JPJ

Pleased to hear of your delivery time. I waited almost two months for my Micro Thumpinator to arrive, which it did last week. I plugged it in and it works so well that no bass whatsoever made it to the output socket, just a mild white noise Currently on its way back to SFX for diagnosis, I will keep you lot posted with progress. As an aside, what power supply are you intending to use with it, as they do not come with one?

So I was the buyer of Grandad's Fane speakers. They arrived safe and sound two weeks ago, but due to working away Mon-Fri I only had a chance to fit them this weekend, and even then late on Sunday. Firstly, I bought my BG secondhand and I noticed that the front grill badge was 'the wrong way up' on mine (bottom right instead of top left). I'd wondered why this was the case until yesterday when I opened up to fit the Fanes; the previous owner had taken the time to fit proper acoustic wadding. So the Fanes installed without any fuss, and my immediate impression is of a slightly brighter, more middle biased overall tone, similar to when I reconed my SWR Goliath 4x10 with Deltalites. Absolute scientific testing using a reference Behringer SM58 clone into my X-Air mixing desk showed a like-for-like volume increase of around 4-6db for the same volume & tone control positions. The Fanes are a much more substantial speaker than the OEM drivers, pushing the overall weight of the combo up slightly, but not that she's gone beyond the one hand lift convenience of the original. I'll give her a run out in rehearsal next weekend and report back on whether simply reducing the onboard ohmage results in a real terms volume increase or whether this was a fools folly.

I briefly had the SWR Marcus Miller pre into a QSC power amp, the idea being this would be a lightweight alternative to the SM1500. In reality, it was marginally lighter, but the voicing of the MM preamp didn't really suit me, so it was added to the list of amps I've owned.

Thinking aloud here, it is clear that the acoustic properties of a double bass are fundamental to the overall tone, even when that tone is amplified using a bridge mounted piezo style transducer. Part of the physical size of a double bass is down to the need to be heard in a pure acoustic environment and it is that physical size that prevents me from moving to an acoustic db. As an amateur wood butcher, this has got me thinking, how big a body do you need to leverage the tone of a 3/4 size db via piezo?

[quote name='Merton' timestamp='1485435074' post='3223935'] I hope you're not mixing drum sizes? That way madness lies..... [/quote] I've been using two 10" 4 slice toasters and a 15" Hotpoint for quite a few years now and no one has complained about my tone! 😤

Ooh I so want this, but it leads me on to a related question. I know its conventional to stack the tumble dryer on top of the washing machine, but surely with the larger drum, the tumble dryer will give a better low end response if you stack them the other way around?

So I used to own one of the original Stagg EUB's that the previous owner had upgraded with a nice set of Corelli strings. I 'upgraded' the pickup and she became a lovely playable fun thing to own. Then I was offered money I needed at the time and she went off to a new owner. I now find myself wanting to get another EUB (I don't have the space for a full double) and I also have the cash to go a bit more upmarket, so what do you knowledgeable lot recommend? Style-wise, it will be used with an acoustic blues rock type thing, played pizz, although I would like to experiment with arco playing in the future.

Thanks to Phil (and Alex, and Bill) and the other contributors. It's threads like this one that keep me coming back to Basschat, and as the saying goes, your never too old to learn. I have in the past fried speakers and its an expensive hobby. Mine was not understanding how the amp shared its load across two cabs, meaning I fried two cones in my 500w cab whilst my 700w escaped unharmed. After that, I have been a lot more careful matching watts and ohms. Oh and I have a Microthumpinator on order to act as the first line of defense ;-)

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1484742752' post='3217961'] Only if it's posh Birch ply... [/quote] Er posh 'voidless' birch ply

So I read the comments on here about the TC SpectraComp pedal and was seduced by its diminutive size so I ordered one. First impressions are really favourable, and the extent of the TonePrint editor software is phenomenal. Only had limited time to play with this so far, but I'm liking the Nathan East TonePrint a lot and this will probably be my 'go to' until I get to grips with the editor.

