mcnach

A pair of Barefaced Two10. I still keep the TKS S112 (pair) because they're very sweet sounding, but I often need more oomph than I'm comfortable putting through them, so the Two10 see most of the action. As for the top end rolled off on that track... Try playing that on the Two10 (6 or 7 KHz top I think) and tell me if you feel it's missing anything important. That was my point (and I can hear very well up to 15 KHz ). "Bright" is a lot lower than a lot of people think, because they haven't really tested it seriously. It was certainly the case for me. Even the TKS S112 don't really feel 'dark' to me and they roll of at 5 KHz. Most of the interesting mids and treble are very well represented in that range, the stuff they cannot reproduce is stuff that I would usually try to remove anyway.

That's the thing, I had not stopped to look at the sound I liked and I assumed it would contain a lot of higher frequencies. It turns out it doesn't (my hearing is pretty damn good still ) . The Two10 doesn't start to roll off significantly until 6 KHz, and the TKS S112 at 5KHz... and they're as bright as I want them to be. And no, I don't go for muddy old school sound. But whenever I had an adjustable tweeter I ended up turning it down. The sizzle that tweeters produce is not very nice, for me. Multiple driver cabs like the TKS 1126 work better (again, for me) in the top end, with the smaller conventional driver (6" one in that cab) taking care of the treble. That one can go a lot higher without a tweeter... I just looked, it goes to 9KHz. To me that's more than plenty. I had two, one with and one without tweeter... The tweeter was a bad idea. For me Some bass preamps have the treble control centered at 10KHz and I find them completely useless except to turn them down. The frequency range it boosts is something I really don't want on my bass. This is as bright as I need:

Of course it's not counterintuitive once you know that But I really didn't know that a few years ago. My first bass rig was not a problem to choose: I just needed some amplification, any, and I needed it fast and it had to be cheap So I took whatever I found (Behringer BX4500 head and matching 210 - the head was surprisingly good, actually... not bad for £100 all included even if I had to drive 60 miles to get it). But later I'd spend a lot of time comparing specs, frequency ranges... I was very worried about losing 'bassiness' with some of the cabs I saw out there. Then someone pointed out to the graphs and I could see that even when stating a low 40Hz, it could be several db lower than at 80Hz... Then I just played the things and they all worked. Much later, I learnt why. Similarly on the top range... I passed on cabs with roll offs at around 4-6 KHz thinking they'd be too dark and went for extended ones, with multiple drivers and/or tweeters. And eventually found they were not needed at all (for me, and I don't use a particularly dark sound).

Indeed! I use my variable HPF with enthusiasm, and it's counterintuitive initially when you realise how high you can go while still producing a strong punchy bass sound.

But we don't really get much of the fundamental playing the lower notes on our bass, which is why you can 'hear' a strong low B even on cabs that roll off below 45 Hz. I think the classic Ampeg 810 had a threshold around something like 55 Hz, with 40Hz being 10db down or lower... yet I doubt many people find them poor with 5 string basses. Regardless... the difference between 40 and 45Hz nominal threshold is not why one cab sounded brighter than the other.

+1 differences in the low end can make one sound like it has 'more body' or something, but that's not where 'brightness' is. And 40 vs 45Hz is negligible unless you're looking for super low dub performances.

Having owned both BB2 and Two10 (not One10, 'though), I thought it strange as well... I can't imagine half of a Two10 compare with the beast the BB2 is.

I use the 17db ones, I think they give me pretty decent attenuation and I can talk to people with them on. Very happy with them.

I sometimes see people reviewing and comparing instruments and saying the action on one model was better... But action is all down to the particular setup on that instrument, and it can be adjusted to whatever you want it to be. Which one is better? I have played a SR300 and it was a pretty good bass. Is the 500 better? It may be in some ways but I doubt it'll be day/night different. Moreover, we all like different things... I'm afraid there's no substitute to your trying a few to get a sense for what they're like... and remember, you can get the bass adjusted for whatever action you prefer.

If they feel stiffer than Fat Beams then I don't think I'll bother...

The Pure Blues is the one type of DRs I haven't tried and it's been recommended to me by others with similar tastes to mine... hmmm.

A bit more flexible than the EB's.

