The fasting showman

The old Ashly SC40 instrument preamp sounds great, has a brilliant eq section, and has been used by a lot of big names over the years. Yet another piece of gear I flogged for next to nothing back in the late '80s...sigh. I've seen them turn up for around £200ish.

To add, there's two G12-65s with 444 cone codes on ebay now. Same seller, one is £50 buy it now and the other £35 with a small repair. Might be worth a look? All the best, Martin

Hello again, The 444 cone code (written in white on the cone) is the bass version of the G12-75 that Celestion made for the JCM800 bass cabs, so that's the one you want. It came with a cloth edge. There's lots of info from people like Southbay Amp / Scumback works (I think!) online. Worth a look, but it is from the guitarist using bass speakers perspective. The 444 code bass speakers also cropped up in the pre JCM800 1982 model general purpose / high power cabs as well as the usual bass 4x12s, model 1935 and 1984 cabs . The speakers were (again from memory!) Celestion coded TF1281 and despite the Marshall black label the speakers were a G12-80 in the late JMP 1982s. I think these were a G12-30 descendant and featured 100db rating. There's also pre JCM800 G12-65s that had a 444 cone code, black Marshall label and a Celestion code of TF1221, these cropped up in Marshall 1935 cabs, 97db rating I believe. Probably again from the 1979-1981 era. So 2nd hand wise I'd be on the lookout for those two mentioned above as well as G12-75s and 65s with the 444 cone code. As with running valve amps you'll need a good rapport with repair people, reconers etc. Good luck, hope I've helped Martin

Hello, I've owned a few Marshall bass 4x12s over the years (I think the current VBC412 is the best they've ever made) and have always enjoyed the sound in rock bands. Sorry if you already know this but the bass model 12s had a cone code (Kurt Mueller cones that is) of 444 , the lead models were 1777. When Celestion used to sell replacements back in the '80s the 12s were sometimes suffixed CE for cloth, or cambric, edge. Pulsonic cones have a different code but that's for the way back in the early '70s cabs. I think the 444 code implies 55hz resonance (rather than 75hz for 1777 cones) and obviously that's high by modern standards but great for the rock bass sound that you probably like. So to clarify, the Celestion model would appear the same, say G12-75, but the only differentiating factor between lead and bass was the cone code. So I've always tried to establish that the 12s in my old JMP or JCM cabs had the right cone code, often a lead speaker would get replaced into it just because somebody had got their hands on a G12-80 plonked it in and assumed that all things were equal. I think, just to muddy the waters, that the Celestion Vintage 30 has a 444 cone code but a paper edge; by that I'd avoid them for bass personally. Probably sound good if you can afford to keep replacing them! Cheers, Martin

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1384435912' post='2276634'] SB700, surely. I appreciated the seller's courtesy in telling me it was gone. For quite a few gumtree ads, I send off a query and hear nothing in return. [/quote]That's all that ever happens of late, I've been trying to land a Yamaha BB414. I'm starting to think Gumtree is a waste of time.

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1384081208' post='2272462'] maybe a bit like this ? [media]http://youtu.be/AI2k6aseNqg[/media] [/quote]Andrew Bodnar sounds great on this doesn't he?

[quote name='Balcro' timestamp='1382117109' post='2248299'] Good job you checked in here first before "ruining them in". No that's not a misprint. As BFm says, the pages & pages of threads on this subject must now add up to a saga. So much so, that we need a pinned "Read This First" sub-forum. However, you may be lucky. You may not be so lucky. We shall see. We need to know detail. Tell us the exact description of the speakers you've bought - are they the Sovereign 12-500LF as shown on the Fane website? Secondly, as a crude starting point only: the 2 H&H speaker boxes. We need the dimensions and a description of the ports or slots. Pictures would be helpful. Balcro. [/quote]I'd get the dimensions ready Dev if I were you. Balcro (Alan) was a great help to me with the DIY 1x15 Faital cab build I did earlier this year. If the HH cabs don't pass muster for whatever reason the DIY route isn't anything to fear with the help you'll get on Basschat from Balcro, Phil Starr and others. The birch ply for the cab I made (12mm 8x4 sheet) came to £42 incl VAT and the saw cuts( carried out on a saw bench with fixed fence) were thrown in free at Travis Perkins. I dare say there's cheaper suppliers and ply etc but the saw cuts were so accurate the build was very easy. Regarding porting tube, the 4 inch ports popular on many cabs in the industry are (if I recall!) 102mm internal and 110mm external, either way it's the same as black soil stack poly pipe... Good luck, Martin

Looks very smart, I remember trying one of these out last year and it was very impressive and resonant, great value. I was watching a Youtube clip earlier this week of Eddie Cochran and band playing live, the bassist comes across very well considering he seems to be playing through a 50 watt 4x10 bassman. It's a contoured body single coil P-bass of course. I think the Blue caps are on the same bill, also on youtube.

