LawrenceH

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1020562' date='Nov 11 2010, 07:18 PM']I've tried a CIJ 75RI and found it almost the same as my modded VMJ. I think I'm gonna leave it and pick up a surf green CIJ Jazz.[/quote] I think the all-maple construction of the VMJ makes it a bit of a potential tone monster. The weakest link for me was the pickups - they're punchy but they seriously lack bandwidth compared to traditional jazz pups, the high end sounds rubbish. Replace those and you're on to a winner, the acoustic tone on the couple I tried was very warm and resonant. Much more lively than the CV jazzes, though these seem to have better finishing and probably more trad-sounding pickups.

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1020083' date='Nov 11 2010, 02:12 PM']There is probably loads but humour me.[/quote] Pickup spacing (70s v 60s), pickup type (Vintage 75s vDuncan Designed), body wood (ash v maple), and based on what I've seen of VMJs, finish quality. Neck profile? Also 3- v 4-bolt neckplate and bullet truss v the other kind. Oh and most importantly of all, the knobs are different I think.

Not sure about fancy-pants Class D and H designs, which I'd imagine to be quite expensive to make well, but a lot of sound guys with semi-serious set-ups push out the low end watts with things like the EP1500 - they have quite a solid reputation, and reputedly their 2ohm claim is a bit more realistic than most cheap/mid-priced stuff. It's a bit like that LH500 by Hartke - tried and tested old technology put together using cheap labour, the main downside is that they're comparatively heavy by modern standards. +1 to the old composer comment above btw, I felt they punched above their weight.

[quote name='bumnote' post='1018777' date='Nov 10 2010, 01:52 PM']size=4]So the amp is sensitive to 230 or 240V power supply (contrary to what was said above).[/size][/quote] Bit confused with all the quotes within quotes. But for me the issue is clear enough now. The amp is designed to operate within a tolerance range of voltages, it's very likely that most of the time it will be fine at 230 or 240 whatever the jumper settings. However, if the supply voltage fluctuates outside these tolerance bands then it increases the chances of damage. Adjusting where the centre of the band lies to 230 or 240 depending on the nominal supply voltage of a particular region makes sense, as you're operating further within the safe limits and the supply voltage can slip further from nominal BEFORE this becomes an issue. So for me, markbasschat's comments (suitably amended regarding the voltage in uk) are valid and useful, as have others' been. From what I can gather, 268V is way outside the old uk spec of +/-6% or new spec of 230 +10/-6%. I wonder how many odd computer failures could be attributed to poorly conditioned mains. But anyway, surely if Markbass were particularly susceptible to mains voltage changes then I'm sure we'd have heard about more problems by now. I seem to remember their failure rate is overall pretty low - part of what attracted me! But it seems unsurprising that a tiny class D amp like the F1 might be less robust than a whopping great transformer-weighted behemoth. And I've had a few of them fail anyway, for different reasons, so it's all swings and roundabouts! As I said based on the voltage readings people seem to be finding I'm going for 240V setting since probably that's what most uk suppliers are doing in practice. This article from soundonsound specifically talking about problems with mains voltage has been very interesting and informative: [url="http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul03/articles/mainsproblems.asp"]http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul03/arti...insproblems.asp[/url] I suspect most of what it says is still valid, and dood if your supply is regularly above that level then they're legally obliged to do something about it. Thanks again, I've learnt tons from starting this thread! Now if only that somehow translated to playing better bass I'd be as happy as Larry. Oh wait, that's me. Woo!

[quote name='MarkBassChat' post='1018457' date='Nov 10 2010, 10:10 AM']What is interesting with Markbass F1 is that the change means slightly lower voltage for the power amp. And lower voltage means less power. Of course you will not hear the difference but I wonder what Markbass would recommend. And I'm not refering to places where you have still 268V. There, most probably the conversion hasn't been done and if some equipment fails, you can most probably ask the power supplier for a compensation :-).[/quote] Well, given that apparently most suppliers haven't actually changed the supply voltage since 240 falls within the tolerance bands, I think I'll go for the 240 setting and see where it takes me. When I have 500 of the damn things at my disposal, I think I can spare the odd watt Thanks for all the help guys, this has been a really useful (for me) thread!

