alexclaber

If you're using a lightweight amp would you want to bother with both cabs? You can certainly use a jack-speakon lead, nothing wrong with that, I just prefer speakons on the cab end because that's the live end of the lead. It could prove a little too exciting if you grab a 1/4" plug whose other end is connected to any of these micro-amps which use dual bridged power amps internally (so even the -ve 'ground' side is live). Alex

[quote name='jonthebass' post='514211' date='Jun 15 2009, 02:18 PM']Hi Alex - sorry to hijack this thread slightly - will hopefully be getting some pics up tonight of said stack![/quote] I'm hoping you don't need another Speakon on yours as you raised that issue! Something else to add to the website... Alex

[quote name='jonthebass' post='514189' date='Jun 15 2009, 02:04 PM']Also a quick note on the Barefaced Compact cabs - They only have one socket on them so your amp will need 2 speaker output sockets, unless Alex offers a 2 speakon option to daisy chain the cabinets (?)[/quote] You can have another Speakon if you ask nicely and pay £5 more. But no-one so far has needed one so minimalism seems the best route for the standard model! Most (in fact all bar Jon so far) are using a single Compact with an amp that is stable down to 4 or 2 ohms. The high sensitivity means you don't need to suck every last watt out of your amp even if you're in a seriously loud band and an 8 ohm load is easier on your amp so it'll run cooler. Alex

Just find some big old 1x15" boxes, cut some bigger ports, tune them to the same frequency and stick some 3015LFs in. And add a load more bracing on the inside. Weird old horn cabs won't work but old ported or sealed ones are certainly usable. Alex

Actually I'm getting mixed up - have been in touch with The Impellers more recently, via Dan our "Wall of Sound" saxophonist. Now who were that other Brightonian funk band, The Something or Others?... Alex

Good luck! I was in touch with them way back when I was getting The Reluctant sorted. However I think by the time we were complete they were then missing a piece... So if you end up joining them we must do a gig together! Alex P.S. You have more than enough technique for this gig, in fact more than enough for all but the most muso music. Just be cool!

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='514064' date='Jun 15 2009, 12:30 PM']Or get another one and couple them as they are supposed to be.[/quote] Coupling the mouths won't help as the path length will still be too short. Horn subs work well in fixed installs because you can design them for a long path length but small mouth and then corner load them (only quarter mouth size required compared to half space) or if you need enough SPL to use lots at once in which case the mouths add up. But if the horn path isn't long enough then all the mouth area in the world won't do anything for you. I guess if I were doing a Barefaced doom rig then I'd bridge a big power amp into one or two Big Subs and then run a smaller valve amp into a Midget. That would be scary loud and deep and thunderous yet as dirty and mean as you like. Alex

[quote name='Awesomerobobitches' post='513721' date='Jun 14 2009, 11:29 PM']I've sent the guy PM, but I don't know how I'd get it up here. I live 300 miles away. [/quote] Interparcel are pretty cheap if he's prepared to pack it up. Alex

[quote name='Bananaman' post='513602' date='Jun 14 2009, 09:37 PM']Which cabs are they in the vintage style? :S[/quote] See attachment on this post: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=47013&view=findpost&p=508575"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&sho...st&p=508575[/url] Two vintage-look Compacts in the foreground, six Compacts behind them. Alex

1. Gain staging: An amp that gives you more gain at equal knob positions will be perceived as louder. This is incorrect - you have to use the amps' gain stages to push them to clipping to find how loud they really are. 2. Default response curve: An amp which is voiced towards the midrange will sound louder than an amp with has flat or scooped midrange. This is why SWR amps often sound quiet. If two amps are flat through mids and highs but one rolls off higher in the lows then the one with the higher roll-off will go louder before clipping. 3. Sensitivity: Power is nothing without speakers to move air - a speaker which is more sensitive will usually make more difference than adding more power. That's the basics - it gets much more complicated than that, for example, how does the response curve match up with the sound of your bass? There is no such thing as throw. All point source speaker cabs (i.e. not PA line arrays) produce maximum SPL right in front of the speaker (or horn mouth) and the SPL diminishes by 6dB with every doubling of distance from this point. Incorrect surmisings about throw are due to variations in off-axis response and the effect of room modes and boundaries on standing waves and reflected energy. Alex

