LukeFRC

I think that the phycoacoustic effects are the crux of the issue. All amplifiers are amplifying a signal - if all worked perfectly then there would be no difference between them - so the bits we are hearing that form a preference are the deficiencies from perfection. I think comparing like for like distortion levels is one of the key things- someone earlier compared a 300w valve ashdown with a solid state of the same preamp and said there wasn’t much difference between them as they weren’t pushing the valve power stage enough... if I took a solid state amp and added some pleasing distortion and some gentle compression like you would get in an all valve amp would you tell the difference? (Which I guess is part of the point of hybrid amps) silmiarly class D get a bad press as when turned up beyond the clean limits a class AB adds distortion (which make it seem louder) where as a class D just runs out of power. Hence “class D has no heft” is as much about the phycoacoustic effects as the amplification system.

In this test Are you measuring it to achieve the same level of distortion?

I like to think each bass has its own amp 😃

Thing is it’s not really killing rock and roll is it? It’s the logical next step on the question of lightweight high volume speakers and amps with more and more digital technology in it. Like when it came out a TC electronics RH450 or 750 footswutch and a set of speaker cabs wasn’t a million miles from what BigRedX spent on his rig .... and essentially they are doing the same thing... just one is a hell of a lot more limited than the other

Sheesh - so much so you didn’t even need to get your bass out it’s case

Like we kinda knew this anyway, but there’s a real art to acoustic instruments- I look on solid body builds and think “yeah I can do that” i look at this and go “wow” i guess also the difference between mass produced and hand crafted/tuned acoustic instruments must be way higher than that of solid body instruments.

Ha - I think some Warwick fanbois pricing ideas are similar to HP Wilfers!

What on earth happened to the pre 1990 wenge necked streamers being what you were after? 😛

That, and the video was really interested and explains the question I was going to ask about brace shape compared to the triangles in my acoustic. Im quite lucky, I sold a takamini acoustic I had and then missed it - found a eBay advert for an unbranded guitar local to me, and based on one photo of the binding and the quality of Ebony used in the fretboard bought it... when I went to pick it up it’s a beautiful hand built early Martin om clone made by someone semi famous - and sound absolutely beautiful - it’s resonant and alive - and that videos just told me why!

Let’s guess... 5th anniversary - SS1 from1988 (wenge neck) - some kind of 1989-1991 SS1 - infintette you’ve recently got - the 07 $$ - the infinitte you’ve had for ages - the Japanese dolphin SN you love no idea what the one out of shot on the left is mind, Zon? (also, no thumb 😉)

How many Warwick’s have you got now? We haven’t had a basses on the sofa shot from you in ages.

I’ll bare that in mind if you ever visit this part of the world! @warwickhunt ? Legend has it he sold all the Warwick’s after he realised he had owned every bass they had made between 1982 and 1991. Possibly he’s now focusing on playing prog rock on overwater 6 string fretted and fret less double necks ...

I work in marketing - if you ever go into acoustic guitar production I’m sure we trade mark and patent that and spin it as a positive ....:D

You are right, I was wrong.

Are you 4 or 5 strings at the moment? A neck through I’m guessing? Also what strings you recommend for it?

I think Kev has got it about right... 2013 is when they started focusing on making less higher quality (and price) basses, started using wenge then and using solid brass hardware. They went a bit mainstream with the whole nu metal thing around the millennium and the quality and neck size reportedly got worse. Pre 1997 is given as when the quality dropped according to forums... no idea why but mid 1992 they moved the factory to the former east Germany and fell out with Schaller which meant not using solid brass bits... so that seems to be a major change... 1991 or earlier are nice, often with thinner necks. My main bass is a 1991 streamer stage one which is amazing, although I’ve got Barts and an acg preamp in it. I’ve also a 1985 JD thumb bass which is amazing but I’m not jelling with as much but it’s pretty nice to have one of the first few thumb basses ever made

Ah you got a thumb again in the end?

it was realising they worked best with the gain as the volume and the volume set up high that made them come alive for me. I had a 1001 for a short time, in a combo. It didn't fit in the car. but it was good

What is wrong with me?! I saw a bergantino ip112 advertised by Manchester bass lounge on facebook and got all excited about feeding my B3n - or clean preamp, into that.... then realised I could prob get one of the fancy cabs talked about on here for similar money... but would mean not having a trad bass amp at all hmmm

Nah if they made that then someone else would be complaining then that you couldn’t turn off the valve like compression in the class D head that gave it the heft and authority that you like...

But Its kinda irrelevant - it’s like a 100w valve amp keeping up with a 300w solid state amp... well that’s because the valves are introducing compression... and the 300w solid state amp having more heft than thr 800w class D ... because the class D has a burst power of 800w and way less long term... ... which in some applications is fine and in all types of amp a good enough amp exists. personally I think TC got a lot of the tech and ideas behind the RH range right - even if in reality it wasn’t quite the finished article. They should have been more up front about their amp ratings and were daft not to have been. The real interesting test would be to hear if the blacksmith is still cack or if that solved the problems (ie the RH450 was just underpowered and tying to make up for that)