JPJ

There’s a nice looking DB for sale in Chester on the Facebook “Bass Players - sell- buy - swap UK only” group for £250 that looks like a good starter bass. Disclaimer: I have no affinity or connection with the seller nor have I any personal experience of the bass in question.

Just spotted this over on FaceAche https://www.eich-amps.com/tb250#collapseExample0 Looks like it could be a contender for those who want to run a cab from pedalboard preamp like the OP? And as it’s coming from a recognised bass amp manufacturer I’d expect its roadworthy too.

For a while in the mid-eighties I had the Carlsbro Stingray Pro rig consisting of a 300W amp head, 150w slave amp, 2x15 cab and 2x10 cab. The thing sounded monstrous, was stupidly loud, but was so heavy as to have its own gravitational field.

I’ve been watching the online reviews and yes, it seems the v1 was a little plain Jane, but the v2 is endorsed by Phil Mann and also Janek Gwizdala rated it in his recent DI shoot out video so I’m hoping it’ll be good when it arrives. I’m just looking for a little bit of added warmth for my fretless. I’m using the EBS Stanley Clarke as my pre as I’m doubling on NS EUB with one band, and the Stanley Clarke is brilliant for this but its just a little too ‘dry’ for the fretless. I’ve tried running my SansAmp both in the loop and in front of the Stanley Clarke, both of which help but it gets too dirty too soon if that makes sense?

Well we can add this to the list of “itch being scratched” as I’ve just pulled the trigger on one. Will report back in a couple of weeks when it arrives 😎

Welcome to the Vanderkley club. You’ve described perfectly the sound these cabs make. One piece of advice, experiment with the tweeter setting. I did my usual “don’t like tweeters, control all the way off” and I was missing a trick. It’s really possible to dial in the Vanderkley tweeter without it ever getting dominant or “spitty”.

Anybody on the European side of the pond have any experience with this preamp? It’s endorsed by Phil Mann so I’m guessing it’s pretty good. Could be next on my list of ‘secret sauce’ pedals to try with my fretless 🤔

My experience. My main band used to be the typical ‘too loud’ band. Twin guitarists equipped with 100W Marshall valve amps coupled with 4x12 cabs. I was using a 1500W amp head coupled with two 4x10’s to keep up. First step for me was universal ear protection which worked in terms of lowering the overall volume but didn’t help with hearing what I was playing over the rest. Next step was ACS custom moulded hearing protection which I initially struggled with as the attenuation (34db) was just too isolating, even though for the first time I could actually hear what I was playing. A change of drummer brought some sense to the on stage volume levels, 4x12 became 2x12, then became 45w combos. Sound on stage cleaned up beautifully to the point where the only ‘damaging’ or ear fatiguing level came with from the drummers cymbals. At the same time we moved to everything through the PA so FOH levels were now much louder than the on stage levels and the out front mix was much much better. The drummer then wanted to try in-ears as he still struggled to hear his bass drum. Prompted by all the good stuff on EBS Freaks IEM mega thread, I recommended the Behringer P2/KZ combo which he immediately loved. Next to go IEM was our fiddle player using the Behringer P2 coupled with custom moulded IEM’S. As I run sound whilst playing, I decided that I needed my own IEM setup to learn how to mix them best for the other two. I went KZ with X-Vive U4 but struggled with the isolation despite trying a few different tips. On Warwickhunt’s advice, I next went Shure IEM100’s which fit my ears much better. After trying my X-Vive, our singer/guitarist was the next convert to IEM. Now, I vary between my IEM’s and my ACS custom plugs that are now equipped with 17db filters. If I’m doing the sound, I will most likely use my IEM’s, if I’m not then I’ll most likely use my ACS plugs. The fifth and final member of the band has no interest in IEM’s and finds the on-stage volume acceptable. Our PA will need significant upgrade if we were to go silent stage so I do not see that happening in the medium term. I have played two venues where the stage arrangement (one a corner stage with a hollow stage riser, the other a three-sided alcove) meant the drums are so dominant that only the ACS plugs work as otherwise I need the IEM volume to be maxed to hear the rest of the band which rather defeats the point of IEM’s in the first place. Next step for us is getting the IEM users taking charge of their own mix using their own phone apps. For me, I need to work on my own IEM mix and as isolation, though much improved, is still an issue, custom moulded IEM’s are definitely in my future.

That would be the mother of all paint jobs 😮 Do you know whether the chequer pattern covers the whole bass or just the front/sides? If it was me, I’d probably go with a wrap, but it’s going to be a challenge to get everything to line up if you want the whole body wrapped - that’s a lot of straight lines!

