alexclaber

As I'm sure you could guess I can probably ramble on endlessly about these subjects, so in the interest of interest could y'all let me know what you'd like me to witter on about! Alex P.S. I realise this could be like asking a layman what specific areas of quantum physics they'd like to learn about but I'm hoping it might elicit some useful responses...

One nice thing about the 810 is it's so damn loud you hardly need any power. The world is your oyster! Alex

I keep meaning to wander down to an open-mic night and do some of my songs without the rest of my band, I think it could work rather well. It wouldn't be looping, just a mix of chordal and conventional bass playing with vocals. When I do I'll be sure to get a record of it! Alex

[quote name='charic' post='279827' date='Sep 8 2008, 05:11 PM']weight isnt a problem. I might try to rig summat using the di out. Hmm...[/quote] Honestly, if you can't find a problem with it then don't change it! Once you do start to discover its shortcomings (which I suspect your forthcoming bass may assist with) then start looking into upgrading it. If you said you didn't like the tone or it wasn't loud enough then you'd be in need of a solution but you're currently trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist! Alex

If it ain't broke... Keep the Line6 - get a new amp when you NEED a different amp, not because you think you might like to try one. Alex

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='279352' date='Sep 7 2008, 09:38 PM']Do you wear a nice suit for work?[/quote] I've generally only been into the shops on Denmark Street when wearing a suit and it feels almost like Fawlty Towers - rude to any plebs and sycophantic to those that don't appear to be riff-raff... The Gallery on the other hand are great however scruffy you are - I bet the Bass Cellar would ask for a deposit before letting you try the £10k Alembic I enjoyed up in Camden. Alex

Most people have surprisingly good absolute pitch and tempo - when singing a popular song they'll usually be very close to the correct key and tempo, thus using songs you know as a reference point for pitches can be very effective. Alex

Saying that a producer isn't crafting the sound because he isn't 'hands on' is like saying a conductor isn't responsible for the sound of his orchestra! Alex

[quote name='bassmansky' post='278233' date='Sep 5 2008, 10:00 PM'] you hit the string and it moves how fast do you want ![/quote] Fast enough to actually catch the transients on slaps. VU meters work rather well when metering signal onto magnetic tape or comparing apparent signal gain after processors. Hopeless for monitoring signal peaks. Alex

[quote name='david_l_perry' post='278148' date='Sep 5 2008, 07:31 PM']So unless you have an adjustable input gain how can you obtain maximum signal-to-noise ratio ?[/quote] If you use a sufficiently low noise preamp then you don't need to maximise the signal to noise ratio. Similar quality/design valve gear tends to have lower self-noise than equivalent s/s gear. With my Avalon U5 and RIM Custom bass there is effectively zero noise - U5 is -100dB and passive well-shielded humbucking pickups. Alex

If you like an overdriven sound there is no reason not to have your VU needle almost permanently stuck all the way into the red. Alex

I think people are mixing up what is actually the input stage and what the preamp gain does. In my old SWR Grand Prix one side of the 12AX7 valve was use as the input buffer, with a choice of passive or a padded active input. The preamp gain knob came after this, then the EQ, then the output gain. (The other half of the valve was used in the aural enhancer). Turning the preamp gain down would not stop you clipping the input with a loud bass, that's what the padded input was for. This is the same for all SWR designs. In the F-2B preamp one half of the tube is used to buffer the input with unity gain and one half is used to drive the output (gain controlled by the volume knob). The U5 boost knob is after the input stage. If you design a preamp with low enough noise and high enough headroom you do not need an input gain control. And if you use passive EQ and a high voltage valve then low noise and high headroom are not hard to come by. Alex

What do you use for rehearsals? Alex

[quote name='Earbrass' post='277950' date='Sep 5 2008, 03:54 PM']Do you think a 1x10 combo could cut it in a gig, or am I falling victim to optimistic advertising?[/quote] No and yes, sadly. With PA support then a good 1x12" may get you by but only if you don't want much bottom from it. 2x10" or 1x15" is more likely to be effective. Without PA support then double that. It really does depend on how considerate your guitarist and drummer are but the words heavyish and rock suggest you'll struggle to get a good sound from any sub 30lbs rig. Alex

