alexclaber

[quote name='JTUK' post='646451' date='Nov 5 2009, 05:07 PM']I think you are right.... most 15's go to around 3.5 -4khz...and that can be a dull and limiting sound on its own, IMV..[/quote] One man's dull is another man's warm and fat. I'd also highlight that although no 15" will do anything useful past 4kHz, and many cheap 15"s have output to that treble region, the weak point with common or garden 15"s is a lack of output in the upper midrange combined with too spikey a sound (everything happening around a narrow break-up peak) in the treble. Don't group all tens into one sound, twelves into another and fifteens into another. As JTUK has said, the GS112s are pretty short of midrange and treble (with the tweeter off) compared to at least one fifteen I'm familiar with. Alex

I leant one of my old Acme Low-B2s to PhilW in London when he was waiting for his Epi UL-112 to turn up, and he powered it with an AI Focus S1 (the old shape). Seemed to work very well for him but he's quite jazz oriented (that was all fretless Wal). The UL-112 went no louder despite being an easier load (8 ohm vs 4, so the amp has to deliver less current, and more sensitive), and wasn't as fat in the lows. Alex

[quote name='davidmpires' post='645689' date='Nov 4 2009, 08:42 PM']Can we have a pic of those protectors, and how much would it cost to get them?[/quote] They're the same as on the vintageised models and there will be new pics of everything up soon. The problem with retrofitting the metal corners is that they're a different radius and the screws are in different positions so you'd need to round off the corners further with some heavy grit sandpaper and then paint over the old screw holes, so it's not that straightforward a job. However if anyone wants to do that I'm sure I can sort something out! Alex

Aren't the Markbass FX loops internally switchable, or was that the previous generation? Alex

Ah, but the harmonics of an F#0 are stacked differently to an F#1, so you get: 23, 46, 69, 92, 115, 138, 161, 184, 207, 230 Hz harmonics in the lows (though your amp will not reproduce the 23Hz loud enough to hear so forget that). Whilst the F#1 will contain: 46, 92, 138, 184, 230Hz, (in the lows, plenty more above). so it'll sound quite different. The key in the amplication is to be able to reproduce the first overtone (or second harmonic) clearly, i.e. the 46 and 92Hz respectively. If your rig can't reproduce that then the lowest overtone you hear is a fifth, not an octave, which makes the pitch less clear. Despite what manufacturers' specs suggest, reproducing 46Hz at high SPL is not easy. Think BIG! Alex

Dingwall! Or get Robbie at RIM Custom Basses to make you a bass like my 36" scale one. Or go even longer like a Knuckle: [url="http://www.knuckleguitarworks.com/instruments/quake.html"]http://www.knuckleguitarworks.com/instruments/quake.html[/url] Alex

Bridge pickups are often wound a bit hotter to compensate for the reduced string movement back there. And then to fine tune the volume balance just raise or lower the pickups to taste. If your amp is EQ'd for tons of bottom then switching to the neck pickup will be louder, whilst if your amp is EQ'd for lots of upper midrange / treble then switching to the bridge pickup will be louder. It's all interactive. Fortunately your plucking hand is the best volume control of all! Alex

[quote name='Musky' post='645088' date='Nov 4 2009, 11:31 AM']It's worth bearing in mind that the 400w of the cabs refers to their thermal power rating, or how much power they can take electrically. How much they can handle mechanically can vary greatly depending on the speakers used.[/quote] Exactly! See Finbar's dead Schroeder driver to for an example of mechanical failure. [quote name='Musky' post='645088' date='Nov 4 2009, 11:31 AM']If you're feeding them with heavily compressed sounds and using a lot of bass boost they could run out of excursion even though they exceed the amp's rated power.[/quote] Bass boost yes, compression no. The more compression the easier a time the speaker has mechanically (but the worse a time it has thermally). [quote name='Musky' post='645088' date='Nov 4 2009, 11:31 AM']Just use your ears - if you hear them complaining turn the amp down or reduce the bass level.[/quote] And that's all you need to know! (And if you're going for dirty sounds so you can't distinguish noises of complaint, then err on the side of caution by using more speakerage). Alex

[quote name='mojobass' post='645154' date='Nov 4 2009, 12:45 PM']ive always been told that the active basses would be too 'hot' to run through the passive mode!?[/quote] Totally depends on the onboard preamp, the pickups, the pickup positions (how close they are to the strings), the strings (the more magnetic they are, the louder they will be) and the player themself. Someone that plucks hard on a passive bass will be a lot 'hotter' than someone that plucks softly on a loud active bass. Only use the active input if the passive one distorts. Alex

[quote name='Flanker' post='644879' date='Nov 3 2009, 11:52 PM']I hadn't thought about it but after the event I remembered reading that it's just as easy to blow a speaker by not enough power as by too much![/quote] No it isn't. Too little power can blow tweeters but it can't blow woofers. Probably a faulty speaker. Alex

