brensabre79

Its risky from an insurance perspective, but if you're covered there shouldn't be any problems. Cover it up and pop a couple of those silica gel pouches in there to grab any moisture and prevent corrosion - that's your biggest enemy. Basses should definitely come out though, in summer and winter, they are not so good with the temperature shifts or condensation. I left my SWR 4x10" in an exposed underground car park for 2 years and a garden shed for another year, still works fine

Yep +1 for me. VMJ 77, I upgraded to Wizard pickups and a Gotoh bridge. Also added a preamp (took some fitting that) to keep the levels consistent with my other basses, although I mostly use it flat. Its a great bass and I will have another soon!

+1 Try before you buy. There are a lot of guitar pedals that have a high pass filter in them. Many of the Boss ones have a bass counterpart for exactly this reason. Sometimes its not that obvious at lower volumes though. I used a Boss overdrive at practices and all was good. Got to gig volume and suddenly all the bottom end disappears!

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1323017461' post='1458318'] for that amount beer tokens try a squier J and fit it with a pair of wizards and a gotoh bridge warning! youll prob end up using it as your main bass [/quote] I did exactly this! Bought the VM77 Jazz bass as a backup for my Sabre. Haven't played the Sabre in months! I use the VMJ 4 nights a week and its easily as good to play as my American Standard JB fretless. Next I'll be buying the Squier VM70s fretless and leaving the Fender at home!

No difference in power handling either way, but (and this applies to the Original Post as well) be careful about just sticking any old speaker into a cab and expecting it to work OK. Cabinets are designed for specific speakers, the size of the cabinet is directly related to the frequency response to bring out the best in the speaker it is designed for. If you put something different in there the sound will be... different - and highly likely to be bad. e.g. the original speakers frequency response tails off below 50Hz, so the cabinet designed with a resonant frequency of 40Hz to compensate. Then you go and stick a speaker in there with a better low frequency response )doesn't tail off until 30Hz) and you get a cab that makes you sound loud boomy when you play one note and virtually inaudible when you play another. (this is a simplified example to get my point across - its more complicated than this in reality!) You might be lucky and get hold of a speaker with a similar response to the original. But if you're replacing speakers in Cabs replace with the same if you can. I found this out the hard way. now I have £200 worh of speakers boxed in my loft

Didn't Hofner do something like this in the 70s? 150 tones, one of them useable. I wonder if you get a little man to operate all those switches at a gig like you used to get with a Moog Modular

I had the red ones, playing with fingers it came off pretty quickly.

These are good. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HEAVY-DUTY-Multi-Use-Castors-4-Blue-Wheels-Caster-/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370230479392

I would bolt them in. I had castors screwed on my SWR 4x10 for about 3 days, then loading out of a gig - one of them caught a step and came off taking a nice chunk of plywood with it! Cab repaired, I bolted them in with 1" washers either side of the wood to spread the load. They haven't come off since. If you're going this route I would say the larger and softer the wheels are the better. that way you don't get hung up on cracks in the pavement etc. and some of the shock is absorbed. Try to get some with brakes on too to stop the cab going walkabout on an uneven stage

I have this trouble with most strings (sweat like battery acid) but I find DR strings last waay longer than most. Especially the Bootzillas but they are very expensive! I use Lo Riders these days. but yes the thread Bremen pointed you to is worth a read. Meths works a treat.

[quote name='thumperbob 2002' timestamp='1322664386' post='1454134'] I think playing to 150+ you will need at least a 1k rig- not really for the volume but more for headroom- by putting everything into the pa you will have more control and will sound better. [/quote] This is true IF you have a large PA AND someone out front to control it. Otherwise someone has to stop playing to adjust levels - I know, this is my job in most of the pub bands I play with (never should have mentioned I got a degree in audio engineering). So i try and let the guitars/keys sort their levels out themselves (sometimes I can tell them to go up or down, but what use am I on stage?) and just have vocals through the PA, clearer, simpler. For a pub / small venue gig you're playing to less than 100 people in a confined space. Also the OP is talking about essentially an acoustic band. So I would say 1,000W is complete overkill. Yes a soul band with horns etc. playing 150 - 200 capacity venues will need a bit more power + backline, for headroom, for peaks and for clarity. As soon as you start putting mics in the kick drum you're getting into the league of amplifying bass frequencies and much of the same applies in terms of power, adding subs etc. Its a case of Horses for courses