My Avalon U5 doesn't have a pad/pre-gain control either. Why? Because it doesn't need one, it has tons and tons of headroom. Same concept with this design. If Hartke have used a high voltage supply to the valve then you would need the loudest bass in the world to overdrive it. Alex

Don't do one finger per fret on the lowest frets, do 1,2,4 and get used to shifting. Also experiment with shortening the strap and hanging the bass at a steeper angle to reduce the stretch. If you have short fingers then correct thumb position and using a thumb pivot will increase your reach significantly. Keep practising but don't hurt yourself! Alex

[quote name='johnnylager' post='277051' date='Sep 4 2008, 02:38 PM']My ABM 500 EVOII 2x10 combo with free 2x10 deep cab. 500 nicker to you son.[/quote] That's a more than fair wodge of amp for the money! Alex

For that kind of budget you'd be better off with a head and cab. Alex

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='276983' date='Sep 4 2008, 01:46 PM']Hey - I am not the one going out to buy it cos its cheap and has got lots of watts. All I am saying is there is more to chosing a bass amp than that.[/quote] It's not just that it's cheap and has lots of watts - it has a fantastically simple, effective and extremely well proven preamp design. Alex

I stopped using active EQ years ago but now I have a passive tone pot I'm finding it really useful. I particularly like switching to the bridge pickup and then rolling the tone off for a super growly rock sound without having to resort to overdrive pedals. Alex

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='276648' date='Sep 4 2008, 12:32 AM']Alex - you of all people should know that the difference between the 350 watts of my old HD350 and the 500 watts of this new Hartke and the 600 watts I get from my Shuttle is pretty much inaudible in terms of percieved volume; and I did think the last Hartke I tried sounded quiet for the watts it was supposed to have, but that was a long time ago.[/quote] Sorry, I should have made it more clear that I'm talking about the LH1000, not the LH500. Barely more expensive and 750W into 8 ohms, 1100 into 4. [quote name='bass_ferret' post='276648' date='Sep 4 2008, 12:32 AM']Yes sound quality is a question of taste, and one mans meat is another mans poison. I liked my old EBS and my current Genz Benz cos I can hear my basses, not the amp. I have tried other rigs where everything I plugged in sounded the same, cos the sound of the amp was stronger than the sound of my basses. I presume having spent loads on a custom bass with esoteric pups you would want to hear what the bass sounds like not what the amp sounds like. I am not dissing the Hartke here cos I have not tried it, and it may have the clarity and transparity I look for in an amp, but I very much doubt it.[/quote] Personally I'm not a huge fan of other Hartke heads but the Dual Showman preamp design is almost infallible if you want a warm clean valve sound. It's used in so many boutique preamps that I can't even remember them all but is so long out of intellectual protection that Hartke can just take this reliable formula, as most notably proven by Alembic and put it in a cheap head. It's just one valve, one switch, three pots and a handful of passive components - it's insanely simple and thus very cheap to make (and as I've said before, we all know it works very well). Likewise, it doesn't cost much to build a conventional class AB power amp with large toroidal transformer, far less than achieving similar power with class D and/or SMPS. Alex

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='276499' date='Sep 3 2008, 07:41 PM']Well I would be very surprised if they sound better than my old EBS or my current Genz Benz. There is more to bass amps than just watts.[/quote] Then again you can't really go wrong with a such a tried and tested preamp design allied to a hefty power amp. The Carvin B1500 is a similar monster which also competes effectively with much more expensive amps. I'd be very surprised if your old EBS or current Genz Benz sounded better to the majority of people - I think it would come down to personal taste. I've always found EBS rather pricey for what they are and any lightweight amp is more expensive because of the more expensive technology required to reduce the weight. Alex

I'll be driving up from Brighton. I should have a couple of seats spare, amongst all the cabs! Alex

[quote name='redstriper' post='276195' date='Sep 3 2008, 12:42 PM']The kilo has way too many features - the LH1000 already has 2 more than I need in the bright and limiter buttons.[/quote] The bright switch is a standard feature on that valve preamp design (Fender Dual Showman / Alembic F-2B etc) - using a capacitor to shunt high frequencies past the gain pot so at full gain it doesn't do anything. However I'm not sure why anyone would want to turn the limiter off on a bass rig unless it's a really rubbish limiter! Alex

He laid it down on Rafi's Revenge. Bad. Alex