[quote name='Musky' post='644662' date='Nov 3 2009, 08:13 PM']I think this needs to be done on tick...[/quote] Paypal to whoever's selling? Alex

[quote name='holio.cornolio' post='644580' date='Nov 3 2009, 06:46 PM']I recognise that head and cab would offer me more flexibility and portability, but it also represents a likely bigger outlay.[/quote] Not if you buy used. [quote name='holio.cornolio' post='644580' date='Nov 3 2009, 06:46 PM']What would you suggest for around the £500 mark that would do the job, and achieve the required, distortion free SPL??[/quote] Have a look through here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showforum=20&prune_day=100&sort_by=Z-A&sort_key=last_post&topicfilter=all&st=0"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showforum=...er=all&st=0[/url] Anything 2x10", 1x15" or bigger. Any 200W+ head. Or despite my anti-combo stance, this is a really great bargain: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=62977"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=62977[/url] Alex

Yes, I guarantee you won't break anything. Use whichever sounds best to you. Alex

Lots of (perfectly unstandable) misconceptions here! [quote name='holio.cornolio' post='644458' date='Nov 3 2009, 03:49 PM']This advice is useful and much appreciated.... but, we seem to have wandered inadvertently back into the realms of competing for volume (sound pressure call it what you will). My point is that the 100watt Fender can be heard perfectly well in the context of my band's loudest volume scenario, but sounds harsh and farty (and to be fair, sounds harsh and slightly less farty at low volume levels too). Cone over excursion is the culprit here and I bow to your superior knowledge and experience in this matter, (and also FWIW that's what it sounds like to my ears).[/quote] We are not trying to get louder, we are just trying to get the same SPL without distortion, which therefore requires a rig that can produce substantially more SPL when pushed to the max. I too am not into volume wars - being in a band is about playing together, not fighting to be heard. But it takes a surprising amount of power and/or cab size to achieve clean lows in even a relatively quiet band. [quote name='holio.cornolio' post='644458' date='Nov 3 2009, 03:49 PM']So, I want a cost effective 'rig' / combo (pref around the £500 mark, give or take a bit), which will give me the same output (or more, more is fine too) as the fender, but without veering into distortion. I don't think I'll ever need an amp that would knock the 715x anywhere[/quote] My point was that if you have a rig that can go louder then it sounds smoother and fatter and cleaner at lower levels, because it is exhibiting less distortion. And if it's also light enough to not be a pain to carry, costs no more and depreciates little then it seems a safe choice. [quote name='holio.cornolio' post='644458' date='Nov 3 2009, 03:49 PM']I just don't play that loud, what I want is an amp that will cope in a quiet band scenario, without sounding horrible. In short, something better than a fender rumble (and I know that can't be hard to achieve). to give it some volume context, live, I am 'competing' with a Hot Rod Deluxe, which has never been above 2 on the boost channel, and an Orange Tiny Terror into a 1X12, set to the 7watt setting, and with the volume and gain at about half each. And a very gentle drummer. So a 500 watt behemoth is an unnecessary extravagance. That said, I don't really know what would be 'ideal' for this scenario, and the Trace seems to tick all my preconceived boxes. what was my question again?? [/quote] 500W is not a behemoth, not in the slightest. Just because you have 500W it doesn't mean you have to use them all, and in fact you never will except for very brief moments. Also bear in mind that 10W into a guitar speaker could easily sound as loud as 300W into a small bass cab, in fact at lower SPL the difference in power needs is greatest because our ears are so bad at hearing lows until you get up to stupid loud levels. Power is cheap nowadays and gear doesn't have to weigh a ton to sound good. I'd much rather have a separate head and cab if I was buying a TE rig and I'm sure I'm not the only one! Alex

Fine by me too! Alex

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='644360' date='Nov 3 2009, 01:26 PM']Nah, you're exactly right... the Para adds to what you've done at the initial EQ stage. It's no different to most amps with this set-up.[/quote] Indeed. And bear in mind that what looks like flat EQ on the main EQ may actually be far from flat. Trust your ears (but still cross-examine them just in case). Alex

I don't think there was a great deal of deeper technical thinking behind that design, like the Tech Soundsystems (and now Schroeder) design it's a way of getting more speakers in a box. The middle pair will be acoustically lowpassed and will also be slightly mass loaded but otherwise it's a normal bass reflex box. I imagine it has similar response in the lows to the Acoustic folded horn 18", the latter due to the lack of horn length, the former due to the lack of enclosure volume per driver, so a big hump in the midbass and not a lot below. LOUD though. Alex

IME hiss is something inherent to how an amp is built, so is unlikely to be affected by outside influences. Obviously the relative loudness of the cab in the hissy region will affect how much you hear the hiss, but the hiss going into the cab is usually a constant (though hissy stages beforehand, such a cheap onboard preamps, will further contribute). Alex

