bigjohn

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='888769' date='Jul 7 2010, 06:11 PM']That's good news about the wizards. They will be a good upgrade, even if you weren't having issues. Look forward to the outcome.[/quote] Deffo. If someone did nick the factory pickups... who knows what they put there!

[quote name='Colledge' post='888705' date='Jul 7 2010, 05:40 PM']i think you mean parallel[/quote] Yes I do. Soz. [quote name='Beedster' post='888714' date='Jul 7 2010, 05:45 PM']That's my understanding, certainly with the gear I'm currently using, the manual for which suggests there's no difference running each cab from a separate output or from cab 1 to cab 2? Due to a rather bizarre short cable situation, I've recently had to do the latter and I've certainly not noticed the drop in power you'd expect from a 4ohm load becoming a 16 ohm load?[/quote] I rewired my Low b2s so they were 16ohm cabs rather than 4 ohm and didn't notice a drop in power. Similarly there's a 2x12 at our studio that was a 4ohm cab but has been rewired as 2 8 ohm independent speakers in the same cab. That's just as loud with my poweramp at either 2x500W@4ohm as it is 2x250W@8ohm. Wired that way though it's much louder (and better) than it was as a 4ohm cab and only using one side of my poweramp - 500W@4ohm. (which "[i]should[/i]" be just the same as 2x250W@8ohm) I certainly don't believe you need to match the lowest impedance to get "power" out of your amps. Most of the extra power you're using is turning into heat rather than generating audible increases in volume. That and whatever law it is... the one which says you need 10x the power to notice an increase in volume. It's logarithmic innit. So if you compare 16ohm to 4 ohm, you're still only 4x more "powerful", which isn't enough to notice. The heat thing has great bearing though I reckon. You've just got to be careful not to overload your amps. Underloading is fine.

That depends on the head and the cabs. What your amp is rated down to and what impedance the cabs are. Most likely your cabs are 4ohm and your amp is only rated down to 4ohm, so you'll have to daisy chain them up to 8ohm. Unless your amp will do 2ohm, or your cabs are 8ohm then you'll able to use each output. Daisy chaining - you add up the impedance on the cabs. Series is a bit more complicated but if you've got matching cabs you divide the impedance by the number of cabs. So you'll have an impedance of 2ohm. The cabs have got to be more or equal to the rating on the amp or you'll draw too much power from the amp and overheat / kill it. I'm sure there's a sticky somewhere if you have a look for it.

Those pickups don't look right at all. Well, the bridge one at least. Who told you that the noiseless ones are newer? I've a P Bass Special from the same series as this, round about the same age, albeit passive not active. That came fitted with US standard pickups. I thought all the active ones always came with the Noiseless. That's what's in the Fender parts lists too. I reckon someone at some point has whipped out the factory pickups and put the ones you've got in. I'd just change the pickups for some you want with the correct (standard Fender) pole spacings.

If you can't get the bust bit out of the headstock using the soldering iron you could "drill" it out by drilling around it in the right places with a very small drill bit. You then use a larger drill bit to drill out and make a smooth round hole where the mess is and full using dowel and wood glue. I did this on a guitar where the strap button sheared off. You can't see any work has been done now unless you remove the strap button. You'd have to very careful though as ideally you'd want the hole underneath the back of the tuner.

[quote name='teej' post='886784' date='Jul 5 2010, 10:36 PM']Our generator is actually discontinued now, but replaced by this: [url="http://hondagenerator.co.uk/pages/HondaEU10i.htm"]http://hondagenerator.co.uk/pages/HondaEU10i.htm[/url][/quote] V. posh. I'd imagine that would do the trick nicely. There are some cheaper ones about for the OP [url="http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=honda+generator&_sacat=0&_odkw=honda+eui&_osacat=0&bkBtn=&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313"]ebay[/url] Thanks to this I'm now thinking about buying a small boat

[quote name='teej' post='886685' date='Jul 5 2010, 09:20 PM']Our Honda is pretty quiet. There are alternatives to the tea chest - here's an old favourite of mine. Anyone remember The Lost T-Shirts of Atlantis? [/quote] Did they used to wear dungarees? What Honda have you got? I'd like a nice quiet generator. Not just for bass.

Tea chest is the best idea so far! The problem with a generator / PA set up is the generator is likely to make too much noise. You'd need to PA everything. Agree about the theatre thing. I'm just as likely (if not more) to give money to buskers for being entertained than I am because of how they sound. I used to give money to 'arl tramp in Liverpool who busked with a cardboard cutout of a guitar. He was great... Sad loss.

