alexclaber

Is the plan to have so many other forums that General Bass Discussion is no longer used?! Alex

Just weighed them - both pretty much dead on 9lbs, the Warwick maybe an ounce or so heavier than the RIM. Alex

You can also run a pair of pickups in series or parallel, as with the Dingwall switch we used on my custom bass. That gives you a choice of neck/series/parallel/bridge, with the parallel giving the usual 50/50 pickup sound with subdued mids and the series giving more volume (6dB theoretically), less treble and more boomy thickness. I did consider individual series/parallel switches on the pickups too but you can have too much of a good thing! Alex

[quote name='BigRedX' post='143681' date='Feb 20 2008, 01:51 PM']Alex/Robbie - where can I get one of those 4-way switches? Is it for each pick up singly and then series and parallel combinations?[/quote] Dingwall sell the switch with a circuit board mounted on it to simplify the wiring, giving neck/series/parallel/bridge as you turn it anti-clockwise. It's a great idea that I originally saw on their basses and had to have for myself, especially as the series wiring gives a significant volume boost as well as fattening and thickening the tone - reggaetastic! Alex

[quote name='dood' post='143663' date='Feb 20 2008, 01:28 PM']I assume this method works similar to a tuned port? (ie attenuating upper frequencies, so that the bass sounds more prominent?)[/quote] I think what's happening with the BLX is the rear loaded (conventional) vent is providing a resonant boost in the usual way at the bottom end of the frequency response but then the front loaded vent is providing another resonant boost in the midbass region, increasing sensitivity. Heaven knows what happens to the midrange - at least the slot port is vertical so the midrange that does reach it will defract in the right direction but there must be all manner of reinforcements and cancellations as sound waves bounce rounnd the front chamber. Transmission lines are a different thing altogether - [url="http://www.quarter-wave.com/"]http://www.quarter-wave.com/[/url] They're not hugely dissimilar to ports in that they use the back wave off a speaker to create a resonance that reinforces the front wave, however instead of being a helmholtz resonator they work more like an organ pipe. This means that in addition to the fundamental resonant frequency you get all the overtones which need to be damped by stuffing the pipe (which has the bonus of increasing the effective length of the pipe and therefore reducing the required size). EA's info on them is quite useful though a bit salesy - [url="http://www.eaamps.com/2005/technology/transmission_line.htm"]http://www.eaamps.com/2005/technology/transmission_line.htm[/url] Alex

I'm not quite sure what's stranger - that thread or that I had just been wandering through wikipedia ending up here: [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddy_Ashdown"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddy_Ashdown[/url] Having started here: [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun[/url] Alex P.S. I can't believe Americans go hunting with pump action shotguns, have they no manners?!

I'm 99% sure you're overdriving either your onboard preamp or your amp's input stage. Alex

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='143551' date='Feb 20 2008, 09:43 AM']Not exactly! They had two slotted ports in a baffle in front of the (single) 12"(?) Driver. More like a very short back-to-front transmission line enclosure...[/quote] Actually I think it's a dual reflex bandpass, assuming the horizontal slot port is loading the rear of the driver and the vertical slot point the front. Alex

1987 to be precise! Gold hardware, poncy thru-neck, active electronics. Sadly not a hideous shade of pink or at all pointy... Alex

[quote name='tauzero' post='143106' date='Feb 19 2008, 03:15 PM']Wouldn't that become less of an issue if moulded cabs were used rather than wooden ones? Are there any implications of the horn-loaded design that would preclude using moulded cabs?[/quote] Cost - the quantities of bass gear is far too small to benefit from this kind of mass production and thus this would be way more expensive than plywood construction. [quote name='gilmour' post='143119' date='Feb 19 2008, 03:32 PM']hmm interesting point, I was wondering why cabs are wooden, does it have sound benfits, surely you could make moulded fibre glass cabs (many cars have them) at a fraction of the weight and as Tauzero points out could well reduce manufacture costs in the long run.[/quote] Also plywood cabs are much stiffer and less resonant than plastic cabs - note that although cheap PA cabs may be made of plastic, none of the high end ones are, nor are any decent subs. [quote name='gilmour' post='143119' date='Feb 19 2008, 03:32 PM']That said as Bill points out Horn loading means you need less speakers, therefore save a lot of weight, so it's really just a size issue - and having a big amp is cool [/quote] But you need to bear in mind that the Omni 15 isn't a fully horn-loaded cab - although the 15" is in a short horn which increases lower midrange output in the bass frequencies it is a very large bass reflex cab with a slightly mass loaded woofer. If it was a true horn sub then it would need to be noticeably larger to get the same sensitivity in the critical 50-100Hz region, as can been seen by comparing the Omni 15 plots with the various Titans. Once you get into the midrange then you're using the horns to get more output from a given speaker but it would be cheaper for a manufacturer to use a more sensitive and/or higher power handling speaker(s) in a direct radiator than build a horn. [quote name='gilmour' post='143119' date='Feb 19 2008, 03:32 PM']I couldn't agree more Alex, at the end of the day it's about sound and tone, and I'd rather sound good for a whole gig and go through 5 mins of dicomfort loading and unloading equipment.[/quote] I concur. Anyway it isn't discomfort, it's exercise! Alex

