The Big Fat South-West Bass Bash 2025

[stevie]

@Sean's awesome Lany valve amp dwarfing his LFSys Monaco. I think that's @Wolverinebass's very noisy Explorer on the right. 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 15:28 by stevie

[stevie]

This is a rubbish picture of a great bass. I had the chance to play @rwillett's printed headless wonder and it sounded awesome! Who needs

tonewoods?

 

Edited yesterday at 15:34 by stevie

[stevie]

Well, waddaya know - another LFSys Monza! Partnered by a Bugera Veyron - an excellent combination. Note the tiny but pokey homemade cab in the background. @Pea Turgh's, I believe.

 

 

 

 

[stevie]

Nomen ist omen, as the old Romans used say. I found this amusing.

 

 

Edited yesterday at 15:06 by stevie

[stevie]

These photos would not be complete without a view of the three LFSys cabs I took to the Bash. From left to right, the Silverstone II, Monza and Monaco. That's my Classic Vibe Precision in the front and a Trace TE1200 providing the oomph.

 

 

Edited yesterday at 15:35 by stevie

[stevie]

The big reveal!

 

@Phil Starr always puts on an interesting demo at the SW Bash. This year, he played a short bass track through all of these cabs - hidden behind an acoustically transparent screen - asking us to figure out what they were. Like everyone else, I didn't have a clue. I knew which one I preferred and which ones I didn't, but that was as far as it went. After the reveal, it turned out we had been listening to a range of cabs containing drivers extending from 6" to 15" - and nobody twigged. Amazing!

 

Which, to cut a long story short, goes to prove something that most of us probably knew anyway: that size doesn't matter. 😀

 

My personal preference, which I think quite a number agreed with, was for the 8" cab. It sounded cleaner and better balanced to me because it was the only one with any decent high frequency extension.

 

I think Phil is  toying with attending the SE Bash. If so, someone should persuade him to do something similar there.

Edited yesterday at 17:04 by stevie

[stevie]

These are the cabs from Phil's demo (next to a headless @Chienmortbb)

 

Edited yesterday at 15:25 by stevie

[stevie]

At the end of the day when everybody had gone home, the cleaner arrived with a bucket and mop to clean up the mess.😀

[rwillett]

36 minutes ago, stevie said:

These photos would not be complete without a view of the three LFSys cabs I took to the Bash. From left to right, the Silverstone II, Monza and Monaco. That's my Classic Vibe Precision in the front and a Trace TE1200 providing the oomph.

 

 

@stevie I am tryimg to remember which cab you brought over and plugged the Gnome into, I think it was the middle, the Monza. is that right?

 

It sounded great with a Tonex or Mod Dwarf into the Gnome.

 

Thanks

 

Rob

[stevie]

Yes, you played through a Monza, Rob.

[Wolverinebass]

52 minutes ago, stevie said:

@Sean's awesome Lany valve amp dwarfing his LFSys Monaco. I think that's @Wolverinebass's very noisy Explorer on the right. 

 

 

Yeah, that is of course my Grainger Hades on the right. I think a few folk thought it was just "too mad" to have a go on, which was a pity.

 

Naturally, sonically, it's set up for me, so precision with flats it most definitely is not. Noisy? Not really. Loud? Absolutely! I don't think that one can play a bass that visually striking quietly without appearing silly. Especially not when you're playing through a Laney Nexus and one of your Monaco cabs.

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, stevie said:

It sounded cleaner and better balanced to me because it was the only one with any decent high frequency extension.

 

To be fair, he switched off tweeters in the larger cabs 🙂

 

[stevie]

38 minutes ago, Wolverinebass said:

Yeah, that is of course my Grainger Hades on the right. I think a few folk thought it was just "too mad" to have a go on, which was a pity.

 

Naturally, sonically, it's set up for me, so precision with flats it most definitely is not. Noisy? Not really. Loud? Absolutely! I don't think that one can play a bass that visually striking quietly without appearing silly. Especially not when you're playing through a Laney Nexus and one of your Monaco cabs.

 

Did I say "noisy"? Of course, I mean loud. 😀

[stevie]

37 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

To be fair, he switched off tweeters in the larger cabs 🙂

 

 

I don't think any of the cabs had tweeters, @Stub Mandrel

[stewblack]

21 hours ago, Richard R said:

The mind boggles!!!

What was going on there @stewblack?

That's how good that bass sounds 😀

[Stub Mandrel]

46 minutes ago, stevie said:

 

I don't think any of the cabs had tweeters, @Stub Mandrel

 

That's what Phil said he'd done at the start.

[Phil Starr]

Just one with a tweeter which was the BassChat lockdown 110 that @stevie designed. I did disconnect the tweeter for that one.

[Dumpystumps]

On 07/10/2025 at 19:26, Jabba_the_gut said:

I’ve got a few bits and pieces I’ll bring for sale or swaps if anyone is interested. Got a bunch of Schaller tuners, some bridges, TC BQ250, and probably some other bits. Got a couple of bits for the raffle too.

Are you Mr Gut.  I had your  acoustic fretless bass and still have your telecaster bass which I am trying to sel, due to ill health.

[Jabba_the_gut]

1 hour ago, Dumpystumps said:

Are you Mr Gut.  I had your  acoustic fretless bass and still have your telecaster bass which I am trying to sel, due to ill health.

Yes - have messaged you.