-cheap though @ £179 online.

Personally I might have just returned it, but if you can repair it satisfactorily and it sounds good then I'd say you're probably better off. Those speaker fixing screw mounts would bother me the most, as there's not much to be done when the wood around them crumbles away, without significant surgery.

Hi Dave - another HC refugee.

Have a bump on me.

It's likely that one or more components ha a dry joint or is breaking loose from the PCB. Being moved around and particularly vibration can do that to lighter weight circuit boards.

The other possibility is that it's a software issue, in which case it may just need a hard re-set (assuming it has the facility).

I'd love to know how the pretend single coils translate over for bass use. In the guitar world they're like comparing a tescos curry to what you'd get in a good restaurant (you know what they're trying to do, but it isn't the same) but tonal requirements are so different for basses that I imagine it would work quite well.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='761594' date='Mar 2 2010, 10:32 AM']I guess it's all a matter of taste. I prefer these to Italias.

Also every Italia I've come across has looked pretty shoddy for fit and finish when seen close up.[/quote]

I saw a bunch of Italias at Musiclive - even tried a few - and they seemed pretty reasonable. Certainly no worse than typical Fender or Gibson.

[quote name='alanbass1' post='757940' date='Feb 26 2010, 10:22 AM']Is there any tone difference before and after the wash?[/quote]

Before is stiffer and will damp better.

It used to happen to me when I first started playing - pretty sure the cause was my coloursound fuzz pedal, because when I turned that on you could sometimes hear the police radio through it (that must date it - wonder when they started using VHF and UHF). It doesn't happen now, probably because cables are shielded better and I don't live in Croydon area.

I think this one has been ruminating too long.



Should I point out now that you could have saved a few quid by buying a plain white PG and using the vinyl on that too? I do feel tempted to try something similar though, just for fun.

Fancy a straight swap for a Johnny Brooke jazz bass? It's got the skinny neck you wanted.

[quote name='Pentode' post='758844' date='Feb 27 2010, 07:06 AM']Result!

Ok, now we need some photos - Innards, the lot! [/quote]

Agreed - TTIWWP.

Thanks guys. I'll try it again later.

I'm trying to use winISD for a speaker not listed in the database. There are some required parameters that I cannot find out for the speaker (a celestion BL12 100) and the program keeps locking up. Any ideas what I can do?

Thanks

[quote name='CS2' post='756817' date='Feb 25 2010, 10:00 AM']They are good amps. So, Toni you are a bass player now?

Chris[/quote]

Hi Chris (quick thread hijack) trying feller, trying. The great thing is that it makes any guitar I pick up now seem tiny and an absolute doddle to get my fingers round. It doesn't mean I play better, but I find playing badly is easier (errr - not sure it's meant to sound like that!).

Have a bump on me.

I have the Ceriatone clone of this (complete with original 20W greenback) and it's my number 1 amp. They sound completely glorious, and are responsive and juicy even at low volumes.

Like it says, I've been donated a 'mature' Carlsbro colt 45 as a practice and general low volume use amp, but it doesn't have a speaker fitted right now. It takes a 12" speaker - any suggestions what to try, preferably not too expensive and reasonably sensitive to make best use of the little power there is.

Thanks Guys - I'm sure this is the problem. I may well try to pop the driver into a small sealed cab in case it's not been killed, but I don't have too much hope.

FWIW I vaguely remember playing bass through an AC30 in my teens, and it 'worked' but was flubby and woolly (I assumed because of the bass and the flatwounds, rather than the amp). This was obviously the wrong way to go about things.

As yet I don't have a true bass amp, but I do have a Pignose G40 fitted with a Hartke 10" ali coned speaker. The Pignose cab is small - very small - and completely open at the back. It sounds OK at low volume, but there's a suspicious fuzzy rattle if things get turned up a little.

So tell me - are open cabs a no-no for bass use? I suspect I've exceeded Xmax and possibly Xlim for this speaker.

Best price I've seen on shipping so far is about £23.50 (19.99 + vat). I could split the shipping cost if that would help.

The Tech 21 trademark 60 is a high-end solid state guitar amp. Entirely analogue, with reverb and 2 foot-switchable channels, each with 2 voices, it'll cover pretty much everything from the Fender twin through Voxy tones to cranked Marshall. It's also light at 36lb, but will happily keep up with a drummer and is fine for medium sized gigs. It also has a decent DI output and can be daisy-chained with the powerengine 60 self-powered extension cabs for more volume.

Read more here: [url="http://www.tech21nyc.com/products/amps/guitar/trademark60.html"]http://www.tech21nyc.com/products/amps/gui...rademark60.html[/url]

I've had it nearly a year and when I've used it it's always sounded good: I've been surprised at how well such a small amp can fill a large space (300 seater hall). But I also have a number of other great guitar amps, and I don't have a bass amp. So I'd like to either trade this for a mediumish bass rig - say a 2X10 cab and appropriate head or a combo of some kind, maybe a little cash either way, or sell for £200 ono.

I can deliver anywhere between North Oxon and Fleet in Hampshire, and if you'd like to try it then let me know. Pics later.

[quote name='Captain Rumble' post='747679' date='Feb 16 2010, 07:45 PM']But they were probably the highest quality available at the time[/quote]

Possibly, but I suspect they were whatever was laying around in the studio at the time, rather than being carefully crafted from low capacitance oxygen free unobtanium wire mega-expenso cable. I've been playing for a little while now, but I've only noticed people caring about what cables they used for the last 15 years or so. Heck, before the internet and forums it was mostly a case of "oh crap, a cable's packed up and I'm gigging tonight: what's the local music shop got for a sensible price?".


Re: expensive cables, I'm using Canare/neutrik (mostly) bought from a small vendor and I was surprised at what good value the cables were. Award-session are also making quality cables at favourable prices. Like I said though, if it works for you: a lot of what we hear is our own imagination, and if the think we sound better with certain gear then we probably do.

As with so many things, there are good cables, bad cables and in between cables. Some of these are expensive and some are much cheaper. Use what works for you, provided it's reliable and sounds good to both you and others listening. However a good tip to anyone fed up with 'cheap cables being unreliable' is to learn to solder.

This is one of those debates in which everyone and no-one is right. Worth bearing in mind than many 'classic' tracks were likely recorded with cables we wouldn't touch with a barge pole now.

Switching lag is quite common with older processors: my Korg drops out for about 1/2 a second changing patches. Digitech were supposed to have addressed this with their dual CPU boards, but don't know about Boss. With a little care and selecting the moment carefully it's usually possible to do a patch change, but it needs to be planned, rather than taking a random stab mid-flow.