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Everything posted by Beer of the Bass
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Alternatives to microkorg for synth bass?
Beer of the Bass replied to Chrismanbass's topic in General Discussion
The old Novation Bass station is a good option, one of the few bits of kit I really regret selling (along with the Space Echo I had - what was I thinking?). The keys are full sized, but you only get two octaves, which some may find limiting. -
So the "colour" control looks like a rip-off of the Markbass VLE idea, going by that spec sheet. That could be handy for taming the high end from overdrive and fuzz pedals that often sound awful with a DI.
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It's got a bit more going on than the Behringer and looks like a sturdier case. I had a Behringer and sold it on as I didn't like the mid-scooped sound and lack of mid control, so this looks like a useful thing. If anyone is planning on buying one, please review it on here!
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I'll usually be willing to share stuff if it's arranged beforehand and people aren't taking the piss, although there is the odd situation where I wouldn't. In a lot of multi-band gigs in small venues, it would be impractical to have three separate bass rigs and drum kits as there's very little changeover time between bands and often nowhere to store kit. I usually have a strip of tape across the top of my amp labelled "NO DRINKS ON THE AMP, THANKS" which seems to get the message across. It surprises me how many musicians need help figuring out how to operate things though, especially where valve amps are involved. I do see some bad manners happening too, like a band who had used my bass rig and another bands drum kit (at a gig with pre-agreed gear sharing) refusing to let other bands use their guitar amp, forcing them to use the venues 15 watt solid state Behringer! Or the band I shared a bill with who used not only my amp but my guitar for two gigs and didn't buy me a drink...
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I know this was a rehearsal, but if it ever happens during a gig, don't say anything until the gig is done! Seems obvious, but I used to play with a band where the frontman was always turning round to the drummer and criticising his tempo in a surprisingly loud whisper between or even during songs. This invariably made the gig worse not better, as the drummer tensed up and went all over the place and the rest of the band silently seethed at the frontman. I don't miss those gigs! The drummer in that band was good on a good day, but was often under-practised due to living in a flat.
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Buying new, it's quite hard to beat the Gallien Krueger MB200 package deal at Thomann at the moment. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/gallien_krueger_mb_200_bundle.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/gallien_krueger_mb_200_bundle.htm[/url] The only major limitation is that with the 4 ohm cab, you can't add a second cab to the rig.
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Just out of curiosity, is there anything not overly scooped that does a passable job for less money than the PR40, RE20 etc? Or is it one of those things where there isn't really a cheap alternative? The venue up the road from me uses the Red5 bass drum mic for bass, but I suspect that's out of availability rather than choice as their setup is a bit rough and ready, especially when you look at their house bass rig...
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OLP customisation - homebuild active conversion (FINISHED)
Beer of the Bass replied to garethfriend's topic in Build Diaries
Bitsbox ([url="http://www.bitsbox.co.uk"]http://www.bitsbox.co.uk[/url]) stock the LM4250, which was used in the original MM design. I don't know how they compare for noise etc. to the other opamps, but they're at least a known quantity in this circuit. I was thinking of building a similar preamp for my bass a while ago, but decided to go passive in the end. -
Gallien Krueger 115MBE cabinet, NOW SOLD
Beer of the Bass replied to Beer of the Bass's topic in Amps and Cabs For Sale
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You could buy or borrow a plywood double bass, spend the six weeks between now and July cramming frantically and go unplugged. Of course, that's only a good idea if you fancied doing it anyway and you're not playing with anything louder than a drummer with brushes or rods, but there a few DB buskers on here (including myself from time to time), so I thought I'd put it out there...
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Gallien Krueger 115MBE speaker cabinet. Immaculate condition, still with box, has not been used outside my living room but is surplus to requirements. 1x15 speaker with switchable piezo horn, speakon and jack inputs, sturdy plywood construction and manageable weight (33lbs/15kg according to the spec sheet). This is the 200 watt, 4 ohm model. Online prices for these new range from £110-£190. I would like a firm £75 for this one. I would prefer the cab to be collected from my flat in Edinburgh, but if it hasn't sold locally after a few days I'll look into couriers. [b]NOW SOLD[/b] [attachment=107723:GK cab 003.JPG][attachment=107724:GK cab 006.JPG]
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After some looking around, I've got a cheap neoprene netbook sleeve on the way. It will mostly be used inside another bag, either inside the padded cajon bag that my EA Wizzy 10 cab lives in, or in a gigbag front pocket, so I can live without a full-on case.
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I've seen cheap chinese electric violins labelled "Yamada". I wonder if it's one of those and the seller hasn't noticed that there's one letter different from Yamaha?
