Stub Mandrel

Thanks! WinICD is sucking my brain out at the moment. In simple terms my problem is it sounds like I'm playing through guitar speakers unless I push the 40, 80 & 120 Hz sliders up to +6dB. Extended bass will give me more headroom for normal playing and the option to turn up if I need to, as I only have a 150W (it may even be 100W the power isn't actually written on it...) I've found these 12" MCM speakers, fairly cheap at CPC (about (£10 less than the Eminence Beta 12😞 This graph shows my current setup - Red, two MCM drivers in green, and one MCM in orange. All in the same size cabinet. This suggests a single MCM 12" in a 67 litre cabinet would work best for me. (For comparison the Eminence Beta 12 is 3dB down on the MCM from 40 to 60Hz). For a single driver excursion is under the red line down to 30Hz @ 150W. I realise that for these traces to be comparable they all need to be for the same nominal impedance. The appeal is I could test this by fitting an 8R one instead of two 16R mackenzies and blocking the hole, if that works. If these traces are accurate my aim of being able to 'flatten' the EQ curve and get more headroom should be achieved? If it works really well, I could get another driver and permanently convert the 'twin mac'.

It's possible to fight these strange urges... 🙂

Inspired by seeing and reading about some really good single 12 bass cabs, I've been looking at how to address the shortcomings of my own setup. Currently I have a 2x12 Pheonix guitar cab with two Celestions in it, probably 70s greenbacks but I haven't seen them for 30 years and its a lot of screws... I have a homebuilt 2x12 with two Mackenzie twin-cone PA speakers in it. Adding two modest ports to this has made it a bit bassier than the Phoenix but not as solid as I want. It's 3dB down at about 65Hz, assuming the Mckenzie 12 TCs of ~1980 are broadly similar to the Mackenzie MK Studio 12 100TC of today... I suspect that they are not as good as this! My thought is to make an 8R 1x12 cab to use with the 'twin mac' where in the past a big 15" cab would probably have been used.This means I don't need something with an extended response beyond 3KHz. I'm happier to bigger than 50 litres, and something about 700 x 550 x 300 would be about 85 litres and give a solid platform for the twin mac and with only one driver it will weight about the same. I've found this well specced driver for less than £50 on CPC: This are various experiments in WinISD, the dark line is the above driver - the benefit of using the equivalent 15" is questionable. (It knocks the spots off the slightly more expensive Eminence Beta 12A for this enclosure): At 150W (more than my amp will put into 8R) the max excursion at 31Hz is = to Xmax of 8mm. The 'power dip' is down to 55W at 60Hz, but from reading other threads that should be OK because the actual power is spread across many different frequencies. With four 80mm vents the air velocity stays below magic 11, but needs longer pipes than cabinet depth; I reckon 70mm pipes should be OK as I can 3D print ends flared out to ~80mm that should get rid of any 'whooshing' (Ignore the other plots!) Do these results look sensible? This is the first time I've use WinISD in anger and I might be making some really stupid mistakes.

So... what do you use them for?

One of these, obviously: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BIG-BUTT-004-BASS-made-in-USA/173889278327?hash=item287c9bd177:g:P2cAAOSw9iNbVddm

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1966-FENDER-MUSTANG-USA-CHARCOAL-EDITION-a-la-JIMI-HENDRIX/123749903589?hash=item1cd011ace5:g:oakAAOSwBG1cxh5G This guy should be done for 'cruel and unusual punishment'...

