shizznit

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1327011625' post='1505343'] When it's done I'll get some pics up - next week beckons! [/quote] Tidy! Looking foward to that

I have recruited a few friends from the S.Wales area...7 of us are going down on the train! I am going to be giggling with excitement like a little school girl on the way there! I haven't been this excited about a gig for years

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1327042107' post='1505499'] First it was into a car boot bought plastic record player via my dad's ultra complicated system of crocodile clips. BC Rich 30 Watt combo Laney Linebacker 100 watt head and a HH 215 (Norfolk and Good) Hartke 1400 into a Hartke 410XL Currently the LM Tube and the aggies. Sounds great and is perfect for what I do now but 410s are more fun. Pretty minimal for 24 years of playing! [/quote] Minimal? Nah...not really. My friend Ed has been using the same mk2 Peavey 400w amp and 215 cab since the day he bought it 20yrs ago! Never owned anything else!

Blimey!!! I saw the price of a new Thumb! It's now more expensive that my MTD 535!!! I bought mine in 2002 when it retailed for £2050. It's now retailing at £2700!!! Are you serious...really?? How did a stock model gain £650 in 10yrs?

[quote name='Linus27' timestamp='1327014493' post='1505401'] Can others post how they have their EQ please. [/quote] Ooops! Forgot to do this a couple of days ago! Even though I tweak my EQ and compression to suit either a passive or active tone I do also make subtle changes depending on which bass I use. I usually set my active EQ on the basses flat with a slight cut in mid and a slight boost in high's. If I want to fiddle around with the EQ for a slap tone, blues tone, tap tone, dub tone, lead tone or a soft ballad type tone I just tweak the bass and leave the amp alone, so I do try to keep the amp as flat as possible, but acoustics may alter one or two settings. Every one of my basses have evey different characterstics and make the amp behave differently. I tend to keep the same settings across the board and adjust the compression and mid controls to suit. I would normally use my Aguilar TLC compressor through the effects loop, but I will list the settings that I would use if I didn't use it. I have illustrated the settings on a boost/cut method from the centre flat point of the controls. [u]MTD 535 / Active[/u] Comp 50% Bass Flat Middle -20% Freq 600Hz Treble +10% Bright +10% [u]Lakland 55-02 / Active[/u] Comp 60% Bass Flat Middle Flat Freq 800Hz Treble +10% Bright +10% [u]Warwick Thumb / Active[/u] Comp 40% Bass Flat Middle Flat Freq 600Hz Treble Flat% Bright -10% So, no huge differences. I set the EQ according how lively the bass is. The MTD's natural tone is the flatest of the bunch, but sounds really funky, so I prefer a scooped tone on the amp. The Lakland is also quite flat, but is a bit warmer and has a softer attack, so I boost the mid frequency a bit more to give a bit more repsonse to the speakers. The Warwick is just nuts! It has a lot more natural mid aggression and the high end sings a lot more than the other basses, so I try to pin back the excited tone on that one. Okay...now passive. This is where is goes a bit mad! [u]MTD / Passive[/u] Comp 30% Bass +20 Middle Flat Freq 400Hz Treble Flat% Bright 20% [u]Lakland / Passive[/u] Comp 30% Bass +20 Middle +10 Freq 500Hz Treble -10% Bright 20% [u]Warwick / Passive[/u] Comp 40% Bass +20 Middle -10% Freq 800Hz Treble Flat% Bright 30% The Warwick is the weirdest bass in passive mode. In active mode it is the most lively bass in the mid range, but in passive it seems to disappear quite dramatically and sound a bit spongy. That bass really is quite bonkers! In all cases I like my bass tone very warm and punchy to get those Bernard Edwards type tones, especially on the Lakland using the parallel switch to the MM pickup.

There are lots of luthiers in the UK can can build you a stunning and high quality made to order instrument cheaper than some of the Warwick stock models. Those prices are simply ridiculous!

[quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1326976456' post='1504529'] Sorry, but who do you play for? [/quote] I am not a recording artist anymore and I am more involved in studio work for the past few years, but 11yrs ago I was playing for a band called Kosher when Warwick picked me up. Warwick were not independent in the UK at the time and the artist rep who worked for a distributer for Warwick hooked me up after meeting me at a support gig we were doing for my mate Glen who just got his sponsorship a few months before. Warwick ditched that distributor and set up independently in Manchester...then reviewed their artist list. I got canned...even Glen did too and his band was way more well known and popular as us. The artist rep with MAD really believed in supporting up and coming bands, but the Germans didn't see it that way and only kept the players that are associated with chart successful acts. The only reason why I had that many Warwicks is because I already owned 2 Corvette Prolines before I got the sponsorship and aquired the other 4 over a course of about 5yrs, but I still had to pay for them at a slightly discounted price after I had my pathetic advance from the label.

Warwick prices have gone through the roof in recent years making them much more unobtainable. I have been told by a reliable source it’s because some of the woods they buy are becoming scarce or difficult to get in the first place. Warwick use wenge for their fingerboards on most of their models and it is sourced from Zaire. There has been a cival war there for quite some time and that has affected the availability and price. Ovangkol is becoming scarce too (but I can’t remember why!). Those are their most commonly used woods. I was fortunate enough to be sponsored by Warwick for a few years until they decided I wasn’t important enough and pulled the plug on me! I owned 6 basses and all were incredible…I would recommend them to anyone. The Korean basses I have played have been surprisingly very good. Some of us can get quite snobby about instruments built in the far east or pacific ring, but if you can gloss over that the Korean Warwicks are great value and tick a lot of the same boxes as the German made instruments. Very impressed. So much so I am putting some money aside to buy a fretless Alien 5 String. Played one at the Bass Gallery when I popped in to say hello to Martin. Very nice! Dunno why I am promoting Warwick because I am still quite bitter about how the artist rep treated me back then, but I cannot lie to you…I love their basses!

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1326973798' post='1504463'] I'm building a passive jazz, with reversed headstock. Maple neck and bound fretboard. Just something kitsch. I don't think people realise how much work even the basic stuff takes! I think I spent an entire day sanding the body! [/quote] YAY!!! I'm not the only one who likes reverse headstocks on basses!! Always wanted a Jazz with a reverse headstock. Can't wait to see what it looks like when it's finished!

Oh gosh, I have been saying to the misus for years that if I had the workspace at home I would start building basses. I have a friend that builds about 4-5 basses a year and are absolutely beautiful. He doesn't brand them and just does it for fun. Never bought one as they are quite pointy and built for metal players (most of his customers are from Norway and Sweden!)...not really my thing, but the build quality and tone is astonishing for someone that is completely self taught. Mark is really missing his vocation! He has offerred to train me if I ever get around to finding the workspace and buy the kit. I have visited the Warwick factory in Germany on a day off whilst on tour over there and a fella called Peter guided me through every manufacturing process in fine detail. It educated me quite a bit and realised how easy it is to bodge a job! Gosh, you need a lot of patience and a very good eye for detail when building a bass!

Thats a fair price for a 2nd hand Ricky 360/6. They usually retail for around £1600. Even if you lose interest advancing your guitar skills you won't lose any money on resale (maybe even make a few quid). I always buy instruments as investments and this is not a bad one. Knock him down to £900

Thats has to be one of the prettiest fingerboards I have ever seen! Absolutely stunning!

