Kiwi

[quote name='The Burpster' post='111624' date='Dec 31 2007, 08:47 PM']I know theres a couple of Valvophiles on here and I'll never be one of them, but a warm glowing valve is a wonderful thing to behold......[/quote] Nothing beats the smell of a warm tube amp, its nearly like the smell of a warm cat...

[quote name='Machines' post='111598' date='Dec 31 2007, 07:15 PM']Nicely done - looks lovely. That neck is gorgeous.. Looks like a pre 96 ?[/quote] The bridge isn't offset and still has mute pad springs so I'd put money on it being probably late 80's or early 90's. Not sure when the 3 band eq was introduced though. Whats the serial, if you don't mind me asking Legion?

[quote name='Machines' post='111590' date='Dec 31 2007, 06:53 PM']Just went for a bash on my ABM - the valve circuit has ceased to function ! The further up I turn the knob, the quieter the signal becomes (since it's a hybrid circuit). I did the best I could muster by taking it out, looking at it sternly and putting it back in, but alas it was the same. Does that just sound a like a replacement valve is needed ?[/quote] If the valve does anything other than gently glow orange when the amp is switched on, then its likely that it has gone in some manner. Can you check it in a darkened room? 12AX7's aren't too expensive thankfully.

Sounds to me like the bass had been kept in a damp place and the moisture had softened the paint and corroded the frets/strings - bit of a risky buy! Glad its turned out OK though. All sorts of warpage could have been encountered.

[quote name='bleedproof' post='111461' date='Dec 31 2007, 01:19 PM']The EA iamp 800 will put 800 into 4ohms and 1000 into 2... so it depends on what the cabs are! Stu[/quote] Well the Acme B2's need ideally 4-500w into each cab at 4ohms as a minimum and you can probably put up to twice that into them if you need to. Huge sounding, relatively even response (can be used as PA cabs) and nicely defined low end for 2x10's, they probably won't sound quite as loud as your Epi though if you normally run the rig at full tit. Given the price I've put them up at in the Gallery, you could easily purchase them as a back up and sell them on for what you've paid if it doesn't work out. The only reason I'm selling is that my Trace couldn't power both sufficiently and I already have a GK rig so a third rig was unnecessary if the cabs could sell. I tend to run my basses flat for slap, it saves on faff when switching from slap to fingerstyle and back.

[quote name='BeLow' post='111348' date='Dec 31 2007, 10:40 AM']Buying a rig is tricky - many of us have gone through more rigs than we would care to think about trying to get it right. From my personal experience which is not necessarily the most comprehensive :- Hartke I have found to be a little harsh, although this was using their cheaper paper coned speakers and I have limited experience of them. Generally they seem to do the business in terms of volume and gig worthiness, and a lot of people them use them as a stepping stone to their ultimate rig. Peavey is not a range I have tried much, I have heard some very nice sounding rigs. They have a reputation for reliability and being heavy. They tend to use slightly different minimum impedances - some going down to 2 ohms. Trace elliot up to about the series 6 range were very tough, they tended to be pretty bassy and scooped in sound - the power rating always seemed to be quite conservative compared to other manufacturers - have not tried the new stuff but apparently the bigger more sophisticated versions sound good (if you can afford them). Ashdown have a 'warm' or 'mushy' tone depending on your personal tastes, they appear to attract varying views from fierce loyalty to dismissive criticism. Personally I had a MAG 210 300 watt combo which was cheap, but probably not too efficient and tended to get lost in the mix of a live band, having said that I did try out an ABM rig a while back and it sounded rather nice. I think generally people move on from the MAG range when they can afford it. I have a Markbass little Mark2 head, which is 500 watts, light and efficient. The sound reminds me slightly of trace elliot although it is not quite as dated - occasionally it is criticised for lacking in top end warmth. I use this with an Ashdown styled 4x8 and a home built 1x15. I have just started using a self built BFM designed Omni 10.5 cab. The Omni is a single 10" speaker which is light and efficient. the combination of this with the larger 15" speakers gives clarity with a big slab of warm bass. This works well but if you play a lot of longer multi note slap fills it can sound a little mushy, but I do like the solidity of the bass response I get with it. Just to make things worse for you, as some one has mentioned the best sound in the shop environment can be misleading. When playing solo we often favour the classic boost of bass and treble and cut mids, while this can be a great sound for slap in the shop, if you are in a large guitar band you may find you have to be very loud to cut through in the mix. Alternatively you can boost the mids to improve how you cut through - but this does not sound as pleasing when you listen to it on its own. Again I woud re-emphasise the difference between what looks good and sounds impressive and what the working bass player uses made by others. Although some do use 8x10 cabs they are pretty dedicated and / or have helpful band mates, as they are tricky to move about. They are for most bass players slight overkill - although they do look great on stage. Even an 4x10 can be a handful, a sad reality is that you may start looking at sack barrows and estate cars longingly rather than sexy bass cabs.[/quote] Lovely bit of unbiased insight there, thanks! I've been taking notes.

