stevie

According to the review in one of the bass mags (the only one that does proper tests, IMO), this amp has a compressor that comes in at 440W into a 4 ohm load. Using the two cabs together will give you a 4-ohm load - and increase the efficiency of your speakers - and should be very loud indeed. I don't think there's any obvious answer here. I'd try substituting another amp to see if the same thing happens.

What impedance is the cab?

Geoff, Your cab seems to be tuned to 40Hz, which will help the B string a bit if you have one. If you want to try a higher tuning, take one of the port tubes out. That will tune the box to about 46Hz. I don't think it will make a lot of difference, personally. Your speakers will handle at least 600 watts cleanly as long as you don't boost the very bottom end.My money's on the amp running out of steam, and I'd suggest you try a bigger amp, if you are can.

I've just looked at the ad and notice he's snapped the circuit board. That's not quite such an easy fix but the bass would work passively. At that price, however, I'd expect a fully working instrument.

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='850459' date='May 28 2010, 05:24 PM']Im wondering if the circuit is goosed, or repairable? If not, surely it could be rewired as a passive bass? I'm talking myself into this...AAAARGH! Bargain - my 80's BB300 is a wicked bass.[/quote] The circuit contains discreet components only - not even an IC. It's accessible and would be very easy to repair. There is an active/passive switch, but the active circuitry is totally transparent.

Major, this is just the most amazing resource. Please keep it up if you can.

No need to spend £100. You should be able to pick up a driver from eBay for under £30 if you're not in a rush. Otherwise, you can get a decent 12" chassis like a Fane Sovereign 12-300 for under £50. I can see that the Trace would be tempting though.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='848897' date='May 26 2010, 08:46 PM']Then you open the whole speaker replacement and cab tuning thing again.[/quote] I knew there had to be a catch.

It was a budget brand. I knew their PA speakers but I didn't even know they made a bass amp. They were well built though, with decent parts, but they were aimed at the lower end of the market. Your best bet might be to keep your eyes peeled for a secondhand unit. The current budget speaker best buys in the UK come from Fane and Celestion, both designed in the UK and built in China. I believe Phil has some recent experience of these.

[quote name='Sibob' post='848434' date='May 26 2010, 01:16 PM']Choices? [/quote] If your cabs are Ashdown ABM's, your best choice by miles is to replace the drivers with modern neos. That way, you'll cut the weight and boost the potential output for a fraction of the cost of buying something else.

[quote name='cameltoe' post='847946' date='May 25 2010, 09:25 PM']Cheers guys for all the recommendations, great stuff![/quote] You might like to consider using a 12" driver for your cab. 52 litres is too small for a 15" unless you want it to sound like a floor monitor, but it's an ideal size for many 12s. Apart from giving you a much wider choice of potential drivers, a 12" chassis will: a) be cheaper provide a better balanced sound c) have superior midrange (all things being equal) d) have better dispersion. You'd need to cut a spacer ring from 1/2 inch MDF or ply to fit the 12. Quite easy with a jigsaw. AC Euro was a Yorkshire-based company from Doncaster.

[quote name='girya32' post='844071' date='May 21 2010, 01:01 PM']..don't end your auction on a Friday Mrs Worthington..[/quote] Very useful tip. Thanks for sharing.

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='842990' date='May 20 2010, 12:08 PM']That's £40 worth of soldering then! As it takes around 10 minutes to make an excellent quality cable that's £240 an hour![/quote] That's as may be - but who can put a price on pixie dust?

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='719896' date='Jan 21 2010, 11:42 AM']DON'T DO IT!!!! 'Fever' is a banned song on the Bilbo 'not jazz' jazz chart (no. 3, if I recall correctly)! It pretends to sound jazzy but, on the quiet, it sucks!! Just let it die. Its lived long enough and deserves to rest.[/quote] What's wrong with it, Bilbo? Not enough mindless noodling? If it swings (and Peggy Lee swings), it's jazz. IMHO. What are nos. 1 and 2 on your chart?

[quote name='Merton' post='839969' date='May 17 2010, 05:57 PM']That's a proper run down, nice! PD = Precision Devices I believe [/quote] Specifically, the 153ER. They still make it.

[quote name='simon1964' post='839535' date='May 17 2010, 09:47 AM']A lot of people recommend the Nordstrand as the closest to the Stingray tone, although I've not sure how they sound passive.[/quote] Is this a Vintage Musicman copy? I had one and put a Nordstrand in it. I couldn't wait to get the Wilkinson one back on - the Nordstrand sounded really boring, for want of a better word - dull, flat, uninteresting. When you look at what goes into a bass pickup, I think anything over £100 is definitely taking the mickey.

[quote name='OldGit' post='836401' date='May 13 2010, 05:28 PM']Ha ha yeah.. Let me know when you find out [/quote] According to JTUK, it's Blueberry Hill - not a problem. :-) I've got most of the music in my collection (including Joe Bonamassa) - I just wasn't sure what's in the 'core repertoire' nowadays. I have a better idea now.

Lots of good advice here - thanks, guys - although I was thinking of running for the hills until I read OldGit's message. This is not an existing band but one that is being formed, though some of the members have played together before. So there isn't such a thing as a set list yet (and the band may not turn out to be strictly 100% blues). I'm aware of how tricky some of these tunes can be. For example, I'd find 'Still Got the Blues' impossible to busk, and unless you nail the bass line fairly closely, it will simply sound wrong. Ditto for 'Need Your Love so Bad'. I do think it's a good plan to learn a number of specific songs thoroughly before the first 'meet'. After all, you wouldn't audition for a soul band without knowing Knock on Wood. I'll try to get an idea of specific tunes next time we talk. I'm also going to find our what a fat shuffle is.

If you were auditioning for a blues band, what songs would you have to know to be taken seriously?

[url="http://seymourduncan.com/images/products/basslines/501035-100.pdf"]http://seymourduncan.com/images/products/b.../501035-100.pdf[/url]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='832094' date='May 9 2010, 12:31 PM']When trialled A/B against a standard SSI this bass sounds like it lacks a lot of Oomph but when played in isolation at Howie's today it wasn't 'that' bad! I 'think' Howie and I have established that these pups are not quite matched to the MEC circuit so I'm going down the route of returning the bass back to the original spec with EMGs (maybe even MECs as in my opinion they are virtually identical). Any body got any EMGs or MECs for sale or want to buy some SDs? [/quote] These Duncan actives are a bit different to others because they carry on working when the battery is flat. I suspect that the active circuitry is bypassed when the supply voltage drops below a certain level. The sound you get in passive mode is relatively weak and a bit thin, not unlike what you have described, although useable in an emergency. I wonder if you have nine volts going to each pickup to power their inbuilt amps. I tried to use them in a bass with its own active circuitry and it wasn't very successful. I think they need to be wired up to passive controls, which gives you the benefit of a buffered output to your amp but not the benefit of active tone controls, as the dip switches mounted on the pickups don't do a great deal.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='829652' date='May 6 2010, 02:48 PM']Yep, I believe that's the case - It was a TB-derived thing.[/quote] In which case, would it be unreasonable to speculate that the value of said testers lies more in the amount of publicity they can generate for the product rather than in the actual value of their opinions to the company?