Dood

[quote name='lowdown' post='952770' date='Sep 11 2010, 02:51 PM']Does 18 volt go up to eleven so its that bit louder? Garry[/quote] lol. Actually no - having an 18v system doesn't actually make your bass any louder. *unless* the preamp is specifically designed to add gain.

[quote name='J.R.Bass' post='950166' date='Sep 9 2010, 03:53 AM']Pretty sure it's to do with headroom, as Vin can't exceed Vout. So with a 18v preamp, Vin is bigger thus Vout can be larger.[/quote] Excellent place to start. I agree. Now - the thing is, with modern pickups - is that their outputs can be much higher as well. For example, I use active EMG pickups with a very high output. According to the EMG specs can be 1.4 volts peak each. If you then add a few dB's of EQ boost or what have you, then you could be looking at say 2 volts each. Now - plug a 9v battery in to an onboard preamp - lets say for the sake of arguement that it consumes 2v from the battery as well. Ok, so here's my example: If you are playing and peaking at your 2v and the preamp is pulling a good 2v on peaks as well, maybe more in those dynamic moments - you can say that 4v is being used up out of your 9v available. I'd say that was a fairly large chunk of consumption! What happens now if you are using say, a rechargeable battery? - Well - they don't charge to 9v anyway. 8.4 at the most, but less efficient ones, you're actually looking at 7.2v!! - so that's a little more of your available power gone. Or, obviously - the battery is a bit on the flat side? 6v if it hasn't been changed for a while? So running both the pickups and preamp at 18V now seems a far more sensible thing to do in my mind. (The products you are using must be able to run at 18v mind lol!) because even if the electronics were able to pull 9v at any given moment of performance - you still have another 9 to play with. In the real world? - Well, I have actually upgraded two systems from 9 to 18V. I noticed two differences. I think the other differences were too subtle to say for sure that the upgrade made a marginal impact. The first was that my top end had a more pristine 'sheen' to it. Especially recorded through quality monitors. I also noticed that when I slapped hard it sounded less choked. - or indeed 'compressed' - Which in turn meant my bass appeared to have more bottom end 'thump' to it. Always a good thing eh? Finally - I went to look up for consumption and capacity figures for a 9v battery - quite happy to see that my figures were pretty close! - but it's worth noting that some 9v batteries just don't have the capacity that you might hope for. To put it in to perspective - it's like running a mini at 90Mph vs a Jaguar! I've tried not to be too boring and not go in to too much detail about current etc!

Love Spotify! - KK, I'll remind myself to check it out later when I'm plugged in to decent speakers!

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='952244' date='Sep 10 2010, 08:54 PM']1) Study really hard. 2) Be nice to everyone you meet. 3) Have some good fortune. 4) Be willing to play absolutely anything and smile while doing it.[/quote] 5) Get some real business knowledge and support under your belt. For example - on going to just one 'starting up your own business' type course I learned a whole bunch of stuff that I didn't even think about at first. It IS very important because there is some very valuable advice to be had. This could also include taking advice from professional bodies such as the Musician's Union and Music Leader to name just two. 6) Always chase up leads and be contactable. If you don't take the bait, there 200 bass players who are chomping at the bit instead. 7) Be punctual if you are depping / doing session work. Infact - just make sure you stick to timescales and show that YOU are in control of your time. 8) Like any job C.V - You should be able to make examples of your playing available at a moments notice. That's up to you to decide how you do that - but there are plenty of online resources out there! I'm gonna stop there - as I could list ideas for days!!