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I contacted them about the 500 watt class-D jobbie last week. They say it'll be another two months and they don't have info on price or any pictures of it yet. I suspect they may have been a bit premature announcing this one, though at least they're straightforward and upfront about it when you speak to them.
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[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1336729467' post='1650013'] I'm ignoring the 'elephant in the room' part of the picture! [/quote] What, the eight quid pencil in the mug on the table?
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I've got a GK MB200 on the way, and I'm going to want some sort of bag to keep it in. I've seen 10" netbook cases which are about the right size, so that's one option. Has anyone found the perfect size bag? Camera case, miniature coolbag, that sort of thing, I'm curious as to what people are using.
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Cheers for doing that, I was wondering about the weight. Quite a hefty wee thing for its size, but looks good value all the same.
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Apologies if it's buried in the thread somewhere, but does anyone have an accurate weight for the HB/Redsub combos? I'm not sure if Thomann are quoting the boxed up shipping weight.
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Extremely clean and flat voiced head, 200 watts into 4 ohms or 300 watts into 2 ohms. Compact and lightweight at 5.5lbs. These are intended as general purpose instrument amplifiers, they are an excellent choice for double bass but also worth a look for bass guitar use. They are also popular with jazz guitarists. The Clarus features a high impedance input (10M ohms) and switchable highpass/notch filter which are very useful when amplifying double bass. Unlike most amplifiers, no separate pre-amp is necessary for piezo pickups. The HPF is also very effective for controlling the sub-bass frequencies when using small speaker cabs, to maximise the volume available without speaker over-excursion. When used with electric bass, the Clarus sounds similar to a clean DI signal - the amp is much flatter than the inbuilt "voicing" of most other amps. This makes it a good choice with an active bass, but to be quite honest, I like something a little more coloured with a passive bass. This is the 1r model with a high quality digital reverb built in. The amp is in decent condition as can be seen in the pictures. It has been stored and transported in its own padded bag, which is included. The only cosmetic flaws are some very minor dings (seen in the photograph) and a couple of small screws missing from the casing. The bag has approx. 3 inches of torn seam on one side. The original manual and a spare fuse are in the bag pocket. I have had the amp several years, and I think this model dates from around 2003. Going by other recent prices, I think [b]£320[/b] should be an attractive price for this. Can be tried and collected in Edinburgh or I'm happy to post within the UK at cost - PM me and I'll get a quote. [attachment=107071:clarus 014.JPG][attachment=107072:clarus 016.JPG][attachment=107073:clarus 019.JPG] [b]NOW SOLD[/b]
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I find that I love Chromes or Ernie Balls for the first 3 months, then they get a touch darker than I want. They still sound good after this, but it becomes more of a classic flatwound sound than the flat/round hybrid other players describe. This experience has been repeated over several sets. For those three months, they have plenty of growl for my needs. I don't know if this happens for everyone else or if my body chemistry just knackers them!
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Maybe they're better now than 10 years ago (are they?), but I hated Elixirs on both guitar and bass when I tried them. I got a couple of free sets from their stand at a guitar festival when they were a new thing. The coating went all raggedy after a few weeks and started peeling, it was like playing strings with eczema! I've settled on D'Addario 11-49 (0.018" plain G) for electric guitar as I find it would take some work to develop a light enough touch for 9s or 10s. Any heavier and it doesn't sound like I want a solidbody electric to sound, any lighter and I tend to overplay them. I do have honking great 13-56s on my archtop, but that's because it takes heavy strings to get the best acoustic sound from that guitar, not to try and make it feel bass-like.
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What guitar amp for people who do not know how to work things
Beer of the Bass replied to Owen's topic in Guitar Amplifiers
The big problem with valve amps in this kind of situation is that people often don't understand that they take a little while to warm up when switched on. I've watched people turn an amp on then start flicking the power switch on and off repeatedly (which is hard on the power supply, especially with a valve rectifier), wrench the input jack around or unplug and re-plug the speaker in a vain attempt to get some sound out. Any of these could require a tech visit in short order! At gigs where backline is shared, I've started taping simplified instructions in big letters to the top of my amp, then hanging around to watch the other bands soundcheck in case they do anything stupid. I'm sure college students will be even worse due to lack of experience. Peavey Bandits seem indistructible, but are also very loud when turned to 10, which might be worth bearing in mind if you think your students will do that. -
Can anyone tell me what strings these are?
Beer of the Bass replied to tommyjamesallen's topic in EUB and Double Bass
I'd say they're not Superflexibles, as Superflexibles are more turquoise on the silks than the royal blue of these ones, and the ends are sort of barrel shaped. As to what they are, I don't know!