Phil Starr

I love these as a design, you don't really need really the high frequencies from a small horn driver so the 3" drive units promise more of the mids you do need and the possibility of a lower crossover point. Then the line source offers a broad flat radiation pattern from the speakers, ideal as everyone in the audience gets to hear pretty much the same tone but you cut out some of the reflections off the ceilings. I've not heard these speakers yet, they don't seem very widely used but if they've got the implementation right they ought to sound great, review please when you've had a decent time to get to know them.

I think that's a good choice, if you prefer it to the fitted speaker you could always swap that one later, the speaker is a real bargain and Beyma is a good make, so far I've had zero failures and they look to be nicely made.

Before you go to all that trouble. if it is just the cone detaching then it might be possible to repair the speaker. A lot of old drivers suffer because the glue becomes brittle with age/oxidation/exposure to light and goes all crumbly. If you go carefully you an usually re glue. I usually use Copydex for this, it's latex based and water soluble so bonds really well to paper cones and cloth and remains flexible for a very long time. The join should be stronger than the cone if you do it right. I usually assume if one part of the cone has come away it all will but you might not feel confident being so drastic. I separate the whole cone and glue the lot but if you address the offending 'split' you need to clean off any old crumbly glue and make sure the area is dust free, then just glue together following the instructions on the glue. I usually also check the join in the middle where the domes paper dust cover fixes to the cone, the glue is often in the same state. Try not to get too much glue spreading across the cone and you need to be careful not to distort the cone but it is basically a simple job, just be gentle and methodical. You've nothing to lose by trying. Good Luck

Just a thought, if you love the sound of these then using a different driver will change the sound and mixing them won't necessarily sound like a blend of the two. You'll have three sounds one from each cab and one from the pair. If you like that idea then no problem If not then go to Tecamp and see if they can provide a replacement. I'd forgotten you had two cabs. Another thought is that this cab looks to be a 50litre cab tuned roughly to 50Hz or maybe slightly lower. I'd need measured internal dimensions to tell you exactly. That's not far off the Basschat design Stevie did for a top quality FRFR cab, the equal of a BF or Fearless/Greenboy cab IMO. It wouldn't have the same internal bracing of course. If you wanted to invest the money you could fit the same drivers and crossover into your cab, this wouldn't be a bad bet.

Hi I've responded to your pm but if anyone else is interested you asked me to comment on Blue Aran's recommended replacement an Eminence Gamma That's shockingly bad advice from Blue Aran specs for the Gamma are: fs 57 Hz Re 6.52 ohms Le 0.95mH Qes 0.75 Qms 6.86 Qts 0.67 BL 10.9 T.M Xmax 1.6mm Xmax of 1.6 is just not good enough for bass and power handling will be poor, fs is too high for my taste (no deep bass), BL is lower than I would like because of an underpowered magnet and a speaker with a Qts=0.67 isn't really suitable for a small reflex cabinet you'll have an insane upper bass bloom and no deep bass again. I suspect you got the Saturday boy Blue Aran do speakers that are a whole lot better. If you want something cheap then this would be better http://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=BMA612CVM28&browsemode=category Xmax is 7mm more than 4x better and the magnet system is more powerful so the frequency response will be better too, and it's cheaper. If you want an Eminence then the Beta 12A-2 is a much better speaker than the nasty little Gamma and it has a nice response in the mids which will give you a nice baked in sound. http://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=EMIBETA12A&browsemode=category For a bit more you can get the Beyma SM212 which is a tried and tested model with a much more neutral response which a load of basschatters have used. If you want to spend more still then the Faital PR 320 is a lovely speaker and lightweight too http://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=FTP12PR320&browsemode=category

I had to play this for someone at a jam session, that'll be easy enough I thought. It's fast though I hadn't left enough time and was sweating, on the night he played it about 10bpm slower and I survived. It will come but remember you are playing the chords Em to B. At a pinch you could get away with just straight 8's on E and B, it wouldn't be right but playing the root note in time would let the rest of the band play their bits and they wouldn't notice in all probability, they will all need the E and B on the first note of the bar though. On the night I just played the root/fifths, I ignored the shift to G (10 on the A) in the tab above. Good Luck

