LawrenceH

Some of the 'easy' funk lines are really tricky to nail properly. If you think funk's easy, and you're not into funk...then you can't play funk. "Shack Up" Banbarra [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDiAYNxHOvM[/media] "Mango Meat" Mandrill [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3WwQkBTuwA[/media]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1319018002' post='1408860'] I've got one in my four string - it's a good pickup but I don't think there's anything magical about it. I wonder if I should eBay it for silly money while they're still scarce! [/quote] Ha, I saw this thread and clicked on it because I thought of your bass! It sounded very nice and growly I thought - guess it depends how much that's just the bass - what does it sound like with other pickups in, you ever tried? [quote name='henry norton' timestamp='1319020083' post='1408891'] Yeah they do go for allot on the odd occasion they come up. The main reason I like them is because they look good, sound ok and they aren't P's, J's or soapbars. They aren't going to turn anyone into a rock god but if you use them some people might just think you are [/quote] Quiet you! Spending hundreds of your earth pounds on Mr Beer's pickup WILL make you sound like a rock God and selectively impress beautiful people.

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1319041197' post='1409260'] Yeah I think the Gibbo knobs were an add-on. Not now though as this is how she looks today... [/quote] Are they DiMarzio pickups?

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1319040539' post='1409251'] Personally I like the sound of a really great solid state amp more than a tube amp, I like my transients right there in my face, I like recording direct and hearing myself back on fabulous monitors, transients there in all their glory. I am not the only one. [/quote] I agree with everything you've said. However I do think people who are only used to the sound of the cheap electronics in bass amps/pedals may come to mistaken conclusions about the potential of these things (obviously not you). After all, we often judge good bass tone from recordings which will have an awful lot of similar processing on them but the difference is it's done well. The luxury of a truly big rig is great - but I'd still take the AER over many a mid-price/mid-size set up where the compromises are evident without the benefits. I do wish my F1 had a subsonic filter on it, that's a very different issue to the transients for me.

[quote name='gamester4520503' timestamp='1319036115' post='1409169'] After a day of building, the cab is playable. Sounds quite good to my ears as well! The only issue with it is possibly the weight - this will happily vibrate about the floor when played loud enough. Needs some form of finishing, but apart from that it's done! [/quote] That's geat work! Vibrating is more about insufficient stiffness than weight per se...might be worth sticking a bit more bracing in there.

[quote name='mercuryl' timestamp='1319034317' post='1409144'] I've spotted something interesting. if you look back through this thread (and other threads on this site), you'll see that the people who have actually played / heard AER products are amazed and full of praise. Go look on the web and see if you can find any reviewer who says anything bad about this amp. You won't. If you can find one, go try it out. You'll be utterly amazed. At about £1K - it an absolute bargain. [/quote] [quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1319026830' post='1408998'] As for the OP, these kinds of rigs are all about the filtering and limiting, and as Alex says, if you can live with whats missing then thats fine (a la the RH450) but some people are really going to struggle to feel happy with the transients being munched completely with around 15dB of loss, and the amp/cab doing virtually nothing below 60Hz. [/quote] I just don't have the sonic issues with the AER kit as I do with the TC, whatever the reason behind it. How it's implemented in practice is just as important as what's being done in principle - e.g. I love the sound of bass guitar from saturated tape, but I don't like it through a cheap nasty comp/limiter. [quote name='alexclaber' timestamp='1319031230' post='1409090'] Yep, been working on that for a while now. Very excited about how the new stuff will perform! [/quote] That's ace, I'll be following with great interest - sounds like a product I'd buy if it works as you say. Any idea on timeframe? Very curious to hear more, but I understand there're commercial interests involved so you might want to keep your cards close to your chest! Good luck with it.

[quote name='alexclaber' timestamp='1319023494' post='1408941'] No, nothing like either. A totally bespoke design using different technology resulting in vastly higher maximum output - you can't buy anything similar at the moment. [/quote] Wow, are you moving into driver design/manufacture itself? Impressive...

[quote name='alexclaber' timestamp='1319017146' post='1408848'] I haven't but there are a few clues in the specs. The relatively low power and lack of woofer specs suggest they aren't doing anything particularly special in the speaker department whilst the "dynamic control" on the power amp, the "subsonic filter", and the "low distortion limiter" imply that there's compression in the electronics to increase the average loudness (at the expense of transient attack) there's highpass filtering to remove content below the tuning frequency so they can tune the cab higher for more loudness without the woofer distorting (at the expense of deep lows), and that when the amp does run out of power there's a further limit circuit to stop distorted clipping sounds. Just as the RH450 sounds great to many players with its inherent processing whilst playing louder than its real power suggests it can, so too this combo can play louder than its size and power would suggest and do so whilst sounding good to many players. Of course there will be others that don't like the compromises this approach causes but nothing's perfect! We're working on a 8" at the moment which also won't be breaking any laws of physics but will be using a very high excursion design to move more air than most 12"s, although with lower sensitivity because of the reduced cone area and enclosure size so it takes more power to get there. That'll mean output and bottom to match many 2x10"s or 1x15"s. Now if you were to combine that woofer technology with this kind of electronic cunning you could potentially have an 8" cab that sounds as loud and fat to many ears as a decent 4x10" all without breaking the laws of physics... [/quote] Re the 8", is that based around the LA8? The higher-end 10" neo SICA drivers are also pretty good high-excursion units, I don't think I've found any 8" units that significantly outperform them on spec -certainly not neo...and they sound good, too. I don't see/hear a problem with subsonic filtering on any reflex design (not just small boxes), it's very different from compression in terms of the musical effect and having played around looking at the power balance of a bass guitar signal it is massively worthwhile. With the compression, I think it's as much about the quality of implementation. A truly decent multiband-type with soft knee is far more transparent than a typical cheap circuit. The cheap ones sound it.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1318947403' post='1408087'] You can juggle around with EQ and internal mappings and that technology/concept is years old...but there is no sub for pushing air, IMHO, of course. [/quote] Speaker management incorporating multiband limiting can accomplish quite a lot, though...which is why as I say I've wondered whether these units use it. Apparent loudness of bass in recorded pop music played through any cheap-o PA is way higher than what you can typically achieve with a live instrument for similar reasons. Of course, I don't actually know whether they do use it but having heard the AER stuff the amount they pump out does seem rather more than what you'd expect from the somewhat puny specs.

