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[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1354102279' post='1882001'] In truth, I've never heard either Beck or Page playing bass so I can't really comment ... [/quote] Can't find any JP, but here's JB... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDgkbLw4qkw

I used to play in church with my Markbass 2x10 & wasn't going through the PA. 9 o'clock on the vol was more than ample (that's not much more than home practice volumes!).

51m0n, you make very good points, none which I can (or would) argue with. My point isn't so much about trying to fix the sound with EQ, but most people's listening rooms are not dedicated to just listening to music & designed around their hifi. It's usually something like you just described where there's furniture & reflective walls & having a quality hifi is more of a luxury to add to the room. So if you're sitting in your "optimal" position given the surroundings, then wouldn't being able to reduce any overpowering areas of frequencies be better than having to put up with something like having a harsh top end or sounding boomy around to 100-200hz area? I would never suggest adding any treble or bass, as like you said, it won't fix the issue. I agree that a lot of hifi comes with inadequate EQ. With the technology available today, it wouldn't be hard to make a good digital 20 band parametric EQ (a la VST stylee), though getting people to use it properly would probably be another task.

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1354028950' post='1881074'] <Oar-In> Now this whole using EQ to fix the room thing.... Its a bit of a myth actually You cant fix issues with room nodes with an eq, since regardless of the settings on the eq the issues prevail. The issues are more often time and frequency decay issue, whereby certain frequencies (due to ringing) may be louder for longer in one place and quieter in another than other frequencies. If you turn the eq down for one frequency you can fix the issue for one, tiny place, but will change the problem elsewhere (thats the nodes) but you wont fix the ringing (as seen on a waterfall plot), and you cant fix every multiple of the frequency (which you need to) without ruining the sound everywhere. And hi-fi has never, ever come with tone controls close to complex and comprehensive enough to even make a stab at fixing an acoustic. </Oar-in> As for True bypass vs Buffered? Use an active bass and stop worrying about it [/quote] Very true, but most dedicated audiophiles have their optimal sitting position, therefore EQ allows tailoring for that given position.

Having no tone controls to get a "pure" sound is baloni. The amp's pre & power sections & the speakers are going to colour it to some degree, as is the positioning of the speakers & the furnature in the room. Having an EQ of some sort means that if there's too much of something, you can roll it off. EQ/tone controls should be set flat & then adjusted to suit the room. This goes for any amp - bass, hifi or PA.

[quote name='leroydiamond' timestamp='1354018153' post='1880798'] I agree. Working in a covers band demands that I use effects. The difficulty is that when you want the pure tone from your instrument (which is what I require 80% of the time) my abiltiy to access it is hampered by the very fact that I am using an effects unit. The Hi Fi analogy might be an interesting comparrison. Many high end HI FI manufacturers no longer offer tone options on their amps. The goal here is to get the signal from source (eg CD player) in as short and clean a path as possiible through the amplification process and outputted to the speakers in order to acquire optimum sound. It may be the case that the same might be true for musicians if they are after the true tone of the instrument. [/quote] It depends on the pedals, power & cables that you're using. If you get good quality fx, PSUs & cables, then there's no reason why you can't get a pure tone fro your bass. I prefer the sound of my bass going through the non-true bypass on the Moog LPF as it has a slightly fuller sound, but if I want the sound bypassed, I can via a looper. The main point of having tone controls on an amp (even for hifi) is to tailor the sound to suit the room acoustics. Your hifi will sound different in your bedroom from your living room. My opinion of those who leave tone controls off amps is it's for marketing to the uneducated audiophiles (I'm not saying audiophiles are uneducated BTW).

It really depends on what type of music you're playing. Some songs won't sound right with just clean bass, other's sound guff with wads of effects.

Have you thought about one of these bad boys?

I'd say 2x10. But go on holiday to somewhere with the gear you want & try out as much as you can.

Tomato ketchup is also a non-Newtonian fluid, but I haven't tried it yet (other than on food).