I'm not sure relying on memory is a good thing. My memory is pretty good so when I started playing as a late starter going straight into a covers band it seemed natural enough to just memorise stuff. As a result I have little musical theory and a very poorly developed ear. Every new song I just go to the tabs or you Tube and … just memorise it. It's a dead end musically I know now, but with three new songs to play next week I'll just rely on memory again. I'm so jealous of those people who can hear a song and just work it out. Toscanini probably didn't need to know every note, just that one of them wasn't in the key the piece was written in. So I've found my carrying capacity for songs is somewhere up in the 120-150 mark, three bands worth of set list plus a few old pot boilers. Any more than that and I'll start making mistakes (well more than usual) That will involve playing most of them once a month probably. Interestingly the ones I've gigged a few times stick better than those that never get out of the rehearsal room. Is it the adrenaline of performance that helps? It's plate spinning though, you have to give them a little tweak now and again in personal practice or they keep falling over.

I love that this is running on all this time, six pages and still going Just listening to the song he doesn't play the same thing all the way through and I doubt he plays it the same way every time. The only other Bowie song I play is Rebel Rebel and that has variation on a basically repetitive bass line all the way through too. I think that's just the way he plays. There's an interview kicking around somewhere where he said he doesn't know what he played on the recording so I guess that would be definitive. My take is that on the first verse coming out of the intro he definitely plays the G# and then repeats for that verse, later in the song he does play G and sometimes just E and A. Playing loose sounds fine in this song and as we have all found out no-one notices. That little 9-7-6 triplet on the intro I find tricky if I haven't played it for a while and I naturally keep that shape in the first verse, I guess he did the same. After that I just tend to keep the groove going and my fingers wander into paying the G and that gives it a bluesy feel. I don't think music theory informed the playing when it was recorded Just seen the above, there might be more than one clip doing the rounds

Thanks, I was hoping you'd spot this. How good is the backup with Midas? if it is the same as Behringer then it is problematic, I had real trouble getting spares for a Behringer floor monitor that was out of guarantee by a month or so (but cheap enough when I tracked down a supplier) If it is proper pro backup then that's worth the full price never mind just the difference. Any direct experience? As to the mic pre's? We're using QSC K12's and RCF speakers and I really notice the difference between the Behringer mixer and my Yamaha MG which surprised me at that price point, the Yamaha's are really much better despite it basically being a cheap mixer. Are the Midas pre's going to be better by a similar amount? If so that's worth it for me, 5-10 years of just not quite being happy with the sound has got to be worth thinking about.

I'm about to take the plunge and go digital. This is for live work with a covers band. It's hard to look past the XR18 but is it worth spending the extra on an MR18. What do I get other than better mic pre's? Am I likely to use the extra features in a live situation? It's not a huge extra cost (less than the money for a single gig) So does anyone have any thoughts? https://www.behringer.com/Categories/Behringer/Mixers/Digital/XR18/p/P0BI8#googtrans(en|en) https://www.midasconsoles.com/Categories/Midas/Mixers/Digital/MR18/p/P0C8H#googtrans(en|en)

You could probably just use a Y cable to split the signal or something like this https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Behringer-ULTRA-DI-DI20-Active-DI-Box/297 You'll probably need to do a bit of experimenting to get the best out of these, though you may just like the sound out of the box. It looks like there is just a 500Hz crossover built in so the lows going to the 18's and the highs going to the 10's, you could just go direct into both pairs of speakers by passing the crossover but beware of overloading the 10's. Some power amps like my Peavey 1600's have a crossover to a sub, I'd certainly try sub to the 18's and tops to the 10's if that is available, which will effectively mean you've shifted the crossover point to around 100 Hz. If you can borrow a proper crossover you could experiment with other crossover frequencies. You could also try just mixing two entirely different tones to each speaker giving you something like the 'stereo' effect you can get with a Rickenbacker or the old bassists trick of feeding half their signal to a bass stack and half to a guitar amp. The options are quite varied and it is up to you how much you want to experiment My only worry would be that these are old speakers and of unknown health, start with the volume right down and listen for signs of strain and you shouldn't go far wrong. Good luck and have fun