[quote name='Linus27' timestamp='1326912523' post='1503711'] Ok tweeter is switched on at the back of the cab, Active filter on the Reidmar is turned on and turning the bright dial does nothing at all. All the way round to the right and back and there is no change whatsoever in the tone :( At the moment, with the dodgy speakeron socket and now this, I really am not happy. [/quote] Email Ralph @ EBS mate. That doesn't sound right at all :-(

All very true and I am not disagreeing with you, but monitors are not designed or built in the same way as instrument speakers. Bass guitar speakers are tuned and voiced very differently and I have had that lesson told to me by both an amp manufacturer and sound engineers. I have played through a HK 10" fold back monitor worth 1k that was pumping out more kick drum that I could handle from 4m away, so it always comes down to purpose and engineering. Take for example (this is relative)...my near field monitors are rated at 40w and I could pick up a practice amp that is also rated at 40w. What will sound better and be more powerful? Well, the nearfield monitors would sound better naturally because they are designed for clarity and flat response, but the practice would be louder and clip less because the driver is designed to deal with the intended frequencies. Bass players tend to have more rhythm section mixed in their monitors than other instruments. I can't stand having my horn section through my monitors and I sometimes don't even like the guitar in there either. I used to use the same monitors as the rest of the band (apart from the drummer), but the kick was breaking up and the tweeter was distorting because my mix for the drums is much higher than the other guys monitors. Our sound guy has been in the business for a long time and has a huge rig. We switched to one of the 212 monitors that the drummer uses and problem solved. Why? Because its designed for fast and low frequencies. If you put the same monitor in front of the singers they would freak immediately because it won't deliver what they want to hear clearly. Okay...I'm fibbing a bit...I do disagree with one thing (sorry!). Having a speaker angled to improve bass projection simply doesn't happen. Bass works from the ground up because of acoustic resonance. That's why bass bins live on the floor and tops...well...live on top! Not once have I ever seen bass bins above or in line of the audience. Okay...onto in ear monitors now... (only kidding!)

I'm not a PA expert, but passive monitors are cheaper and lighter and a lot of people try their best to keep the cost of a PA down as much as possible...a decent one is bloody expensive! Be careful though. Not all foldback monitors work well with bass especially at high volumes. Some are full range with tweeters and will fry as soon as you feed the bass and drums through it. That's why my engineer sets up a basic but very strong 212 monitor with two massive front ports for my use only, but it's designed for drum monitoring and doesn't have a tweeter. Foldback monitors are there to help you hear the rest of the band for reference...not as a backline rig. It's not down to me to advise you not to use them, but if you chose to do this take it easy as the drivers may not be strong enough to cope as the monitor might be designed for vocals and light instruments only.

Bummer! That's the 'Bullseye' paradox for ya..."Here's what you could have won!" Sorry you have to return it back to Jon mate, but hopefully you will get it back very soon.

Couldn't find a topic on the forum about this, but if I have missed something...apologies! What was your first amp and your amp history? When other players tell me what their first amp was it's usually worse than their first bass! But, it's interesting to see a players amp history to see how their ears or taste has developed over the years. My first amp was a Carlsbro Cougar 90w combo which was given to me by a friend. The thing was played to death by the time I had it and most of the knobs have been ripped off after being dragged out of the car. I thought it was the bee's knee's at the time, but I look back at it now and think "OMG...did I actually own one of those!?" History.... [list] [*]Carlsbro Cougar 90 [*]Trace Elliot AH600SMX + 410 & 115 [*]Hartke 3500 + 410 & 115 [*]Hartke 7500 + 2x 410 (it was at this point of upgrade that I preferred an all 410 setup) [*]Warwick Quad 6 x2 + 4x 410 (1st proper tour rig...wasn't fussed on those amps at all) [*]Carlsbro Viper 500 x2 + 4x 410 (this was an endorsement rig which I would rather sooner forget!) [*]EBS HD350 + 410 & 210 [*]EA iAmp 500 (White face...uber rare!) [*]David Eden XLT210 cab [*]Trace Elliot 1215 500w combo (sold that almost immediately...weighed a tonne!) [*]Markbass LMIII [*]EBS Reidmar 250 [/list] Most of that no longer lives with me with the exception of the EBS gear, the iAmp and David Eden cab. More than happy with that pick of the bunch

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1326891233' post='1503258'] I'd have claimed the bass was knackered (take the battery out) and laid a monster guilt-trip on the singer by way of revenge. One unethical turn deserves another... [/quote] Hehe! That's just plain mean (but considerable!)

