Beer of the Bass

Yeah, the band I was so heavily reliant on tape echo in isn't even around any more! Though I ended up being pretty happy with the Catalinbread Belle Epoch, with the only downside being having to crouch down to tweak knobs instead of leaning over to a box on top of my amp. I recorded twice with that band, first time with the Melos, second time with the Catalinbread, and if anything I like the way my echo sounds came out on the second one slightly more.

I would say for those styles (and particularly with OD) you don't want a horn, or at least you want one that can be turned off. And while I can understand wanting a wide, square format cab for a large head like that, there's no particular reason to stick with the 4x10 format. You might find 2x12“ or 15" options with the right form factor which would also do the job.

It makes some sense. I'm sure we've all played standard PJ basses where the J pickup had less output than the P, so putting the P in the bridge and the J in the neck might even things up.

I find the rubber practice mute combined with some foam f-hole plugs I made does a reasonable job of taking things down to neighbour friendly levels, where either on it's own doesn't quite get there.

If you can't find the specs for the Behringer drivers, it wouldn't be to hard to work out the volume and port tuning of the 4x10", and then design the new 2x10" box around half of that volume and the same port tuning.

Behringer drivers are likely to be proprietary with no specs published - one of the ways they keep costs down is by keeping as much of the manufacturing as possible in-house.

There are mixed opinions on the different valves available, and their performance varies between amps (some amps are more prone to microphonics than others, some have circuit designs that cause reliability issues with certain valves etc). Not all valves from the same factory are tested and screened to the same extent either. Some say the Shuguang valves are fine if you buy them from a seller who tests them. But I do feel that the stock valves with the PF50T are not great. I had my power valves replaced within a couple of weeks under warranty, and not long afterwards switched to a NOS Philips ECC82 in V3 which reduced the microphonic sounds considerably.

Does it come through the speakers or is it heard acoustically from the amp? On my PF50T the phase inverter valve was microphonic, and replacing it helped considerably. You can test for microphonic valves by gently tapping them on the glass with something non conductive and listening for a ring through the speakers. On the PF50T you can do this with a wooden cocktail stick through the cage without removing anything.

I'd be concerned that any event which would previously have caused the bridge to fall over or shift is now going to be putting unusual stresses on the end of your fingerboard. I can't imagine it'll do much for the acoustic tone and projection either, though I'm guessing you have this bass geared more towards loud amplified use.

I'm a little puzzled by Ampeg EQ being considered useless compared to Orange etc. Fair enough if you're not fond of the voicing of their amps, but I'd consider the SVT, V4B or PF50T to have among the more versatile EQs on valve amps, since they can boost or cut mids at selectable frequencies and few others can.

Aww, I liked the green!

I came pretty close to putting a bit of slap on one song of the album my band recorded recently, but chickened out and used a growly fingerstyle near the bridge instead. Though I'm flatwounds + small valve amp and no tweeters, so it would have been more of a 70s Chuck Rainey slap sound!

There are places where slap is just right, but in the music I enjoy most they're quite infrequent. The funk styles that I feel most strongly are largely fingerstyle. So I guess I just think of it as a strong flavour that some people badly overuse; sometimes nothing else will do, but more often I hear people cramming it in where it didn't need to be.

I tend to think loosely Fendery or Gibsony, and Fendery guitars are definitely where I'm most at home. Though I did really enjoy the 335 copy I had around for a couple of years and used on about half of the last NUF album. So I think PRS maybe confuse me by not being firmly in either camp, though they seem like really comfortable and versatile guitars! Like most things I'd probably need to spend a little time with one for it to click.

That's pretty! I'm not always sure I'm into the PRS aesthetic, but the purple and maple works.

I wonder if that Eminence article might be primarily aimed at guitarists, where the speakers have stiffer paper surrounds that might "break in" more noticeably than the coated fabrics used on bass and PA drivers.

If your existing bridge has no problems, any decent luthier should be able to fit adjusters to it. Most prefer to fit the bridge before installing adjusters rather than using a bridge with them pre-installed anyway.

I also don't get as much playing time in as I did a few years ago, and setting my bridge a little lower does really help me get back into it. With adjusters, it can always go back up as you get back on track, if that's the sound and feel you want. I feel that having it a little lower (currently at 5-8mm with Spiro Mittels) is an acceptable trade off for me; the absolute volume I can get is not as loud as with it higher, but being able to still play comfortably with reasonable facility for multiple sets rather than wearing myself out in the first half hour more than makes up for it IMO.

My green mongrel Jazzmaster thing says Telecaster on the (non Tele shaped) headstock, if that counts!

These are the two I play. The electric is a parts guitar; Guitarbuild Jazzmaster body, Fender MIM Tele Deluxe neck, Duncan Jazz model bridge humbucker and a neck single coil I wound myself. It gets plugged into either of two amps I built. One is based on a Fender Princeton Reverb, the other is Marshall flavoured with added reverb. The acoustic is a Kalamazoo KG-21 from 1936. These were a lower priced Gibson brand made alongside the proper Gibsons in Kalamazoo.

Ah, the mini-Vong must be new since I last looked at the site. I find the full sized version really useful, particularly with my double bass.

The silks, surface texture and ball ends look like Ernie Ball flatwounds, not the newer cobalt ones but the older style.

I think the Ampegs would be workable on double bass, though they're going to tend towards being warm rather than hi-fi sounding. Certainly I've found that my PF-50T sounds surprisingly good on my double bass, and has less of that hyped growly sound than my GK, provided that you don't do crazy things with the EQ and keep away from the ultra hi and ultra lo buttons. I think the PF-500 is designed around a similar voicing, but I'm less familiar with the SVT 450.

I have a 50t, and while I find the DI outputs very useful live or for quick demo recordings where the band are all in one room, for recording at home I like the sound much better with a mic on the cabinet even at very low volume. The speaker turns out to be a big part of what I think of as amp flavour when recording, and I'm not sure using a DI'd amp with no cab would be a satisfactory substitute for me. You've got a nice valve amp already, so there's definitely an argument for sticking with that!

I'd certainly never have a go at him for making and playing them, but I would politely suggest that maybe he's not really ready to be offering his building skills as a service just yet. Could also be fraught if he's too young to enter into a contract with prospective customers, too.