It's hard to say without hearing the sound but my immediate response was that the string is hitting the pole piece too. The Pole is quite strongly magnetic and if the string goes near it will be pulled down by the magnet making temporary contact and a loud thump. If your string height or neck relief are way out the string can also make quite a thump on the end of the fretboard/last fret. It could also be a speaker or amp problem if you are overloading the amplification. Try turning the amp right down to home practice levels and then try playing really hard, if the thump has gone it's the amp/speaker combination. If the speaker coil is hitting the back of the magnet you'll destroy the speaker and it can make a noise like you describe. It may also be hitting the speaker grille especially if it is distorted or dented.

You've probably found this, but if not enjoy

This is true, but if you buy something big end efficient that won't be an issue, you won't want an extra 4x10 and almost certainly not a second 2x12. It probably won't be a problem It's a lot harder to get the sound you like than match impedances though which is why I'd always say find something you like the sound of first. Only then worry about the impedance.

Honestly stop worrying about impedance and speaker sizes, probably to least important things to worry about. Find a speaker you like the sound of first. Sound comes first second and third. If is isn't loud enough then buy a second identical speaker to get more of what you like. If you play small and medium sized venues then you only need to be as loud as the drummer and the PA will do the heavy lifting if you play bigger venues on occasions. Size isn't important If you are starting from scratch then a 2x10 or a 1x15 will be loud enough for most gigs but a good, high efficiency 12 will just about get there too. Anything bigger (4x10, 2x12) will be well capable but you don't want capable you want a good sound that suits your playing, and only you can judge that. So have some fun and start trying stuff, you wouldn't buy a car without a test drive.

Looks Like the Warnex and the Tuff Cab are very similar, Tuffcab is cheaper at the moment.

There are standard ways of describing and measuring power. This is both in the legal sense of governments drawing up regulations to allow us to make sense of what is being advertised (CE regulations refer to RMS and the US FTC 1974 of continuous measurements using sine waves are still in place.) There are also engineering standards for making measurements. Peak measurements should be measured with sine waves and simply double the continuous/rms power. Music power is meaningless. The only reason I keep posting on this is because essentially you are being cheated by false advertising claims and people who spread half understood information are effectively undermining the companies who are being honest with you. If you want to check you could start here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_power

This too is true

I think we all know how it works, at the bottom end of the price range there have to be engineering compromises to make a product at that price point. Better materials and so on increase the price with performance for a while then you reach the point of diminishing returns where small improvements cost increasing amounts of money. That pretty much applies to most walks of life from restaurants to bass gear. It certainly isn't an iron rule, there are bargains and dogs at each price point usually. The Bugera Veyron amp is a real bargain IMO for example. Interestingly I can't find out if the BN and 'lightweight' means that this speaker has a Neo driver or what the cab actually weighs? If it has a normal ceramic (heavy) magnet 15 driver then the Bugera looks good value, if it has a genuine neo magnet it's a total bargain. Complete guess is that the horn is neo only. You've got a 5-600W 15+horn for just over £200 which Stew says sounds good and has been reliable for him. That's good value for money and there's nothing here to put you off a purchase The thing is though this isn't the way to choose a bass cab. There are other cabs at this price point from Warwick, TC and Peavey and more like the Fender Rumble coming in at less than £100 more. It's the sound that counts so you have to go out and try them and choose based on that. Only you can decide if the sound is actually better and how much you'd be prepared to pay for that. It's quite possible that the Bugera blows the others away at that price or that the reverse is true the only way to find out is to try as many as possible and decide if it's a match for what you want. Good luck, I hope you find something you like.

