LITTLEWING

[quote name='Muppet' timestamp='1480328165' post='3183319'] Have you turned the Tweeter control on the back all the way up? Also try angling it up a bit towards you. I had one and it was fine - mine was on casters so I took the back wheels off to add a little bit of tilt to the cab. You do need to be a little bit away from the cab to appreciate the full sound though. Close up it does sounds a bit muffled. The grill is on a wooden frame and is held on with pretty tough Velcro - it just pulls off the front but needs a bit of oomph! [/quote] I oomphed quite a lot using a larger screw to replace one hole used to secure the badge. It doesn't want to play the game. Good news though. (see my latest entry)

Okay, most satisfying update!! Removed one of the bass ports on the rear, shimmied one of my fortunate small hands into the cab section and slipped the positive wire off the tweeter/horn annoying device. NOW I can turn the treble up and get that sweet edge without it sounding like a wasp's nest every time I move a finger up or down a string. I know I'm going to sound old fashioned, but unless your entire set consists of every slap and pop tune in the world, there is no bleedin' point putting an HF horn of any description in a bass, yes BASS, cabinet. It's meant to reproduce low notes and low notes only. Rant over. Merry Xmas dudes!!

Can't beat any RBX's for a cheap back up or a 'go-to' bass for the odd inspirational moment to grab off the wall or wherever. I've had a few in the past but they do tend to look like something off a Japanese cartoon. Lol!

My recently acquired Ampeg BA-115 combo (100 watt 1 X 15") seems to sound a little 'lifeless' in the top end department although the tweeter is really crisp with the treble on full and the bottom end is awesome. I played thru one years ago regularly at a local studio and don't quite remember it sounding that way. Is there a crossover in there that may have failed that I can bypass or is it something amplifier-wise? It's not unplayable by any means and sounds okay with a bit of middle in a full band situation but just seems lacking in top end presence. If there is a crossover in there, how does the front baffle come off to remove the speaker to access the inside?

[quote name='3below' timestamp='1480196419' post='3182502'] Where has the bass been? In car overnight, colder room, warmer room etc, anywhere different to usual? Climate changes can cause issues especially if your bass is adjusted to a super low action. I just use 3.5mm (or more) action at 12th fret, cures 99% of issues dead [/quote] 3.5mm ??? You could get an iPhone in there. Each to their own I guess.

My recently acquired Ampeg BA-115 combo (100 watt 1 X 15") seems to sound a little 'lifeless' in the top end department although the tweeter is really crisp with the treble on full and the bottom end is awesome. I played thru one years ago regularly at a local studio and don't quite remember it sounding that way. Is there a crossover in there that may have failed that I can bypass or is it something amplifier-wise? It's not unplayable by any means and sounds okay with a bit of middle in a full band situation but just seems lacking in top end presence. If there is a crossover in there, how does the front baffle come off to remove the speaker to access the inside?

Well, so far only a handful do it, and most just install them and by the sounds of it have no problems. Maybe modern manufacturing processes and materials are miles better than yesteryear and simply don't require the old experienced guy's methods anymore?

I've just been reading on Talkbass five pages on stretching or not stretching new strings. There's a bit about not doing it as it can detach the windings from the core and instantly 'kill' the string, some people just go ahead and fit them and tune up all evening during a gig and some completely laugh at the idea. Personally I give them a few little tugs about a couple of inches off the fretboard while tuning to pitch then quickly check the intonation and lastly apply a little pressure just after each saddle to create the 'witness' point and to date have never broken a string and have had a great tone for ages. What do other good people here on BC in the UK think and apply?

[quote name='SH73' timestamp='1479622830' post='3177858'] Don't know what the complaint is. Free rehearsal room. [/quote]Yep, this. It's a paid rehearsal plus you get that valuable chance to make sure all the gear's working and you're all in that live line-up with everything spread out behind you and not half volume in a random circle in a rehearsal space. Any gig is worth a hundred praccies.

I just picked up a used Ibanez with PJ configuration where the P pups are reversed and have to say how absolutely 'right' they sound. The E and A have more authority and the D and G sound fuller and more mellow. Maybe the Fender sound is becoming (dare I say) boring, predictable and dated?

[quote name='bonzodog' timestamp='1479144882' post='3174309'] Playing along to drum loops is great. There are lots of free apps that you can get on your mobile that you can play along to. [/quote]

Sorry to have to tell you, but that seems typical of Ashdown stuff. I had a 300 watt evo head and everything I played it through had that fizzing decay sound. I thought there was something wrong with it and had an MOT by a top tech guy and it was pronounced 100% healthy otherwise. Out of the blue I spotted an Ashdown After 8 combo on the brilliant Gumtree to use indoors and soon sold it on again when it did exactly what you're describing even through an extension cab. Shame, must be cheaper components somewhere along the financial climate track....

I'm going to have to say amplifier, then cab. I suffered with an Arsedown for ages and was never really happy in any venue until I bought a Hartke 3500. Holey flipping' Moley, different world even through the original Armsdown cabs. As for basses, in my experience, (after throwing time and money at different Yamahas, LTD's, Westones and top end Squiers to find my tone) it's not always the actual bass you need to change to get a cool sound. Amplifier-wise as a personal example, I picked up a 40watt Stagg combo for 20 squids simply to throw in the car for quiet rehearsals, chucked a couple of bass ports in the back and hand on heart it sounds better than most other combos I've ever had in the past and even using my old project Westfield P bass modded with decent pickups and a Wilkinson bridge, a little bit of tone knob usage for particular songs and I'm grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

Ashdown Mag evo 2 300 watt which I suffered for three years. Every venue I played I tried every different combination on the dials. Possibly once I had a decent sound thru my 15 and 2 x 10 and that was in the open air in a marquee. Awful piece of toneless junk even thru an 8 x 10, just a slightly louder sound of a bus in a tunnel. Nearly as bad as my Fender Rumble 100 1 x 15 now also moved on, badly designed box, could have been really nice if it was built deeper. We live and learn, huh?

