bertbass

When I first started to play bass, 1967, there was nothing. No books, internet, videos or tutors. Infact all there was were records and the occasional sighting of a bass player on TV, plus of course a multitude of live music. Once I discovered how to tune a bass, it was just listening to records and sussing out which notes were being played and playing along until I got it right. Actually, there was sheet music but this was nearly always written in the wrong key, I think that a chap sat down at the piano and worked out what the chords were so the songs were mostly in C, and just gave the chord and melody written in dots. Thinking about it, the words were wrong as well. The first song that I learnt to play the bass line too was Purple Haze and I learned that on a Vox Stroller guitar, that I bought form my Mum's mail order catalogue, Marshall Wards's If I remember correctly, for £19 and played through my Dad's Truvox tape recorder. My first 'real' bass was a Vox Clubman strung left handed through a Linear 30 valve head and a home made 2x12 with one speaker not working.

Tried to wind pickups by hand many years ago and the wire kept breaking so I gave up. Often thought that I'd like to have another go now I'm older and wiser, Allegedly.

I was actually trying to make the explanation as simple as possible and to say that to get the same output out of a speaker 3db lower in efficiency you would need to double the amp power but to the ear this will not actually make a lot of difference as you would need a 10db increase to hear an apparent doubling of volume, I thought would have been a bit confusing and also didn't answer the original question.

A speaker has an efficiency and this is defined as how much sound, or how loud, a speaker will go given an input of 1 watt at a distance of 1 meter. A figure of 98db means that with 1 watt input that speaker will have an efficiency of 98db. An increase of 3db is a doubling of output so a 101db speaker will be twice as loud as a 98db speaker. As the 101db efficiency speaker is twice as efficient as the 98db speaker it will only require half the amplifier power to get the same volume hence, [i][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][b]120db with a 98db/w speaker at 1 meter you suggest 200w, but if that goes through a 95db/w speaker then it needs a 400w head, or only 100w with a 102db/w speaker[/b]. [/font][/color][/i][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]There is a lot more to it than that of course, but that is the basic principle.[/font][/color][i][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color][/i][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I hope that explains it for you[/font][/color][i][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif].[/font][/color][/i]

You mark my words. It will all end in a big argument where everyone will fall out with everyone else and no one will talk to each other for months all because someone took a comment the wrong way.

Sorry, don't do facebook or twitter.

My dog ignores my playing but sings to the door bell.

Everyone has that problem when they hear what they sound like for the first time. You do actually get over it quite quickly though. Persever.

Managed to upload pics of my Jack 15s. Phew, that was hard work. [attachment=115681:jack 1.jpg][attachment=115682:jack 2.jpg][attachment=115683:jack 3.jpg]

What you need for the 3015 is a Jack 15. Just so happens that I have a Jack 15, 3015 loaded sitting in my studio just waiting for a new owner if it's of interest. Infact, I've got a pair of them.

Every band's got one. It's up to you whether you can live with it or not. Our drummer's our one, oh, and the guitarist, make that two and we're a three piece.

Both basses in their cases, in the hallway, on their sides / backs with the handles on the top ready to pick up.

Dr Dave, you speak the truth!

The Star Bass followed by the Jazz for me.

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Before they were Brinsley Schwarz they were Kippington Lodge, saw them many times. Might be worth checking them out.[/font][/color]

Got a YBA300 for sale if you're interested. Only done half a dozen gigs.

YBA 300, brilliant. Everything you could want in a valve amp, it's even reasonably light. This might help too. http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/traynor-yba300-730128/. A lot of reading though.

My Carvin B1500 is readily available in the UK.

I had a valve go in my VBA400, replaced the valve and all good again.

What's under the floor your cabs are sitting on?

[b][i]The room acoustics are totally different when the room is empty versus full with an audience.[/i][/b] Shouldn't a good sound engineer adjust for this though. If I'm doing sound I'm constantly listening and making the sound as good as possible not sitting with my feet up chatting to anyone that will listen ignoring what's going on around them or going for a pint. [b][i][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Only by running the instuments through the monitors may what's heard on stage be as close as possible to what's heard out front.[/font][/color][/i][/b] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I said before that trying to get just 3 vocals right in the monitors seems to be impossible let alone a full band. No, I'm quite happy to hear the sound on stage the way I like it and not somebody elses idea of a good mix. I've been in the position where the guys supplying the sound kept turning my amp down so that in the end all I could hear was a muffled bassy rumble in the distance and that was only when the others stopped playing. I spent the whole gig not hearing what I was playing.[/font][/color] [i][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Again written on my Macbook Pro,[/font][/color][/i]

We very rarely have FOH, only once this year so far, so the only thing going through the PA normally is vocals so the back line provides the sound. Being somewhat old school, this is the way that we learned our trade and a situation we are more than happy with. If we have to use provided PA support then we're not normally happy. The sound man does not know the band or the songs and very rarely gets an out front sound that we or people who know the band are happy with. If the bass does not have a lot of FOH support then I couldn't be happier as I know that at least the bass will sound good. For monitoring all we require is just our 3 vocals at the same level through all 3 monitors, is that too much to ask, apparently it is. For instrument monitoring we just hear each other on stage as normal. If you're talking about bleed into the mics, the the bass is DIed, the AC30 is close miced and the drums, well he's a drummer and all he wants is something that sounds like drums, well actually like dustbins. If it was good enough for keif Moon, it's good enough for me and it's Premier. Isn't it strange that if the sound man does manage to get a reasonable sound out front during a sound check how it suddenly changes to rubbish during the gig. Sounds like a bit of a rant this so apologies if it does. Also written on my Macbook Pro.

How many of you actually take a wander around the venue during sound checks and gigs to check out the sound I wonder. I'm wireless and do the sound for the band so do this all the time. I love my 8x10, there's nothing I don't like about it when I'm standing in front of it playing, fantastic sound but the sound out front is not what I hear on stage. I used a pair of Jack 15s for a few gigs and was amazed at how different the sound was. I managed to get my sound on stage easy enough but it was as I was wandering around the venue that I noticed that the sound that I was hearing on stage was following me. The top end which inevitably disappeared, especially when the place was full, was still there. Quite an eye opener, or is that ear opener. The things that Alex and Bill had been saying was there for me to hear and it wasn't just out front that the difference was noticed, the rest of the band commented that they'd actually heard what I was playing for the first time which upset me a bit as I thought that they already appreciated my brilliance. This is only my experience and opinion but at least I've heard a difference which backs up the science. This post was written on my Macbook Pro if you're interested.

Who needs a rhythm guitarist anyway, bass and drums is more than enough to carry the band during solos.

Actually, under EU legislation we now have a 2 year warranty and the last I heard the UK is still in the EU. http://www.eccnl.eu/page/en/themes/Kopen-in-de-EU