Not sure what size venues you're playing in Chris, our rock covers band plays mostly in pubs, with drums and 2 loud electric guitars and our PA is 250w + 250w - but due to speaker impedance it actually runs at 125w + 125w and is more than adequate for the vocals at most gigs. Occasionally in larger places it struggles, but I have a more powerful amp (800w) for those. I don't think you'll need a 1KW Pa unless you're playing pretty loud in larger venues (most of which have their own sound system). To be honest with all those acoustic instruments you're likely to get more problems with feedback if you go as loud as a 1k rig will take you unless you start getting into ringing out with graphic eqs etc. From what it sounds like your band is largely acoustic so I don't think you'll need that much power at all. A 200W bass amp should be more than enough if its just handling the bass duties. And the 500w amp you have should easily cope with the volume for vocals and acoustic guitars (if thats what you're getting from it - check the speaker impedance isn't halving it - e.g. 500w into 4 ohms, 250w into 8 ohms means with 8 ohm speaker you'll get 250w total not 500w...) If you have the cash and space to lug around a larger rig, you will get more clarity at the top end of the volume range because you're not driving it so hard but if you are on a budget then I would invest in a decent mixer, EQ, FX, mics etc. first before going for more power. you'd be amazed what levels you can get from a low powered rig if you use it right. And remember doubling the watts doesn't mean doubling the volume! Thats my 2p anyway

[quote name='hairyhaw' timestamp='1322599969' post='1453441'] The neck pockets are a standard size across all Fender/Squire P's and J's so should be fine. I've got a Mighty Mite fretless neck on a Squire Precision Special Body. Have to say it fitted better than the original neck did! [/quote] Beware though they are not all the same! Especially the VM series, made in Indonesia, You might have to do a little work on the body or the neck to get it to fit, I've been trying to replace the awful agathis body on my VMJ because the neck is a beaut, but definitely does not fit my American Standard Fender Jazz body, I tried and I don't want to start hacking away at that, nor does it fit another Squier CV Jazz body i got off eBay so I'm going to get a body made to fit the neck. Do you just want to put a fretted neck on there? If so you might find a VM one that will fit perfectly, nice block inlays too. (I'm not selling mine!)

Finally a small Zoom pedal without the horrid 2 character calculator display! This looks much easier to use! I hope the knobs above the footswitches are sunken, otherwise it would be a stooopid design. So any ideas when this will be out?

Yes the Behringer was cheap because Behringer stuff is cheap to begin with, secondhand even more so. Price was quite a factor for this setup, but you know Behringer stuff isn't bad at all for the money. Its the low end of the high end if you get me - better than a lot of entry level stuff by far. But that doesn't mean you have to get a Behringer desk. Spirit, Mackie, Yamaha, Studiomaster etc. etc. all do little club mixers. Don't forget though if you need reverb and its not included in the desk you'll also need outboard. This sort of thing should be more than adequate though... 4 mics & 4 lines in for guitars etc...under £50 at the moment... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Behringer-Eurorack-UB1622FX-PRO-Analog-Mixer-/150705279887?pt=UK_Mixers&hash=item2316bc138f

Yeah the ones the post office use are good elastic bands, nice and strong, you might need a few as they can be a bit bouncy! Hair bands also good - its pretty much the same stuff. Next week, how to make a pop shield with an old stocking and a coat hangar...

