JTUK

As a general observation, I have seen Lakland, Fender and Musicman recently and I haven't been knocked out with any of them with just a little detail here and there getting to me. I think having a good service and luthier set one up would help in some circumstances but there is no real excuse for the pocket to be sloppy or the strings over the nut not to be dead straight inline etc etc. That is without going into the paint job. The best bass by far, I have seen, recently, would be a custom Overwater J4. From a quality POV, it was very good and the only thing that I didn't rate was some bland styling... but not the build, for sure.

[quote name='Doddy' post='1166919' date='Mar 18 2011, 11:55 AM']At least you found out the day before. It's not uncommon to turn up at the gig,have a quick chat about what tunes you'll do,then start.[/quote] or "do you know this one".. "..eh..??? give me a clue.." "just follow me then"

Welcome to the world of depping

Don't fight it..the tone you get is very close to what you will mostly always have. A clean signal helps. Trying to squeze out sounds and nuances from the amp when the bass sounds like gunk anyway is a fruitless task. You'll end up piling loads of EQ on and cluttering the sound even more. Strip it down and hear the sound of the instrument and then embellish it. Listen to good players on demos on youtube and you'll hear the sound and character of the bass, not some heavy EQ'd thing. If your bass can't speak then how are you going to get a sound..you wont..you'll get what it will give you and if you don't like that, you'll be forever chasing your tail

I have a couple of Hiscox cases and a proper flight case... but I am off Jct 9 M20. I might have to go to London by car next week

x post.

I was going to say you have a 42lb GS cab and a lightweight amp so a 2 handed carry. How much lighter can you achieve to a real cost benefit? £250 to duplicate what you pretty much have..???

[quote name='alexclaber' post='1165497' date='Mar 17 2011, 10:27 AM']The Delta12LF also works well in a ported enclosure for bass guitar, though it's a bit short on treble (but so's the stock GS112 driver!) The lack of voice coil / gap binding does suggest it's a case of bad luck rather than abuse, as does how it was being used (reasonable amount of power driving a pair of cabs indoors).[/quote] Yes, my thinking as well. If I had blown up the speaker I would not have felt condident of replacing the driver with the Aguilar one and would have pursued better ( hopefully ) Eminence options. I may well have to do that anyway if I can't source the Aguilar model.

I have the same problem with a different cab in that I need to replace a speaker. My view would be to replace exact like for like unless you really know what you are doing internally with the cab and port sizes. If you can't get a replacement or really need the power increase/capability then you should look at alternatives, but if they are available, get the proper speaker that the cab was designed for.

Good post. I hadn't seen that but had heard that the Kappa Pro 12 a and Delta pro 12a were the models pretty close to the bespoke Aguilar one. The magnets are heavier and the GS is not a sealed cab but ported. I have not had a reply from Emimence yet

I have had it looked at by a local qualified studio engr and he agrees that the chassis just failed as opposed to me just failing it. We have looked for loose cables etc but we think the failure is inside the coil. Visually the speaker is perfect and the coil travel is free and silent. I will try and send it back for inspection via my friendly dealer and see where that leads. They would have to order a new one anyway through Aguilar. As far as I know the warranty is 3 years and I have had it for 15months. Thanks chaps

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1164514' date='Mar 16 2011, 03:22 PM']Can you not get recone kits from Aguilar/Eminence? If it's a custom driver this might be the best way to make sure you get the same tone. The delta and kappa have quite different frequency response charts in the upper mids.[/quote] I am trying to get the Aguilar chassis as my first choice. But there isn't much info forthcoming about how custom is custom and I doubt Aguilar or Eminence would be saying. Others have asked and the info isn't out there. Talkbass don't know, for example. I do agree that the simplest answer would be to slot in like for like.

The 12" has an open circuit..which does not please me, although at least this is likely a component failure and not me putting too much through it. So, need to source a Aguilar replacement or go for a Kappa pro 12A or Delta pro12A. The word is that the nearest production model is the Kappa pro 12A but it has a bigger (80oz)magnet.

I am into 7 mins of this and I have not heard the thing fired up yet. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Lots of ways to learn them...whichever way works..but you REALLY have to know them, IMV Learn the name of notes and how they follow each other Just write out how the notes progress up the string starting from open E. Fill in the notes on the dots on the fretboard first and for easy reference, when you have that..fill in the gaps Do that for the A string, D and G. Don't stop until you have all 21 frets..or however many your bass has, covered If you are struggling, then book a lesson with a teacher to fill in anything you don't get

To save you some time on here. The current fave amps for around that money or less would or may be Genz Streamliner TC RH450 AN other Markbass. they do so many. I say fave ..as in favourable reviews. I haven't mentioned the big all valve amps That doesn't mean they will suit you best but you could start a search for them here to get this all started.

ok..well done. Hope it goes well and the slackers, if that is a fair thing to say, might just need this push. Maybe they aren't naturally confident in this environment and they need this

