Beer of the Bass

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1333372507' post='1600680'] Shuguang. What plate voltage is the amp running? [/quote] Shuguang are one I hadn't thought of trying, but I guess if they withstand Doom they'll be fine for my usage. The plate voltage is at 500v, so it's on the high side but not outrageous. Space is a bit tight with the fat bottle 6CA7s, so possibly they're getting hotter than is ideal - though they've never red-plated.

I've got a late 60's Carlsbro CS100/8 PA head which I use for bass; it's a 100 watter using EL34s. I've been running Electro Harmonix 6CA7 valves as they were on special offer at the time I got the amp. I don't run the amp particularly hard, as the power stage stays clean, and I've always set the bias fairly conservatively. Everything in the amp is healthy, it's been re-capped and thoroughly checked over. I've just had a valve develop noise issues, for the second time in only about 12 gigs - the first one developed random crackling and sizzling noises and got replaced, now one has started producing microphonic jangle through the speakers. I have a spare to replace the offending valve, but the next time I re-valve, what's out there that might be more reliable? NOS are out of my price range, so I'm wondering which currently-made valves have been more reliable for people.

I'd second the idea of keeping the valve amp but changing to a lightweight modern cab. I'm happy with a 100 watter into a modern neodymium 2x12", but maybe in a really loud band more speaker area could be useful.

It'd be a great DIY project, if that's something you're into. Most of the old Fender layouts and schematics are widely available, so it would be quite feasible to closely copy a Bassman 100.

I'm quite impressed with the AXL Badwater tele-ish guitar that I'm using with the band I play guitar in. It was all of £99, and the only thing that really needed changing was the nut. The neck and frets are decent and the pickups are proper alnico magnet jobs which I can't find a reason to upgrade. It's miles ahead of the Korean Squier I started on in the 90s. It'd be interesting to see if the basses are similarly good for the money.

I guess the power stage could be working to spec but the pre-amp clipping early due to peculiar gain-staging. It may have been tweaked from a guitarists POV perhaps. Is that a PCB based build? Quite surprising for a DIY job - I wonder if the boards came in kit form at the time.

Is the output up to scratch now? I reckon you should try it with your band before putting it up for sale. A healthy 100 watt valve head makes for a pretty good pub gig amp and ought to pair up nicely with your two 1x12" cabs if the impedance is right.

I rather liked the newer model Laney LC15-110 when I tried one. That's worth adding to your list IMO. Though I went with the option of building my own instead, as I really wanted a Fender Princeton Reverb but couldn't afford the reissue.

I always thought the Sex Pistols were an interesting one regarding authenticity, since they appear to have been a manufactured band under the guidance of Malcolm Mclaren and at least one of them couldn't actually play in any meaningful sense of the word. Yet they are seen to epitomise Punk authenticity by many. What's going on there? [quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1332231442' post='1585011'] so when the lead guy from Mumford was playing his songs up in edinburgh before he was famous, same songs, same style but just acoustic... was that authentic or non authentic? at which point did it switch? [/quote] I remember seeing him around too. I think it's the media presentation of them as being the new Folk which gets peoples goat, particularly among folkies who see them as yet more acoustic singer songwriter types with added waistcoats and banjos. Personally it doesn't bother me, as I'm free to not buy their albums if it's not my thing. Considered as a singer songwriter he's probably no more or less authentic than any number of other blokes with acoustic guitars.

I suspect a lot of live sound guys are lazy and stick to the same EQ each time rather than listening. I've played in a few venues where all the highs and most of the mids are rolled off the bass in the FOH. If the sound man has his EQ set up to do this to a typical roundwound bass sound, it's going to be even worse with flats!

[quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1332166639' post='1584131'] I think, contrary to what's been said on here so far, Ernie Ball do make their own...that unpleasant man in charge has certainly said as much on the EB forum anyway (kind of puts me off buying them as I find him so rude and annoying). If someone has any evidence otherwise then I'd happily stand corrected though! [/quote] I do wonder whether the flatwounds are contracted out though, as they seem identical in all respects to D'addario. This is purely conjecture, but with flatwounds selling smaller numbers and needing specialised processes and equipment, not all makers of roundwounds will be set up to do them. Does anyone fancy asking that on the EB forum? I don't feel the urge to, but their response might be entertaining.

I'm not sure about the roundwounds, but Ernie Ball flatwounds and D'addario Chromes seem uncannily similar. The only difference I can see, feel or hear is that Ernie Balls have slightly more length between the silks (presumably to allow for a Stingray bridge) and plain brass ball ends. That would fit with the idea of them being made by D'addario, but to Ernie Ball's specifications.

I borrowed a friend's green muff for a while - I couldn't really hear any magic that the new ones don't have. Victor Morris were quite interesting characters - one half of the shop was music gear and the other half supplied knives, replica firearms and other weaponry to the local ne'er-do-wells! I think they've dropped that side of the business nowadays...

I've been entertaining the notion of building one for a while - one day I may actually get around to it. I'm looking at valve-based designs, not for any particularly sensible reasons, but because I like working with valve stuff.

I think these are the precursor to the current Squier Affinity models, and should be pretty comparable to them. IIRC they were the basic model that appeared in Argos etc. I'm sure there's a Squier forum somewhere on the net - maybe seek out the hardcore Squier geeks there and ask them?

Here's my guitar amp - it's one I built myself. The circuit and layout are closely based on a Fender Princeton Reverb, and it's in a lightweight (9mm) birch plywood cabinet with an Eminence 1028k alnico 10" speaker. It does about 15 watts, is light enough to lug around on the bus and has reverb and tremolo to die for! Even though it's only 15 watts and a single 10", it's as loud as I usually need when playing semi-clean with my band. [attachment=101858:princeton front.jpg][attachment=101859:princeton rear.jpg]

With all of his political views, Haden would be an interesting one to write about. I'd read it, anyway. Edit; whoops, I've pressed the wrong voting button! Ah well, Dave Holland would be good too...

I bought a Bigsby knockoff vibrato from Wil - he was pleasant to deal with and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from him again.

[quote name='jacko' timestamp='1330027694' post='1551772'] Just wondering why a 'rehearsal studio' would need a 100 watt guitar amp. The loudest guitarist in my band has a 30 watt combo for stage use and the other one uses a 16 watt tiny terror - both plenty loud enough for any pub gig so way over the top for a studio. [/quote] I know the solid-state versus valve loudness thing has been done to death on here, but 100 watts is not outrageous for a solid-state guitar amp IMO, especially if clean sounds are needed. I gig with a 15 watt valve combo on guitar, and I've played through solid-state amps of 50 watts or more that can't match the usable loudness available from mine. I would much rather walk into a rehearsal studio and see almost any 15-30 watt valve combo than the usual Marshall MG or knackered Peavey Bandit (the exception being the Sessionette in one place we use, which is just a nice sounding amp regardless of what it uses). I can get the idea that rehearsal studios want their gear to be low-maintenance though.

Cheers for the stands!

Having a bass head and cab with Speakons only, and a couple of guitar combos wouldn't pose too many problems in that respect though, unless the clients were really ingeniously stupid.

Mention of shonky PAs in Colorsound made me smile, as one of my bands rehearses there, and they still have those! Hard to beat the central location though. I'm not a fan of Line 6 stuff for rehearsal rooms, as the last thing you want in a two hour rehearsal is to spend half an hour finding your sound. As someone who uses several rehearsal rooms, one thing I really like to see is stands for the amps - it makes it much easier to hear everything at a sensible level if they're raised and tilted, especially the guitar amps. Yet surprisingly few rehearsal studios have them.

I find I really miss the hi-hats and ride cymbal when a cajon is used on its own. One drummer I play with likes to busk with snare, hi-hats and a bass pedal hitting a suitcase, which it all packs inside.