alexclaber

It's far quieter than my computer's and I gather is also quieter than those on the RMX series. Definitely not silent though so it depends how much constant white-ish noise bothers you. It's a hell of a lot of power for a Berg 1x12" though, I'm sure the Berg can't make actually make use of full power from a Shuttle 6.0. Could you not run the TC through the Shuttle's FX loop? Alex

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='426574' date='Mar 5 2009, 07:02 PM']If it makes you come up with something equivalent to the Vintage but toally wrong looking, then I'm totally gonna start saving.[/quote] Sadly any mad looking speakers I make are more likely to be hi-fi ones! Though the double bass / acoustic cab that's on the back burner is going to be pretty weird... Alex

You could buy one great 1x15" that can do the job of a cheap 1x15" and a cheap 4x10" for similar cost to the pair, whilst taking up less space in your house, being easier to move and sounding better. Lateral thinking! Alex

I don't understand how this poll could have more than one option - or maybe two choice "yes" or "I don't know what I'm talking about". Oooh, harsh! Alex

[quote name='stevie' post='425408' date='Mar 4 2009, 06:39 PM']You keep coming up with these ridiculous statements, Bill. Everyone knows that there is a relationship between driver size and Fs. Or perhaps you could tell us how you would build a 1" woofer with a resonant freqency of 18 Hz.[/quote] Resonant frequency is a function of moving mass and suspension compliance: Fs = 1/(2*pi*sqrt(Cms*Mms)) So your answer is to use a thick heavy cone and loose suspension. The problem with a 1" woofer with an 18Hz Fs (assuming huge Xmax to get sufficient Vd) would indeed be related to radiation impedance but that is an extreme example. Alex

[quote name='umph' post='425207' date='Mar 4 2009, 03:56 PM']not 2 10s? ;<[/quote] Two 10"s for what? Alex

[quote name='basswesty' post='413451' date='Feb 18 2009, 06:12 PM']I have owned many high end basses including custom builds and they sound great but I prefer the sound of passive pick ups.[/quote] What almost everyone forgets is that there is no law against getting a high-end custom bass which is totally passive! But judging by all that I've seen bar mine you'd think passive electronics were illegal on custom basses, let along thru-neck fives like mine - I should be locked up... Alex

[quote name='51m0n' post='425091' date='Mar 4 2009, 02:14 PM']Tart [/quote] But it goes with my [s]lipstick[/s] pickups! Alex

From what I've learnt the radiation impedance difference between say a ten and a fifteen is fairly minimal - it becomes more significant when comparing say a six inch cone with an eighteen or a single ten with eight tens. And a bigger shift in radiation impedance happens when you reduce the space in which the driver radiates into by moving it from free space to a corner. Although a speaker outside a cab may be able to move lots of air it only does so in the very nearfield because front output is cancelled by back output, so the effective Vd of the system drops with increasing wavelength, hence the huge Vd requirement for open baffle speakers. For a sealed or ported cab (assuming equal tuning frequencies) the Vd will be the main determinant of low frequency output. Bigger drivers don't necessarily have lower resonant frequencies and their radiation impedance will be the same as an equal Sd array of smaller drivers. But if a driver is to be a true sub then you might as well use the largest possible driver that will work effectively within the cab size you can, rather than having multiple smaller drivers which will end up both costing and weighing more. Or better yet, use a high Vd driver to power a horn array so you get much higher radiation impedance and thus turn more of the air movement into sound. Alex

Neil Murray and ramp (and hair and leather etc etc) Alex

I went through a ramp phase from late 2000 - early 2008, really helped with my right hand technique in all sorts of ways. As I'm a fairly heavy player and I like to be able to slap and pop in between the pickups I've now removed the one from my Warwick and I don't have one on my RIM Custom. I highly recommend trying them though, they work wonders for getting your right hand moving about and helping your plucking technique. You can improvise one with layers of gaffer tape built up into a block, as Neil Murray advised me back in the days of TBL. I had a gaffer tape block on the Warwick for a couple of years before I got Martin Petersen to make me an ebony ramp. And thus if anyone wants a ramp to fit a P/J Warwick or Spector I have one kicking about here somewhere! Alex P.S. Thinking about it that means I've spent more years with a ramp on my bass than without!