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1163704' date='Mar 15 2011, 09:04 PM']I'd check it again with full-range music playing through the amp rather than a bass - cymbals will soon show you if the horn is working or not. I'd also check the driver direct by unsoldering/unclipping any crossover and simply bunging a multimeter across the terminals set to measure dc resistance - should read somewhere around 5-7 ohms-ish. Probably easiest to access from the front of the cab and dropping the driver out, just don't put a screwdriver through the cone while doing it! Also be careful not to drop the driver when you take the screws out in case it yanks the cables off the back. I'd guess those drivers are reconeable if it turns out to have been burnt.[/quote] There is very good cone travel but when I have tried to get any response from the speaker whilst out of the cab ..don't have a multi-meter to hand..so have concocted a speaker terminal connection, there is nothing. So I suspect that the speaker has failed from a thermal failure as Alex suggested. I will get it checked out tomorrow by a tech, to see whether the horn and x-over survive but it looks like decision time. hmmm I hope I don't find a pr of DB's in stock....ha ha !!

[quote name='alexclaber' post='1163415' date='Mar 15 2011, 05:49 PM']How many gigs or loud rehearsals have you played with it? If it's quite a lot then it's most likely to be a blown driver as manufacturing faults or loose connections tend to manifest themselves early on. When speakers die due to thermal failure it tends to be pretty instant, unlike mechanical failure where you get increased distortion as the suspension is damaged and/or the cone creased. By gently pushing on the centre of the cone, just outside where the cone meets the dustcap, you'll be able to feel if the speaker is moving freely or if the voice coil is warped which then rubs on the magnetic gap.[/quote] It is 15 months old and I have had a few loud gigs recently...I run as a pr which enables me to get 400 in 4ohms from the amp. I would hope this is enough leeway. I can't test the cone travel yet, but that is my next thing to do..

[quote name='icastle' post='1163418' date='Mar 15 2011, 05:49 PM']Knew you wouldn't be able to resist it. Thing is, if you were using two of those cabs at moderate volume then I'd guess you probably wouldn't notice it go down.[/quote] I alway use as a pr in all but the quietest situations. Funny thing is..we had a loud gig prior to this and all was well. Then I had a another gig in another room with a quieter drummer and knew something was wrong but thought the room was very damp... It wasn't until I got home and plugged the single speaker that I found out it wan't working. So it is poss I didn't hear it fail at any one point. The other speaker is fine as far as I can tell..it is an older one, so bemused why one failed and not the other. I have written off any manufacturer fault so I can now take it apart to see what has gone. When I can isolate what component has failed I can set about getting a replacement part. By the time I have driven or sent the thing back to the dealer for warranty, I am into £40-50 of petrol anyway plus hassle, time etc etc .. I might just as well do as much groundwork as I can and get the part sent in .. Failing that, I could just leave it for another day and buy in 2 DB112's if I can get them delivered for sat...hmmmm very very tempting, but I really shouldn't. Cheers all

[quote name='cheddatom' post='1163235' date='Mar 15 2011, 03:51 PM']I don't understand why it'd be difficult to drum to a click? Surely if you can't keep to a constant clicking, you're not much of a drummer?[/quote] Depends on the level of that player... if he has been in the studio a lot he will know the exposure of a click..if he hasn't he will not have had the necessity of playing constantly to the click. I find this is the difference.. No drummer will admit to bad time ( relatively ) but since they invaribly have to set the time/tempo, they aren't often a slave to it..like the rest of us. We play to the drums..they play to themselves unless the have had to have had the discipline of a click in a certain situation. Once the tempo becomes crucial and the drummer HAS to hit those cues..as does everyone else, ( a misssed cue can't be picked up..it is gone in terms of a sequence ) this sorts out the men from the boys in drummers. IME. This is why we keep it as simple as possible and I like to think we have a solid sorted drummer. And of course..the thing the drummer will complain about when he loses time, is that he can't hear the click monitor ha ha !!! by then it can be too late.

[quote name='icastle' post='1163157' date='Mar 15 2011, 02:37 PM']I think I'd try and get a peek at the driver - can you see if the 12" driver connections are intact from the back panel? Depending on how daring you're feeling, it might be worth bypassing everything and connecting your amp directly to the 12" driver - that'd give you an instant idea of whether the cab has to go back or if there's something daft going on with the existing wiring loom that you can fix yourself.[/quote] All connections are good and solid... but could not get too much access to the driver through a pretty tiny opening for the attenuator plate. I think unless it is a manufacturing fault..which would be hard to prove, this is down to me so I will take the thing apart myself and see if the speaker can take a signal. But..I can't recall a time when this would have failed... as in slowly died and therefore you would hear that, I think.

We only run a few basic sequences as always use a keyboard player anyway. The key, as you know, is finding a drummer who can play reliably to click. They all think they can do it but few can carry it very far, IME...and that is ok..until you need to use it. If you have a drummer who can do it, then everyone just plays to him anyway. The kit to run the sequences is the least of it, IMV.

FWIW, I think I can get a more than passable P-bass sound out of my J bass..or certainly one of them, but although it is a sound I like in certain contexts, it isn't a sound that I hear that much. I think I like it better when other players use it. Solid, full and understated, and I don't have a gig that needs that discipline.