I won't be a pro until someone will pay me as much as my day job does to perform my own music! The last thing I want to happen to music and me is for our relationship to be driven by financial needs rather than artistic loves. Better keep writing better songs then... Alex

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='142665' date='Feb 18 2008, 07:01 PM']Amazing to think that this is lighter than your 'W' 4 even accounting for the tone chambers.[/quote] I just tried comparing them on a rudimentary balance beam and they appear almost identical in weight. I think the greater size and better balance of the RIM makes it seem lighter though. Will get a definitive result on my FIL's fishing scales at some point... [quote name='warwickhunt' post='142665' date='Feb 18 2008, 07:01 PM']The pups are of significant interest to me but it'd be almost impossible to make any effective comparison as there isn't another bass like yours equipped with other spec'd pups [/quote] I have never played another bass that sounded quite so close to its acoustic sound when plugged in but with all the pros of the pickup sound - the EMGs on my old Warwick are pretty damn good at letting the bass be heard but these Q-Tuners are definitely a notch better. Alex

If you want something small and loud you have to give up bottom, whether you horn load it or not. I don't believe full horn loading works for bass rigs because the minimum mouth size predicates far too large a rig for 99% of bassists - though for PA use I think horn loaded subs are a far better choice than direct radiators, Bill's Titan 48 with 3015LF being a prime example. Two of these v-coupled and corner loaded are capable of prodigious low frequency output. Schroeder's small cabs - the 1210 and 1212 - which squeeze the speakers into a totally undersized box results in a very loud cab due to the high-bass hump and lack of bottom and the resulting back pressure on the speakers reduces cone excursion to the point that you can hit them with massive power without risk of over-excursion. This same back pressure is the reason these cabs produce practically no bottom because the speakers hardly move when low frequency signal is applied. Furthermore midrange sounds louder and takes less power to produce than lows - EQ your bass like that and note how much louder you sound. The question for each bassist to consider is how much am I willing to give up my lows to get a small yet loud rig? My response is that I'm not terribly willing, I'd rather we played more quietly, it makes everything sound better anyway! Alex

Specs: Custom body design 5 piece wenge/ash thru neck Wenge fretboard 36" scale Chambered ash body wings Ash top Dyed black tuilipwood pinstrip accent veneer Ebony headstock cap Carbon fibre rods in neck Stainless steel frets (low profile) ETS MKIII black bridge and saddle Custom brass tailpiece Sperzel tuners JD Straplocks Aluminium 4mm side dots makers Ebony nut Q-Tuner 5 string pickup set 4 way rotary switch (neck/series/parallel/bridge), volume, passive tone. 500k pots 0.047uF tone cap Wax finish ------------- We've had a good few hours together now and I'm still amazed at how well this project has turned out! I spent a while playing it through Robbie's Thunderfunk TF-550B and AccuGroove Whappo Jr but since it's been home I haven't plugged it in, just been enjoying its acoustic nature. First things first - what does it feel like? In a word, great! It is remarkably light for a wenge necked extra long scale five string, certainly lighter than my '87 Warwick Streamer four. The balance is spot on with a strap, slightly divey seated but not if you have the strap over your shoulder. Neck is very slim, can use left hand thumb muting for some stuff, dead easy to play down by the nut. Despite the 36" scale it's actually less of a reach to the nut than the Warwick (longer upper horn and less body behind bridge saddles) and I'm not noticing it being any more effort to reach from fret to fret. The neck is slightly V-shaped in the lower reaches, shifting to a flattened D as you go higher - the huge cutaways are great, really good access. I'm also noticing that the wider neck is promoting slightly better hand position. Tone: Well this is what this project was all about - getting an instrument that was as responsive to my playing as possible, allowing my hands to do the talking and reducing knob twiddling to a minimum. Acoustically this is a very big sounding instrument - the longer scale, stiff wenge/ash thru-neck and chambered ash body make it so lively and resonant with every part of the sound present. Dig in by the bridge and it really growls, shift further forwards and it gets rounder and fatter, soften up with muting or thumb and it mellows out and gets all vintage - just what I'd hoped for. It responds beautifully to slapping, strumming and chordal work. Now I haven't tried it through my rig yet but having compared my rig to Robbie's in the past and noted the differences I'm pretty confident that what I heard through the Thunderfunk/Whappo will translate - on the back pickup that growl is further acccentuated but still with enough bottom. On the front pickup you're closer to the pure acoustic sound, big and round but very clear. In parallel the midrange is a bit more subdued, nice for keeping out of the way or making slap less aggressive. In series it is noticeably louder and fatter - a real rock punch! This is turning into a bit of a eulogy so I'll stop here. I'd be happy to answer any more specific questions but all in all I'm thrilled that this ridiculously long gestation period has landed me exactly the instrument I wanted. Robbie has done the most fantastic job of bringing together all my ideas and wants, from wood through electronics to ergonomics, and made them into a beautifully built, easily playable and really rich sounding instrument with tons of character. Magic. As soon as I get some recordings done, I'll let you hear how it sounds! Alex