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1484600398' post='3216761'] I have been thinking about the only thing I don't like about the EB3 - neck dive. I appreciate some don't mind it while others find it annoying beyond belief. I am fairly sure I fall in the second category. So what can you do about it? I could add a pound of lead behind the bridge, not ideal, I could covert it to headless, interesting, but no. Or I could have a think and see if there was way to maintain the lightweight overall and good looks whilst sorting the issue without spending a fortune. Lightweight tuners make a difference I understand, but how much? Varies depending on who you speak to but most agree it's not a great deal. So the only real way is to make the front strap position move closer to the head. I could just drill into the neck but that seemed an ugly way to do it and could cause other issues. I love working with different materials and this seemed like a problem that could be solved with a bit of lathe and miller work. With a couple of lunchtimes devoted to it I have come up with a prototype as seen in the pic below which moves the pivot point quite a distance but doesn't interfere whilst playing (well it doesn't with how I play). I still have to finish the final policy and wire up so haven't had it all together yet but the balance is so much better and will improve further when the bridge, electronics and covers/ knobs are on. When I know it works properly I will spend some time and make a 'pretty' one. [/quote] Nice work, I like the way that is hidden behind the neck

I love my AG500SC, its the only non-SWR amp I've gigged with, and I have played some pretty big stages with it and haven't found it lacking in the either the horsepower or low end department. As Lozz196 says, the two mid controls are a bit too close together sonically, but other than that it ticks all the boxes I need ticked. As to reliability, save for both the power and mute LED's giving up the ghost (at separate times), mines been super reliable to date.

So I've just used mine at a rehearsal for the rock band. Just about kept up with the band with the master at about 3pm on the clock face (I.e. about 80% of its travel). By then it was starting to sound very 'boxy' which you would expect given the size of the drivers but it didn't object to running at this level and the amp didn't even become warm to the touch. Very impressed, now thinking of building a second 2x8 to sit under it and liberate the full output of the amp.

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1484325183' post='3214748'] Actually, I was thinking of filling it with light foam....have I dreamt that somewhere?? [/quote] I have also heard of filling chambers in musical instruments to fight resonance and feedback. 😎

Have a word with the chaps at Blue Aran. I'm sure they'll be able to recommend/supply a suitable attenuator that you can fit to tame the beast

[quote name='moonbass' timestamp='1483898714' post='3210968'] .....and currently have lost the main output meter display, but not bothering me immensely. I've been close to upgrading to the X32 rack several times, but really not found an excuse to yet! [/quote] The main output meter disappeared after a recent iOS update, so hopefully this will be reinstated when (if) we get the long awaited update to the iPad app (currently 16 months and waiting). I've considered a x32 Compact for the easy of having physical faders to grab as I mix from the side of the stage whilst playing, but I cannot really justify the cost versus the number of gigs we do.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1477926393' post='3165304'] Aphex punch factory (the old orange one). Really simple optical compressor. [/quote] This. But after years of being convinced that I needed a compressor on all of the time live, I now find that that is not the case. That said, we're about to add a new song to the set that has a heavily compressed bass intro so I might be back in the market soon.

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1469057969' post='3095509'] Just looked it up. Very cool! [/quote] It is one hell of an amp and all I'd ever need. The small downside is it's weight, which is sufficient to exert its own gravitational field. Rumours are the Chinese are planning a space mission to land men on mine 😂

Been using one live since they were first available. Excellent piece of kit, loads of features and I have had nowt but compliments on the sound. Lots of tales re WIFI connection stability, but I run ours with a airport mini on 5ghz and have had no problem with dropouts since. Downside is support for the iPad app is appalling (been 15+ months since the last update) and there is too much variability between the different versions of the app (windows/mac/android/iPad). The X-Air series come with a free licence for Tracktion which I am only just beginning to get my head around. My intention is to record a few tracks from a show but as I mix from the side of the stage whilst playing, I need to grow another pair of hands to accomplish this.

I have: Basses x 7 Amps x 3 (SWR SM1500, Aguilar AG500SC, TC Electronics BG250 208) Cabs x 2 (SWR Goliath 2 reconed with Eminence Deltalites, SWR Goliath Snr)

Years ago, I had an Ohm combo, can't remember now if it 80 or 120 watts 1x15, with a five band eq, sort of graphic but using knobs rather than sliders. Anyway, not knowing anything about impedence etc I added a 1/4" jack socket 'in parallel' with the integral speaker and ran a second no name 1x15 cabinet underneath it. That was my gig/rehearsal rig (more rehearsals than gigs if truth be told) and the second speaker never bothered the all transistor amp one jot. Now I might have just been exceptionally lucky, and the fact that the internal speaker farted out at anything more than half volume might have been the saving grace, but that amp ran that way for years. I'm not suggesting this is something we should all try, but sometimes, the maths and reality don't exactly align and you can get away with something the science says you can't.