Beer of the Bass

I'm not intimately familar with Laney's range over the years, but is that definitely a bass cab? The basketweave tolex and cloth grille looks like a lot of their guitar stuff over the last few years.

I'm probably something of a luddite in these matters, but putting bluetooth in a guitar amp at all seems like a solution looking for a problem.

I'm hanging on to the Melos, it's just not coming out for gigs. I have two of them, one I was using and another tucked away waiting for me to refurbish it if I ever get around to it, both the silver-fronted cartridge based model.

Ooh, proper Hammond! I always like seeing those used live, as it seems to happen less and less often now.

A post-phase-inverter master volume (PPIMV) can work really well with this circuit to dial it down to lower volumes, though you lose the effect of the presence control at lower settings, and it's still not exactly the same sound as cranking it with no master. I built an amp for a guitarist friend a while back, based on the 1987 circuit but in a 1x12" combo cabinet. While the PPIMV is effective right down to practice volume, I'd suggest that it might be too much amp unless you're regularly playing very loud gigs. He's never had his above 50% on the master even in larger rooms, and it'll be even louder with a 2x12" or 4x12".

I'm concerned about that photo of the back. From that photo it looks a lot like the plates of the 6l6s are glowing red. This does not happen in normal use; it's usually a sign that the valves are drawing too much current and can lead to short valve life and sudden failures. Perhaps check in with the maker about that.

Only if the collectors in question are refuse collectors!

I have heard a pair of these, and I'd say that the screws are the least of their worries!

Ooh, there's a mapleglo one! I still won't be able to afford one, but I could definitely make good use of one of those.

I know there are a couple of basschatters who play there - have any of you noticed what their house guitar amp is at the moment? I have a late gig tomorrow on guitar and I'm temporarily without a car. If it's the same old Peavey as a couple of years ago I'd lug my own combo anyway, but I'm hoping they might have changed it by now.

I could see the value with certain fuzz pedals, though it's something I haven't got around to playing with yet (having few electric bass gigs at the moment). When running a DI with my Superfuzz clone, it takes a competent sound guy, a decent desk and a little time in the soundcheck to sort out the excess high end fizz that a tweeterless bass cab cuts out. A lot of my gigs don't have all of those things, but that pedal does exactly what I want when used through my cabs. I think I'd rather have a simple lowpass response rather than a more complex cab simulation though.

I'd be very tempted if my finances allowed (which they don't). I like the look and sound of Rickenbackers, and the slim-bodied proportions (I started on an Ibanez faker), but the daft metalwork and lack of an effective 5-string put me off, and the 4004 loses too much of what I like about the looks IMO. So this does tick all of the boxes, the walnut model especially.

Ah, I'd forgotten about this thread. I ended up with a Catalinbread Belle Epoch, which was the closest sounding thing I'd tried to my old tape echo. It behaves a little differently, since my old Melos got darker as the tape speed was slowed, and the BE is simulating the Echoplex which uses a sliding head instead (so keeps a consistent tone at different echo times). But the feedback sounds and modulation on it are spot-on.

There's a surprising amount of that, but also a lot of people buying and selling lightly used sets while they figure it out. It turns out that the ones I like (Thomastik Spirocore Medium) are kind of the industry standard for the styles I play, and my first good bass came with a set of them. I have tried out a few others, but it's always felt a bit pointless as it just confirms that these are my favourites anyway.

At least nylon tapewounds will last for a long time - a small consolation with expensive strings. And hey, it's still a cheaper pursuit than finding the right double bass strings. I think my last set were £160, though I should be good for several years with those.

I suspect a standard Fender reverb driver transformer (22K:8ohms) would work acceptably in that circuit, though not identical to the original. Worth a shot, anyway.

I'd say to go straight for the double bass if at all possible. An EUB can be a useful thing to have around but there's a lot about tone production and physical approach that it won't help you to develop. I played EUB for a couple of years before I owned a double bass, and with hindsight I regretted doing it that way around.

The problem with adding a more complex tone stack is that passive treble/bass or treble/mid/bass circuits tend to be more lossy than the simple single knob types. So it may not be a simple matter of adding the tone controls, it may need an additional gain stage too. At that point you're looking at a rebuild of the whole preamp section, which may not seem worthwhile.

You could go with one of the systems using piezo discs on the underside of the bridge plate, like the K&K Pure or the JJB pickups which are similar but cheaper. They're less feedback resistant than soundhole or undersaddle pickups, but do sound good.

Sounds like you're almost there. Slowing down the tremolo speed should just be a matter of increasing the value of those three .02uF capacitors in the tremolo circuit. It may take some trial and error because if you go too large on the value the oscillator can stall and stop working. I'd perhaps try .033uF and see how that goes. The volume control issue may just be a worn out pot. Regarding the reverb, I'd check the DC resistance of the tank itself first - if the amp is the same as the schematic Mr Del Var posted, it should be roughly equivalent to an Accutronics AB type tank - the input coil should measure very low DC resistance (like 1-2 ohms) and the output coil in the hundreds of ohms. If the tank turns out to be OK, I'd then try to isolate the problem to the driver or recovery stage. If you can hear crashing through the amp when the reverb is turned up and the tank is tapped, the recovery stage is OK. If the recovery stage is OK, I'd first check the driver transformer wasn't shorted or open, and check that the cathode resistor in the driver stage is OK (reverb drivers pull quite a lot of current, so can be hard on parts). If all of that is OK, try a new valve in the driver stage.

Have a good sniff of it - celluloid smells like Vick's Vapourub.

I've seen someone use small bulldog clips from a stationery shop, with the handle part removed. It might take some experimentation to find the right size, but they're easy to find at short notice.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1509715865' post='3401128'] Shiny green pants were de rigeur at the time. I'm wearing mine now as I type. [/quote] With the matching socks and tie?

The drummer's stage wear is memorable...

[quote name='Deedee' timestamp='1509666319' post='3400791'] Am i the only person who had an Encore P in the early nineties that played fine? Did loads of gigs with it 😳 [/quote] I think Encores have come from a few different factories over the years. An old bandmate had one which was really not bad and played nicely but I've seen others which were horrible.