Try Hi Beams. They're nice strings, but they feel a bit more taut than the other two, and the E and A strings in particular sound crisper longer. It's the reason I prefer Fat Beams. I like low strings with good definition but I'm not into 'piano' crisp tones. Hi Beams do that better than Fat or Sunbeams. I found out when I bought Hi Beams by mistake and I couldn't figure out why the bass was so different... until I saw the package on my recycling bin

I think you won't go wrong with either. They're my two favourite strings. I tend to favour Fat Beams. I don't love them initially as they are pretty bright as most stainless steel strings tend to be, but they quickly settle into a slightly tamer zone that lasts a LONG time. They feel nice on the fingers, smooth and flexible, and sound great on anything I've tried really. They are the only strings I use on my Stingrays. SunBeams are slightly differernt but they really aren't that far from Fat Beams. When fresh they're not quite as bright, so they don't have that initial period where I wish the zing weren't there, and they're maybe a little more 'polite' than Fat Beams... but it's not that one is better than the other. I have been using them on my Precision and PJ basses, where I previously had Fat Beams, and I can't say which is better. They're just slightly different, but both are very good. SunBeams a bit smoother perhaps and the low mids stronger on the Fat Beams... but there really isn't that much between them after a week playing them. Both are great choices, for my liking, with Fat Beams slightly being favoured. I discovered Fat Beams by chance. I bought a used USA MM SUB a few years ago. The strings had a lot of life in them and sounded good, so I kept them, which is unusual as I generally rip off whatever strings any bass comes with and put my own, especially if used! The bass sounded great. I thought it was just the bass. The pickup is wired in series rather than parallel and I seemed to like that punchier sound a lot. I was in a RHCP tribute band at the time. Then one night, I broke a string. The only time I ever broke a bass string, and of course it was live. The G string. We were playing Blackeyed Blonde, which makes the G string in particular take a beating as I am not the subtlest kind of player when it comes to slap, especially in a fast song like that. I finished the song without it... and took a new set of strings from my bag while the band started jamming with made up lyrics making fun of me and how I broke my G string 😛 I had a set of nickel D'Addario roundwounds, which were what I generally used then as they sounded and felt good and the price was reasonable. I replaced just the G string, to be quick... and I wanted to cry. It was so out of balance! Same gauge (I measured it with calipers at home) but there was a distinct lack of volume and body. It wasn't just quieter... it just didn't have... girth... Finished the gig, replaced the other strings... and what a sad bass that was. I mean, objectively, it wasn't BAD... but it felt like it was a sad depressed bass compared to the happy confident instrument I had before. So I took pictures and set out to find what strings they were, in this very forum, as others do at times. The consensus was they were likely DR Fat Beams. I didn't like that answer as the price was over 2x what I was paying for D'Addario at the time, but I bit the bullet and bought a set. When it arrived... I was happy it very much looked like my old strings. I installed them and they were so much better than the D'Addario ones! Still.. not quite right, I felt. But it only took a week or two to start feeling THAT sound. The strings I was used to were clearly not new, and I just needed to get over the initial extra zing of the new strings. Very soon, that bass was happy again. I've tried many other strings since, as I'm always curious to try new things... but Fat Beams are the ones for me. The only other roundwounds that I've liked enough were SunBeams. I use both 45-105 and 45-100. Gauge 40 on the G is a bit too weak and didn't like it. The 45-100 is the better balanced one, in my opinion. The E string is strong but not overpowering and the G has good volume. Great strings to bend, if you're into that.

Then what are you doing here?

I hope you don't! (do a Pete Townsend) It does look like solid wood indeed... the ones I had seen before were all plywood, and heavy. Nice one!

I'm not sure there are many pickups 'designed' that way [1]. Even the Stingray pickup, which was arguably designed to be used with a preamp, has a very healthy output by itself. Passive pickups come in a wide range of outputs, and I haven't found a correlation in any way. [1] edit: unless you meant *active* pickups, which are very low output and contain a preamp built-in their case, like EMGs... but those don't work passively.

I like that one

Some speakers seem to roll off high frequencies at 6-7 KHz, and on paper appear to therefore lack treble compared to other wider response cabs. In truth, I don't find anything missing in those, and I actually prefer them as it's harder for me to get a shrill/brittle top end sound. I slap a fair amount with some bands, and my Two10 cabs (roll off at 6 KHz I think) sound beautifully. I miss no treble on those. The reason I bring this up is that during my quest for the right cabs for me I'd look at how high and low cabs could get, and I missed on a few good ones just because they would not go high enough, or I chose their tweeter versions to compensate for that, which -for my taste- was a complete waste of money. The only 'tweeter' that sounded any f=good, for me, was the horn (not exactly a tweeter, it seems, I don't know the difference) on the BF BB2. Very well implemented. But ultimately, not the right speaker for me. The VdK MNT210 is a very nice cab, but one alone may not be enough if you require high volumes. If you need a single cab... The ST will work, but see if you can try it first, you might prefer the sound of other 'less transparent' cabs. I used to own a pair of BB2 and I spent way too much time EQ them to taste. Once I moved to other more coloured cabs (in a way I liked) I achieve the sounds I like much more easily. The MNT210 would be in that category, as was the TKS 1126 (single 12", I owned a pair) and TKS S112 (single 12", I still own a pair). Although all three sounded a bit different. I favoured the S112, but two were needed as they're not the most powerful cabs... yet they're tiny and super light so carrying 2 was no problem. In fact, for a one cab solution, I'd recommend a TKS S212 (2x S112 in a single cab form) to be in your list. Not amazing power handling, but very very good sound, light and easy to transport. If a MNT210 is ok for you volume-wise, a S212 would also likely be ok. They respond very well to boosting lows a bit (by default they may seem lacking a bit of lows compared to other cabs), and the low end is very nice and tight without getting boomy as easily as others. I like a strong fat sound with good definition (Precision or Stingray) and the TKS S112 worked very well for me with a range of amplifiers. I only moved to a pair of Two10 because I sometimes needed more volume (with one of my bands in particular I often have to carry all bass with my amplifier) and they get me very close to the TKS, with some extra low end... however sound-wise I still prefer the pair of TKS S112. They roll off also somewhere in the 5-6 KHz region I believe, but I find them beautifully sounding for slap too. However I'm more classic 70s funk and 80s slap sound than Wooten/Miller type of slap.