[quote name='bleedproof' post='110905' date='Dec 30 2007, 12:22 PM']I may however look at getting a 210 as I've spent quite a lot of time playing through them and while I never disliked them, they may require reconsideration.[/quote] I guess the thing to watch out for with many 2x10 cabs is that the bottom end can sometimes sound poorly defined. Best sounding combination of speakers I've generally heard to date in a small to medium sized rig is a 2x10 and 1x15. The 2x10 adds a nice load of punch and the 1x15 puts out some tight, full bottom end. Also consider getting wedge shaped 2x10"s if you can find any you like. Having them angled up at you off the floor makes a tremendous difference to what you can hear. The other thing I haven't asked is what kind of slap sound are you after? There's a load to choose from Louis Johnson, to Mark King and Marcus Miller. I could also put a quick plug in for my Acme 2x10's but I'm not sure whether your EA head would put out enough for them. Generally they need 500w each.

I first listened to my Trace V8 400w through Tonyf's Warwick 611 and it sounded fine. If the cab is fairly sensitive (ie >100dB) you should be able to use it with a lower powered head with fairly satisfactory results. Why not drop Tony a PM and ask him about the heads he's used with his? Always try before you buy though.

Well the thing I'm aware of is how the mids get soaked up by the punters in a venue. Good mids are the key to any decent bass sound on stage so I'm wondering how much of your issue is caused by the venue and how much by your rig? If its caused by the venue, there's no point in getting better quality kit unless it solves a specific problem. If your rig is the issue then you should probably tailor your set up towards more mid emphasis. I'd imagine the EA is a pretty aggressive sounding amp in being solid state however I wouldn't have made Epiphani my first choice in cabs. They tend to be quite warm sounding and a bit lacking in upper mids generally but I have no way of knowing whether your EA amp compensates for that in any way. The Epi cab + solid state head generally seems to be a popular choice with other BC'ers (particularly GK and Epi) so there's an inference that it might be OK. But what I also don't know is how loud your onstage monitoring volume is. You'd probably find it more difficult to hear yourself if everyone else is playing loudly even if you had lots of power because the sound will get muddier as it gets louder. So if you do play loud on stage maybe the cheapest answer would be to ask everyone to turn down? FWIW Bass Central have a couple of EA 2x10 cabs for sale at the moment for £300 each I think. Given their light weight - might be worth getting them shipped over? [url="http://www.basscentral.com/2003/used.shtml"]<a href="http://www.basscentral.com/2003/used.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.basscentral.com/2003/used.shtml[/url]</a>

Bubinga sucks the treble out of many instruments I've tried, it makes them feel less lively to me but it can add warmth when used in small amounts in neck laminates. Rob has told me he reckons lots of woods sound the same if they have similar density and weight. I see so many graphite necked basses paired with ash and the combination sounds very brittle to my ears and with swamp ash, it completely lacks low end oomph and midrange. One thing I'd like to hear is a graphite bolt on necked instrument with a bubinga body.

[quote name='jonthebass' post='109885' date='Dec 27 2007, 03:20 PM']What make are you using now out of interest?[/quote] I'm just using a cable for the third bass but otherwise two other identical Trantec S2000 units. The only difference is the frequency. Didn't know that Trantec had a reputation... ...might be worth giving one of them new fangled digital units a go, methinks.

interesting, I used to have one Trantec S2000 diversity unit that worked on 177Mhz and I never used it because the signal was full of interference and noise. The other two I still have are fine and ran on 173.8 and 174.5. Is it likely the 177 didn't work because of a frequency issue or was it an electronic problem with something wearing out?

what do you mean by a "lack of feel"?