You'll need to to run a shorter cable from bass to FX board if your bass is passive, especially if it's non-humbucking. If you put the Aphex at the end of the chain that'll happily drive 30'+ of cable to the amp. 99% of the time FX loops shouldn't be used for FX! Alex

[quote name='mytilini' post='643968' date='Nov 2 2009, 10:44 PM']Thanks for the suggestion Alex; so short (Gallien-Krueger's engineering department suggests LESS than 2m.!!!) instrument cable from Send jack, into D.I. box (would passive do - no batteries to run-out?), long balanced (mic) cable to first input of FX chain (connect cold to hot at this end?) and then reverse to go back into the Reurn? You say you'd take the stompboxes out of the Send/Return loop; are you suggesting keep them all "in-line" into the amp input from the bass? And how long an instrument cable could I run back from the last stompbox to the amp's input...?[/quote] I used to routinely run a 30' cable from bass to FX board, TE comp always on at the end of the board (so effectively a constant output impedance preamp) through another 30' cable to the rig. I would forget the balanced cables, stick a preamp pedal with flat-ish response which you can leave always on at the end of the board, put all your other FX in front of it, and then use an unbalanced cable from preamp pedal to amp. However, if your final pedal on your FX board has a decent buffered bypass then you can forego the additional preamp pedal. Forget the FX loop, forget balanced cables. Try the simple option, I'll be surprised if it doesn't work well. Alex

[quote name='holio.cornolio' post='643761' date='Nov 2 2009, 07:38 PM']do you reckon a speaker upgrade would do the job then?? any recommendations? as you can probably tell, I'm not desperately au fait with the technical side, but I can wield a soldering iron and screwdriver with the best of them, and have no qualms about taking my amp apart if that's what it'll take.[/quote] Not really - because you're compromised by the internal volume of the combo and then 100W still won't get you that far (unless you're putting it through a 2x15", 4x12" or 6x10"). My point really is not to get hung up on wattage and to focus on having enough SIZE to go with the power. Bear in mind that a guitar has similar frequency response to a cello, whilst a bass guitar is like a double bass. Compare how much bigger a double bass is than a cello and the ratio of guitar amp to bass amp size should be similar if you're using similar power! If you have more power and speakers that can handle it then you can go smaller but physics really fights back against you if you go too small. I've heard there are Markbass LMII amps going used for under £400 and there's a nice Dr Bass 15/8 cab in the for sale forum going for even less, which would give you a rig which will spank a TE 715X to Land's End and back, yet carrying it there won't kill you. And plenty more deals to be had out there... Alex

[quote name='JTUK' post='643751' date='Nov 2 2009, 07:26 PM']I think the general standard of chassis is much higher these days but I always followed the 'rule' of having twice the power output of the amp in speakers, and even then, I was always listening to signs that the speaker was struggling. Expensive lesson learned.....??[/quote] Exactly! The killer I found is when you're running dirty effects, because some of that dirt sounds so much like a speaker complaining, so you can't tell what's the sound of impending death and what's just a hit and happening fuzz sound. That's how I worn out the woofers in my Acmes (octavers, synths and envelope filters are the worst for this due to the peak LF surges). The cleaner your bass sound the more you can go for huge amp headroom, the dirtier the sounds you use the more speakers you need to prevent expensive mistakes. Alex

[quote name='lojo' post='643712' date='Nov 2 2009, 06:50 PM']Is this idea still ongoing If so, how longs the list? Love to try one[/quote] Yes it is. There's a northern tour and a southern tour for the two Compacts. And another for the Big One (which hardly anyone is bothering to provide feedback on - grumble, grumble, grumble...) musicman20 cleethorpes casapete hull finbar sheffield sean.robinson rotherham monz barnsley hubrad bradford rik (esa) bradford [b]tonybassplayer bradford[/b] wateroftyne newcastle delberhot camelon lemmywinks blackpool umcoo lancaster josh3184 preston guyl manchester bassbunny manchester bass culture chester protium chester mike 257 wirral steve soar wirral Beerdragon Wrexham bassbod bristol mr foxen bristol sk8 bristol gunsfreddy2003 cheltenham barelyl4 salisbury [b]stingrayfan fleet, hants[/b] sibob high wycombe alien milton keynes WonderHorse - Peterborough adee corby redroque norwich physcoandy ipswich pete young ipswich crez5150 wickford dannybuoy london/surrey bythesea shoreham Current locations in bold. Add yourself in a geographically logical spot - feel free to push in, don't put yourself at the end of the queue unless that's where you live! Alex

It's cone over-excursion that is killing your tone - you need more cone area and/or clean excursion ability. Alex

I just wrote a long post on this and then my computer died. But the gist of it was that amp power matters little and it's your speakers' ability to handle power (sadly not the quoted power handling) and and turn it into sound that matters. And secondly, look in the used amp/cab forum, there are many awesome deals to be had! For more techy stuff, click on on my signature and find the tech section. Alex