Bill Fitzmaurice

[quote name='BigRedX' post='669143' date='Nov 29 2009, 09:52 AM']For me that pretty much defeats the object of having one. The basic unit fits nicely into the "shortboard" pocket of the Line 6 pod gig bag so I can get my complete secondary rig into an easily carryable form, instead of a bulky 6U rack case that my main rig occupies.[/quote] Not at all. Strip off that aluminum crap and you end up with a physical package identical to the Little Giant, and half the weight of what it is now.

[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='668989' date='Nov 29 2009, 06:21 AM']The Superfly is a good head on paper but is let down by overheating issues, grossly overweight for it's size and build quality issues.[/quote] For those who do have them ditch the heavy aluminum outer casing and handle. If that case was properly finned it would weigh a third what it does and would slough heat away, but it isn't finned, so all it accomplishes is to double the weight of the amp and retain heat. Rack mount the innards and put a computer fan in the rack and the heat issues, and the long term damage it causes, disappear.

[quote name='Commando Jack' post='668698' date='Nov 28 2009, 04:00 PM']Hi, I've been looking a new rig, which will be my first giggable rig for small to medium venues. I was initially after a reasonably powerful combo, but since rummaging around on this site, I'm now on the fence about getting separates instead! So it's open season here. A friend of mine recommended [url="http://www.theacademyofsound.co.uk/"]this site[/url], and said he got a 'great' deal on an Ashdown superfly [url="http://www.theacademyofsound.co.uk/Ashdown_Bass_Amplifiers/Ashdown_Superfly_1000_Bass_Guitar_Head_Amplifier"]here.[/url][/quote]I like my Superfly, but I wouldn't pay that price for one. Mine was $199 US two years ago. I wouldn't pay more than that now. If you go for one you'll need two 4 ohm cabs to get the most from it. I'd use a pair of 2x10 or 2x12.

[quote name='harmonicfish' post='665454' date='Nov 25 2009, 01:53 PM']Ok, time to set myself up as a target for ridicule There are a lot of threads in this forum regarding lightweight cabs (indeed there's a whopping great sticky right at the top), but a lot of the time these cabs, although light, are just as bulky as their heavier brethren.[/quote] You've got your Hoffman's Iron Law a bit askew. The rule is low, small, efficient. Pick any two. Weight doesn't enter into the equation. Using lightweight materials, the right construction methods, and long excursion neo drivers you can go low, loud, small and light. The downside is that it won't be as efficient as a larger box, especially one loaded with more than one driver, so you need more amp power. Lightweight materials (12mm plywood) built using the right construction methods and long excursion neo drivers are an expensive combination, too expensive for any of the usual sources to offer them AFAIK. Aside from custom made and DIY Barefaced is likely the only source for cabs of that sort on your side of the pond.

[quote name='ase_one23' post='662905' date='Nov 23 2009, 12:05 PM']would this really make things 'louder' though?[/quote]Yes, by a substantial margin. Put them one atop the other for best results.

[quote name='ashevans09' post='660744' date='Nov 20 2009, 10:22 PM']I've recently been noticing that a couple of bands have taken to pointing their cabs away from the audience, with the backs facing them instead. Now this seems slightly odd to me to say the least - surely you'd want to throw sound out right? And this is on all size venues too. I first noticed it at sonisphere during this performance (nice aguilar rig btw): And also noticed Paramore doing it on smaller indoor venues, bassist included. What is the reason for this? Is it just an aesthetic thing?[/quote] If they're running in ears they don't need to hear the cabs directly, and pointing them backwards would allow them to be run at high levels without interfering with what the audience hears, which is the PA.

[quote name='spinynorman' post='657403' date='Nov 17 2009, 02:37 PM']We're using a Mackie SRM350 as an active monitor for vocals, but the singer often can't hear herself.[/quote] Only one? A monitor per player/singer is the norm, and EQ isn't an option, it's mandatory. If that's all in place and she still can't hear herself: turn the instruments down.

[quote name='fatback' post='655917' date='Nov 16 2009, 08:11 AM']Do amps with DI usually have it post or pre eq? fatback[/quote] Better amps have a switch to choose either.