[quote name='nick' timestamp='1377723959' post='2191049'] Pino Palladino Andy Fraser Stuart Zender. Nick Fyffe. Paul Turner Sting Geezer Butler John Deacon Jean Jacques Burnell Paul McCartney Lemmy Jack Bruce Steve Harris Dougie Poynter Norman Watt-Roy Boz Burrell John Paul Jones Rick Laird Ric Grech Percy Jones Roy Babbington Boz Burrell Dave Holland Jeff Clyne Mo Foster Hugh Hopper Yolanda Charles John "rhino" Edwards Chris squire John Entwistle Danny Thompson Mani Andy Rourke Herbie Flowers Roger Waters Guy Pratt Mike Rutherford Peter Hook Mick Karn Roger glover Pete Cruikshank Barry Adamson John Wetton Paul Gardiner Greg Lake John Giblin Neil Murray Trevor Bolder Roger Waters Rick Kemp Cliff Williams Martin Turner John Taylor Kev Hopper Roy Wainwright Alan Spenner [/quote]Bruce Thomas

I can't see a problem with using a stepdown either, as Bremen has said, once you've established the consumption which won't be huge I'd guess. I owned a USA '70s Ampeg v4B that I sourced a replacement UK mains transformer for from Fliptops in the US; this was only because I was sick of dragging a heavy stepdown around along with a heavy amp. It was an easy drop in for our local amp tech. I'm stating the obvious, I don't mean to insult your intelligence: keep the original transformer in case you sell the amp on if you go down the route of switching out the mains transformer.

Not contemporary but I'd say Todd Rundgren's 'Sons of 1984' fits the criteria!

PM'd

I'm out of touch with the last 20 years let alone 10, that aside I'll nominate N.E.R.D 'she wants to move'.

I used to use a '70s V4B with a Marshall VBC 412 and the combination worked very well. Too loud for most gigs I did but a great sound, other bassists seemed to comment on how well the head and cab matched up. I found 4x10s didn't seem to work as well particularly a SVT410HE that I briefly owned. I hope the new V4B is as good as the old one, I preferred mine to the SVTs I had. The active mid circuit does all the work to get you heard, very gritty.

I was very relieved to see that the dates on neck or body didn't happen to be 17/11/68! It would have been a blow the family war-chest job. It's much nicer than my 3x2 slab of a mudbucker '72.

Yeah Nick, I can't see why GK themselves couldn't be contacted via email, I gave up despite getting various contacts off Talkbass. I hope they don't lose interest in the RB series, they're fantastic amps. As I've ranted elsewhere they should do a reissue 'heritage' 400rb and 800rb, just like somebody should do a reissue Acoustic 370!

[quote name='gelfin' timestamp='1375908177' post='2167390'] Be very wary of getting it from polar audio. I did last year for a 2000RB. They sent one with the wrong electrical values and it blew the amp main board. GK were very helpful and basically supplied all the internal electronics required to fix it "free of charge" Check the spec of any transformer with GK before you fit it. [/quote]Good advice. How did you manage to contact GK in the US? I just kept getting my emails bounced back to me; I figured that Polar were the only contact if you are in the UK as far as GK are concerned. Cheers, Martin