I just bought one of these in a moment of sheer extravagance! Alex

My grandfather just sent me a letter enclosing two fantastic old booklets: "Cabinet Handbook - G.A.Briggs" and "Five Speakers, how to make them - Hi-Fi News". Both date from 1962 and are a fascinating insight into early loudspeaker cabinet design. Most notable is how some of these early designs performed so much better in certain manners than the standard woofer+tweeter ported cabs that came to dominate hi-fi over the subsequent decades and only now are we seeing cabs (predominantly in the DIY sector) that combine the upsides of modern multi-way low distortion designs with the improved power response and sensitivity of these old large driver and horn cabs with unusual driver placement. Alex

I'm not so sure - the MB150 is pretty loud if you don't expect much bottom from it and stacked on an efficient 15" it wouldn't be a quiet rig by any means. I wouldn't expect huge bottom - the 12" in the MB150 won't like it if you add too much bass boost and doing so will cost a lot of power - but if your demands are reasonable I don't see a problem. Power is rather overrated, especially as wattage ratings are rarely directly comparable. Alex

[quote name='karlbbb' post='424292' date='Mar 3 2009, 04:38 PM']I adore a smiley face EQ as much as lots of people seem to hate it. I hate the sound of mids, I like a dull, undefined tone, which makes me wonder why on earth I have a Spector and also makes me wonder what bass I should actually be playing. Anyone care to help?[/quote] In my experience basses that have naturally tight growly aggressive sounds make some of the best reggae basses once you'v e EQ'd out all that midrange and treble. My '87 Warwick Streamer which is very midrangey does excellent dub tones with the onboard EQ skewed to max bottom whilst the all graphite and EMG'd Steinberger is very popular with reggae players. Basses that have naturally woolier wider sounds can get too boomy once the midrange is removed. Also, before you change the strings, try muting with your palm whilst thumb plucking. Or pluck up by the end of the neck and whilst muting with your fretting hand. Alex

ER15 are sufficient protection unless you play in a really really loud band. I wear mine for all gigs and rehearsals I play, plus any gigs or club nights I go to. If I lost them (as happened to my first pair years ago) I would replace them immediately, I can't abide loud situations without them. Everything sounds so much better and my ears don't ring afterwards. And it's pretty rare for anyone to notice them. Alex

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='424658' date='Mar 3 2009, 11:24 PM']Metal covers a pretty vast area of sounds. You'll want 2 amps then. A huge one with huge cabs for low, and a valve one with less power to drive the nuts off. This is THE TRVTH according to Doom.[/quote] This leads me to wonder whether I should offer a biwired version of the Big One, so you could use a big s/s amp to push the 15" woofer and then a little guitar valve head for the 6.5" mid. Could be quite scary sounding... Alex

Ask jonnylager what he'd do if he had a ~1000W amp and some spare cash! Alex

ER9/15/25: ER20: Alex

[quote name='steve' post='424194' date='Mar 3 2009, 03:15 PM']What I need to know is are the ER15/25's less conspicuous than the ER20's?[/quote] Much less - they are totally flush or even recessed within your ear. Alex

[quote name='vmaxblues' post='423742' date='Mar 2 2009, 10:10 PM']Am ordering some er15's, thanks for the advice[/quote] They'll be your best bass related purchase ever! I too have noticed that I find I'm less tired after gigs - I think this is because your ear is working in its more linear region so with lower distortion, therefore your brain is working less hard to convert the electrical impulses into your perception of sound. Like the difference between driving at night in fog vs a clear day - clearer image equals less cunning brainwork. Alex

There probably is a context in which it would be useful but not terribly frequently. There are two pipe organs in the world with a 64' stop, which gives an 8Hz fundamental, though there are more that synthesise this overtone series without the fundamental by combining 32' and 21'1/3 stops. So not really a usable note on its own and the times you would want it underpinning a big chord etc are few and far between. Now that I have a five I'm finding the low B string pretty damned useful and I could see myself occasionally using notes below low B if there were no practical considerations. As it is the extra string or different tuning required are for me too much hassle for the few occasions I'd want to go lower but your taste and musical context may vary. Below low F# the law of diminishing returns gets really vicious, especially when it comes to intonation, string tension and amplification. Alex