[quote name='d-basser' post='886508' date='Jul 5 2010, 05:40 PM']^yup but I cant afford a double bass, if I could I would.[/quote] I reckon therein lies your problem I've never seen a band busking with electric bass. Have you?

[quote name='Dubs' post='886367' date='Jul 5 2010, 03:31 PM'][b]My acoustic bass is also quite[/b], but if I play it with a pick it pretty much doubles in volume. Give that a go maybe?[/quote] Acoustic basses are quiet because they're not the size that they need to be - ie the size of a double bass, to be useful without plugging them in. Acoustic bass = double bass Acoustic bass size of electric bass = electric bass

I've got a Vintage parlour acoustic and it's great. One of these - [url="http://www.axemusic.co.uk/products/Vintage_V300BK_Parlour_Acoustic.html"]v300[/url] Except in blonde.

Nice bit of Claude Lyons. I do some work for them. Quality company.

Coolio.

I've been told before in similar situations that I wouldn't know what to do with that.

I've started using the front end of my b50 as a pre-amp. It's really nice - loads of EQ. Probably because it was built as a domestic practice amp. The b50 is the only one without a valve preamp - but it sounds like it's got one. Very vintage tone. Sounds great into a 1k power amp and schroeder 1212L

My CIJ JB65 1965 reissue. First bass I've ever owned that I have absolutely no complaints about at all. Seems people like their white / rosewood / tort combinations! There's 3 already on this thread.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='875242' date='Jun 23 2010, 11:49 AM']Only you are particularly adept with the soldering iron and have access to the components at bulk-buy prices, I can't see how it's possible beat OBBM for price, service and reliability; unless of course "snake oil" is an essential ingredient to your sound![/quote] That's it isn't it! Even if I was more handy with a soldering iron than I actually am (I'm not that bad!) I'd still get Dave to make my cables. The craftsmanship is impeccable and he makes them from parts that are the the best fit for the job at a price that's not far off how much those parts cost. If OBBM didn't exist, someone would have to invent him

Can't see there being any benefit other than the speakon connector being a speakon connector. ie - it locks in place and can be fixed without soldering. They make no difference to signal quality other than their inherent reliability do they?

I use OBBMs. All my rig cables are OBBM and I've got one short, 10ft instrument cable which I use most of the time. I've also got a 25ft Whirlwind Leader which I've had for about 20 years and use for most gigs. It's still good as new. It was the only cable I owned for 15 of them. Quite hard to get hold of it seems in the UK.

I'm playing a gig tomorrow with a 50W B50R Rocket Bass Amp. That's about as small an ampeg as there is. However, I've removed the "amp" from the combo and it's plugged into a 1KW CA Audio poweramp and a Schroeder 1212L. Still small like. But bloody loud

I'd loosen the truss rod - clean it, oil it, wrap it in rags and wrap it cardboard and keep it under the bed. I did that with a neck and it was fine 2 years later. It's back under the bed now

A tip from a joiner mate of mine is put some wood glue on the screws just before you put them back in. This doesn't glue the screw in - but it sets harder than the wood so it gives the screw holes greater longevity.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='862133' date='Jun 9 2010, 02:40 PM']Wasn't an issue when computers were valve. No chair.[/quote]

[quote name='silddx' post='862071' date='Jun 9 2010, 01:47 PM']Fair comment, but if you're playing places with no PA what does your singer do?[/quote] Our singer brings a PA, but I wouldn't want to put my bass through it

[quote name='velvetkevorkian' post='862038' date='Jun 9 2010, 01:17 PM']Because you can have multiple models/sounds without having to have multiple rigs, e.g. I use the same preamp for bass, double bass and electric and acoustic guitar, and can tailor my sound to each one. If all you want is one sound, and you can achieve that with gear you like, then yes, modelling probably isn't for you. For me, I'd rather spend 2k on an Axe-FX than on a vintage SVT, but as ever, YMMV.[/quote] I can see why it would be useful if that's what I did, but yeah, as you say, it's probably not for me. I've got 3 basses, I only gig with one of them. I've got an SVT-IIP preamp which weighs nowt. I've got a meaty 1k SS poweramp and a Schroeder 1212L. Digital modelling doesn't really fit into my signal chain or my train of thought really. If I didn't have to carry it I'd have a valve poweramp too. If I gigged using different basses or played different instruments, or played a greater variety of styles live I'd think differently. I do think it's a trade off though. There's no way digital stuff would be as popular if it was heavy as the analogue. Although I do understand that DM provides things that analogue simply can't practically do - especially in a live situation.