cameltoe

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='893899' date='Jul 13 2010, 04:34 PM']So what options are there for a dummy load? A 4-ohm lightbulb?![/quote] Yeah I'd like to know this! I've no idea what to use in that instance. Not something I've had to deal with before. I guess I need to know which way to go with this. I'm going to need another head for my other band, as the LB is just too fat and thick sounding, so.... I could either rip the HA3500 head out of my Hartke combo and use that for the other band, PLUS buy a cheap power amp to boost the LB I could buy one amp head to do both (i.e a little mark or similar) which has a power amp in it. I could buy a regular amp head (or use the Hartke) to do both- but wouldn't this affect the tone of the LB? With the above comments I'm presuming you need the power amp stage rather than just pre-amp.

Cheers! I have to sell my surplus gear now to fund the purchase of a suitable power amp/ bass amp head. The little mark 250 has caught my eye.

Shame you're so far away- my Trace Elliot 150w combo is up for sale, virtually new condition. Probably more RMS power than the EB combo too, I've used an EB 180 at a rehearsal before and it was good but it did sound like a small rig. The Trace sounds huge! Cuts through my band no worries. I think you'd struggle with the 100w Hartke TBH. I've also got a Hartke VX3500 combo that I'll shortly be advertising, in very good condition and 350w.

[quote name='sk8' post='893379' date='Jul 13 2010, 07:05 AM']Done this with my LB and LM LB going through the AE210 with the DI going into the balanced input of the LM3 which is powering the NV412 - Scary [/quote] Cool how does this sound? Looks mean! Bear with me; Is the balanced input just an input that bypasses the preamp? Ideally, I wouldn't want the tone to be coloured too much, just the signal to be boosted. If I can do this somehow with a regular bass head (i.e LM3) , great, then I also have a head for my other band that requires a cleaner tone. Otherwise I'll need just a power amp I guess. And if I only want to run 1 cab but have a bit more headroom I need to use a dummy load correct? I was wondering, as the DI is taken from the output transformer, whether you still need that load. Someone edjucate me!

Never even picked one up before last week. Saw one hanging on the wall of our drummer's office (he's a sound technician at a local college). Picked it up and played it unplugged..... felt [i]amazing[/i] It had about three year old strings on which felt as dead as flatwounds, the frets were worn down a fair bit, but my god.... Just had that lovely worn-in feeling, I can't describe it. He reckons it's a 90's one but it felt and looked older than that. Was very well set up, and the whole bass just vibrated when I played it. Felt so alive and 'One piece', as opposed to some newer basses which feel like seperate components bolted together (which they are, but you get my drift) Now on my GAAAAAAAAAAS LIST!

DR have just started making drop-tuning specific strings. You'll need to set the whole guitar up again around that tuning though.

More info on an appropriate power amp would be good too, if someone can post some links. I'm not sure all amps will be suitable, so what people will think is a good match. I have a Hartke vx3500 combo, I'm in two minds whether to sell it and get the power amp/seperate amp head to power the LB, or just nick the amp head from that and stick it in the band's rack (which usually sits on my cab anyway) to power the LB. Will be a bit of a waste of a decent combo I guess. Second thoughts- could I not use the power amp that we use with the PA? Would there be enough inputs to add my amp? Will it drain that amp too much?

Ok I get ya.... Doesn't mention that in the instructions though does it? What I posted in my second post is all it says about taking a line-out. So can someone [i]now[/i] explain to me what I use for a dummy load? Don't want to be carting two cabs round if I don't have to.

Why do you need a dummy load though? Surely as far as the LB is concerned it's just DI-ing to the PA, then we boost the signal from there with the power amp and go back into the cab. Unless I misunderstand something, I didn't think you had to worry about a 'load' with just a straight DI from the amp? Can someone explain (in Lehman's terms!)

From manual: DI OUTPUT - This XLR socket is used to connect the amplifier to a low impedance, balanced input on a PA system or recording mixer. The DI output is taken from a separate winding on the output transformer, allowing the full character of the valve tone to be sent to the PA or recording console.

Would this be possible? In my other thread I've posted about how the LB is fairly loud, but will need cranking into dirge to get decent volume. I gigged it at the weekend and was fairly happy- was a decent sized gig too and we're not the quietest band. I'm worried about the bigger gigs we have though, and ideally I'd like to use this so I was toying with the idea of picking up a simple, lightweight power amp to help boost my output a bit and give me a bit more clean volume? I guess I wouldn't need much power, 100w should be more than enough, but it would mean I could get the amp as snarly as I wanted it and then set the volume, rather than having to live with the snarl to get the volume. We don't have subs so lining out is a rare occurence for me. I'd like to be self-sufficient as well. If anyone could recommend one that may work well with this amp, that would be great. Nice and cheap and light and small, please!

Sweet cheers

I desperately need to find some protective covers for both these, before they get scratched to buggery in my van.

