funkle

Howdy all You know me to be in general a big fan of @stevie's work, and he kindly sent me the newest addition to the LFSys FRFR stable, the 1x 10" Monza cab, to try out. (https://www.lfsys.co.uk/bassguitarproducts) I'll start with some pics of it next to my LFSys 'Silverstone' 1x12" - actually the very first Basschat Mk3 FRFR 1x12", but with updated crossover and horn a la the SIlverstone cab from the LFSys range. Pardon the wear; it's been out and about plenty. In short, it's a peach of a cabinet which I think can be the first 10" with a real claim to compete with a loud drummer. It is good for pub/club gigs; it handled rehearsals well with a loud drummer in a small enclosed space. I tested it out for a week or so in a few settings with my Berg Mk1 B Amp. I'll try to summarise the main points for me. Every instrument I played through it sounded very natural, like playing through studio monitors. It has a solid but non-boomy bottom end and utterly clear midrange/treble. It sounds the same as my Silverstone in the mids and highs (same horn/compression driver explains this), though the Silverstone has a bigger low low end (the Monza has a tailored low end response to prevent boominess at high volume). It can be heard very clearly standing directly in front of it, nearly on top of it, and well off axis. The driver can take a substantial amount of low end EQ, and even outright misuse, if the user happens to be foolish (slapping with big bass boost). It takes a low B well. The finish is top notch and it looks great. The handle is set flush with the to p, so can accommodate any head. 11kg is a good weight for a 1 cab solution. I don't have experience of the Barefaced 110T to compare it to, but I did have a BF 110 without the tweeter. I would say it's louder than the Barefaced 110 and has much clearer high end, unsurprisingly. Although it's heavier - 11kg vs 7kg. The only other small 10 I've owned which could compare in terms of frequency range was the old Acme 1x10, and this is is much much louder. The main difference I hear between this and the 12" cabs in the LFSys range is that the low end is slightly different for all of them. The Silverstone 12" has the biggest low end, then the Monza 10", and then the Monaco 12" is the tightest (but still good). All of the cabs in the range share the same mid and high end frequency characteristics - totally clear FRFR sound. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between them if you EQ'd the low end similarly, which you can. I don't have any negatives to say about the cabinet. It's a premium product at a premium price, with top end components ands crossover. It is truly boutique. Stevie is going to organise that this unit is sent around to other folks for them to try it out. I'd say fill yer boots, it sounds great!!!

Well, that escalated quickly.... Unfortunately, I won't be seeing Bornleft's posts any more.

I’ve never done it and would prefer you not be the first.

So not much presently. I’ve had gastroenteritis for a week and it’s been a rough ride. I can just about eat one meal a day in the last day or two, which is progress. I’m also trying to sort out an issue with new numbered knobs and getting them to fit the pots properly which I need for proper testing. I’m not one to post intemperately, but the tone and insistency to your posts have been frankly rude on more than a few occasions, which I previously chose to gloss over. That won’t be happening much longer; if you can’t manage to be polite/patient, I am simply going to block you.

Ok, now I’m interested! They fixed the logo….

They are there indeed, and very useful. But I am also alluding to another issue which I haven’t talked about - even with the pickups screwed right down on the prototype body, I was picking up a lot more false harmonics than usual, created by how my right thumb rests on the string. I hear this happen on my other basses, but quieter. It’s a problem of my technique. On the first prototype body, that happening was also a function of how close these powerful magnets were to the strings. I wasn’t getting wolf tones/warbling but I felt like maybe it wasn’t far off. I can now set the pickups further away but boost the output, and have less noise from false harmonics.

Another quick update. I ordered a nice brass shim set which I have now used to get the neck just right, and it is set up beautifully. Nuno fixed my broken volume pot and got me a new blend pot quickly, so the electronics are working again. I’m experimenting a lot with pickup heights now I have a bunch of different screw lengths (necessary as they fit fairly precisely into threaded inserts). I don’t think the present pickups need to be quite so far away from the strings as on a typical Wal - signal drops off too much. However there has to be a major difference in height between the neck and bridge pickups to get the right volume balance; I don’t think I was achieving this before in spite of my best efforts. The pickup routes were just not deep enough. I have a new appreciation of the Wal pickup design. It allows for easy pickup height adjustment without having to change screw lengths and without the risk of accidentally screwing through the rear face of the bass!

All good mate, play what your heart desires!

