dub

You could buy a markbass little mark II as a bass head, they've got a great sound 500w output and are very light to carry. That wouldn't leave you with a lot to spend on a bass cab, but if you look in the ads here and on ebay you could get a decent cab without spending much money. It is useful to have a good DI output on your amp to connect to the PA. Good luck.

Hi Tony There's a handy on line calculator at this address if you ever use more cabs of differing impedance: [url="http://www.bcae1.com/spkrmlti.htm"]http://www.bcae1.com/spkrmlti.htm[/url] Nearly all speaker cabs will connect in parallel using standard speaker cables. It doesn't make any difference to the overall impedance if you connect the cables direct from the amp or cab to cab, unless someone has done a custom wiring job. The most important thing is to use good quality speaker cables. I would connect both cabs direct to the amp, it means that you are less likely to damage or lose anything as you'll automatically coil both cables into the back of your amp case when you are packing up.

[quote name='jacko' post='143594' date='Feb 20 2008, 10:55 AM']p.s. he got them sent over from bass central in florida much quicker and cheaper than trying to get them in the UK[/quote] Thanks for all the info.

Thanks for the reply. Is the XST significantly better at handling low end without breaking up than the metro on it's own, or is it just a subtle difference in bass response? It's just that it would seem that xlt cabs are easier to get hold of in the UK. cheers Quee [quote name='crez5150' post='142475' date='Feb 18 2008, 02:25 PM']Hi dub I use an Eden Metro combo and have the 210XST as an extension. It's a great cab and I often use it on its own with a graphic Tech head. Loads of bottom end!!!! I use a 5 string Kingbass[/quote]

I've played a lot of Eden rigs at festivals and they are my favourite sound so far, but I've never had a chance to use a 210XST cab. Just wondering if any of you own an eden 210 XST? On the spec they are listed as having a 30hz-14khz freq range which is incredibly low for a 210. Do they really handle the low end that well? I would like to believe it. If handles a low B well I'll get one! The only place in the UK I can see one for sale so far is the bass gallery. Anyone know of a cheaper place to buy these cabs?

Sounds like any of the markbass amps with an analogue power amp would suit you very well, possibly the little mark II or an SA450. They have a very clean powerful sound. I've never tried one of their combos, so can't really comment on them, but I can recommend epifani cabs they have a fantastic sound and are very light, you might like the ul112 which would be lighter than a 1x15 but still have a lot of low end.

Ahh well rectangular wooden ports then. I read those two companies used transmission line designs somewhere, and the cabs sound good, but thats what you get for reading stuff off the web!

I personally like the sound of 10" speakers, which can work well with a five string, but they have to be really good drivers in a well designed cab. The most impressive cabs I've heard are Epifani, next in line are Eden. Both of makers use a transmission line design which extends the lower frequency range. Of course, you may prefer the sound of bigger drivers, and there are other well made transmission line cabs which I haven't tried, but the best advice I can give is borrow or hire something, and play it at a gig before you decide to buy one. Something that sounds great on its own in a practice room can sound totally different on stage.

Hi Iain Something to consider in an electric upright is getting part of it to rest comfortably against your body, like a double bass. I had to get a new extension for mine as the original design was a bit wobbly and didn't come far enough out from the body. Fortunately, the maker had redsigned one and sent it to me. If you compare your bass to a full size double bass you'll get an idea of where it should be resting. If it's too close it can cause problems. When the bass is stable, and is resting against you, it is possible to use a small amount of leverage with your arm and back to hold down the strings rather than just your hand strength alone. Your left hand thumb and fingers should form a C shape (this was a big change for me as I used to play the electric with my thumb curving the other way! but this has improved my electric techniquie too) You can experiment with this by holding down notes without squeezing with your thumb at all, just using it as a support. Look in the mirror, holding your bass and let your left shoulder relax down so it level with the right That way you can be a lot more relaxed in you arm and back and are less likely to get injuries through tension. "Progressive Repetoire for the double bass" by george vance is quite a good series of books for technique. It's a bit dry but then most of these kind of books are.

Hi Tom That's quite funny to meet you on the basschat page. You're welcome to come and check out the cab anytime as it is much better than the one I built all that time ago! I would be interested to see what you made of the bass too. It's probably a good bit more portable than a 3/4 although I haven't risked taking it on a plane yet as I think it would need a more serious case to survive that! cheers Quee

Just got a chance to play my Da Gamba upright through my Epifani UL110 for the first time over a couple of days rehearsal. What an inspirational sound from a small cab! I had been thinking I needed a new pickup system, but it was my old cab that didn't sound so great. The UL110 seems to be ideal for rehearsals and small gigs. All I need now is to pair it with a UL112 for a bit more woof on a big stage and I'll be laughing. There's a link to the guy who made my bass below for those who are interested. It had an underwood pickup when I bought it second hand. When it stopped working on one side. I replaced it with a "revolution solo". I tried two rev solos together to try and get a better string balance (one in each wing), it sounded very hard not unlike the underwood, but just one on the bass side of the bridge gave a much fatter sound, (just like it says on the installation instructions)! After a bit of experiment I re-installed a rev solo II with the R side down and pushed it far into the wing of the bridge, just past the edge of the wing, which gave a much better string balance and a bit more body tone, I think this was because my bass has a low bridge compared to a full size bass, but if your G and A strings are too quiet, try pushing the pickup further into the bridge wing and see if that helps. My old cab was making the imbalance worse but now it sounds great. It does make me wonder about the phase cancellation that happens in multiple element pickups. One trancducer carefully placed does seem to achieve a fuller, more "natural" tone (depending on the individual instrument, as I can imagine a harder sound would suit a really boomy bass). I just saw a great bass player in the McDades. He was using a beautiful old double bass and "The Realist" pickup which sounded fantastic. I don't know if a Realist would suit me as I work with a kit drummer so feedback rejection is really important and a tiny bit of direct string tone from higher up the bridge is quite nice. I'm happy with the sound of my bass now so I'll leave it alone and concentrate on playing! [url="http://kaniaguitars.com/i2/kontrabas/da_gambaang.htm"]http://kaniaguitars.com/i2/kontrabas/da_gambaang.htm[/url]

