alexclaber

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='386815' date='Jan 20 2009, 10:03 PM']Well there is a very nice man in Brighton who will probably be more than happy to let you have a rig for the weekend - the problem is you will be hooked [/quote] Ah, I'm honoured. Alex

New logo design courtesy of deksawyer: The question is how big should the badge be? Alex

I wonder how my bass would look in that finish, it's just so damn cool!!! With such simple passive electronics I bet the tone is really responsive to how you play and with a less coloured cab it should be fantastic. I too love wenge necks, they let through a whole bundle of growl but only when you want it. Do you do much palm-muting and thumbing with it? Alex

I'd be inclined towards the GK heads, they have a brightness in the highs and a growl when pushed that works really well for cutting through dense mixes. Alex

Very nice indeed! Reminds me of the Matt Garrison Foderas. I bet the 33" scale was a good move in fattening up and mellowing out the high C-string. What's so cool about custom basses is you can really nail down exactly what you want to suit you as a musician - we've both played one pretty standard 4-string bass for years before making the step to a custom bass and it's fascinating to see how both of us have arrived at our personal bass perfection - so different but both equally valid! Nice. Alex

[quote name='4000' post='390144' date='Jan 24 2009, 12:52 AM']Just out of interest, how would an Epifani UL310 compare to a Schroeder 1210L or 1212L? Also, Alex, how would one of your cabs compare (not whether better/worse, just how would it differ)? What about an EBS 1x15 neo (my Sei sounded blinding through the EBS 1x15 in the Gallery, although my CS didn't sound so good)? Under 50lbs is absolutely essential and these are all on my likely shortlist.[/quote] From everything I know I'd consider the 1210/1212L and the UL310 pretty far removed. The latter is known for fat bottom, subdued mids, smooth highs. The former are known for big low midrange, little deep bottom but quite a lof of midbass oomph, rather coloured sound, damned loud. The Compact is loud and punchy but no big humps or dips in response - probably sounds about as loud as the UL310 despite being a higher impedance load, not as loud as the Schroeders. If you have a decent amp it'll certainly play as loud as any of those cabs. Tonally it's about halfway between the two companies, the Schroeders being all about midrange punch and grrrr, the Epifani being about smooth sweet fatness, whilst The Compact is pretty even, you can EQ it either way. Obviously no tweeter so no shiny highs but still bright enough for many players. Alex

[quote name='dangerboy' post='389786' date='Jan 23 2009, 04:49 PM']I'm really intrigued by the non-LF version. I am dreaming of that in a 12" Mesa Thiele cab...[/quote] Ah, the mythology of the so-called 'Thiele' designs... [quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' post='389881' date='Jan 23 2009, 06:19 PM']Assuming one desires useful off-axis response above 1.2kHz or so every twelve does.[/quote] Bear in mind the dustcap output of many 12"s goes higher than that. Also there are quite a lot of bassists (and bands) that don't expect anyone to hear much above 1kHz from the bass player onstage apart from maybe a bit of attack from a tweeter, whilst if the bassist stands on-axis he gets a more true sound. Personally I like everyone to hear my real tone but I think there are a surprising number that like the scooped out off-axis response of a woofer plus tweeter cab. Also, if you're going without a tweeter you may find many players that want to keep the on-axis clarity for themselves and just let the midrange punch and lowdown fatness be what the band and audience hears. Horses for courses. Alex