Hi Wbm28, That's actually a really difficult question to answer - that's a bit like asking 'I'm painting a room, what's the best colour to do it in?' Firstly, there's personal taste - you might hate (perish the thought) the sound of an SVT stack, but love a modern SWR type sound. Also, we know nothing about the kind of gear you are plugging in to. Are you playing directly in to a PA? or do you have some backline to contend with as well? What gear are you using? I am assuming that by your ID, you play a Warwick? Obviously that will impact the tone too! - So - quite a lot to think about - and there is certainly no 'one best tone' because you have too many variables to think about. Put it this way - grab the Line6 manual - make sure the unit is configured to run with your set up (I say that, because so many people don't bother to check first and wonder why it sounds woolly and horrible) - then IGNORE all the pre-programmed patches - they are naff! - Start dialling a few patches with your rig and find out what sounds nice and what doesnt. You'll soon start to find certain amplifier combinations that work and others that dont. Oh - and me personally? When it comes to playing live with a backline and I am using my X3 - ALL of my bass amp sims are switched off - as I see little point in emulating a rig on the X3, when I have an amazing one stood behind me! - It's a different story if I were to use in-ears or straight to PA. I do however use guitar amp sims and cabinets for distortion patches instead of distortion pedal 'sounds' from the X3. Hope this helps and is food for thought. Dooooooooooooooooooooood!

Oh, if you can get a clear recording of the distortion, by miking up the cab - we can have a listen!

[quote name='Dudgeman' post='951351' date='Sep 10 2010, 12:35 AM']Running Ashdown ABM 300 EVO2 and while looking for a clean tone I am getting distortion on Ab ( On E string) ..not on G or A or even pounding out E's. tried the cab with other heads and no problem there..any idea what would cause distotion on such a specific frequency? Thanks[/quote] It would depend on the type of distortion you are refering to - and would be difficult to tell, without hearing it. My first thoughts that you are hitting the natural resonance of something. Have you tried a different bass in to your amp and cab? Could you also plug your bass directly in to the 'return' of the effects loop and play to see if you get the distortion there too? Then we can start to see what *could* be causing the problem. I think the EVO has a preamp valve? for example - that could be loose / in need of replacement - but it could be so many other things!

What's the name of that 'law' that suggests the perceived desirability of a commodity goes up as it's price does?

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='951335' date='Sep 10 2010, 12:14 AM']You forgot fingerboard LEDs. [/quote] He he he!!!! I did! Yup - Those too!! - and....and... swirly dot shapes... and ...umm.. nah.Can't think of anything else .. Active pickups!! and.. ramps!! [/coat]

[quote name='sjohns' post='947306' date='Sep 6 2010, 03:31 PM']Thanx Dood! I will have a look tonight! I am looking to turn it into a rig for both g*****r and bass (at seprate times) just didnt know how and once again the knowledge of the bc world helps, tho i really should have read the manual lol Thanx again, Steve[/quote] You can use the X3 as you describe - and for example, set up multiple patches on channel A for guitar sounds and lock channel B to bass sounds. The guitarist will still be able to change his channels and your bass tone will remain unchanged. There is a lot to explain - but to be honest, grab yourself a coffee and grab the manual. Line 6 write their manuals in quite a friendly way - and as soon as you start having a play with it - you'll get the hang of it!

I'm glad you have it sorted now Cetera. I was about to go shoot myself cos I thought I was losing my touch! - damn those pesky leads ey!!!

Headless Basses, Singlecuts, Silly multicolour paint jobs, aircraft landing strip sized fretboards and ones with too many strings

Very unacceptable!!!! - Stag knows a GREAT repair guy who has looked after him who lives in 'our area' - and the turn around was days, not weeks. AND I would expect the shop where you purchased be falling over themselves to be helping you. Name and Shame my good man - then you can let them we have over 11,000 bass players could see how shoddy they are!

[quote name='michael-faces' post='950186' date='Sep 9 2010, 07:34 AM']Yeah it was £38. Thanks again for all the help! I've learnt from this, but still feel so silly . All I had to do was flick a switch at the back and i'd be fine![/quote] Ahhhhh mate! Well, I'm glad you are up and running again and that the additional cost has not dulled the experience. It's a bit of a rare preamp these days - so worth hanging on to!

