stevie

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='620822' date='Oct 8 2009, 06:07 PM']Labour intensive and don't lend themselves to mass manufacture.[/quote] I'm sure that's what the boutique builders of lightweight cabs would like you to believe, but putting a bit of bracing inside a cab is not very labour intensive at all. Have you seen the inside of the lightweight Trace cabs? They are braced like nobody's business.

[quote name='five-string.co.uk' post='618652' date='Oct 6 2009, 03:14 PM']Welcom on board fellow Benz owner [/quote] ...... and from a fellow Dorset resident. Not that you'd know, but there are a few of us on here. Stevie

The fact that their website doesn't include an address or phone number doesn't exactly fill you with confidence, does it?

[quote name='Skywalker83' post='612865' date='Sep 30 2009, 11:53 AM']Last night i won a Westfield P/J P-bass on the bay complete with EMG pickups![/quote] Don't you love the way eBay has us all believing we *win* things. Excuse me while I pop down to Tesco to win the shopping. I'll win some petrol on the way back.

Bought some lightweight tuners from Michael. Impeccable service. You can't go wrong.

[quote name='matski' post='608434' date='Sep 25 2009, 10:13 AM']Anyone out there an expert on the Fender JV Squiers? I recently retrieved an old one I had lent to a friend about 20 years ago - it is one of the Precision models with the big Fender logo and the smaller Squier Series logo - it was sunburst with gold anodized scratchplate, so it was the '57 vintage model, right?[/quote] The original 57s had an anodized scratchplate but the JV Precisions didn't.

Don't be tempted to buy Bass Guitar for Dummies. It's utter tripe.

I didn't find the Superman one, but I did find this: [url="http://www.thebassclef.co.nr/"]http://www.thebassclef.co.nr/[/url]

[quote name='krispn' post='606656' date='Sep 23 2009, 01:51 PM']someone has a really cool Superman avatar with the bass clef repalcing the superman 'S'[/quote] It's always nice to be noticed. Yes, the avatar is available as a t-shirt, but I'm blowed if I can remember where I nicked it from. Doesn't Google have some kind of search facility for images? I'll have a quick look to see if I can find it for you.

[quote name='XB26354' post='605574' date='Sep 22 2009, 01:50 PM']With regard to reading up the neck, do you mean changing position or just playing a piece higher up the neck? if you mean changing position then there is an old double bass exercise I used to use: Fret the A string at the first fret with the index finger. Without looking at the fingerboard, shift and fret at the second fret. Go back to the first fret. Repeat slowly over and over. Then go 1st-3rd fret, again without looking. Continue up until you are shifting a whole octave on one string. It can be done and if practiced regularly you'll never have trouble with position shifts.[/quote] I don't really have a problem shifting without looking at the fingerboard, although I like your exercise and will definitely use it. I'm finding it quite difficult to achieve the kind of reading speed in the 5th and 7th positions that I've developed in the first position - accidentals in particular slow me right down. I'm much more comfortable playing lower down and just jumping up to reach the higher notes on the G string, which is clearly not the way to do it. [quote name='XB26354' post='605574' date='Sep 22 2009, 01:50 PM']As for playing higher up the neck, I recommend taking and bass lines or stuff you work on that mostly covers the A, D and G strings and shift it to cover the E, A and D. Also try learning scales with 4 notes per string, as per the example using C major below: 8th fret E-string: C-D-E-F 10th fret A-string: G-A-B-C 12th fret D-string: D-E-F-G 14th fret G-string: A-B-C-D And back down. This is what I call the "crab-walk" as your hand is almost constantly shifting. It is surprisingly challenging as it forces you to look at information horizontally rather than vertically.[/quote] I'll give that a go, too. Thanks, Mat.