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='389757' date='Jan 23 2009, 04:26 PM']What difference does the damping of solid state amps vs. lack thereof of valve amps make to these then. The Vintage seems on my wishlist and I've just been reading the valve vs. SS thread.[/quote] Damping factor is a very confusing thing indeed. Many bassists believe that valve amps work much better with sealed cabs due to the allegedly better transient response however I'm not convinced it's the sealed cab that is the relevant factor but the specific choice of speakers. When bassists refer to sealed cabs having quicker response in the lows (usually claiming that it's more highly damped due to the cushion of air behind the speakers acting as a spring) they fail to consider that with any speaker has its own damping caused by the suspension and the motor and it is this damping that makes the largest difference in the decay of the pulse response (in addition to the voice coil inductance which affects the leading edge of the pulse). When you get into the lower frequency register the room acoustics have far far more effect upon transient response than the cabinet alignment does. One thing however that tends to be fairly consistent amongst sealed bass guitar cabs is that the frequency response starts drooping from above 100Hz and smoothly rolls of at about 12dB per octave. Typical commerical ported bass guitar cabs often have a hump in the 100Hz region due to the speakers being in an undersized box, then a gradual roll-off down to the tuning frequency and then a steeper roll-off of 24dB/oct below the tuning frequency. I have a strong suspicion that this hump around 100Hz can cause ported cabs to sound boomy at times with valve amps. I do believe that low damping factor rears its ugly head when it comes to control of cone excursion in the lowest frequencies - in a ported cab the woofers unload and excursion vastly increases below the tuning frequency and although you won't directly hear the output from this cone excursion you will hear the harmonic distortion it causes to the rest of the sound. If you've survived all this techy stuff thus far let me explain how The Vintage is designed to solve this. Firstly, the woofer I use is very tightly damped itself and its characteristics mean than in the enclosure I use you only get a small hump at 100Hz with the standard tuning. If you use the 2nd tuning (block 1/3 of the port) you have no hump around 100Hz and the roll-off is more gentle - less fatness to the bottom, and a quicker sound. So if the standard tuning sounds at all boomy there is an easy fix. If even that sounds boomy the 3rd tuning lowers the tuning frequency so low that the cab effectively sounds like a sealed cab but with the additional power handling and sensiitivity of a ported cab. The final piece of the puzzle is that the woofers have such good excursion limited power handling that even with the highest tuning frequency you are unlikely to cause noticeable distortion due to a valve amps lack of low frequency cone control and with the two lower tunings over-excursion related distortion will be even lower. (You might ask why not do this triple-tuning with The Compact? Well, you could but with a smaller cab you don't have as much leeway with tuning choices as you do with a large cab which has twice the power handling and more sensitivity - muchlike small sealed cabs don't really work, they need to be big!) Alex

The 3012LF looks excellent, a league ahead of every other bass guitar suitable 12" when it comes to bottom, but like the 3015LF it'll need a midrange driver for the vast majority of players. The 3012HO is more SPL oriented than I'd like, not as good on the bottom as the 3015 but it is really really loud. I'll definitely be making a number of cabs with these drivers. Am particularly looking forward to a 3012LF+605Nd in a tall shallow format the size/shape/weight of The Compact but with the sound of The Big One, just lower max SPL. A dual 3012HO could be a terrifyingly aggressive loud rock box for those that don't want to go as large as a dual 3015 box or want a more in-your-face tone. I still think a single 3015 is the ideal cab for many bassists due to its nice balance of bottom, sensitivity, size, weight and cost whilst the 3015LF+605Nd is only just beaten on output by a dual 3012LF+605Nd yet will weigh less and cost less. From a marketing perspective though it's a lot easier to sell 12" cabs than 15" cabs, plus the smaller size of a single 12" or the 4 ohm load of a dual 12" cab should prove appealing. And if you have an amp that is man enough to push it to full volume I expect the 3012LF+605Nd to realign most bassists' realities - small, loud, light and deep! Alex

Jam econo with some quality punk musings: [url="http://www.hootpage.com/"]http://www.hootpage.com/[/url] Alex

Either an Avalon U5 + QSC PLX 3002 + Barefaced cab or a Peavey Mk IV + Trace 4x10". Just a bit of a difference in sound... More often the latter due to laziness! Alex

