redstriper

Thanks for all the positive comments, I'm feeling quite the groovy dubmeister now ! It's all simple stuff, a lot easier than other styles and probably boring to more technical players. It's all about feel and the interplay with the other musicians and when it works and the crowd is digging it too, there's no better buzz. I always put our gig dates on myspace and if anyone from this forum wants to attend, let me know and I'll put you on the guest list if I can. Also, we're always looking for gigs if anyone fancies a reggae party.............

[quote name='molan' post='409248' date='Feb 14 2009, 09:12 AM']Listening to you right now - Welsh dub, good stuff here, liking it a lot [/quote] Thanks man - all tracks recorded live in my front room so ruff & ready (just like me).

I've been playing nothing but reggae for 30 years - it's a spiritual thing and a direct route to the soul. It's a music you feel with your heart rather than hear with your head and who feels it knows it. To all those bassists who wish they were in a reggae band I say - form one now, today's dream is tomorrow's reality. The sheer quantity of incredible Jamaican music over the past 40 years is unbelievable for a small 3rd world island and the message has spread all over the world with great new roots bands in every country. It's influence is heard in most poular music from punk to rap and while never mainstream, it appeals to a wide range of people, unlike most other genres. It's positive and uplifting with a message of one love and unity - what's not to like? [url="http://myspace.com/redstriper"]You can check my band here.[/url] One Love.

[url="http://www.dv247.com/invt/61700/"]this should do the job[/url]

Mine was in a combo, so it might not be the same, but this is how I did it - The front panel should pull out when you've unscrewed the 4 rack screws. This is the pre-amp which connects to the power amp via some cables which are connected to a simple plug. Unplug this and you will have the pre-amp isolated. To remove the power amp unscrew the 3 screws in the top and 2 screws at the back of the case and push the power amp out through the front. . [url="http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/betterdays/poweramptop1.jpg"]http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/betterdays/poweramptop1.jpg[/url]

I wish it was a 22" scale, then I really would be interested, even a 30" short scale would be nice. My main bass is an 18" scale Ashbory.

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='372249' date='Jan 6 2009, 05:56 PM']Alex's cabs sound (on paper) amazing, this idea is a way of putting together a poor man's Compact without woodworking skills[/quote] That was exactly my idea - I got the mag 115 cab for £60 and replaced the driver for the 3015 LF for a total cost of £170 with a spare blueline driver and weight under 20kg. It has the magic 3 Ls - Loud, Light and Low with a bonus 4th - Less (dosh). I intend to replace the cab with one of Alex's when funds allow.

I put a kappalite 3015 LF into a Trace combo and it worked fine with more volume and deeper bass response than the Fane original and it is also much lighter. It wasn't completely straightforward though, the old driver used bolts and the holes didn't line up with the new one, so I had to make new screw holes. Also the Eminence driver is deeper on the front so the grill wouldn't fit back on without using some thick washers to raise it up, which made it stand proud of the cab front. I have since put the Fane back in and put the Kappalite into an Ashdown mag 115 cab, which also required modification, but sounds great. I don't know anything about tuning cabs, but I'm happy with the sound so who cares!

[quote name='~tl' post='368508' date='Jan 2 2009, 02:54 PM']I would guess it'd be something around 17" since it's a half size instrument...[/quote] What ! I didn't realise it was actually 1/2 size - can you buy strings that short ?

[quote name='Linus27' post='368184' date='Jan 2 2009, 12:57 AM']This also would be competition, [url="http://www.themusicking.co.uk/westfield-1-2-size-bass-guitar-in-red"]http://www.themusicking.co.uk/westfield-1-...s-guitar-in-red[/url] This is what I am looking at for my son.[/quote] That's my kinda price - have you tried one? Do you know the scale length?

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='367646' date='Jan 1 2009, 12:30 PM']I made my son (7) a mini P-bass from bits left over from other projects, its zebrano with gold hardware, sapele back and a p-bass clone pickup. He loves showing it to his friends but is not yet that interested in learning it. Sorry but it's right handed, not a big job to swap the nut over for left-handed stringing. [/quote] Put me down for one of those too - you could go into business building them. There's a demand for small basses from grown ups for portability, playability, weight and sound as noted [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=35587"]here[/url] Price could be an issue though with [url="http://www.bem-music.com/list.pl?id=105467"]this[/url] as competition.

I'm tempted to go for one of these, how's it holding up now you've had more time with it? I need lightweight and I like a very deep tone with no treble so I'd be using fat flatwound strings. Do you think this bass would do the job?

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='367787' date='Jan 1 2009, 02:59 PM']is this the Tanglewood model? EB18 [url="http://www.tanglewoodguitars.co.uk/products/default.asp?cID=26463253&sID=26465218"]http://www.tanglewoodguitars.co.uk/product...mp;sID=26465218[/url] they don't seem to have an EF18 on the website...[/quote] I've seen 1/2 and 3/4 size Tanglewood EB18s advertised but it's not clear what the actual scale lengths are. Are they standard short scale or ultra short - 20" sounds very short and I don't know where you'd get strings. Has anyone else had any experience with them?

[quote name='BigRedX' post='367125' date='Dec 31 2008, 02:55 PM']My fretless Gus G3 came with Rotosound flats fitted (Simon has some arrangement with Rotosound so that's what you get unless you specifically ask for something different.) I had to slacken the truss rod off over half a turn to compensate when I replaced them with Pedulla Nickel Roundwounds (my favourite fretless strings). This is on a bass with with carbon-fibre exoskeleton body and neck. The TI flats are even lower tension...[/quote] I'll have your rotosound tru bass flats if you've still got them - I could swap them for a new set of rotosound custom light gauge roundwounds if you're interested (although they remind me of chicken wire).