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='513254' date='Jun 14 2009, 12:31 PM']I'm using a low A, with the fundamental at around 25hz, so if it cut below 30, would myA lose something compared to my B, as suddenly a fequency is being dumped from the bottom? I'm aware you can't really hear that fundamental, but wouldn't it be a bunch like playing an A an octave higher?[/quote] It wouldn't. The only way you'll discover this is to try it. Bear in mind that to get as much output from a rig that can go to 25Hz as a rig that goes to 50Hz with equal power you will need the 25Hz rig to be eight times as large. Or twice as much power and four times as big. Etc. [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='513254' date='Jun 14 2009, 12:31 PM']I have an old folded horn, but it needs a new driver, part of the reason for this thread is to explore the other possibilities with my monies. Pushing lows into it rattles it out, but with a modern sub driver it might be better, but it also might not really be ideal, shame cause it looks totally the part.[/quote] Your old folded horn has too short a path length to reach much below 80Hz. [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='513254' date='Jun 14 2009, 12:31 PM']Claber, could you load a vintage with the 3015LF drivers so its dubby and a one cab tall solution?[/quote] The problem with that is there isn't enough internal volume so the system would cut off higher with the 3015LFs than with the 3015s. Plus you'd need a bigger port to handle the 3015LF's excursion. Putting one 3015LF in the Vintage and tuning the port lower (and not cutting the other woofer hole) would work well, getting you almost flat to 40Hz. [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='513267' date='Jun 14 2009, 12:53 PM']I am familiar with this, but the idea is the sound is a bit beyond what you are hearing with ears. If you seen Sunn O))) or Asva, a lot of it is about your whole body feeling the sound. The concern is when I'm playing a there'll be some 31hz there but much more 62 and 124 etc, but when I go down to the A, there'll just the the 50hz 100hz etc., so its as iff I carved off the very bottom. Those frequencies aren't there for your ears. I'm fairly sure my bass puts out a stringer fundamental than most as octavers track it really well, and when I'm putting it through a little cab that isn't taking the lows, there is a definite point the sound is lacking, even if the note is clear and the speaker isn't farting, which I guess is the natural low roll off.[/quote] I think you'll find you're noticing the smaller cabs struggling to reproduce the first AND second harmonic and possibly even the third! [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='513759' date='Jun 15 2009, 12:15 AM']So one of those BFM jobs looks bunches like what I'm after, but there is no way I have the space to be making one. Non sound considerations are being about the size of an 8x10 so it can sit next to it on stage. If I stick a modern sub driver in my W horn cab, is it gonna give me a bunch of lows, even if I have to eq it in (this sort of appeals as the sound of that cab alone is a useable sound, but the speaker is on its way out, due to age)? Will putting full signal into something designed as a sub damage it or just fail to make the higher stuff into sound?[/quote] The W horn will never give you a bunch of lows, only lots of mid-bass and low-mids. With the gear I produce I still think your best best is two Big Subs. Alternatively a large ported cab with a PDN.2151 or a Titan 48 or Tuba 36 with 3015LF (bear in mind though that horn subs work best in multiples to get more suitable mouth area). Alex