Same for me trying to get the downbeat on the start of bloody Sex On Fire. Unless a drummer counts it in on the hi hat, my old brain just won't grab the proper beat. And don't get me started on Andrew Gold's bleedin' Lonely Boy...........

Just out of curiosity (sitting here bored while she's watching every soap possible) what are the merits and/or downsides of wiring bass pup's hot wire to horseshoe and out from sweeper against hot to sweeper and out from horseshoe? Precisions seem to be the first and jazzes seem to be the latter.

Convinced Mrs Littlewing to buy me a Squier 5 string Vintage Modified Jazz without ever trying one anywhere one Xmas totally assuming it would be a magic thing in my hands being a new, shiny, perfect thing (never ever having a virgin guitar, always second hand stuff). I saw one via t'interweb at a well known retailer and it duly arrived. I really honestly tried to love it, I adjusted every possible piece that would move to make it play and sound sweet (especially the utterly bland rubber band sound of the B string even with Elixir nanos) and finally after admitting defeat that it was a complete and utter useless piece of firewood, wires and dog sh*te, I part ex'd a near pristine guitar for something else three years on. ALWAYS try out your dream instrument in a few shops and find a nice one before parting with your cash and your heart.

IMHO, get shot of the Ashdown. I had half a dozen different cabs over three or four years in a quest to find a sound and they all sounded lifeless and farty with my Mag evo II 300 with all different combination of settings. It might be me but a Peavey 4 X 10, a Hartke 2 X 15, an Ashdown 8 X 10 and an Ashdown 1 X 15 and 2 X 10 very rarely did anything to make me smile. I recently bought a Hartke 3500 and suddenly THERE'S the sound I wanted still using the Ashdown 1 X 15 deep and 2 X 10 deep. In fact the first time I used it live one of our regular crowd said out of the blue (without even knowing I'd changed amps) said it's the best we've ever sounded. I'm not knocking Ashdown by any means but I could never get any usable tone out of it in any venue with any cab.

Try swapping the wires over on one pup, for instance white (hot) to pot casing and black (neg) to pot live. I put a new jazz bridge pup in my PJ in normal config and both pups on full sounded like a cheap combo in a dustbin with the lid on in a tunnel. Swap 'em and wear an instant very broad smile.

I've just acquired an Ampeg BA115 combo and when turning it off (both volumes down) it pops through the speaker a second after switching off. I used one a while back in a local studio and it did the same which I assumed was something that needed attention after time with all the different player's usage. This one does exactly the same and I wondered if it's anything to worry about or is there a mod that an amp tech could or should do? I assume it's not ruining the speaker in any way?

To get the best out of a new set of strings, once you've set up and tuned to pitch, give each string a good push downwards to the body immediately after each saddle to give the string a decent 'bedding in' break angle to give maximum contact through the saddle to bridge and body. Not only will the string ring properly, it will be at the correct action and height from the pups rather than a huge arc over the saddle and will feel and sound 'right' from the off. And no, I've never broken a string yet doing this.

Follow the normal standard wiring diagram exactly but swap the Jazz (bridge) pup wires so that the coloured wire goes to the back of the volume pot casing and the black goes to the centre volume pot peg. All will burst back into life in every volume scenario. I had the same problem with my PJ when I replaced the bridge pup and had the same duff sound with both volumes full on. Something to do with phase blah blah....

TBH I've never been able to tell to any great degree if there's a massive difference with a high mass bridge, but if you want to hear what a bass SHOULD sound like, change your bbot for a Wilkinson item with brass saddles for around 12 squid. I've transformed a Precision and a Squier P/J and all the rich warm tones are suddenly there in abundance.

Just a quickie for all you other weekend modification 'have a go-ers' - I chucked a new Jazz style pup on my Squier PJ and it sounded beautiful on it's own and so did the P pup on it's own. When both on together however they sounded like a cheap combo in a dustbin. You know when you get that minute when you think 'what have I done/what wire has decided to detach itself from somewhere/is this new pup duff?? Panic not, fellow fiddlers - ignore the standard wiring diagram, simply swap the pos and neg wires around. (Put the black to the centre volume pot peg and the white/whatever to the ground on the back of the pot). VOILA!!! All is back to normal and the sun has come out again in your little world!! PS if you buy a new Jazz pup, measure/check/research everything first. A generic Jazz BRIDGE pup is LONGER with poles further apart and won't fit in the routing. The Squier PJ has the slightly smaller NECK size pup at the bridge where all the poles sit under each string very nicely. Have a great weekend. 😎

I've just acquired a used Squier Standard PJ four string with the Jazz neck, thing is the original Jazz style bridge pup has failed and there's an Aria unit in it's place but it seems a little quiet compared to the precision pups even when raised nearer to the strings. When both volumes are up it's even a smidge less. I've seen a couple of Wilkinsons on the 'bay, one's 7.5k and the other is 9k so which one would be best for balance with the original split precision pups?