[quote name='evilLordJuju' post='367082' date='Dec 31 2008, 02:01 PM']Yes, that's right. These basses are for people that actually like 'bass', rather than a weedy trebly clank [/quote] Good point Juju - well made BTW - The '64 EB-O I saw for 2k was on the Kings Road and the same colour as yours - they offered me £800 in PX for my 1963 Fender Jazz - well the rents are high on the Kings Road!

I also made the same comparison with the LH1000 and LM2 but found the LH1000 to be less warm. Definately a great amp, just too bright and not smooth or deep enough for me.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='366394' date='Dec 30 2008, 04:54 PM']Be aware that both the Rotosounds and the TI flats will require you to make some fairly major truss rod adjustments. The Rotos are very high tension (personally I hate them - they feel like fence wire) and the TIs are very low. For reference a standard set of 45-95 roundwounds are roughly in the middle.[/quote] I couldn't disagree more - I have not adjusted the truss rod since fitting the rotosounds and don't see any difference in neck relief from the standard strings. I find them to be quite low tension and smooth to play, (nothing like fence wire) pretty much the opposite of your opinion. I'd be interested to hear how HP gets on with the rotos.

[url="http://www.absolutemusic.co.uk/shop/view_product.php?product=alemultimix8usb&searchlink=yes&search=ALESIS%20MULTIMIX&page=1"]How about one of these[/url]

Nice Xmas present - I bought one of these last month and replaced the strings with rotosound short scale tru bass black nylon covered flats from stringbusters for £24.00. They are great for this bass if you want deep growl and they feel smooth and fast to play. There was no problem fitting them and they stay in tune and look cool. I'm happy with the original pup which is powerful and quiet and mine was well set up with just a little intonation tweaking required. The sound was a bit uneven across the strings and I adjusted the pup height slightly to compensate. I find it very playable and well suited to reggae or old skool rock, probably not the best choice for Jaco cats though. I tried a 60s Gibson EBO in a vintage guitar shop in London and it was nicer than this copy, but not 2 grand nicer! I'm looking for a cheap but decent quality gig bag for mine since the fitted case costs almost as much as the bass.

[quote name='Mr.T' post='365460' date='Dec 29 2008, 01:45 PM']Just ordered myself a Markbass SA450... got it for the same price as the LM2. Should be here tomorrow with a bit of luck![/quote] Nice choice - it should give you all you want with the extra eq over the LM2, still no mute though. I know you said you aren't bothered about the weight, but I'm sure you will smile when you pick it up. I think you're gonna love it.

I tried lots of amps through my cabs at home before deciding on the LM11 - it's the only way to be sure that you can get 'your' sound and it's completely subjective. Many people don't touch the eq or filters, while some go crazy with the knobs. They are very flexible and you shouldn't be afraid of using them to get your sound - whatever it takes is fine so long as you are happy with the result. You could do with finding someone locally to let you have a go on their LM11, Rasta has one in a combo if he's anywhere nearby and since he replaced his Eden with one he should be able to advise on their different sounds.

I am very interested in this. The best things about short scale basses for me are - lightweight, easier to play and deeper sound. My main instrument is an Ashbory which is tiny and very lightweight with a lovely fat sound well suited to reggae. I got it to replace my old Fender jazz bass which is very heavy and a strain on the old back. The only problem with the Ash is the intonation isn't quite right and can't be adjusted, also because it's fretless and very short scale, it's hard to play in tune without really concentrating (not my strong point). I do love it though and prefer it to anything else I've played in years despite it looking like a toy. I recently bought a new Epiphone EB0 and whilst very impressed by the build quality, it is just too new and clanky and I won't play it enough to bed it in. I've considered buying a steinberger copy, but I haven't tried one yet and it's still long scale. I would be particularly interested in a fretless USS bass with maple neck, fret markers (and maybe LEDs) with the weight kept to an absolute minimum and with a very deep dub tone - I don't use any treble in my sound. It's important to be able to get the right strings and I don't know what's available for USS basses, I like flats and my favourites are rotosound tru bass nylon covered which are available in short scale - not sure if they would be suitable. To give a better idea of where I'm coming from, the Rob Allen Mouse is my dream boutique bass. I also like the look of BigRedXs fake Duke and Manne picollo basses which I saw on talkbass.

Sorry the Eden didn't work out, I replaced my old trace with a markbass LM11 and the more I use it, the more I love it. It is warm, clean and smoooooth but hasn't got a mute button. I definately recommend you try before you buy or find somewhere that does sale or return just in case.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='362263' date='Dec 23 2008, 07:22 PM']One thing I'd like to do in the future is some high power tests that show what happens when you put hundreds of watts into a cab - that's when the lack of Xmax and bracing in many cabs will become obvious, as will port non-linearity due to undersized ports. Alex[/quote] Interesting you should say that. I put a 3015 LF into an old Ashdown mag 115 deep cab and it sounds fine at moderate volumes, but develops a strange slap sound with low notes at high volumes. It sounds like someone is actually slapping the side of the cab and you can only hear it from a distance - it sounds fine close up. I wonder if acoustic damping might help or if I'm just going to have to save up for a barefaced cab.