[quote name='Jigster' post='655219' date='Nov 15 2009, 10:15 AM']okay ta - does any of that go towards explaining why sound guy at my gig last night did a line out connection for my amp? I understand the DI principle but am struggling to see the diff to line out!! [/quote] Line out is unbalanced, which is fine if used to go to a slave power amp that's plugged in to the same AC outlet or power strip as your amp, but can lead to serious ground loop noise when run to a remote device, like a mixer. DI is a balanced send, which eliminates the potential for ground loop noise.

[quote name='gary mac' post='654438' date='Nov 14 2009, 08:22 AM']I know it's tempting to save on lugging stuff about, but I think it's a bad plan Peter. I've seen what happens to stuff in my shed, even when well wrapped.[/quote] +1. And leaving it covered won't discourage thieves. Quite the reverse, they'll break in just to see what you've hidden.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='651246' date='Nov 10 2009, 07:33 PM']I'd hope so. Too much lecturing on the internet and not enough carpentry is that guys problem. See how Bill makes everyone do their own carpentry leaving him free to tell people stuff on the internet. Cunning chap.[/quote] Why spend 14 hours a day in the kitchen cooking when you can make twice as much selling cookbooks?

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='650407' date='Nov 10 2009, 04:56 AM']my limited understanding from t'internet would be that if xmax is reached at 150W LF, then an amp capable of 250w max is about right - it'll drive this speaker to full potential with enough headroom to prevent nasty amp clipping and you shouldn't get near the safety limits of the driver.[/quote]By and large you're fine with an amp that has the same power rating as the thermal rating of the drivers, giving enough power to get the full displacement limited output from the drivers with adequate headroom to keep the sound clean. But some players prefer more grit to their sound and might like to run with less power, especially if tube based, while others may prefer the effortless headroom of an amp with twice the driver rating or more. To each their own.

[quote name='Bass Culture' post='650204' date='Nov 9 2009, 05:41 PM']Okay, I think I've got that. But in practice would it be unlikely that you would put more than 150w into each driver in the low end as the mids and highs would also take a certain amount of the available power too (I've got a horrible feeling this might be a really stupid question now I'm reading it back - but hey!)?[/quote] Power requirements and driver excursion drop by roughly 50% for each octave higher you go.

[quote name='Bass Culture' post='650088' date='Nov 9 2009, 03:58 PM']So the benefit will be in the lower weight of the neo driver but there'd be no performance benefits as such?[/quote]That's about it.[quote]So if I have two cabs with the same driver configuration - i.e. the neo versions - does that mean that my 500w Little Mark will be too powerful for them?[/quote] Not at all, but if you put more than 150w or so into each driver in the low end they won't go any louder, and with enough power they'll distort badly.

[quote name='Bass Culture' post='649986' date='Nov 9 2009, 02:21 PM']"With only 2.5mm excursion and 69Hz Fs IMO the BN12 300s is a poor choice for electric bass. The BL12 200X will go a half octave lower and take twice the power before running out of steam". And what's your view on the Neo version of the same speaker, Bill - the BN12 300X (I don't know why but it appears the Neo 12" Green Label is rated at 100w more.)?[/quote] The 300x is also OK, but that extra 100 watts thermal won't be of any benefit, as with 4mm xmax they're both displacement limited to 150 watts, give or take.

[quote name='ColinB' post='649363' date='Nov 9 2009, 03:09 AM']I wouldn't know if putting the Orange 12" speaker in a different cab design to that which Warwick use could increase the bottom end, or if swapping the Orange for a Green in the same cab would achieve anything worthwhile - probably not![/quote]With only 2.5mm excursion and 69Hz Fs IMO the BN12 300s is a poor choice for electric bass. The BL12 200X will go a half octave lower and take twice the power before running out of steam.

[quote name='Bass Culture' post='648143' date='Nov 7 2009, 10:31 AM']Ahhh, so there's a question to be asked then... Thanks, Mark[/quote]If you ask that question of the usual sources, Ampeg, Fender, Eden, etc., you'll get no answer, as they don't have that information available. But any custom builder should, and if he doesn't, look elsewhere. Better service than what the usual sources can provide is the only reason for having a cab built for you.

[quote name='Bass Culture' post='648134' date='Nov 7 2009, 10:16 AM']I'm having two of Mike Walsh's Purple Chili 12" bass cabs made for me and I'm trying to decide whether to go for the orange label or green label neo speakers. There's a difference in sensitivity and frequency response between them as well as fundamental tone - by the sound of it. The green's are supposed to be more 'old school' and the oranges more mid-biased and clear. As each speaker seems to have different strengths I'm thinking of having one cab made up with each. Anyone had any experience of these speakers or care to comment on the one of each option? Thanks, Mark[/quote]The most important spec is excursion, xmax. That's what determines how much low frequency output a driver is capable of. IMO anything less than 4mm disqualifies a driver from consideration. And don't mix drivers, there are no advantages to doing so. As for the result you can expect, a builder who knows what he's doing will be able to model different drivers in different boxes and provide you with charts for response, sensitivity and maximum output. Ergo, if he can't provide you with those charts...

[quote name='stevie' post='647276' date='Nov 6 2009, 09:27 AM']I was thinking of the LAB12 woofer that Eminence built (and still builds) for Tom Danley's Lab horn, which was more advanced in certain respects than the drivers Eminence was making at the time. It has an xmax of 13mm, for example.[/quote]The Lab 12 is built on the same frame used by Eminence for a number of drivers, the Dayton (Parts Express) Titanic 12, which pre-dates the LAB, being one example. The magnet, coil, cone etc. are all stock items. The only part that might have been created specifically for it is the dome, though that might have been a stock item as well. It differs from most Eminence offerings being built on a consumer sound frame, not a pro-sound frame. Eminence makes many OEM consumer sound drivers, but only markets pro-sound drivers under its own brand.

[quote name='Musky' post='647118' date='Nov 6 2009, 07:05 AM']Yeah, I didn't really think there was any such thing as a 'super driver', or the manufacturers would be making them as a standard model! I'd rather assumed that the whole 'custom driver' thing was mostly snake oil, with an implied superior performance.[/quote]Leo Fender pasted 'Special Design' stickers on the drivers he used and the only thing special about them was the sticker. He used stock drivers, purchased from a number of companies, which ones made it into a particular production run depended on who gave him the best price.

[quote name='umcoo' post='645784' date='Nov 4 2009, 05:19 PM']Hey Basszilla, does it make it more grindy and gainy, or just a clean boost?[/quote]It's not going to do a lot, since the two channels are paralleled into a common power amp. You can get a lot more utility if the two channels are cascaded in series, but that takes rewiring by a good techie.

[quote name='Musky' post='644136' date='Nov 3 2009, 04:00 AM']I was wondering how much manufacturers can customise a speaker?[/quote] Very little, unless they're ordering in lots of 10,000. Eminence offers a number of OEM options, most of them built with existing parts, a frame from this pile, a cone from that pile, a voice coil from that pile and so forth. The frame and motor very much determine a useful parameter range that can only vary by roughly 20%. There are no OEM 'super drivers' with specs that can't be very nearly duplicated with an off the shelf unit. The Ampeg driver is a bit unique, because it's built with a frame and motor that hasn't been used for any of Eminence's in-line drivers for at least ten years. If it was any other manufacturer they wouldn't do enough volume to keep making it. Save impedance its specs fall into the range in between the Alpha 10 and Beta 10. Recently some 32 ohm neo replacements have appeared, which probably use the Basslite S2010 frame/motor.

[quote name='umcoo' post='643748' date='Nov 2 2009, 02:24 PM']Hi folks, I recently picked up a Fender Bassman 135, but am waiting on funds for a cab (but that's another story). I've heard about patching a cable between the bass and normal channels, but want to know what happens and how it affects the sound and tonez. Any users out there?[/quote] We used to do that with Fenders in the 60's, it allowed you to use the deep switch on the bass channel and the bright switch on the instrument channel, but it wasn't particularly worthwhile. The EQs on the two channels were identical, so no benefits there. One possible use that would be worthwhile is to run one channel straight and effects through the second, giving the ability to vary the tone and volume mix of straight and effect.

[quote name='Finbar' post='643683' date='Nov 2 2009, 01:19 PM']Well I don't know, the clip light wasn't engaging, so I can't have been running it that hot...[/quote] Hot enough, obviously.

[quote name='Archetype' post='642833' date='Nov 1 2009, 04:05 PM']Hey everyone, I am getting my mits on a bunch of Delta 12 speakers[/quote] Sell them. Delta 12s are poorly suited to electric bass. When it comes to building a cab the best route is to find a tested design and then load it with drivers that are recommended for it.