[quote name='dood' post='1018181' date='Nov 9 2010, 09:50 PM'][attachment=63539:UK240VF1a.jpg] [attachment=63540:UK240VF1b.jpg] OK, here we go - as clear as needs to be I think. disclaimer taken as read - this change voids warranty and should be carried out by qualified service personnel.[/quote] This is great! Thanks so much. Very glad I asked this question as no-one's referred to these other jumpers. MarkBassChat, welcome to bass chat and thanks for the clarifications, if you look in the bottom right of your posts you'll see you can edit them so if you want to make things clearer that's an option. Having said that.. According to wikipedia you're correct in that the UK as of 2008 is on 230V +10%/-6%. Most of the EU is on 230+/-10%. So probably the 230V setting would be appropriate, though hopefully I'm right in assuming either would be fine. I'm quite surprised that there is actually a difference in terms of required jumper settings, it makes me wonder if the F1 is going to be a temperamental amp when it comes to things like outside gigs using generators, long cables etc.

Based on my experiences I think the spacing definitely has a very noticeable effect on the sound, and the body wood probably too makes some difference. But. As I've said on here before, I thought the pickups in my Jap 75RI (allegedly US) were rubbish compared to the Vintage Alnico ones in the Classic 70s, and now the Classic 70s pickups sit in my ash Jap 75RI while a pair of genuine US 75 Vintages are waiting to be installed in the Classic 70s The (Mexican) Vintage Alnicos made a big positive difference to the tone of the Jap jazz so it'll be an interesting comparison once I throw the US 75s into the mix. Remember also, the 75 Vintage pickups in the US75RI are a different part number to the 'normal' vintage pickups as used in the 62RI! Once I've done a comparison between the three pickups sets then I will report back, I keep meaning to do this but work is getting in the way of my geeky fun

[quote name='dood' post='1017992' date='Nov 9 2010, 07:16 PM']Hell yeah! I'm glad you asked the questioned - otherwise I would have been hassling for flippyfloop in the For Sale forum to sell his F500 instead of trading! There is a fuse in the holder underneath the IEC power socket. No need to lift the lid. Infact there should be a spare fuse in the other half of the little drawer too. The F1 I have here (a UK model) has a 3.15A fuse in it. Sorry I didn't check if it was a fast blow or a surge type. The fuse in the mains plug is designed to protect the lead and can be 13A.[/quote] Right-oh! Thought it was probably so but no harm in an idiot-check. Thanks for the heads-up regarding where it is, and glad to have inadvertently been of help with my question

[quote name='dood' post='1017868' date='Nov 9 2010, 05:49 PM']Cha-Ching, shopping done.. come to pa-pa![/quote] Yeah good eh? tombboy, thanks yup that's from the talkbass thread i was talking about, slightly confusingly the relevant picture is titled 'Markbass LMII', hence I wanted to double-check! I don't know about anyone else but looking at US sites, I feel I lose an awful lot in translation What I meant talking about the fuse with respect to safety was that, I'd expect the F1 to still work without changing the fuse when going 120 to 240 just not the other way round - but are we talking about an internal fuse or just the one in the plug? Thanks for all the help!

Hi all, I've just taken receipt of a US Markbass F1. I'm aware these can be converted to run at UK voltage, and the markbass manual details the fuses required for 100, 120,230 and 240V so that should be all good. Can anyone confirm exactly what the jumper switch change should be? I've seen that picture on the talkbass thread which seems to show an f1 but it's not all that clear, and I don't know if the jumper has alternative settings for 230 versus 240 volts. Also in case it's not obvious which fuse I should change, is it just the one referred to in the manual or should I look elsewhere? I'm assuming down-rating the fuse means changing is just a safety thing, it won't affect normal performance, is that correct? Thanks for any help! Lawrence

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='1014568' date='Nov 6 2010, 05:57 PM']If I can ask an additional, related question, if an amp with two speaker outputs runs at X at 4 ohms or Y at 8 ohms, if you run one 4 ohm speaker will you get x or do you need to run two 8 ohm speakers?[/quote] You will get X.

[quote name='Spoombung' post='1014289' date='Nov 6 2010, 02:10 PM']Dingwalls, Laklands and Sadowsky's are renowned for low frets.[/quote] Jap Fender vintage reissues seem to have pretty small and narrow frets, certainly the ones on my 75RI are even smaller (quite substantially) than the ones on the MIM 70s, which are supposedly 'vintage'-style and definitely smaller than the standard medium-jumbo.

[quote name='4 Strings' post='1012326' date='Nov 4 2010, 05:26 PM']Difficult to do an A/B for 18" vs four 10"s as they are usually designed to do different jobs. I have a wonderful Trace 4x10, which has a very deep cabinet but it doesn't seem to go as deep in bass as the Hartke 2x10, nor anything like the Monster. (I had a Trace 1518 (15") years ago and that did. It was wonderful, I long for the days when I used to gig with that lot!) I'm sure the A/B could be set up and show a favourable comparison with suitably designed speakers and cabinets but I can't help think that the 10s will be trying hard to do what a speaker like the Monster does with ease. Lastly, where does the 13mm you mention come from?[/quote] That Trace is probably outputting a hefty amount around 100Hz, using a box that's too small for an 'optimally' flat response (in hifi terms - if it sounds good it is good as far as bass cabs go!). I guess you could do that with the right 10"s (Deltalite 2510 IIs are probably a good candidate for that actually). 13mm was 3.25x the assumed 4mm of the Monster, based on the reduced surface area. It's all very rough and ready of course, but it's a ballpark on total displacement volume. Agree entirely about the different jobs - that's the point I was trying to make about the generic 'sound' of certain speaker diameters, but it's not something that's inherently necessary.

