tomthebass

Ah good spot. It is indeed a 14B! My brother's...had to give it back unfortunately...let me know if you ever want to move yours on 😁 Re the cabinet size, yes that could be design number 6... but I was going for the compromise here between deep bass and living room acceptability! But they already go low... I don't have a proper spl measurement system but there is audible bass from 29 Hz and they have a super kick with bass drum etc. Certainly enough aural awesomeness to make me rummage through my record collection to feast on the sounds 😋

Great thread! So one of my lockdown projects was to build a pair of isobaric speakers... managed to pick up four Seas bass units for not much, and built these cabs as a slightly more aesthetic alternative to rectangles - the bass units are 8" and there is one hiding inside the cab, so it can't be any narrower. Paired them up with some fountek ribbon tweeters. A bit of crossover tweaking and hey presto... huge meaty bass and drums, breathy midrange and delicate tops. My 5th attempt at speaker design, so a huge surprise at how great they sound. Upset my brother when we compared them to his very pricey Wilson-Benesch's. A shame those bass units aren't made any more, otherwise I might be going into production 😂

@Beedster Funnily enough my 16 year old son grabbed me a couple of months ago and said, Dad I've just heard an awesome track you might like. It's called Roundabout. Imagine my pride 😊 maybe that means musical taste is in your genes 😂 But you should also listen to Heart of the Sunrise. Turn it up good and loud and marinate in the sumptuous soundscape!

A friend has one, bought secondhand after clearly serving time on the front line as there is a big thumb crater above the front pickup and the back of the neck worn smooth as a peach! One of the most comfortable and open sounding expressive basses I've ever played. Looks not for me, otherwise I'd have nicked it already 😄

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electric-BASS-RAMP-for-finger-style-in-high-quality-naval-resin-Totally/154052763184?hash=item23de429e30:g:UVAAAOSwExJfPlqL Amazing the things you can do if you have enough resin in your navel...

I think in Germany UPS is pronounced "oops" Just saying 🙂 Fingers crossed it's for real this time!

You don't like antennae Andy? 😁 But yeah, I was in a hurry to have a play, headstock will be officially tidied up this morning!

😂 well sort of. It was like that but in a box with polystyrene in a box with polystyrene in a box. So very well protected. Shipping with the neck off knocked a bunch off the shipping fees which were still ridiculous compared with EU shipping. Once in a lifetime!

And tada! Survived the journey across the ocean... my first Smith after 33 years of playing! What an awesome beast, absolutely lives up to expectation in tone and playability 🤩

Can you guess what it is yet? 😀

Just arrived from the US and on my way to pick up...super excited (and nervous!!) 😀

Agree with you SICbass, bought a used OLP a couple of months ago for £200 inc postage, sounds and plays like it had an extra 0 on the price tag! In fact I love it so much I've just bought another to play around with as a project bass 😁

Just survived 9 days (yes 9 DAYS!!!) of no information from UPS for a NBD from Tennessee...finally arrived out of the blue yesterday and I haven't even seen it yet. Nailbiting! But there is hope...

😂 difficult to put into words... I guess it's the opposite of crisp! When I pick up a bass before plugging it in I can sense whether it responds dynamically or sounds dull. Like cardboard? No offence meant to lovers of rosewood boards of course!! Question of taste as ever.

Imho the finish is the limiting factor in your criteria - I'd be inclined to choose a gorgeous varnished bass and have it stripped and waxed by a luthier, shouldn't cost more than a couple of hundred bucks

For me maple fingerboard is snappy and crisp, rosewood is warmer but can be soggy... that's a consensus over at least 30 instruments 🙄