I like this: "If you are given a line of 16th notes that are not playable at sight, play the first one, use muted notes for the middle ones, and play any accented notes and the last one. Yes, it's cheating and ideally you should play them all, but this really works on gigs if something terrifying is put in front of you :-)" Any tips on sightreading up the neck? I'm really struggling with this. Are there any shortcuts I'm missing?

[quote name='pal1972' post='604890' date='Sep 21 2009, 07:40 PM']As the RCL drivers are primarily PA drivers do they work best in a sealed cab??? if so is it OK to block up the rear port holes on my cab???[/quote] No, that would be a retrograde step. They'll handle less power that way.

[quote name='bassmansky' post='604747' date='Sep 21 2009, 05:19 PM']RCL drivers are one of the best you can buy imo.i would think twice before changing that.[/quote] I wonder if you're maybe thinking of RCF.

Bought a speaker cab from Jay recently. He went that extra mile and I'd be happy to deal with him again.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='601440' date='Sep 17 2009, 04:47 PM']I've thought about something that I'll need to check as well - I've only ever fitted drivers to front loaded cabs before - never where they mount from behind the baffle - do I need to do anything special other than offer them onto the bolts and tighten them up?[/quote] You'll be very lucky if the bolts are in the same place as the bolt holes on your new speaker but you can always check the manufacturer's specs before laying down your money. I think a bit of jiggery pokery may well be called for.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='599447' date='Sep 15 2009, 05:37 PM']I don't want to spend any more than about £50-70 a speaker ideally - are there any better options?[/quote] Congratulations on your purchase. If you would like to restore the cab, someone is selling an old pair of Goodmans 15s on eBay. A bit pricey, but that's vintage for you. If it were my cab, I'd be tempted. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-PA-BASS-GOODMANS-50P-15-SPEAKERS-CABS_W0QQitemZ270456044136QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ConElec_SpeakersPASystems_RL?hash=item3ef86fba68&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-PA-BASS-GOOD...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url] I've no personal experience of it (plenty of experience with the Eminence though, which is cheap and cheerful), but for a relatively inexpensive, modern, high performance driver, the Fane Sovereign 15-500 looks hard to beat. If you're going to put a modern driver into that cab, you might like to consider fitting another back panel so that you can rear port it. A bit of BAF wadding wouldn't go amiss whatever you decide to do.

If it's an unusual part you could always ask these people: [url="http://www.majelectronic.co.uk/"]http://www.majelectronic.co.uk/[/url]. They specialize in Laney and HH bits.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='568504' date='Aug 13 2009, 11:05 PM']Try posting something with the sarcasm button switched off. You never know - you might like it, and people might be prepared to engage you a bit more. Just sayin'.[/quote] That’s OK, WoT. I thought I was expressing scepticism about a commercial company’s excessive claims for their product. Sorry if it came across the wrong way. IMO there are lots of good reasons why the cab richrips wants to build is not a good idea – not least of which is that it seems to comparable in size to a 2 x 12. It’s just a shame that the thread has degenerated into a discussion of personalities and posting styles. Anyway, I’m hoping to get away for a long weekend now. So you might be spared my sarcasm for a while at least.

[quote name='dood' post='568474' date='Aug 13 2009, 10:28 PM']Ok, move along... nothing to see here, back to the topic.[/quote] Well, back on topic, the answer to the original question is that if Bill says you can only use one particular driver in his design, you are a bit stuck. I find it hard to believe that only one driver will work in what is looks like quite a simple cabinet, but there you are. [OK, Dood?]

[quote name='dood' post='568429' date='Aug 13 2009, 09:32 PM']Hmmm yes, I have Pm'd Stevie about this with ref to treating Alex Claber the same as well. - Stevie - this ain't cool.. 'If you haven't got anything good to say......', I think you know how the saying ends.[/quote] Dood, I haven't received your pm, but I think I'm entitled to raise questions about the statement Bill made yesterday claiming that his product outperforms all other products of its type. Especially as he provides no basis for all of his assertions. It looks like a midrange horn to me and I said so. Now, I'm quite happy to be proved wrong. Alex and I haven't always seen eye to eye, but that hasn't stopped us having a friendly relationship and I respect what he does.