This is my experience in a nutshell. The first time I tried IEM’s on a non-silent stage was a massive disappointment. OK I was using the Basschat favourite KZ non-custom in-ears, but I had the volume maxed on the aux and the receiver and still I wasn’t getting a clear improvement over my custom ACS hearing protection with way to much spill from the drums in particular. Running everything at high volume rather defeated the point of the IEM’s in the first place. Despite having upgraded my in-ears to Sennheiser, I still find myself reverting to the ACS solution as it works and I don’t have to suffer the post-gig tinnitus.

Sounds like (no pun intended) you are sorted, but i would have recommended you tried good hearing protection first. I have some ACS custom moulded ear protection that I run with 17db filters which work perfectly for lowering the overall volume level and letting me hear my bass above the cacophony.

Well you say that, but neither rose to the challenge of dispelling the myth around gold plated connectors 🤣

Correct left hand technique on EUB is a challenge simply because you invariably end up supporting the bass to some degree with your left hand. I started my EUB journey like many with the Stagg that rotated constantly irrespective of how I used the body support. I then moved on to a KK Baby Bass, which despite the larger body and increased weight (those things are heavy) still required some left hand (left hand thumb) support. An old motorcycling injury to my left thumb meant the KK had to go. I now have the NS EUB where the stand takes all the pressure off my left hand / left thumb, but if I’m using the ‘arm weight’ method recommended by pro db players, I can pull the bass towards me lifting the feet of the stand. I have recently started to have the bass much higher but tilted back towards me which helps a lot with elbow/shoulder position which is something I really struggled with from the outset of my EUB journey. From my experience, it’s extremely difficult to play an EUB like a db. Having played bass guitar for years I still tend to play my EUB using the pads of my fingers rather than the tips. In answer to your original question, I too use the ‘little and often’ approach to building/maintaining my hand strength. As I mainly work from home these days, I have my EUB on its stand in my man cave/office. Any trip to the toilet/for coffee ends with a quick noodle, and I often reward myself for having survived another pointless Zoom/Teams call with a quick five minute noodle too.

Killjoy! Who reads the manual 🤷‍♂️🤣

I nearly always use my subs in the pub band format of one either side directly under the pole mounted tops. Yes, it might lead to problems for a pro sound engineer, but honestly, down the Dog n Duck on a Friday or Saturday night, 99% of punters wont notice. The advantage of the subs is they are big, heavy, substantial and have prevented the tops being knocked onto an unsuspecting guitarist (or heavens preserve, bass player i.e. me) by a drunk punter on more than one occasion. From the sound point of view it may be less than perfect but as one of your PA stacks is probably pointing at the end of the bar, it really doesnt make that much difference. On that rare occasion we play a social club, the subs go side-by-side in the centre in front of the stage with the tops on stands either side of the stage. The increased performance of the subs in this configuration is noticeable but this config would be totally impractical in all of our other gigs, which like Phil says, lack any sort of raised stage area.

I see Richtone Audio are selling a secondhand set of the Studiologic pedals, no connection just spotted their ad on FaceAche tonight.

Same PA I was using on Saturday 2 x EV ZLX15P tops (nominally 500w 128dB) + 2 x Peavey Messenger Pro 15P bins (nominally 400w unknown spl).

Exactly where I am at with one of my bands. I now have four out of five of us using IEM’s and whilst my PA isn’t the worst, I ‘feel’ I would have to upgrade to cope with a truly silent stage.

Because I double between fretless bass and NS EUB in one of my bands, I have the rather excellent EBS Stanley Clarke preamp on my board which is a two-channel preamp pedal. I then have a TC Plethora x3 and Sansamp BDDI v2 in the parallel loop of the EBS to add either a little drive or whatever effects I feel I need (normally nothing more than a bit of chorus or reverb). I then take the DI from the EBS into the PA, and an in-ears mix from my desk (Behringer XR18). Works for me across my two regular gigs.

I’d be surprised if a single 15 can’t cut it for you. In my other band (the other one to the one you saw on Saturday night 😎) I’m gigging a 1x15 Neo equipped Ashdown combo rated at 400w so probably putting around 200w through the combo speaker and its more than enough, and drummer Alan is no shrinking violet when it comes to clattering his drums. I bought and then sold a 1x15 Ashdown Neo cab to pair with this as I found the combo on its own was more than enough for that band. Mind, I do trickle a bit of bass through the PA too.

My thoughts exactly - I was expecting a bass bar or similar plus a reinforcement under the bridge?