I have the same problem with my Little Mark Tube, seems no way round it, though £200 ish is still less than the prices people are selling them at on the marketplace here. I can't blame MB for the failure, I knocked my stack over with the MB on the top. I had a look inside and I even found a circuit diagram on Talk Bass but it isn't really user serviceable. I've bought the Peavey, it sounds better than the MB but I'll still get that repaired, I won't buy another unless I hear they are handling their repairs differently.

Sorry that wasn't meant to be personal. Hence the Smiley Competition only works if it is fair, I admit I do have a bit of a thing about deliberate lies and Music Tribe (Behringer and co) have a track record here. They aren't the only ones but they are in a fairly dominant position. Is it fair to pitch their 2000W speaker against someone else's 500W speaker when they actually handle the same power? Given that many musicians can't work out ohms, volts and watts I think not. The OP said "Its the wattage claims that obviously appeals but at the same time, puts me off if you know what I mean, here's what the newer model claims." It's the same rating your speaker has as it happens, Music Tribe/Music Group bought up Turbosound and went on producing their speakers so this may in fact be a similar driver to yours, I don't know that of course but I am confident it's a 5-600W speaker. Should I tell the Brig that. Most of my posts are on technical stuff, I'm a rubbish bass player but I used to teach Physics to 'A' level and to design and build speakers for a living so it's what I have to contribute. I try not to be too boring but I like to think I'm teaching someone to fish rather than just feeding them a fish. Anyway no offence meant on my part I enjoy your contributions

"we've all had enough of so called experts" as someone once said OK here's the thing, a single coil of wire trapped inside a speaker can only dissipate so much heat, in that Turbosound driver there is likely to be a 2.5-3" voice coil so that limits the speaker to around 500W. By their own figures the sensitivity is 97dB/W and the maximum output 124 dB, both quite believable figures. That implies the maximum amp gain is 124-97=27dB. Which means the speaker can handle 500W thermal. You see this all the time, 500W measured power handling (usually described as AES) 1000W 'program' 2000W 'peak' It's a 500W speaker for the sake of comparison to any other speaker and for a single driver it is quite loud 124db is more than enough for most people, anything over 120db will keep up with most drummers in a rock band, On their own website they describe it as a 600W speaker, which doesn't seem unreasonable.

Another good gig, although again with no chance for a soundcheck, Peavey minimax into a 1x12+horn of my own design, but a PA speaker so FRFR. Because there was no soundcheck I just started with everything flat. Nice punchy sound straight out of the tin. coincidentally gain on 12.00 and vol on 12.00 too. Three hour set with just a 10 min break and it played without drama and sounded nice and punchy, more like my old Hartke 3500 than my Mark Bass Tube. I hadn't had time to play with the controls as the amp had only been delivered that morning but yeah, nice warm punchy sound and not too coloured, I liked it. The fan is noisy though, not a problem at a gig of course.

Hi Al, the whole RMS thing comes from the maths behind AC voltage measurement. Produced by an alternator spinning round and round in a circle it produces electricity which traces out a circular pattern as a sine wave. Half of the wave is positive and half negative. The average voltage is zero and the actual voltage is changing all the time. To calculate the 'equivalent' DC voltage you square the peak voltage to make both halves of the cycle positive, then work out the mean average then find the square root to convert it back to volts. Root- Mean- Square. You can then use this figure to calculate power. You'll find pedants who will say correctly that there is no such thing as RMS power but really ???

Mine has just arrived, it is quite clearly rated at 44.7V RMS. Power is V2/R so that would be 500W into 4ohms and 250 into 8ohms. Of course There is lots of wriggle room about how that was measured but an RMS voltage is a measurable, verifiable thing so I kind of trust it to be reasonably accurate. Oh Luke has put that up quite impressed with the sounds available, simple tones and the switched sounds seem quite usable on a ten minute run through. It doesn't come across as well made as some. the Bugera has a much nicer build, but that may just be the case. Not as tidy as my MB Tube either and the chrome bezels on the sockets look a bit rough for example. It all works though and it's what is inside that counts and so far Peavey stuff has never let me down even in old age. Gigging with it tonight, I'll let you know