Pretty sure it's plywood, and the heavy weight is consistent with it, but you can check it easily. Regardless... it's beautiful and if it sounds good who cares? My favourite Jazz is a plywood body Squier from 1994. I preferred it to three 75RI Fenders and a RW Fender, which were all sold on, but the Squier remains...

I suspect that a lot of the entries will be much more interesting that what he played there... which might actually be the point! I don't get his constant quest to play something that resembles a Stingray, without being a Stingray I'd just take a Stingray and modify it to taste. Well, that's probably what his Modulus was, to be fair. Having said that, I'm a fan. I like how there's never "this is the ultimate". Tastes change, and he does different things on different basses, even using a Precision in some cases...

Usually in good terms. The most recent band I left (where a member here was guitarist too), I liked them a lot but I joined them at a time when my main band was not that busy and things looked a bit down... then things got better and much busier. At the same time this band got a bit busier too and I was feeling like I was going to be spread too thin and it wasn't fair. So I announced I was going to have to leave, but I said I'd play whatever gigs they needed me to until they found a replacement. I actually suggested a friend as a replacement, he auditioned and he is still with them. A few years earlier I left another band whose music I liked but there was a BL and he was too much of a control freak. It was taking the joy out of playing, and after one particularly awful gig where he kept talking on his mic over the first 3 songs to ask various changes in the monitors (he refused to go in early to do a soundcheck!) I just quit. I'd have played any gigs to avoid them cancelling but they got a new guy in time for the next gig. Shame, as it was good material and played a few really cool gigs with them... but the joy was no longer there. Then there was that band, we didn't get to gig... I was a bit fed up with volume wars and a very insecure guitarist. This guitarist was their former bass player, and the minute the band started praising my bass style he got a bit grumpy. I thought it was coincidence. Then a couple of weeks later I was playing guitar and I don't know if he felt threatened or what but he became a real silly billy from then on. We had booked a gig just over a month from the date when I decided it was not for me, but I decided I'd like to play that gig. However, I cancelled two practices leading to that gig (I couldn't be arsed to subject my eardrums to that infernal racket... and we already knew the songs well...), and drummer emailed me to say they were talking and thought things weren't working out. So I got fired before I could quit. Then they did not play that gig, or any others in fact, as I was following them for a while. It annoyed me a little bit I didn't get to say "I quit" Another band I was the founder and main person, it was a RHCP tribute... things were fizzling out and I was clashing a bit with our very good but a bit arrogant guitarist. He started out a different project in another town and was finding it hard to meet for practices too, it was obvious his heart wasn't into it anymore. Then we had a very meh gig, and I announced that I didn't think I wanted to continue doing this. So we played one more gig a month later, supporting my main band actually, and we called it a day. Drummer had been recruited to my main band soon before that, and I stayed in touch with singer, and we've played together a couple of times after that. Guitarist... I hear he's doing well and has adopted a kind of rock star look in his late 40s. I wish him all the best but have no interest in meeting him again. However I'll forever be grateful for the first couple of years in that band, I had some of the best gigs and much more fun than I imagined. He actually was very helpful and a cool guy to be around with for some time. Shame we couldn't just part in good terms.

On the mend, thanks, but slowly... urgh. As long as i get better before my holiday next week it's all good

I apologise if I misunderstood the tone of your questions. It sounded to me as if you were saying "all you need is in your amp, onboard preamps are ridiculous and so are their users" reading between the lines. Hence my tone. But it's very possible I misunderstood too. Somehow, in person, we can disagree very strongly and pull each other's leg and keep smiling, but in writing it all can look so damn serious. Especially if the reader has been having a bad day. I've been pretty sick the past few days and had to do a quick run to hospital [1] last night... and I'm a terrible patient, I get really grumpy when I'm ill. So, yes... I'm not going to re-read it all, if you say you didn't mean it the way I took it, I believe you, please accept my apology, and let's keep it cheery edit: [1] by the way it's all good, just a scary false alarm. I just need to be a patient patient, and I'm still grumpy, but not about onboard preamps