Hey Walker, I would keep the bass seperate. The more you put through the PA the harder it will be to make everything clear. Bass needs a lot more power than vocals and guitars etc. too. I would save the money on the sub and use your bass amp instead. For the setup you have theres nothing wrong with submixing for now. There are many audiophiles who will tell you why this isn't a great idea, but in the real world sometimes you have to make do. But its better to have everyting in the same mixer , not least because its just easier to set levels if they are all together. I personally don't like combined Mixer/amps because when time comes to upgrade the mixer you also have to upgrade the amp even if you don't need to. however they are a great portable solution for small pubs etc. so nothing wrong with that. My function band uses a 16ch Behringer mixer, we got for less than £100 s/h and that goes into one line input of our Peavey Mixer/Amp until we can afford a new amp, and a graphic etc. What I'm saying is, if the amp part is meeting your needs and you just need a few extra channels, you don't need to invest in lots of gear all of a sudden. Get a mixer with all the channels you need off eBay or somwhere, run the powered wedges from the mixer and connect the main output of the mixer to your Yamaha. You then have a Mixer and an Amp (with some added mixing capabilities that you're not using right now). job done!

Ditto, if you can get an Ampeg rig at half price I would grab it. you can always sell it when you get fed up of hauling fridges around next month... Personally with what I've found out recently I would get a pair of compacts, or a compact and a super 12 or something. The whole point of the Barefaced modular system is that you can have a big stack if you want one, or leave the extra boxes at home for the smaller gigs.

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1322496367' post='1451540'] No Probs, it's a poorly rephrased version of a line I use in IT projects... "Fast. Cheap. Good. Choose any two" :-) I've got a Super 12 T as well :-) [/quote] It's also Hoffmans iron law: "One can, for the most part, choose only two of the three parameters when designing a speaker system. So, for example, if extended low-frequency performance and small box size are important, one must accept low efficiency.[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudspeaker#cite_note-34"][35][/url][/sup] This [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thumb"]rule of thumb[/url] is sometimes called [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoffman%27s_Iron_Law"]Hoffman's Iron Law[/url] (after [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=J._Anton_Hoffman&action=edit&redlink=1"]J.A. Hoffman[/url], the "H" in [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KLH_%28company%29"]KLH[/url])."

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1322491539' post='1451431'] [size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial]I got my cabs before Barefaced started so you could bypass everything I’ve just said and go straight to a Super12T. [/font][/color][/size] [/quote] Yeah I think this is where I'm going

To be honest neepheid its both. The drivers in my Goliath will handle about 1200W in all (part of the reason the LFs are thunderous is that its never ever being pushed), its large (almost twice as deep as most 4x10s I've seen) and very heavy. It only just fits in my car, and although its got wheels its a two man lift up any stairs! So I'm using about a quarter of its power handling, filling up half my car and probably knackering the suspension at the same time, not to mention what its doing for me lugging it around! I wondered if there was something half the size, half the weight, probably half the power handling would do it as well... Hang on, has anyone got a large saw? A lot of people have said I won't get the depth with a 2x10 (not just on here) and I had a good chat (via email) with Alex at Barefaced over the weekend, he was really helpful and I think he's pointed me in the right direction now... Cheers B

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1322225734' post='1448183'] Light/Compact, Cheap, Good... Choose any two... :-) [/quote] Just got this! Sorry Mark, didn't have my Hoffman Lenses in the other day

I think the main thing modern gear has that the old stuff doesn't is lightweight portability. This is what manufacturers have been doing for the last 20 years, making stuff that works the same, but smaller and lighter. I use a 70s Peavey Combo for practice, didn't cost much, about £50 s/h, but good enough sound and its loud enough for most gigs - not that I use it at gigs because it weighs a ton! My 80s SWR rig sounds amazing (I've yet to hear a 4x10 better) and I do gig with it all the time but its also heavy and cumbersome. Now I'm looking for something that will do the same job but smaller and lighter, that's all

Thanks Lawrence. Maybe 2 x 12 is the way to go then. I'm not so fussed about the very highs - I have the tweeter on my Goliath turned right down Might have to find the extra budget for the Barefaced super12 (thanks Lozz196 for pointing me in that direction) unless anyone has any other 2 x 12 recommendations...? Cheers B

Thanks guys, I was looking for a 2 x10 though. I don't think £500 is a meagre budget though, so the two I choose is Light/compact and good :-)