The Wal recipe is 42.5 AWG (actually metric equivalent) wire, 10,000 winds per coil, C8 ceramic magnets, steel keepers. Not neodymium magnets at all..and the wire is different too. Straight DI sound would be great. (Everyone thinks it’s 42 AWG, but this in fact not right.)

It sounds great. That's a fair bit of processing on there , I would say, though - the SVTR/drive adds a fair bit of colour. I would say you're in the Wal-ish neighbourhood, though. It's interesting as the Herrick pickups have quite a different recipe to a Wal - steel poles & neodymium magnets scatter wound with 42 AWG plain enamel wire. Resistance = 16- 20KOhm. (Or so their website says... it also says you can get other pickups on request.). Can I ask @Tom Stafford, what pickups did you request from Herrick?

Not yet. But I keep iterating closer. And I’ve learned a lot along the way too. So it’s been good.

It’s easier to play because the neck fits my hand - Jazz nut width etc. Plus the body hangs in the right spot - the upper horn reaches the 12th fret so the first fret is not a long reach and there’s no neck dive. The other preamp will be installed for an A/B test. It’s still going to be a while. The only way to make it go faster is if you wish to send me money, lol, because then I can pay other people to do faster work.

Hmm, I’m going to have to get some more tech work done. So there may be a bit more delay. I’m going to have the pickup screws shortened further - one of the issues with the original body was that I was becoming concerned if the pickups were too close to the strings, even with screwing it all down tightly. I can’t quite get as far down as I want using the current screws, so I’ll need to get some trimming done. For context, the recommended Wal setup is to have strings 5.5 - 6mm away from the pickup, and whilst these particular multicoils have fewer winds, they are still powerful magnets. I can get down to about 4mm but would like to have the extra wiggle room. The other issue is I have bottomed out how far I can lower my setup, so I’ll need to shim the neck. Such is life I guess, most Wals seem to need a shim, so I’ll match the spec 🤣 I may as well see if I can sort the blend knob when I get pre work done, so I have emailed Nuno about this. I also had a mishap with the volume pot shaft trying to fit another set of knobs, so I’ll sort that too. Patience….

That’s all @Chopthebass. I can take some credit for ideas, or at least some of them…but execution is all him. He’s a good listener/interpreter 👍

Although I do need to do one quick wiggle on the neck to align it slightly better. But I’ll sort that too.

Also I find it about a million times easier to play than my Wal. The body shape, nut width/neck, how it hangs on a strap…. @Chopthebass picked a very lightweight African mahogany and he married it well to @Andyjr1515’s neck. It’s a joy.

Ok, unexpectedly, got my bass back from my tech quicker than I thought, after getting the body and neck etc back last week. Here’s a teaser. It’s stunning. : I’m still sorting things like pickups heights, setup, etc. Annoyingly I have worn out the centre detent on the blend control through repeated use, lol. I’ll work around it. It sounds fantastic with the Lusithand Double NFP and the original Turner pickups transplanted over and Andy’s neck on there. Great pickups and I’m always going to be a fan of this preamp. Spoiler…It does sound a bit different, but I’m not yet convinced the mahogany body has made a huge difference over using alder. It is different, and it is noticeable, but not the way a different fretboard wood or completely new neck construction was…however I will keep playing and get some Youtube recordings up soon.

Beautiful. I’m ordering one!

I’m using 9V presently but will be able to go up 18V with the new body, when it arrives.

The Lusithand behaves similarly. It distorted massively when my battery output fell; I thought my amp was crapping out, but a battery change fixed it.

Great work @luthifer. Fascinating. Eventually I hope to be able to say how much each bit of the bass contributes to the ‘Wal sound’. I’ve given my theories before on how much each bit contributes, so I won’t repeat myself. But the distortion from the EQ circuit is a key ingredient. Really interested to hear what your boards sound like.

Fair enough, everyone is entitled to their opinion. All I can say for now is that I await a bunch of different parts coming and will document what happens when I change them, and see how close I can get.

@bornleftthe onus of proof isn’t on me. I just don’t think from the clips I have heard that the Octave basses are as close to a Wal as I would hope, yet. We’ll see how it goes over time. I don’t think I’ve heard a clip with his newest preamp though. And my prior comment was referring to Dario at Octave basses, who I know has been working hard on his Wal pickups and Wal preamp.

The Octave chap is using his own design pickups and his own preamp. We have talked. I don’t know if he has solved the problem yet, though he is working hard on it - it’s his niche…