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1375863794' post='2166513'] The story that I have seen in at least two different interviews with people involved with recording of Frankie Goes To Hollywood and have had confirmed by a friend with inside information, is that The Blockheads including NWR were asked to play on one of the early versions of "Relax". These recordings weren't used as they didn't have the feel that Trevor Horn was looking for. By the time that both "Relax" and "Two Tribes" were released they had gone through multiple recordings and mixes. In the end the majority of the rhythm tracks had been created on the Fairlight CMI using individual note sampling and the Page R sequencer to create the actual performance. It my have been that some of those individual bass notes came from the NWR recordings, but by the time the tracks were completed but no-one knows or was willing at the time to admit to that. Besides having individual notes sampled and then re-sequenced into a new performance hardly counts as having played on the track. Remember this is in the days when sample memory was very limited and even on a very expensive state of the art instrument like the Fairlight, sampling was all about getting the most out of the shortest sample possible. Sampling a whole musical phrase was completely unheard of at the time. The basslines for Relax and Two Tribes could have been covered with 2-3 individual note samples and some clever programming. The recordings for the first Frankie Goes To Holywood album were so much the product of the studio that TBH whose performances were used other than the vocals was largely irrelevant. The important part was the songwriting which shows in the strength of the singles and the relative weakness of the other tracks on the album where no amount of flash production can disguise the fact that some of the songs simply aren't very good. Frankie Goes To Hollywood also played Two Tribes on The Tube a couple of weeks after their debut performance of Relax. The version aired had pretty much the same instrumental parts as the final recording that was released. All that was added to the recorded version was a tightening up of the arrangement and the big Trevor Horn production. [/quote]I think that summarises what happened on the record well. There's very good interviews with Trevor Horn and Steve Lipson in Howard Massey's 'Behind the glass vol 2' that give good insight. Also good interviews with Trevor Horn and Paul Morley in Simon Reynolds' 'Totally Wired' and 'Rip it up and start again'. Apologies if this has been mentioned elsewhere.

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1375859527' post='2166455'] If it is a standard voltage [url="http://www.rapidonline.com/Electrical-Power/115-230V-Toroidal-Transformers-Dual-Primary-82719"]http://www.rapidonli...l-Primary-82719[/url] [/quote]The 800va ones look like a good deal on Phil's list. Can't believe that I got mine from Polar this time last year for £88! Just be very precise with the measurements, Nick. Fitting the toroid into the space between the power amp PCB and the amp sides is a bit tricky, it takes a bit of rotating around the M8 bolt to get it right. PM me if you want me to take the top cover of my 400rb and check anything, Nick. Martin

...maybe try and drop on one the GK combos at the right price and pull the head out of the combo box for louder situations? Could be a good compromise Mick.

Hi Mick, I've got a Mk1 400rb whereas the one on ebay is a Mk3; not sure if the Mkiv came about due to fan issues on the Mk3. I could be wrong, so have a look on the net, I bet it sounds great. If there's a circuit update maybe Polar audio could advise. My lower powered Mk1 is very potent through a ballsy cab, even drives an 8x10 well. On the 400rb front there's a Mkiv combo on Gumtree for £350. As to the combo(1x15 or otherwise) cutting it I guess it's down to how your bandmates play and how under control their sound is; sorry to be vague but I've played in many bands where it's a volume war. All the best, Martin

Hi Mick, Yonks ago I had a Line 6 bass pod, and if I recall correctly there was a setting on there that replicated a GK800RB into a Hartke 410xl ( setting named 80's? or similar). At the time I had an Ampeg SVT valve setup and I was very sniffy about non valve gear; I remember though that the GK/Hartke setting, along with the Fliptop setting, was my favourite stock sound in there! Then I eventually dropped on a GK head and I don't hanker after valve gear at all now. As I said if all works well you'll have a great sounding setup mate. Martin

I think providing that the head and cab are in good working order, they'll make a good combination. A GK head partnered with Hartke cabs was one of the most popular set ups 20 years ago. Given how bright and punchy GKs are, I think you'll be better off without a tweeter; on the newer amps (mine are the old 400 and 800rbs so others will know better than me) I believe that the 'boost' circuit only works on the low end part of the bi-amp setup. I'd guess that the grit comes from high mids rather than scratch treble.

I got the idea off, ahem, Talkbass. There's seems to be a school of thought that if you buy an old GK, jumper the FX loop as a matter of routine. Our local tech says that other amps suffer from this also. With both of my amps the onset of the problems( cut outs, very scratchy pots, all sorts of heartstoppers) was all very sinister, the patch lead sorted it all out. At the very least it sounded like problem was with the gain or master pot, the more you turned the dials the worse it manifested itself. Lo and behold the jumper cured it. They are great sounding amps, I'm sure the 200mb is also. If it isn't cured by the solution I've given try and have a word with Polar Audio, their distributors. I've found them very helpful, I had to source a hard to get UK mains transformer to convert mine from 120v and they sorted it.

As a fan of GK amps (mine are old though) I'll give my stock answer; try putting a jumper patch lead between the FX send and return jack. It's cured both of mine doing funny intermittent splutters, cut outs etc. Like many people with these amps the patch lead just becomes a permanent fixture. It's worth a try with a spare lead just in case, might save you visiting an amp tech. Admittedly, it's older amps that get quirky in this area, there's a switching jack on the return socket; a Switchcraft on the old 400/800RBs. Good luck!