But at various times I've had the following bits of kit:

Here's both of mine currently. Trace Elliot V8 valve rig: Good for fat sounds, heavy sounds, and random internal decoration. GK SS rig: Good for the Smith basses and situations where I'm swapping between instruments often. Plus two 140w Burman Pro4000 heads: One of these has 10 hours playing time since new in 1984. My first decent rig was a Peavey TNT150 followed by a Trace AH250 Series 6 with a Peavey 410TX and then an SWR Triad cab. That all happened before I actually owned a camera. Photographic records started with this: and at one point it got as crazy as this:

I think there was one for sale for a long time in the classifieds. Might be worth having a trawl?

alternatively you might want to go for a bright zingy sound

I can't help you with the Mac, but you can get a Roland PC200 keyboard on Ebay for cheap as chips (quite literally I've seen 'em go for £6).

OK I gigged the GK 210RBH on Saturday and it was awesomely powerful at the gig - loads of oomph and it was all clean. Amazing. However I started missing midrange towards the end of the gig, not sure whether that was me or the amp. I'll have to rehearse with it just to be sure it wasn't something to do with the positioning of the cab (it was stacked for the gig but I've had better results with the combo when its been angled). It might also be that the cab needs breaking in a little. The other was an EBS 212 Neo from Loudandclear. I have to admit I was absolutely astounded by the weight (or lack of) of this thing. Truly incredible. Yet the sound is very full if a little sizzly coz of the tweeter. The Trace V8 has taken on a new lease of life with this cab so I'm looking forward to trying it out! I may end up looking for a matching EBS 210 neo and then just taking the GK RB700 head out of the combo and switching between that and the Trace V8 depending on what basses are needed for the gig.

[quote name='bassjamm' post='109040' date='Dec 24 2007, 07:03 PM']Yeah man, the F Bass is staying put, although, getting the amp hadn't persuaded me to do that, i'd already realised letting it go would be a cardinal sin!!![/quote] Mission accomplished then [quote name='bassjamm' post='109040' date='Dec 24 2007, 07:03 PM']However, if i cam across a nice P bass with a J pup in, i may be tempted...but my monies going to be waiting for a nice old Fender[/quote] Well, how about an old Fender with a p/j pickup combination? They do come up on fleabay and because they've been buggered about with, the prices are often quite reasonable - even for gigging instruments. Plus you won't have to be too precious about keeping it in good condition, in fact the occasional extra ding would probably just add to its mojo. [quote name='bassjamm' post='109040' date='Dec 24 2007, 07:03 PM']Did you end up with Flanker's Celindar P Bass as well as the 4 string Update?[/quote] Yeah, I've got both of Flankers 4 stringed Celinders plus the Stingray which gives me a full house as far as funky 70's bass sounds go. I never expected to use the Celinder Update P as much as I do but it completely nails the sounds on so many 70's soul, disco and funk covers. The Update J doesn't really get a look in at the moment.

I've pretty much got all the basses I've ever gassed for. Having said that, there is the Shuker MIDI 6 being made and I wish I didn't need to take 3 basses to a gig to cover all the different bass tones. So if there was a 5 string bass which could do a MM Stingray and a p-bass sound, that would be good... I do admit to having a weakness for well made English valve bass amps though.

[quote name='birdy' post='109049' date='Dec 24 2007, 07:13 PM']Hi Steve, I still have the white Metro (so glad I didn't sell it) and to be honest there isn't much between them at all which is what I expected as Roger Sadowsky says that the Metros are as good as the NYC basses if you don't want any special features.[/quote] [quote name='birdy' post='109049' date='Dec 24 2007, 07:13 PM']For gods sake don't let me near your Celinders as I have heard great things about them. Oh no is it GAS?!?... EDIT: Just a point regarding my opinion of Sadowsky basses for anyone who is interested and has heard one or played one and doesn't get what all the fuss is about. When you play them solo they sound good but I have heard nicer sounding tones on other high end basses depending on what you like. Where they excel is on recordings and live. They really cut through the mix so well and have great defined low end with sizzling highs. Steve[/quote] Well all credit to Roger for not trying to hype his US made basses out of the stratosphere. The Celinders are great for 70's bass sounds, I can't fault them on that front - great recording workhorses. But not too aggressive in the midrange - that's where I think Sadowskies have the edge as a live instrument.

lovely looking axe mate how does it compare to the white metro you had a while back? I thought that was a pretty sweet instrument.