Anything between 0 (though that's rare) and 20+ hours. Just depends on what I'm writing, rehearsing, recording, gigging. I don't do much 'practising' per se but my technique's still much better than when I was a student with little else to do but play bass (and drink...) Bass guitar isn't exactly an athletic endeavour like playing the drums or double bass (or any virtuoso shenanigans on strings/woodwind/brass/etc) - so much of what is good technique is in the mind rather than the hands. Alex

I read at the speed of dyslexic snail because I've never been classically trained and never been in an environment where it's a required skill. However, I'm quite happy with chord charts and have a fairly decent appreciation of theory. In The Reluctant this can be very useful as I'm writing most of the songs and have to communicate with my guitarist, saxophonist and drummer - now most of the music is fairly straightforward but when it isn't it really helps to be able to specify the notes required, the rhythms or time signature, the chordal/harmony situation. I guess if I played more covers or learnt more material for my own pleasure as opposed to writing almost everything I play I'd have got better at reading but I hope to find time for that at some point in the future. I can't imagine a context where an appreciation of theory wouldn't be useful for writing/arranging but more importantly for communicating with other musicians. Alex

A separate head and cab is definitely the way to go if you have back trouble. Note that the difference in output between a 50W combo and a 100W one is likely to be little more than 3dB which isn't much. If you can get up to 200W+ into a more sensitive cab you'll be looking at 6dB+, maybe as much as 10dB or more if the cab is efficient. 10dB equates to a doubling of perceived loudness and in the lower frequencies it sounds like an even larger increase. Lightweight cabs are a specialty of mine but if you're on a tighter budget than the Hartke TPs are worth a look. If you can pick up a low powered amp dead cheap then one of my cabs will go as loud as a similar Hartke would when pushed by a more powerful (and thus expensive head) yet it would leave the option of upgrading to a more powerful head in the future and getting yet more output (whilst the TP cabs will max out at a much lower SPL). On the heads front the Harke LH500 is proving a popular choice (see 500W with valve preamp thread). Alex

[quote name='eude' post='388691' date='Jan 22 2009, 04:21 PM']Still reckon either a Midget Twin or more likely a Big Baby would suit me well, as decent off axis response would be very handy given the varying sizes of stages and venues my band ends up playing. When will you have an idea of sizes, weight, prices etc.?[/quote] Midget Twin should be the same size as the Big One whilst Big Baby should be the same size as The Compact. Similar weights too. Price-wise, expect the new 12" models to cost about the same as the equivalent 15" models currently do (i.e. Big Baby = Big One, Midget = Compact, Midget Twin = Vintage) though the 15"s will be going up in price about £30 per woofer due to the plummeting GBP vs USD once I run out of my current stock of speakers. Alex

[quote name='bassace' post='388615' date='Jan 22 2009, 03:16 PM']I know you guys are responding from a BG point of view but when I'm playing my DB I always try to stand stage right (ride cymbal side). That way I am looking across my bass and into the band. Stage left would have me looking out of the band. I have my cabs between me and the drummer and he seems to ike it that way.[/quote] I was going to say something about this - if I were playing jazz, even on bass guitar, I think it makes sense to stand on stage right because the ride is the main time keeping component of the kit and the drummer is likely to be playing orthodox grip and thus not spending his time looking over towards the hihats. Combine that with where you stand vs your upright bass and it makes even more sense. NB: For fusion/doubling gigs I would not advocate swapping sides mid-set! Alex