Ah well there you go. The only times I heard a feedback destroyer in action, it wasn't on freeze. That sounds like a good idea if it stays fixed for the gig.

A good 31band graphic (pref. Klark Teknik) is what you need for monitors. The feedback eliminators can cause a bit of trouble if you leave them on search. You can hear the parametrics shooting around, trying to cut notes that are actually music not feedback! Some engineers method is to insert a graphic on each monitor, leave an open mike (no desk eq) onstage, turn up the poweramp/channel till they feed, then find the offending frequency and reduce it in the graphic then turn up the power amps/mic channel more till the next frequency feeds etc. This is effective but extremely unpleasent to listen to. It is also not possible if the punters are already in the venue unless you want them all to leave! You can find the frequencys and reduce them by the note they relate to on you instrument (440hz is A etc) if you find a chart of the notes this can be really useful as you can identify it quickly and turn it down in the graphic when feedback starts, after a while you'll start to recognise the frequencies. The best basic setup is to get the singer to sing through the monitors on their own (no eq on the desk channel) and eq the graphic till they sounds balanced and as natural as possible (this may not be possible with some singers!)

Yeh 4 high so they are all directly above one another. You can see this in line array concert PAs it's well worth giving it a try.

If you get hold of two good 2x10s (like epifani or eden) and stack them vertically, you'll get a more focused powerful sound than other speaker combinations. It's much more efficient that a 410 and easier to carry. If you get a chance, give it a try. Once you've heard the sound. I reckon you might want to sell the Marshall and get two 2x10s.

I just got an Epifani UL110, it's a powerful sound from such a tiny 250W cab. It is so light you can actually carry it to gigs without one arm getting longer that the other! There are limitations to how much low end a cab this small can handle before cracking up but it produces a surprising amount (more than some of the cheaper 410s). It would be good to have a bit more woof for big gigs but it is very usable and in a smaller room it sounds great. I reckon if I can find a good lightweight sub and bi-amp or use a passive crossover it would be the ideal flexible set up. One cab for rehearsals and small gigs, two for the loud ones.

I used to own a V4 with an 810. It's a great setup but it was felt like it was made of soild lead when you had it carry it up stairs at 4 in the morning. I was playing at a festival a couple of weeks ago where one stage had an ampeg 810 with an SVT head and the other had an eden D410 XLT with an eden WT head. The eden setup blew the ampeg setup away in all respects, (both were set close to flat eq). The eden cab had more bottom end and a more defined tone than the ampeg 810 rig (I was surprised by that) so I would reccomend you take your amp to a shop thats got an ampeg 810 and an eden D410 XLT or XST (even more bottom end on the XST) and compare them, you could save yourself a lot of backache, even more if you get a 210!

Try an intellitouch tuner. It clips on the head bass, no cables needed, it's tiny and light and you can tune offstage if you want to.

Stewmac in the US has a huge stock of parts and equipment for making and repairing instruments. I previously bought sheilding paint, a graphite nut and a new selector switch from them. I recently got some emg select pickups ($24) which have a good hum free output and no preamp required, they sound great. Any order less than $36 to the UK means no import duty which makes it really cheap if you want low cost parts. Orders over $36 have a 17.5% duty charge when imported to the UK. [url="http://www.stewmac.com"]http://www.stewmac.com[/url]

You might notice distortion with a 9V if you turn the eq full up, have your pickups set very high and play really hard but most of the time its not a problem. The main thing is to check out the flat and eq'd sound of pre-amps to see which ones you prefer, as they are all a bit different. I personally like the sound of musicman preamps, they run off 9V and produce a tiny bit more noise than some others but the eq bands are really well chosen and suit the sound I like. Bartolinis preamps are very quiet and have quite a hard top end which suits some, and run off 9V or 18V Aguilar pre's are also very quiet and have a warmer tone and are very flat response with no eq but there's plenty of boost available. They can run off 9V and 18V too. Sadowsky pre's have also got a good rep but I've not used one myself. There are a lot of designs out there and these are the only ones I've tried, but see if you can try some out before buying.

A pro should have jigs, bench drills and other equipment that means that they can fit a neck with much more accuracy that you could at home. Practice is a great thing when it comes to fitting a neck, so it's well worth the money to pay someone with years of experience to do a good job. [quote name='steve-norris' post='8133' date='May 28 2007, 04:00 PM'] errr very good point , i feel a bit dumb now, (shuffles off whistling hoping no one will notice) Thanks for the good advise. I have fitted an undrilled neck before but not one that cost ne this much, procede with caution i think [/quote]