I have read all the way from post 1 looking for the drawings. After about an hour and a half of reading (at times it felt like some ghastly clickbait trap trying to keep me digging deeper) I get to the end and find the drawing in post one isn't some speculative prototype but is the final design... >SOBS< Anyway, thanks for all your hard work @Phil Starr ! A few questions if I may ... I don't recall ever seeing the internal volume of the speaker and the drawing doesn't show the internal depth - I'd like to model it in WinISD for myself. I have two 2x12 cabs with guitar/PA speakers in. I had to guess which Mackenzie speaker was in the home made one and adding two ports to it seems to have helped a bit. I wondered about fitting a 15" speaker instead of the two 12s but it's a bit small (70 litres). Interestingly WinISD insists that a Eminence Beta 15 wouldn't work as well in it as a dirt cheap 15" for £17 from CPC... and neither of them are as good as the two 12" Mackenzies. My amp is a 150W Laney Probass of great age, which needs to be dialled to get decent volume, and with the bottem end of the EQ boosted a fair bit. I'm wondering if using your 1x12 design would boost bottom end and would be a good complement to a 2 x 12 as I could run both for 4R. Also, did you test your design with the Eminence Beta 12 in the end? It's about half the price of the beyma and I saw one graph that suggested it might be more efficient? Finally, reading your early comments, a Q >5 is good for an 'old school' tone - which is what I'm after I suppose. Is is worth me looking at a the Eminence Beta 15a in a bigger cab instead? Again, tahnks for the huge amount of work you've put into this!

A strip of oak from B&Q will set me back a lot less than finding some rosewood/ebony and slave my eco-conscience. Plus I can choose a nice looking bit.

What type of wood is the fretboard? is it Oak?

After you, folks: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1967-RICKENBACKER-4005-Bass-made-in-USA/173903831262?hash=item287d79e0de:g:C6EAAOSwNXpcDY15

Sorry to dig up an old thread... I've been trying to get The Riverhead sussed for years, but I'm not 100% sure I have it right, especially the harmonics. It's a great excuse for having 24 fret basses 🙂 Does anyone know if there is a tab for it.

No guarantee without a pickup-specific wiring diagram. I can't find a diagram for P-bass humbuckers, but look at this sea of confusion: Assuming the start and finish of each coil is reflected by where the wire emerges from the pickups then white to black is a good place to start. I would do the 'temporary connection' then expose to a source of hum test myself.

What matters is that the intonation is set at least as accurately as you can place your fingers in a real-world playing situation. This can be done easily in a relaxed situation working on one note at a time. If you can do this any errors will be masked by the bigger ones you will inevitably make when playing. Most of these will be inaudible and if not you will learn to correct them as you go along (although despite what some people say it's only when playing fairly slowly that you get enough time to hear a note and correct it before moving on to the next one, in practice I find I rely mostly on muscle memory and listen out for my hand position drifting rather than individual bum notes). +/- 5 or 6 cents is meant to be about the limit of what the ear can detect under ideal conditions. In practice you need to get notes within about +/- 12 cents of the right spot to not sound out of tune (bear in mind the bass is rarely playing in unison with another instrument which makes exact pitch less critical as you don't get beats etc.) That means the 'critical' zone to get your finger in is about 1/4 of a semitone wide, although most of the time you probably do better than that! Get the intonation set to match where you finger naturally falls and it will maximise the chance of you hitting the zone when you are really shredding.

I've been looking to find a clip of Dave Pegg slapping tastefully. I've found plenty of evidence of his signature pick and two fingers technique, and even him doing a tapping solo! But I have to give up, he just manages to work in sounds that are just like slapping without actually doing so!

Seconded. If anyone tells you you're out, just start explaining 'just intonation' to them and after ten minutes they will zone out and never hassle you again.

Alternative strategy. Just learn the key for the originals and make it up as you go along. How will anyone know that's not what you were meant to play? 🙂

Fender Performer ... eventually!

Cheap Chinese straplocks come with bigger screws than Schaller. Just drill the strap buttons out. I also drilled out the buttons on my performer - oddly they are straplock compatible (making them iffy with a normal strap) but the screw is too high so they don't lock. Deepening the hole in the button reduces the strain on the screw a bit too, but don't drill so the end of the button is only held on by a thin ring of metal... I worry that Jim Dunlop ones are too overhung although the ones I have on my 5 seem to be OK. Perhaps teh ideal solution is a 4" coach bolt and a penny washer permanently attaching the strap 🙂

Sting - The Poultry Years

One of these guys is uber-cool. One of them is not. Can you guess which is which, children?