As we say in Wales...TIDY!!!! So pleased for you mate

Tweeter horns operate with very little power and can be quite sensitive to unstable electric current. I have come across this problem a few times before myself. If the crackling is not there when the amp is home then problem identified, but failing that doing a quick general health check like EBS_Freak did won't hurt. Tweeter problems are generally easy to diagnose and remedy.

[quote name='swanbrook' timestamp='1326842651' post='1502822'] I worked my ass off for every bass I have and can tell how much I paid for everyone of them [/quote] Thats a good point. Sometimes that fact is missed when someone knocks over your pride and joy. Emotional attachment for an inanimate object is always hard to convey to another person, but when you have had to graft hard to buy a top instrument it symbolises every hour you had to work to get it. That's why I don't get upset about knocking over a £60 microphone!

Is it there yet? Is it there yet? Is it there yet? Is it there yet? We're waiting with baited breath!!

Now that’s a tasty partnership! Glad you are enjoying your new EBS rig! I am able to switch between passive and active tones on all of my basses. Especially on my Lakland because I can get a pretty convincing J, P or MM tone...three of my favourite basses! I love warm old school tones as much as modern hi-fi tones. Passive mode sounds great through the Reidmar, but I do have to tweak the EQ a little to compensate for the active 3 band EQ settings on the bass as the volume dips a bit and sounds a quite flat. I boost the mid control to about 12-1 o’clock, the roll back the mid frequency control to 200-400Hz and roll back the bright control to about 9 o’clock or turn it off completely depending if I am using the tweeter horn or not. Because I don’t use 12” or 15” speakers I might have to boost the bass control a tad too. Those tweaks deliver a lot more punch and warmth and I can get some very nice Bernard Edwards, James Jamerson type tones. The bright control is a very cool feature on all EBS amps, but like EBS_Freak said it can take your head off…even with the tweeter set to -0dB! It works a little bit like the VLE control on Mark Bass amps or Enhance control on David Eden amps. It will tighten up the mids a bit, but it has way more attack and fizz than the Mark Bass and David Eden amps. I always say to folks that the tone is much more focussed than scooped because there is still a bit of mid punch in there. A couple of other EBS owners I know will use the bright control to open up the tweeter when the mood takes them. Of course, it doesn’t actually control the tweeter horn…you will still have to use the dial on the back of the cab to do this, but the voicing of the cab really responds to the bright control dramatically. I usually use the bright control when I want a hi-fi tone. I rarely set it past 12 o’clock (because it makes me squint!) and I apply a bit more compression to get a very fast and attacking slap tone. As for your Warwick’s, the MEC pickups are different animals compared to your Fender pickups. My Thumb sounds great either passive or active through any amp, but MEC pickups are tuned very flat by design, so you will notice a difference in tone when stood next to a Fender bass. Remember the ‘Sound of Wood’ slogan that Warwick promotes for their instruments? They focus on the wood tone characteristic of a bass rather than have the electronics do all the donkey work, that’s why you hear a more organic growly tone from a Warwick bass which is appealing to many players. Anyway, point being is that every brand of bass will make an amp behave differently and you may find tweaking your amp a bit to get your desired tone. EBS amps are sensitive, hyperactive little puppies and are very clean and clear with beautiful harmonic quality. I have played a £80 non-branded Korean eBay bass belonging to one of my students through my HD350 amp and still sounded great. I have no doubt that your Warwick’s will sound just the way you want them using the Reidmar. It takes a little bit of time to get used to a new amp, but you will find the money shot for your all of your basses in no time. I will post a couple of photo’s a bit later that will show what EQ settings I dial in for my passive and active tones. Naturally, they won’t be to everyone’s liking, but it will demonstrate how differently I set the amp depending on which bass I use either in passive or active mode. Some settings will have very little change, bit a little goes a long way with this amp!

I know a player that uses his 9.0 with a Mesa 810. Looks so cute on top of that monster!