[quote name='michael-faces' post='948818' date='Sep 7 2010, 09:08 PM']Nah, mine was cheaper including postage and everything. Or it was before I do this repair. I bought mine from craiglists (bit risky, but I did know the guy from ebay with a perfect seller rating). By the way, any idea how much this might cost to repair? Dood, you're beginning to look like a bit of an expert on the amp front to me![/quote] Ahh! Ok, gotcha - it was just after our strangely coincidental conversation about preamps the other day - and having seen the BC-1 on TB! Ok, you got me - I am actually fanatical and slightly rather geeky about all things Bass! It probably wouldn't be an understatement to say I have studied Bass for over 20 years lol! [quote name='umph' post='948912' date='Sep 7 2010, 10:26 PM']depends on what you've fried, if the PT is fine i shouldn't expect it to be a to hefty bill.[/quote] Yeah I agree - ball park figure including labour? Most reputable local repairers will probably charge about 30-50 quid.

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='950021' date='Sep 8 2010, 10:31 PM']Any progress on venues for this bash ?? T[/quote] Nothing forthcoming here right now - I don't know Cambridge well enough..err.. barely at all to be honest!

[quote name='Jamesemt' post='947835' date='Sep 7 2010, 12:37 AM']I could do with a tuner pedal and a compressor, but need it to be a one box solution. Can anyone recommend a multi FX pedal that does these two functions well?[/quote] Throw the cat amongsth the pigeons - How about changing your amp head for a TC RH450? Tuner, multiband compressor, programmeable AND an amp head all in one box - ok - so it's an expensive way to do it!

It depends on what I have played before it and and where I need to go after!

I have always truly believed that when it comes to trying to communicate or express a feeling through my chosen instrument, it should be as fluid as conversation itself - and that is what I strive toward. Hell - I have a long way to go but to build up a musical vocabulary that flows from the speakers like speech itself is like nirvana for me I reckon. And what is day to day conversation? It's closer to improvisation than reading off the page for sure! So for me, improvisation is very important. You can still stick rigidly to the framework of a song in much the same way that a bunch of people will talk about a certain football manager or whatever - you'd look a bit stupid going off on a tangent about hatstands and hyperthirculators - but my point is - freely improv' in context. I feel that if you never improvised - how would you ever come up with new ideas? It's jamming that can help gel musicians together and 'bond' musically too. my thrupenny-bit

[quote name='michael-faces' post='948672' date='Sep 7 2010, 07:27 PM']Ahh man! How did I miss something so simple? I've never even heard of the voltage change or whatever. Oh well, I guess we learn from our mistakes. I'll be hearing from my local luthier tomorrow, hopefully it shouldn't be too much to fix. Thanks for all your help![/quote] You wouldn't happen to have bought the BC-1 that was advertised on TalkBass would you?

[quote name='gafbass02' post='948235' date='Sep 7 2010, 01:09 PM']Ahh. Cheers Dood.[/quote] Anytime chap!

[quote name='Merton' post='948516' date='Sep 7 2010, 05:17 PM']Hartke LH500 or LH1000 [/quote] Yup - Listening to S1mon's recordings, I really like the tone of the LH with the Barefaced cabs. Infact, Alex himslef has recommended the LH1000 as a great sounding and financially viable option for powering his cabinets. I'm very pleased with my LH1000.

I really can't understand why it hasn't worked Cetera! - I've most defintely had it working for a long time in my own rigs. As I say, the last two contenders have been the MXR M80 with a parallel out and also the Sansamp ParaDriver, which is the pedal version of the RPM. What were you finding not working about it?

[quote name='gafbass02' post='947994' date='Sep 7 2010, 09:38 AM']Saga? Have a missed a saga? What's a Pearce anyway? Sorry to hear it's died.[/quote] Made famous by the likes of Billy Sheehan as a cracking 'distortion' preamp. There's a guitar version too. The BC-1 had a Sheehan mod for extra gain - and I think he still uses them now.