Bridgehouse

Lol - that’s a generous offer but I think I’ll decline Of course updates will come as I get them

(And this might just be a NBD incoming thread in disguise) 😁

Following the Shuker becoming sick (off to hospital for surgery on Monday) Mrs B felt a new bass might make me feel better. Decided it’s time to do a 5er. I’ve been chatting to Alan at ACG and he’s got a couple of options which look superb. Being an insecure chap I just thought I’d check - I’m not going to turn in to a prog rock long haired muso or a nicely suited Jazz muso if I get a 5er am I? TIA

Quick update - it’s going to Jon on Monday. Fingers crossed. I will either love it to bits again or it will be in the classifieds for £50

I feel guilty starting this thread for all you guys that ended up spending your hard earned cash on a good valve head

A Trojan horse probably.

I don’t think it matters whether it matters or not.. We are all uniquely different - ultimately we want to be good (or better) bass players. Some of us will get there purely through talent, many through sheer hard work and practise. Some of us like the familiarity of an “old friend” bass, others like the thrill of new kit and different sounds. So it’s probably more about what inspires us to play, and play better. For some, the choice of gear won’t make a difference, for others, it will. And that will translate to how we sound when we play with others and for audiences. All they want is for the bass to sound “right”. For some of us that will require careful kit choices, for others not at all. Epsom, Newmarket, Ascot, Aintree.. etc etc

We’re your jeans balanced or unbalanced afterwards and did they require phantom power?

Which was kind of my point. Each manufacturer will state their measured output - some will undercall some overcall (some quite considerably) and that is the whole problem with trying to compare and give a “real” watts figure. All things being equal, and based on an average, the amp tech I spoke to said the Bugera was “around” 500w. But does that mean it’s louder than your AH250? Nope.

Sure. Of course the cab efficiency will have a huge impact on SPL and overall volume - but watts are just a unit of power output - an amps ability to drive a speaker. Two amps of equal wattage driving exactly the same cab *may* output the same volume level overall, but individual characteristics of the amps themselves will affect the output and may affect volume as well. More importantly, they may affect perceived volume - more mids/treble compared to more bass will translate as different perceived volumes to our ears as well. Ultimately you can’t rely on a watts rating to directly and absolutely translate to an actual sound pressure level even through the same cab.

You could at least have tidied the ends away into your, erm, “Jack socket” 😁

My comment was from a well respected U.K. based amp repairer I know who contacted them for schematics and so forth for a repair. Output watts do not equal volume. You can have two amps output the same wattage but differ in SPL

Done!

My jam day is all systems go for the 24th - can it get to me just before for it?

Ugh. Me no likey the look of that at all.

John’s retroB and uni-pre can be made to fit most basses so pretty much anything

Jon Haire is very good - recommended as well

I have to sneak into the kitchen so Mrs B doesn’t catch me nicking all the pads from under the sink

Make sure you use really high quality super fine wire wool - I’ve seen necks with bit of the wool fibre stuck in there and it’s quite nasty!

John’s preamps are so good that I’d say go for as good as you can get - and don’t forget the better the pickups the better the sound!

You can dull the finish of tru oil with something like micro mesh (very fine grades) or lapping paper - but it won’t truly feel like bare wood. Even the impregnated acrylic finishes don’t. Untreated the wood is more likely to mark or discolour, so it’s always best to have a finish on of some description

Now if line 6 would do a powered helix in a 4u rack size....

I bet a passive frfr cab with a built in 2/4u rack mount would be a killer as well...

^ I concur! I really like the idea of a truly flat passive bass cab that can bring out the tonal flavour of an amp. My original thread was probably badly titled - but in the guitar/bass world frfr (rightly or wrongly) seems to be universally used to describe an active speaker that offers a full range and flat response for modelling amps. Having said that, the guitar works now has some impressive passive cabs that can be used with powered modelling amps.

That’s interesting - didn’t know they had a higher input level. I must admit on most amps I have used I find keeping eq flat or off to provide the best tonal performance.