The 'solution' to a failed rattlecan refinish...

The AER stuff is incredible. Vocals through a good mic into their little monitors just sound like a voice, but bigger, it's so clean. With only 18 litres cab volume makes me wonder if they have a bit of active speaker management going on to squeeze the most out of them.

Careful which model you get. The kappa lf-2 has a really pronounced response peak around 1.2Khz then drops like a stone above that. The lf-a peaks higher up, around 2k and is as a result is probably more usable as a standalone speaker.

I have an old Ashdown Electric Blue 12-150 that I no longer need, that just happens to be located in Edinburgh. Great for smaller gigs. But. I don't think it weighs anything less than the TC rs212. Given that you've got the head already in all honesty a single 10 or 12" cab would probably be a better option, that Eden doesn't look bad at all but building one is the way forward. The choice for super-light 1x10" cabs is surprisingly limited. I've got some poplar ply on the way for this exact purpose...

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1318855316' post='1406881'] What's the spec? I've been looking at 10's lately and have it on very good authority that the Eminence Deltalite II 2510's are very good. [/quote] The deltalites in a small box have quite a hump around 100Hz so useful for a bit of weight to the sound, though they can't take much 'real' bass. Bloody expensive now though, I got mine for £80-ish each IIRC, now the neo price hike has them upwarsd of £120! You can still get celestion neos cheap from some suppliers so they'd be a good 'budget' option. I'm sure someone will be along to chip in about box tuning etc etc but really with these small cabs they're mostly much of a muchness in that regard. If you don't mind the added weight Fane do a decent 10" I think

The mexi reissues have them but, funnily enough, don't have the large route around the pickup/control cavity. I filled the hole in mine when I refinished. Oh yeah, there's probably a matching hole in the neck pocket.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1318771565' post='1405979'] What about a collage of loads of famous Ray players on the back, Louis Johnson, Bernard edwards, Flea etc etc under the laquer but just a normal finish from the front? 'The homage Ray' [/quote] The faces of a load of famous Ray playing dudes rubbing against your crotch as you groove? That's definitely a 'hom-something Ray'...I say go for it!

I really dislike what I've heard of the voicing of the TC 450 head. I wonder how much their compression contributes to (my) perceived low-mid heavy tone, it could definitely contribute to what I hear as a sluggishness to the sound.

[quote name='Kevin Dean' timestamp='1318551087' post='1403765'] I use the MB121h & I use a peavey XR1212 for the bands PA ,this has a Sub out this means that any signal below 100KHZ going into the PA can be sent to a powered sub .I,m thinking of putting this signal through my amp as well as my bass . Good Idea or not ? Thank you [/quote] You mean the Markbass unit? I guess you'd need an additional mixer with DI to do this? Unless you play an active bass in which case you could get away with skipping the DI. But it really depends what kind of PA speakers you've got, what other signal there is in the mix below 100Hz and how loud you expect it to be. The MB kit is good but it's not magic and can't reproduce real sub frequencies at high volume without suffering - it's only 350 watts or thereabouts into a 1x12. I have used a bass rig to reinforce the kick drum for small/medium pub-type gigs before and it worked well and it integrates really nicely with the bass guitar, but dedicated PA subs are a very different beast to bass combos. Unless you already have the equipment to experiment with this I wouldn't bother, it could cause more problems than it solves.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1318455878' post='1402563'] I can play a power cord! [/quote] On your base guitar?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1318445073' post='1402319'] D'you mean the kick drum? [/quote] Useful for sound engineers confronted with the typical rock line up. B is for bass, so we needed another letter for the bass drum...

T cut works ok but you can take off too much if you're not careful IME. Unless you're used to spraying nitro and have got it thin enough then you need to leave it a long while to dry before polishing (weeks)

Keep misreading this as 'Could you be the worst looking bassist in the world?' What about the most beautiful person playing the worst looking bass? (Yeah I know, the other way round is a lot easier, but a lot meaner) Who's got the biggest contrast between their own gorgeousness and the hideous malformities of their instrument (bass, stop sniggering at the back there)?

[quote name='gamester4520503' timestamp='1318342442' post='1400847'] Thanks again Dave. Just about to order crossover components - aiming for a crossover frequency of about 1200Hz with a couple of second orders. The wood has been cut to size, just need to get everything fitted. Can anyone recommend a good place to get speakers from? The LA6 CBMR is about £50 online, just want to see what other options are out there. [/quote] Lean Business are normally pretty competitive, and fast in my experience. They've got the LA6 at £45, dunno about shipping though. http://www.lean-business.co.uk/eshop/eminence-la6-cbmr-8ohm-6-150watt-mid-range-speaker-p-754.html

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1318276260' post='1400047'] ... because he's brilliant and out of tune. [/quote] He probably is brilliant to be fair...but for me he's in a box with Dylan, Springsteen and assorted others who I will never, ever enjoy listening to no matter how hard I try. Different strokes. Plenty of great jazz with rather sketchily intonated double bass. But on fretted electric, you can always add a bit more 'vibe' just bending the note. There you go, problem solved. Until the engineer autotunes it out again.