[quote name='mr_russ' post='140389' date='Feb 14 2008, 03:39 PM']I would have liked to see this cab with a midrange driver but in practice it works perfectly without.[/quote] [quote name='mr_russ' post='141958' date='Feb 17 2008, 04:15 PM']Unfortunately after spending quite a bit of time with this cab, I've decided It's not for me- I love the sound of the markbass 15's but I'm really missing having 10's in the equation to clear things up a little in the mids.[/quote] That's where a midrange driver instead of horn would make more sense. Unfortunately it costs a lot more to add a decent mid than it does to use a generic horn tweeter so very few manufacturers do the right thing. Alex

If you want to know the whole story, check out this thread: [url="http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/705741/page/1#Post705741"]http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.p...ge/1#Post705741[/url] It is quite long though... Alex

We've had a good few hours together now and I'm still amazed at how well this project has turned out! I spent a while playing it through Robbie's Thunderfunk TF-550B and AccuGroove Whappo Jr but since it's been home I haven't plugged it in, just been enjoying its acoustic nature. First things first - what does it feel like? In a word, great! It is remarkably light for a wenge necked extra long scale five string, certainly lighter than my '87 Warwick Streamer four. The balance is spot on with a strap, slightly divey seated but not if you have the strap over your shoulder. Neck is very slim, can use left hand thumb muting for some stuff, dead easy to play down by the nut. Despite the 36" scale it's actually less of a reach to the nut than the Warwick (longer upper horn and less body behind bridge saddles) and I'm not noticing it being any more effort to reach from fret to fret. The neck is slightly V-shaped in the lower reaches, shifting to a flattened D as you go higher - the huge cutaways are great, really good access. I'm also noticing that the wider neck is promoting slightly better hand position. Tone: Well this is what this project was all about - getting an instrument that was as responsive to my playing as possible, allowing my hands to do the talking and reducing knob twiddling to a minimum. Acoustically this is a very big sounding instrument - the longer scale, stiff wenge/ash thru-neck and chambered ash body make it so lively and resonant with every part of the sound present. Dig in by the bridge and it really growls, shift further forwards and it gets rounder and fatter, soften up with muting or thumb and it mellows out and gets all vintage - just what I'd hoped for. It responds beautifully to slapping, strumming and chordal work. Now I haven't tried it through my rig yet but having compared my rig to Robbie's in the past and noted the differences I'm pretty confident that what I heard through the Thunderfunk/Whappo will translate - on the back pickup that growl is further acccentuated but still with enough bottom. On the front pickup you're closer to the pure acoustic sound, big and round but very clear. In parallel the midrange is a bit more subdued, nice for keeping out of the way or making slap less aggressive. In series it is noticeably louder and fatter - a real rock punch! This is turning into a bit of a eulogy so I'll stop here. I'd be happy to answer any more specific questions but all in all I'm thrilled that this ridiculously long gestation period has landed me exactly the instrument I wanted. Thanks to all that helped out with ideas, experiences and so on. I feel like I'm collecting an Oscar... As soon as I get some recordings done, I'll let you hear how it sounds! Alex

I have it and it is fabulous! Alex

Well that was quick! The stuff from Maplin arrived today - all correct apart from the bizarre substitution of one of the lengths of coloured bell wire by bell wire fixings... Alex

I think the greatest thing about playing with your fingers is the huge variety of tones you can get directly by changing how you play - that's not to say that tonal and dynamic variation is impossible to achieve with a pick, it certainly it but it's not quite as easy. And once your hands are in control of your tone, GAS rapidly diminishes. Alex

Apparently the midrange speaker will be with me next week (all the way from lautsprecher shop - you can guess where that is...) Have also ordered the parts for the PLLXO from Maplins - the main cost of that was actually the XLR plugs and sockets - the capacitors and resistors cost about £3! Alex

Righteous! Alex

It's an excellent concept, makes total sense for bass players as we use only a fraction of our amp's power most of the time even when we playing at full volume. Here it is: [url="http://www.marshallamps.com/heritage/dbs/dbs_03.asp"]http://www.marshallamps.com/heritage/dbs/dbs_03.asp[/url] So it seems that it really is Class G, with dual rail voltage, but only enough current capacity to provide continuous output when on the lower rail. Neat. Alex

Was that the one with the odd power supply - like Class G taken to extremes - so that although the rated power was 400W RMS it could deliver bursts of 4000W? Alex

A great result! Two questions - what does the finished beast weigh and what type of plywood did you use (and where did you get it)? Alex