First thing I'd do is speak to the band's bass player - he should have known that you risk breaking any rig if you turn all the gain controls up to the maximum. I would be very surprised if that speaker damage is covered under warranty, that kind of usage constitutes abuse in my opinion. Did you speak to this bassist and give him any guidance on what to do with the rig? The big problem you have is it didn't die whilst he was using it, so you're going to have to do some very hard bargaining to get any money out of him, but it's not a hopeless situation if you take the right tack. What kind of music does this other band play? I know there is popular trend to use very lightweight small rigs it does require you to accept that in any rock band you're not going to be able to have big bottom - small cabs just can't do loud and low. What does he normally use? Did he make the fatal mistake of thinking that as this is a 500W head the rig will go just as loud as a 500W 4x10" rig? On the positive side a replacement speaker shouldn't be too expensive, maybe about £75, or for a bit more you could upgrade to a 2512-II which I've heard very good things about as a drop in replacement for the GS112 (stronger mids, more power handling in the lows). Once you have the broken speaker out, it should be possible to dismantle it and find out how it died. Don't go in all guns blazing, but you need to ask him if he normally turns any bass amp up to full gain like that and did he consider that he'd be damaging it? It's probably an honest mistake due to ignorance but with such high power amps around ignorance gets expensive. Point out that you're now in a hole because you have no working rig and you can't afford to fix it immediately, maybe he and his bandmates could chip in towards some of the cost? Alex

I'd bridge a power amp into one or two Big Subs. No point bothering with a head when power amps get you more power for less money and the extra internal volume per driver of the Big One/Sub adds a lot of sensitivity in the lows. I'd recommend a power amp with high pass filter set at somewhere between 30 and 40Hz, that way you can push the cab(s) really hard without the driver bottoming out. Alex

Excellent! Looks like the Big Ones will be going out next week, and possibly even the long-awaited Vintages... Alex

For £140 the Tascam VL-5X are absolutely incredible! Alex

Just had a thought! If it'll fit in one of the custom shipping cartons I have for my cabs I could sort you out with one of them plus the polystyrene corners I use (1" or 2" thick). Alex

P-bass, LMK and Compact in a rock/metal band: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=47013&view=findpost&p=511873"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&sho...st&p=511873[/url] Alex

I'd like to see them do that with a combo or cab! Alex

[quote name='horribleman' post='511876' date='Jun 12 2009, 10:00 AM']I've just ordered some Fender 150 Original Nickel Bass Strings 45 -105s. See how they work out [/quote] Let us know after a good month's worth of action! Alex

Try nickel rounds, 45-105 ish. Nickels generally have smoother top and fatter mids than stainless steel. Also, leave them on there for a good while before you judge their tone - I prefer strings that are well played in (which means I get to keep them on for ages!) I prefer balanced tension gauges but strings in those combinations are rare - I have 38-58-78-104-134 on my 36" scale five. Alex

I put my earplugs in before even entering the venue. One hit of a snare and the damage is already done, plus you need to give your brain time to adjust itself to the new sound levels and different frequency response. If you put them in just before going onstage you will find it weird, even with the more expensive and less coloured ER15s. ~£150 to protect your hearing for the next few decades (I've had this pair since 2001) isn't much is it. Even I spend more on strings in that time and I change my strings annually at most! Alex

Cardboard box and lots of bubble wrap or expanded polystyrene? A good ATA flightcase will cost a lot and add a load of weight (and thus cost when checking your luggage). Alex

[quote name='stevefletch59' post='511012' date='Jun 11 2009, 11:25 AM']Just picked up my Compact from the courier as I was not in when they tried to deliver it yesterday. Band practice tonight.... Get ready !![/quote] Great! Was slightly concerned it might be floating out of the hub in Sheffield... Alex

If anyone local to me would like a dolly I have a spare one here. I got it so I could move my dual Acme Low-B2 + rack rig in one go but since I switched over to my Barefaced cabs they're either so light that wheels are totally unnecessary or they already have wheels built in. Alex P.S. I wouldn't trust grey squirrels - more likely to get their mates to distract you with a brief song and dance routine whilst they whip your cab off to a secret location for the provision of bassy sustenance later in the season. The reds are a much safer bet but they're terribly fussy eaters, don't get them a kebab after the gig if you want them to come back next time.

I've been stripping the wallpaper in our house recently using one of those steam devices. Brainlessly I left the extension lead mostly coiled and then after a while started wondering what the strange smell was. If it hadn't been so pungent I think the lead would have melted its insulation together into one solid mass. Fortunately even a 3kW bass amp isn't going to push more than a fraction of its power averaged over time but still... Alex