Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Beer of the Bass

Member
  • Posts

    4,102
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Beer of the Bass

  1. [quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1337763243' post='1664943'] This isnt a test of hearing so much as a test of your PC audio card, and the speakers you are using..... [/quote] I've got to agree with this. I tried the test a few weeks ago with a pair of headphones and could only hear up to 14KHz. I've just tried it with some different headphones and can hear up to 17KHz. So who knows how much is due to the system rather than our hearing? I can hear something on the higher ones, but it sounds more like background noise rather than the actual pitch. I remember trying something similar at 20-ish, and being able to hear well past 20KHz. I've probably lost a little at 31 but I've been using earplugs for a long time, so hopefully I've not lost too much. I've played with one or two older musicians where I had to remember to stand on the right side of them if I wanted them to hear what I was saying, and I don't want to go there!
  2. The thing I always found weird with the one-row cajun boxes is that they've only got two chords in the left hand, one on the push and one on the pull, and players use them for rhythmic effect, so the "wrong" chord is sounding some of the time. It's part of the sound on lots of cajun stuff, but if you try to come up with a bass line by following the accordion, it makes no sense at all!
  3. [quote name='Stacker' timestamp='1337508552' post='1660979'] Haven't seen aything on that front up here since The Deaf Heights Cajun Aces. I had one of the best nights of my life, boogie-ing to them. Ace music. [/quote] I was in a band with Kim (the accordionist) from Deaf Heights for several years. We did a fair chunk of the Cajun and Zydeco repertoire, plus Kim's own rather eccentric compositions. There were some fun gigs with that band, though the lineup changed that often that there were some patchy ones too. It did get me into listening to guys like Nathan Abshire and Clifton Chenier though, which is a good thing.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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!
  7. 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...
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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...
  11. 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.
  12. Sorry Taa, It's looking to be sold, pending payment. I'll edit the thread title when it's all done and dusted.
  13. 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...
  14. 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]
  15. 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.
  16. 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?
  17. 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.
  18. [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?
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. 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.
  22. Bump! I may consider trades involving other micro-heads.
  23. Cross-posted from amps & cabinets in case of double bass interest: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/175679-acoustic-image-clarus-1r-head-series-ii/"]http://basschat.co.u...head-series-ii/[/url] (Mods, feel free to delete if I'm not supposed to do this!)
  24. 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]
  25. 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!
×
×
  • Create New...