[quote name='eude' post='388620' date='Jan 22 2009, 03:22 PM']Really cool ideas Alex! These all sound amazing, maybe a Midget Twin might end being up my street, either that or The Big Baby. I love the sound of 12" speakers. Are any of these units going to be 4 Ohm? How soon do you think you'll have the designs on these worked up?[/quote] Any cabs with two woofers will be 4 ohm, the rest will be 8 ohm. In terms of bottom the cabs go: Midget << Compact & Vintage << Big One & Big Baby & Big Twin In terms of voltage sensitivity the cabs go: Big Baby < Midget < Big One < Compact < Big Twin < Midget Twin < Vintage In terms of max LF SPL the cabs go: Midget < Compact < Big Baby < Midget Twin < Big One < Vintage < Big Twin In terms of max broadband SPL the cabs go: Big Baby < Midget < Compact < Big One < Midget Twin < Big Twin < Vintage The Big One and The Big Baby are aimed at those that want maximum bottom and punch and clarity and off-axis response. The Compact is aimed at those that want a cab that has maximum output for the weight and price, good bottom, very good sensitivity. The Midget is aimed at those that want a smaller version of The Compact - it has less bottom naturally it'll take EQ very well to get that bottom back. The Midget Twin is aimed at those that want a really loud lightweight cab, even louder than The Compact but are willing to compromise on bottom - a Schroeder killer! The Big Twin is aimed at those that want a Big One but want a 4 ohm load to get more from their amp, are scared of 15" speakers or want a bit more max SPL than The Big One. I'll also be making The Big Sub and The Baby Sub (basically The Big One and The Big Baby without the midrange but still with the lowpass filtering on the woofers) for those that want an expandable rig. I suppose I could also make a Big Twin Sub for mad/deaf people... The designs shouldn't take too long as I've done the hard part in getting the previous models and the crossover sorted. The more pertinent question is how long until the speakers arrive this side of the pond? Alex

The thing about combos in this size/power range is they're kind of something and nothing - more than you need for home practice but not quite potent enough for rehearsals or gigging with any vaguely rocking bands. Can be good for jazz gigs though. Alex

[quote name='Merton' post='388569' date='Jan 22 2009, 02:34 PM']I want two Midgets already [/quote] Don't you already have one and a second impending? Alex

[quote name='eude' post='385096' date='Jan 19 2009, 03:57 PM']Will you call it The Medium One?... [/quote] I think this will be The Big Baby. And then the 2x12"+6.5" The Big Twin, the tiny 12" The Midget, and the compact 2x12" The Midget Twin. What a lot of different models but each one will have its own niche! Alex

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='388368' date='Jan 22 2009, 11:46 AM']The reality is, even precision made pickups made to the exact same spec, can have massively different outputs and sounds.[/quote] I really do not believe this at all. If you make a pickup to close enough tolerances then all examples will sound so similar as it be indistinguishable. [quote name='EBS_freak' post='388368' date='Jan 22 2009, 11:46 AM']My take on the situation is get a set of pickups that are as flat as response as possible and let a circuit do the work.[/quote] I agree on the first point but what work should the circuit be doing? Alex

Avoid cheap 15" combos like the plague. Those combos are all bigger and louder than you need for practising on your own. I'd look at the 8" speaker versions, they sound nicer, cost less and are easier to move. Don't be fooled by the brand-names, you're more likely to be a worse combo for your money from one of the 'names' than you will from someone that doesn't have a desirable badge. Alex

[quote name='sifi2112' post='388391' date='Jan 22 2009, 12:02 PM']How bout 2 of these Alex ? I know a guy who recone etc & he recommended these (plus he'll do a good price) [url="http://www.usspeaker.com/fane%20col%2012mb-1.htm"]http://www.usspeaker.com/fane%20col%2012mb-1.htm[/url][/quote] Qts is far too low for a sealed cab. Alex

I'm no expert on pickups but I believe there are parameters that describe the constancy of any magnetic field and its propensity to be distorted by external forces. From what I remember AlNiCo magnets are the most prone to field deformation whilst neo magnets have a more strongly fixed field strength and shape. Whether this makes any audible difference I have no idea! Alex

I play on the hihat side unless there's a good reason not to. Most drummers face over to that side so it's easier to keep eye contact with them. It also seems wiser to have the instrument with the longest neck and biggest headstock positioned so it's less likely to take the singer's eye out. My bass cabs with the midrange speaker are inevitably asymmetric and my decision to place the midrange speaker on the left of the baffle was made because more bassists seem to stand on stage left and that way the drummer will hear the bass cab a little more clearly. Alex