OK as promised got some pics together today On top of the lovely LB212 cab, both handmade over here. Tried it at a gig last night, was loud, but I was playing fairly clean stuff so I had to drive it a bit to get the volume I needed which I'd prefered not to have done. Probably went up to about 6 or 7 (if it had numbers on the output) and it created a warm blanket of bass rather than the directional snappy thud I'm used to. I'm going to take it to a rehersal tomorrow night in our three-piece trashy stoner-rock type outfit and see how I get on, we rehearse at full on gig volume so I'll get an idea of what it can do then.

Either that or may consider a bit of a trade for an Orange Terror Bass 500w head

If I can't get the volume I need it may be going straight up for sale if anyone is interested.

[quote name='Merton' post='891032' date='Jul 10 2010, 07:27 AM']Remember the Trace volume control is very deceiving, it'll be running pretty much at full whack at around 3 or 4 on the dial! PLus the voicing of the Trace will help. Really really got to get my mitts on one of these little, er, bastards [/quote] Well that's the weird thing, usually the Trace behaves just as you described, but yesterday it was getting alot louder between 8 and 10 on the output? Never usually notice much increase between 7 and 10 [quote name='WalMan' post='891120' date='Jul 10 2010, 10:02 AM']Mentioned in the [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=90616"]other thread[/url] on these, I tried one out last w/e & it sounded good. I have a bit of a hankering for one myself. It did seem to me though that only the treble control had any great effect on the tone. The bass & mid seemed to do very little, and to my ears the bass switch up was a harsher, middly tone, where the manual says it gives a deeper tone. Think I need to step back & give this some thought. It would also be interesting to know how the first 100 hand wired in the UK compare to the normal ones built elsewhere? Not sure which the one I tried was[/quote] Yes, I've noticed that already. I guess you could call me a 'tweaker'- so I realised quickly that the mid and bass dials didn't do much, although I hope you'd be able to tell the difference from a bit of a distance. As above with the switching, too. Definitely a more growly tone when the bass switch is flicked up. [quote name='KiOgon' post='891159' date='Jul 10 2010, 10:40 AM']I haven't heard of any Chinese built in the UK yet so most likely was a handmade you tried. There are some mistakes in the online manual regarding the switches, I pointed these out to Ashdown a while ago but nothing seems to have been updated/corrected yet. As you said the Bass Shift works opposite to the instructions, like the Mute too! The Bright has no effect according to my hearing, which unfortunately is like the rest of me - nearly 60 Still a great sounding amp though, just don't expect tone shaping anything like a 12 band EQ Simples old's kool Cheers, John[/quote] I don't mind the simplicity of it at all- all the tone sounded usable to me so I was happy with that. Glad it's a handmade british one too, makes me feel special . I sincerly hope they haven't cocked up the speaker outputs on the back panel? They could have got 4ohms and 8ohms the wrong way round.........Just hoping it's going to be loud enough for me- the Trace would usually run at 6/7 ish on the output and with that I'd be fairly big in the mix driving the band- here's hoping I can get the volume I need from it, or I really can't see what I'd do with it. Could be a very stupid purchase!

A spur-of-the-moment type purchase in PMT music Bristol yesterday. Shiny 30 watt all-valve amp head, plus the LB212 cab. Lovely. With a certificate claiming it to be number 38 of 100, signed and everything. Sounded huge in the shop and easily loud enough for most of the gigs I do. I use a Trace Elliot GP7 SM150 combo for most of my gigs, bar the really big ones or outdoor jobbies, so to make sure it could cut it I tried it back to back with an Ashdown Electric Blue 180 combo, and it was noticably louder, even with the input and output cranked on the EB180. Got it home and plugged it in today- not quite so sure now. The Trace does seem louder by a bit. Hoping it's just the small room reacting better to the trace, Hopefully it can cut it, otherwise it could be a colossal waste of money! Most of our gigs are just pubs with a small PA, so here's hoping. Going to try it tomorrow, and take the trace as back-up. Does anyone else have any gigging experience of these? Do they have the balls for a smallish gig? I'd like to know how you got on with it. Photo's up tomorrow, I'm too tired now.

Yeah I'd heard EV's could be the way to go. They seem expensive though. Guess you get what you pay for. We already have peavey eurosys things, they're OK but a bit tinny and are starting to crackle a bit. Well worn and gigged. We're just after passive speakers, we have the power amp and desk sorted.

Can anyone recommend any decent PA Speakers for our band? We're having to upgrade our current gear and wanted to know what people's opinions were. We're a fairly loud five piece band playing folk rock, quite stompy music and like to have a punchy clear sound. The speakers usually have vocals, acoustic guitar, fiddle and mandolin going through them. Occasionally we put a trickle of the lead guitarist through as well when it's a big venue or stage. I rarely put any of my bass through- we don't use subs although sometimes I wish we did at the bigger venues, especially some of the outdoor gigs we do. Price, as always, is an issue, but I guess we could splash out around £600ish.