I have no experience of this in a gig situation, but it's worth noting that most decent chorus pedals have a stereo output that creates a really nice effect. Just make sure you send stereo to the PA as well (and that it's the right way round).

Also the owners have't just had the TV turn up and offer to sell their stuff - they are motivated by the hope of making a killing.

I'm not very good at slap, but try this exercise. Finger the a-string at the 7th fret and g-string at the 9th to get the octave. First practice flicking the a-string against the fretboard alternating with using your middle finger to pull up the g-string and so pops back against the fretboard. Once you can keep up a steady 1-2 rhythm try doing the following 8 to the bar pattern: G--------9-------6-------7--------8 D---------------------------------- A----7-------4--------5-------6---- E---------------------------------- Once you can play this steadily, try combining the two techniques into different syncopated slap/pop patterns on 7 and 9. When you can do these reasonably cleanly, try playing a simple bassline, not a fast one, you know well that is all on the E and A strings. slapping all the notes on the E and A strings and double them up by 'popping' them on the D and G strings. Also, try simply playing basslines using your thumb to slap instead of a finger to pick the notes. From here you are probably as good as me and on your own... this won't make you fast, but it shoudl help you build your technique without trying to do too much at once or confusing things by trying to learn new patterns for your fretting hand when its your playing hand that needs to learn.

What kind of music do you want to play? That should lead your choice. These Chorus - thickens up your sound and adds a 'shimmer' to the top end. Good for melodic lines, subtle, especially if you use a guitar flanger with bass (which can work well as it keeps the bottom end clear and spices up the higher tones). Flanger - deeper more in-your-face version of chorus, used slow can give a swooshing rather artificial sound. I tend to use it when I want an obvious effect. Phaser - gentler version of phase and chorus as it affects a broader range of sounds. I find this very lovely but less popular these days. [Use chorus+flanger at very different rates for really wild sounds as they intermodulate, good for 'psychedelic effects'.] EQ pedal - can be useful if used with care. Essential if you have to use other people's amps with lots of confusing dials as you can set up a 'neutral tone' and use the pedal to get the sound you like. Use to get two different sounds if you have a 1-pickup bass or to get a different sound for special effect. I prefer to use it with subtle bass boost if I need some welly when using the bridge pickup. Distortion - very personal. I have a HM2 for completely wrecked sounds, but most people want a much subtler effect. The higher harmonics ina distorted sound often make chorus/flange etc. more noticeable. Delay - Thickens your sound but can get rid of definition I find what sounds good to me sounds awful when played back as it ovewhelms other instruments, best used in small doses. Tremelo - very cheap effect that adds a wobble or even a stutter (depending on depth) without affecting the note pitch. Useful for some genres like surf music. Usually best used in a subtle way as too much and it can 'overlays' a rhythm on your playing (OK if you want this!). Compressor - vary from simple on/off effects on some amps to flight-deck complexity. I use mine with attack and sustain near middle values and adjust level so it matches me playing normally. My aim is to use fairly subtly to even out levels when playing varied lines. Slap players generally more compression to balance out the extreme differences between hard slaps and pops and gentler muted notes. Turn off when you want to emphasise dynamics (i.e. play soft and then loud). Tuner - really useful and most can also act as a mute pedal. Next to add for me? Octaver - I really like the sound. Main thing with effects is don't over-use them. Make sure you have a good sound without any effects (except perhaps EQ and compression) and rely on pickup switching/tone know for most changes of sound. Bring in effects only when needed, over-effected instruments can be tiring to listen to. That said, they can be great fun if you find an excuse for stomping on several at once!

As a moment of slight relief, take inspiration from the extra-Short Scale here: