Osiris

But I don't know what a tern looks like.

Looks more like a wagtail to me.

But that's not true is it. We're talking covers bands, ergo drunken covers band crowds. And it is an immutable law that regardless of what song the band is playing, the crowd are all dancing to the beat of In the Summer Time by Mungo Jerry.

Interesting! When I bought my Magellan a couple of years back I tried a few other amps including the Tone Hammer and to my ear I found the TH wasn't totally clear, it had a certain warmth to it that wasn't bad in any way but just never really made it sound totally clean to me. Maybe it was the cab that I tried it with which was an Aguilar 1x12. I found the TH didn't seem to go too bright either when pushing the treble. The Magellan delivered a more appealing clean - to me at least - although I tried that through my own Tecamp 2x12 cab so it wasn't a direct comparison where the only variable was the amp.

Turning Japanese - The Vapours

Already sorted it but cheers anyway 😃

Now now, people in glass houses... Did you ever see the state of that shitty little home made cab you built? Eh?

Precisely.

Thanks to the wise words of @nilebodgers who correctly identified the issue, the cable is now sorted so it's much appreciated. This morning I took the new plug off, stripped off the extra shielding layer on the insulated core and re-soldered the cable back up and all is good once more. Special thanks also to those who offered up the level of idiocy I have come to admire and respect from certain quarters. You know who you are. Although I suspect some of you probably don't.

The low and mid content are the same going by ear, there's no additional bass, at least none than I can perceive. And that's not really something I'd want anyway as I play short scale basses which tent to be more rounded in the lows than longer scale basses. It was just the high end clarity that was missing, like turning down a passive tone control. However...

Welly is currently awash with a plague of squirrels, no doubt sent by the object of desire of that cack-handed idiot from a few posts above. There's nary a nut to be seen around these parts, unfortunately.

Thanks for that. I think I know what you're talking about and if so, then yes I think it has got a semiconducting layer. Of the 2 cores running through the cable there's the outer non-shielded copper core and the shielded core. The shielded one has 2 covering layers (I appreciate this probably isn't the correct term but it'll do if you know what I'm referring to!) a black outer layer and an inner clear layer. I noticed on the old plug that the black outer layer was trimmed further back, maybe 10-15mm or so leaving the clear inner layer covering the core pretty much up to around 1mm away from the solder joint. Not knowing any difference, and being lazy sod, I trimmed both layers off equally a mm or 2 short of the new solder joint. I'll dismantle the cable tomorrow and trim the black layer back and try again. Hopefully it's that simple.

Funnily enough, although the new jack hadn't been used before, I've had it for years, I bought a load in bulk probably 10 years or more ago. Still got around a dozen left too. Maybe there was a duff batch at the time?

It's the wrong season for hazelnuts in my mind. Would a macadamia work, or at a push an almond?

Unfortunately it's not one of those jack types 😉 If so, any idea how that can be rectified, if at all?

I have an old cable, it wasn't expensive but has been trouble free for years. It only gets used in the house so doesn't need to be anything special. Anyway, it has a cheapy angled jack on one end that had developed a loose connection so I cut it off and have soldered a brand new Neutrik angled jack on in its place. I'm no expert with a soldering iron but have successfully made up a number of cables without issue over the years. It looked OK when I put it back together, the shielded core went to the jack pin and the non-shielded copper core went to the little tag thingy, just the same as the knackered jack that I'd removed. There was no obvious contact between the cores, both of which had been tinned first and the connections looked clean and solid to me. But once the cable was reassembled I noticed that the tone is much darker i.e. with noticeably less treble content than before. Any ideas why that is? Have I done anything obviously wrong? Anything I can do to restore the missing treble from it?

Don't get me wrong, if you push the bass EQ on the Genzler you'll get a deep, weighty, and controlled low end. It has an inbuilt HPF with a steep roll off below 30Hz so it doesn't get bloated or needlessly chew up your headroom.

A few months ago I got together with a mate and tried his Ampeg PF 500 against my Genzler Magellan. The Ampeg, to my ear, had that Ampeg sound - a boost in the deep lows with a cut in the low mids and you could dial in plenty of clank if you want it. It's a great sounding amp and was distinctly Ampeg. The Genzler on the other hand was cleaner and the tone with everything flat and the filter off was much more even across the board, not at all bland though, just different to the Ampeg. Now I don't play fretless but I wouldn't have thought the low mid shy Ampeg tone wouldn't be the ideal amp choice - although you're obviously getting a great tone from it so what do I know 😀 - but my guess is that the Genzler would give you want you want, for example if you back off the bass EQ a bit, push the low mids a touch with the semi parametric, adjust treble to taste and I reckon you won't be too far off. There's also the 2 one-knob filters, filter B is a pleasing adjustable mid bump that increasingly rolls off the lows and highs that may also work really well on fretless. So my vote is definitely the Genzler Magellan. And don't rule out the 350 as being underpowered, it's more than loud enough to keep enough with shed building drummers.

Definitely give the CS-3 a miss, it's very squashed even at minimum settings, it's more for adding shed loads of sustain than a proper compressor as such. If you want compression as an obvious effect then it's a good choice but if you want something more subtle and controlled then avoid it. But as has already been mentioned the Boss LMB-3 is a great, inexpensive, simple to use and great sounding pedal. The TC Spectracomp also rightly gets a lot of love and can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. Even if you narrow things down to a choice between these 2 you'll end up with something great.

Good work, private. I just took the thumb rest off mine all together!

Did I apply the tolex for you?

Same here although I was surprised as to how resistant they can be to a fresh Stanley knife blade. I've even go so far as this...

Same here, I've only ever known them as a plectrum, which also seems to be the preferred term by those in my area and who I've played with over the years. I hadn't heard them referred to as a pick until joining BC. Same as scratch plate which now seems to have become pick guard - to other people at least. This is just an observation, it's not meant to be an inflammatory remark but should anyone feel the need to get all irate about it, knock yourself out. I personally couldn't care less what you call it as long as I know what you're talking about. And for the record, my first 20-25 years or so of playing was exclusively with a plectrum, then moved exclusively to fingers for a while, now doing a bit of both but having moved exclusively to short scale basses in recent years I find that a plectrum sounds more distinct with much more clarity than fingers. My preferred gauge is 2.0mm as I find thinner plectra are more difficult to keep a grip on and lack the tone of a thicker one. Anything under 1.5mm sounds thinner and brighter to me whereas 2.0mm has a weight of tone a more even response across the frequency range to my ears. I'm currently using a batch of the purple Dunlop Tortex ones the same as @christhammer666 has pictured above but as they are smooth and shiny I find they can get a bit slippery especially as I'm a bit of a sweaty biffa, so I'm currently on the lookout for another 2.0mm variety that are more grippy. The Ernie Ball Everlast has caught my eye although some online reviews suggest that the name is a misnomer as they don't tend to last that long at all whereas I can get 2 or 3 years from one of the Tortex ones and I'm not one for tickling the strings either. I might just take a punt on some of the EB Everlast's and report back in due course.

Tie your mother down - Queen