[quote name='TPJ' post='568269' date='Aug 13 2009, 06:33 PM']Stevie, what are you talking about? Bill is an accomplished engineer who knows what he's talking about. Every time he offers advice all you can do is come up with a lame insult and usually no constructive advice or facts to support what you say. If you go to Bill's sight he and lots of other people with years of experience can help you. They don't generally hang out here becasue of people like Stevie who talk bollocks.[/quote] I think one of the fundamental principles of Basschat is that members have the freedom to express opinions about bass-related products and the marketing techniques of the various vendors without being subject to inane and baseless namecalling. If you wish to refute my statements, please go ahead, but ‘you are talking bollocks’ is not an argument and doesn’t advance your case. Perhaps you would also like to express an opinion on the statement that Bill made yesterday: “….. a lot better than the high priced 'boutique' 1x12s out there. OTOH side by side with my Jack 112 loaded with a only a 2512 they're very much also-rans. You can only do so much with a bass reflex box.” And while you’re thinking about that, here is a product developed by another ‘accomplished engineer’. This one was actually qualified and received a knighthood for his services to industry: [url="http://www.sinclairc5.com/"]http://www.sinclairc5.com/[/url]

[quote name='boabskiboab' post='567076' date='Aug 12 2009, 06:16 PM']Can one of you guys put into words the true differences between. Seymour Duncan Vintage Jazz Pups Seymour Duncan Hot Jazz Pups Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder Jazz Pups Do seymours antiquities just look old or are there tonal differnces?[/quote] The Vintage sound nice. Very woody, very complex, very burpy Jaco in the back position. I haven't tried the hot Jazz pickups, although I didn't like the Duncan hot P-Bass pickups. In the rear position of my Yamaha, the Quarter Pounder sounds just like a Precision. I'm not kidding you, it sounds nearly the same as the Vintage Duncan P-Bass at the front, just a bit more trebly. I'd remain sceptical about the Antiquities. I smell a marketing man at work.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='568181' date='Aug 13 2009, 05:17 PM']For high-end hi-fi I think it's worth worrying more about group delay and in fact any causes of stored energy which is just another reason why Linkwitz's active open-baffle designs are worth investigating if you have a big house and lots of money - but with the demanding SPLs, huge dynamic range and big bottom that is expected from bass guitar cabs there's no doubt in my mind that ported cabs are the way to go.[/quote] Interesting you should mention the Linkwitz dipole because I half-built one once just to see what it sounded like. I've never heard such clear, detailed bass before or since. They don't need to be expensive either, because you can use a passive crossover, but you do need to give them plenty of room, which is why I didn't pursue it. [quote name='alexclaber' post='568181' date='Aug 13 2009, 05:17 PM']I believe another contributor to 'slow' bass response is the performance of speakers when hit with huge low frequency transients, as when slapping through an amp with deep extended lows. Speakers with too little clean excursion and too extreme a change in behaviour beyond Xmax seem to end up sounding more woolly than punchy when trying to handle such an input.[/quote] Yes, and a properly rated magnet to control the cone movement. I think the term 'fast' when applied to bass doesn't so much mean starting fast but stopping fast.

Cheers, Alex. Those discussions don't actually come down on one side of the fence of the other. Last I heard, there had been no definitive study of the subject, although Bill is implying that he has seen a recent study that we're not privy to. He's just not prepared to share that information. On a more practical level, and returning to the original subject, lower group delay is the single and only advantage that a sealed cabinet has in pro sound bass applications. Whether or not it is audible, reflex cabinets have so many benefits that sealed is hardly ever a sensible option for bass. My own view is that the impression of 'fast' and 'slow' bass is due to a combination of factors including high frequency extension and delayed resonances, although other artefacts such as frequency response anomalies can also contribute.