[quote name='funky_numba' post='1012740' date='Nov 4 2010, 11:24 PM']2. Tighten the strings[/quote] I think before you learn how to 'fine-tune' the bass, you need to learn how to tune it A cheap electronic tuner will be your best friend to start with, it's pretty much a necessity for a complete beginner. I strongly recommend you buy one. N.B. You don't just arbitrarily change the tuning of the bass until the strings feel 'tight'! Only once it's in tune can you make good judgements on other aspects of the set-up. Regarding your second set of questions, the answer to all three is 'it's complicated'! Best (only?) way of learning this stuff is to play for a bit, see how you get on, then tweak things around, play for a bit more and see if and what kind of difference it makes. If in the unlikely event that you're in or near Edinburgh then I'd be happy to give the bass a quick once-over to check there's nothing terribly wrong with the set-up, otherwise I'd recommend taking it to a reputable shop and spending a bit on a set-up so you're not fighting against the instrument. People on here will probably have a recommendation of where to go/where to avoid in your area. The cost will probably be worth it even if just to confirm that the set-up is close enough already. Of course, if you have a teacher they'll be able to help you here, and as a bonus you'll learn stuff about actually playing as well! Good luck, it's a really rewarding hobby/life if you can stick with it. Edit: you beat me to it sir!

Bi-amping with a crossover will allow you to send more bass to the Monster without worrying about the 10"s (plus it's theoretically a bit louder for the amount of watts under certain circumstances). Whether it's worth it or not will depend on the 10"s - I'd imagine if you're driving them hard you'll get a cleaner, tighter mid-range while still getting a big fat bass from the Monster. It's probably not worth using a passive crossover. I suppose you could try a simple high-pass cap to protect the 10"s if you want to send ridiculous amounts of low-end to the monster. EDIT: Just noticed Stevie's post and realised I hadn't spotted you were driving the amp below 4ohm! In which case, what he said. Crossover or bi-amp.

[quote name='51m0n' post='1011732' date='Nov 4 2010, 09:50 AM']So if the 10" driver had an excursion limit more than 3.25 times the excursion limit of the 18" driver then they are pretty evenly matched. Given the ropey nature of most old 80's drivers, and a lot of 90's drivers I can well believe that that is either achievable now, or will very soon be.[/quote] I think a good 10" now might beat a bad 18" from back in the day, but not a good one - not by that much at least. Highest excursion specs I've seen on any PA 10" woofer are about 5mm xmax (though this depends on measuring method). Plus a modern 18" will have all the same technological advantages as the 10". If we assume Bill's conservative estimate of 4mm for the Monster, you're looking at 13mm! I'd be amazed if any 10" drivers could do that with anything like a reasonable sensitivity - and thermal power handling of 10" PA drivers seems to be capped around 250-300 watts. A set of four 10"s, though and you're laughing

Blowing speakers repetitively is unusual if they're good quality and you're not putting too much heat through them in terms of watts. What were the speakers you blew, and how did they blow - was it mechanical damage or voicecoil burnout? I suspect that if it's one bass specifically that does it, then you have problems with EQ - too much low bass will shred speaker drivers. Perhaps the EUB has a bit of a frequency spike in it's output, maybe in an area where the EA is also a bit 'hot'? I know this doesn't really answer the question you asked, but since you have the EA it seems annoying not to get to use it when it should do a perfectly OK job!