[quote name='Ultima2876' timestamp='1353949793' post='1880136'] I hear ya; if you don't mind my asking, why not a Mini 15 as the cab with a 48? I thought that they were designed to work together. I would have thought that two Mini 48s would have a weak low end due to their frequency response not covering < 70 hz? Or is there some physics wizardry that gets around that? [/quote] One of the reasons that I wouldn't choose the Ashdowns. The best thing is to find a cab you like & add another identical one if you need more volume. If you do a search on here, you'll find quite a few threads on the perils of mixing driver sizes. It's not always a bad thing, just unpredictable.

I'd play with some FX on your pod & see what you find you use. There's no right answer here. I'm another that doesn't have a tuner, pre/di or compressor & probably never will have (though that could change). I find octave, dirt, filter & chorus are the main basic pedals I use, but you might not need any of those either.

The main reason I wouldn't go for the Mini 4x8 is that you could get a 2x10 that would outperform it in every way for similar money. If you do go for it, the matching cab isn't the 15, it's another 4x8. I'd try a few different cabs from different manufacturers (inc the Ashdown 2x10) & use your ears.

I think you've got the wrong info on the ABM500. I'm sure it's 575w at 4Ω, though I might be wrong. I wouldn't go for a 4Ω cab. If it's not loud enough, you're stuck. I wouldn't go for the Ashdown minis either. He above say's what I was going to. Great minds n' all that!

Looking forward to getting time to listen to everyone's tracks. Should be able to next week. I've been a bit on the busy side this past couple of weeks & never managed to get anything completed (not even worth entering what I've done). A shame, because I had some great ideas & just didn't have the tools to do it quickly with the limited time that I've had. Looking forward to next week's though. Best of luck everyone.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1353760561' post='1878157'] Your amp and cab are fine, you just need a second cab. You're only putting out 150-ish watts into 2 10" speakers. [/quote] Corrected. Ooops, Pete beat me to it. Like everyone says though - add another cab. Orrrr...... You could sell it & get a louder 2x10 (or other cab). Like

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1353681515' post='1877367'] I'll try and get the entries up tomorrow, I'm heading up Norwich way so it wont be first thing in the morning [/quote] Ahh good. I'll try & get mine finished in the morning if I can. I'm working til 10pm tonight.

I know entries have to be in today. I'm nearly done, so hope to get it in on time. Looking forward to listening to all the entries.

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1353592253' post='1876366'] Yeah but how do you rate my Jimmy Savile impression? Cheers mate [/quote] I haven't had a chance to listen to any entries since the first couple, but I'm imagining that your JS impression involves sitting the bass on your knee, fiddling with it's bits & then fingering it? I'm still at work, so can't hear anything (I'll be here til 9:30 ).

I'd go with this idea from Sollophonic Guitars...

Cheers! I've been looking for that video for yonks & couldn'trememember the name of the pedal. All guitarists & keys players should invest in one! Improves the bass tenfold.

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1353517536' post='1875533'] ^ I might have some Latin percussion samples that I could happily bundle over to you on email, or whatever. Can't promise anything but I really don't mind having a look on my 'puter when I get home tonight, if that's any help. PM me if so and I'll see if I can dig out something useful. [/quote] Cheers. Very kind of you, but there's no need as the geetar side of things wasn't working, so I've abandoned it (though I'm gonna make the song eventually for my own pleasure). The guitars sounded good on their own but the minute you added anything it just went to noise. Even with just drums!

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1353513777' post='1875475'] Believe me, it can be even more annoying being able to sing expressively and in tune whithout being able to prevent oneself sounding like a f***ing hollowed out mallard. [/quote] Next month we should maybe make it a singing competition. Accapela!

My original idea was to have a rocking 1st 1/2 with guitars & some screaming vocals & then going into some Latin American drumming with bits of the guitar & adding woodwind & doing the same melody. But trying to make an electro acoustic guitar rock is HARD, I haven't got the tools or samples for the percussion that I wanted to do & to top it off I've probably got the worst singing voice anyone could probably have. It's not bad in a funny way, more of a "SHUT UP YOU ANNOYING WAZZICK" sort of way. I hold no tune whatsoever. Back to breakbeat then.

Still the same, but like Karlfer says, the mods are doing a fantastic job.