[quote name='bassatnight' post='1010506' date='Nov 3 2010, 10:51 AM']I did think about using 75's but as you say the spacing would be an issue although probably negligible. I am not sure which pups to go for I might just chance my arm with the Di Marzio's.[/quote] I think they'll do the job for sure! Plus you can't get more 70s than cream covers (Hint: get cream!) But if you've not done anything about this by the time I've got a free few hours to fit the 75s I can let you know how I get on. I was torn between them and the Di Marzios anyway. Regarding the spacing, I have an ash/maple Jap 75RI (with the 60s spacing) and it's a great sound, but I have to say it's not the same as 70s spacing - there's a lot of discussion about it which largely misses the point which is that with BOTH pickups on you get different cancellation/reinforcement frequencies and that is something you can't do much about. If you know what you're looking for it's easily audible when you A/B basses (and due to the nature of the sound change you can be fairly sure that it's the spacing and nothing else). You get more bass/low mid, less honk and a bit more trebly snap and grind compared to a 60s sound. Using the bridge pickup in isolation I actually find it much more difficult to hear the difference between spacings! Overall, probably because of the body woods I'd say the Jap 75RI is something of a hybrid between standard and 70s sound. Having said all that, you do have to know what you're looking for to recognise it and as I said my Jap 75 sounds great so I don't care anyway! Good luck

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' post='1011008' date='Nov 3 2010, 04:33 PM']I'm currently between rigs so i'm running my bass trough a power amp (Norton KP600 - 600W@2Ohm) and a TL606 DIY 8ohm cab using only one channel - amp's not bridged - and i have plenty of volume! Didn't try bridging the amp becouse i think putting a 8ohm load on a 2ohm output would be pushing my luck! If anybody with knowledge can say i'm safe to do it i'll be glad to try! Cheers[/quote] This seems backwards - an 8 ohm cab will be fine even on a minimum 4 ohm power amp that's bridgeable. I'm not familiar with your Norton but it should do it no problem. It's a low impedance cab you need to be wary of.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' post='1008090' date='Nov 1 2010, 03:46 AM']Practically every power amp in the market does 2Ohm![/quote] Not for long though! Just because marketing specs quote an output at 2 ohms doesn't mean the amps will be happy about it long term. These figures are often short term 'burst' data and don't mean much. The thermal stress running at 2 ohms will be a lot more and the amp needs to have adequate heat-sinks and components or they'll run ok for a while and then fail, especially if you're putting a fair amount of bass through them. This applies to all flimsy cheap amps. If you want something that'll really do it without much outlay, look secondhand. Something like a QSC PLX will do nicely. Those Peaveys Mr Foxen mentioned are probably up to it though I've never paid much attention to Peavey kit, or if you prefer new then the Behringers seem to have surprisingly good reports from people who flog them mercilessly. In general old heavy amps of proven design are your wallet's friend here, though not your back's.

[quote name='4 Strings' post='1011103' date='Nov 3 2010, 05:26 PM']Rather than be left hungry I chose a transport problem! I think what I was really asking was whether the triad rule is true along each branch, ie despite sacrificing sensitivity do you get that same depth with a small cab as you do if you sacrifice size? Sensitivity is not such an issue nowadays with power coming cheap, so this would seem a good compromise (and one of which I would love to take advantage but they are so expensive!) but do you get such a deep and powerful tone?[/quote] You're still constrained by the mechanical limitations of the cone and voicecoil design. So while you can theoretically throw more power at it to compensate I doubt there is a 10" driver in the world capable of taking anything like the power you'd need to match an 18" cab. It would probably be in the order of thousands of watts and require an enormous displacement. Having said that, the lunch isn't free but since as pointed out power is so small and light these days, the lunch is getting a lot cheaper. Bill, Alex and the like are often pointing out that there is no 'sound' inherent to a 10" versus a 12" driver (other than loss of HF and greater beaming as you get bigger) but in reality, I think many cabs on the market will exhibit a trend as most manufacturers prefer to deal with the compromises of a particular driver size the same way. The Acme cabs mentioned seem to be the honourable exception, I'd love to give one a try.

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1008612' date='Nov 1 2010, 03:10 PM']If somebody is paying me £150+ to play at their wedding then it's not just a gig though. I am being paid to provide a service as an entertainer, if i haven't got the required tools for whatever reason then i'm not doing my job and i'd feel guilty about taking the money - rightly so. Being able to switch basses in a few seconds is much better than standing there like a plonker with a duff bass while the rest of the band carry on playing![/quote] Depends on the music of course, but I really doubt most of a wedding audience will even notice a lack of bass! But for a decently paid gig like that I'd be taking two basses anyway just for more tonal variation (entirely for my own satisfaction, of course, see my previous comment!).

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='1009679' date='Nov 2 2010, 03:24 PM']I'll see what happens when they're in my hands. Looking at the costing sheet so far not factoring in the ramp and pickguards, is looking like the upper limits. I think the duncans and the nice top, as well as a real ebony fingerboard and more versatile controls give this bass legs. I'n thinking the pickguard would interupt the top too much, and the ramp is a bit niche anyhow. I'll still be making one for mine though.[/quote] Proper pickups and nice wood are much more fundamental to my mind than strange novelties like ramps. A clear pickguard could be cool, but should definitely be optional only if you want as much mass appeal as possible (IMO).