Conan

Two 8 ohm cabs will give you a total impedance of 4 ohms! (Product divided by sum!). That will allow the amp to give it's full power - supposedly 500watts. One 8 ohm cab will reduce the power and probably the volume (although one very sensitive cab may give more volume than two not-very-sensitive ones!). If you use only one 4 ohm cab, then it will draw the full output from the amp, and will therefore need to be rated at 500 watts plus... Your one MAG 410 should have (theoretically) been able to cope with the 350w put into it by the amp. The fact that it couldn't means one of three things... The amp is conservatively rated, the cab is over-rated, or the cab was already damaged. My money is on the third one! The LH500 is widely regarded as a very good amp. In fact I would really like to replace my Ampeg with one! But if you want an overdriven sound you will need a pedal/box of some description...

[quote name='Higgie' post='829874' date='May 6 2010, 06:03 PM']Scooping the EQ just results in a woofy clanky mess...[/quote] Yup. Guilty of that one for many years! It's funny how this obvious insight comes to us in our later years... I always wondered how JJB was so audible in the mix - whether live or recorded. Bloody mid-scoop. Who needs it?!

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='829686' date='May 6 2010, 03:18 PM']Look up Brit Funk bands like Freez, Incognito, etc.[/quote] Weren't there three Es in Freeez Pete?

[quote name='crez5150' post='829682' date='May 6 2010, 03:13 PM']Also John Giblin - Simple Minds, Kate Bush, phil collins plus loads of others[/quote] Including Fish's debut solo album "Vigil in a wilderness of Mirrors" Some beautiful, tasteful fretless playing that is pretty prominent in the mix - especially on "Cliche" and "Family Business". He also played on John Martyn albums - particularly "Grace and Danger". Lovely player who is very under-rated.

Arcadia (the members of Duran Duran who were not in The Power Station) released an album called "So red the rose" in the eighties sometime.... Some rather tasty fretless bass playing coutesy of Mark Egan - especially on the track "The Promise".

Peter Hook? Marcus Miller? (Now there's an odd partnership!).

[quote name='Musicman20' post='829454' date='May 6 2010, 11:42 AM']Basically, a cable goes from the back of the RH450 (the remote footswitch port) into your computer via USB. Thats it, then the program does the rest.[/quote] OK. Sounds like keyboards territory to me!

[quote name='Musicman20' post='822071' date='Apr 28 2010, 04:01 PM']Hi guys. I'm VERY excited to be announcing this. Uffe Hansen at TC Electronic has invited 5 TalkBass users to particpate in a test group for the RH450 and an internal beta version of a PC application that allows the user to access internal settings on the Preamp. The connection between the RH450 to the PC is facilitated by a special USB-to-Midi cable that connects to the "Remote" port on the back panel of the RH450.[/quote] I [i]almost[/i] understood that...

[quote name='51m0n' post='829416' date='May 6 2010, 11:08 AM']Errr thats a very very peculiar description of a limiter.....[/quote] Fair enough! I was just trying to give the OP [i]some[/i] info until someone with much greater technical knowledge than myself came along... I am just a bear of very little brain, but I do try to help

If money were no object (as if!) I would recommend that you start all over again with a new rig, chosen based on what you want from it! If that's not achieveable, then stick with the LH500 (they are very well regarded at the price) but add a distortion unit. You may also find that it is cheaper to buy another cab rather than repair your existing one. Second-hand 4x10s from Ashdown, Peavey, Trace Elliot, etc can go for as little as £80-100 on here or ebay. If you stick with one cab, maybe look for a 4 ohm one to get more output from your amp (but god knows why you would need it in a three piece band!). Stand it on top of something so that you can hear your playing better and look at your EQ settings. If you want a growly-toppy sound, you should be able to roll off the bass end which will make you sound louder! Lots of good advice above^^^

[quote name='jakhotta' post='829361' date='May 6 2010, 09:50 AM']Also, not to sound stupid but what's the benefit of using a compressor?[/quote] A compressor will basically "smooth out" your volume levels by making the quiet sounds louder and the loud sounds quieter. You will then have less peaks, and so feed a more consistent signal to your speakers - causing less damage! Some amps have them fitted as standard, others have a limiter - which is like half a compressor, it brings down the volume of loud notes but does nothing to the quiet ones. They both reduce the dynamic range.

I've got two of those same cabs, and they seem to be able to handle plenty of power. Assuming you bought yours new? If you did, and the speakers have blown with only 350w going through them then you may have grounds to return it. If you bought it used though, maybe the question is what did the previous owner do with it?! As others have said, there seems to be a number of potential issues here...

[quote name='51m0n' post='827448' date='May 4 2010, 02:00 PM']Nice one. Someone pop out and buy one and review it for us please ;o)[/quote] I'd be happy to! But in order to be completely objective it would be best if I didn't own it myself - so maybe the forum should buy it for me? Worth a try.

[quote name='obbm' post='827105' date='May 4 2010, 08:59 AM']Performance aside, looking at the picture it would appear to have screw-on strap type handles. At that weight I would prefer something a bit more substantial and recessed as they will get knocked-off or ripped off very quickly.[/quote] Having tried the compact (which was the older, heavier one - and only slightly lighter than this 2x12) I would say that Alex's cabs barely need handles at all!!

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='827110' date='May 4 2010, 09:08 AM']Maybe he should make a wider version for people with big heads. [/quote] Easy for you to say with your piddley little one!! I wonder if this cab has been developed in response to the TC cabs? Or at least inspired by them?

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='826238' date='May 3 2010, 10:11 AM']Funkmasters. Anyone still use them?[/quote] I believe they are no longer made. But I could be wrong! They were called "superwounds" weren't they? The windings stopped an inch or so before the ball ending so that only the string's core rested on the bridge saddle. Fine if they were the only strings you used, but meant that you had to do a major set-up every time you switched to other strings...

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='826167' date='May 3 2010, 08:11 AM']That lad should have been put in the stocks and pelted with Mark King's old strings.[/quote] Not that he'd feel anything! I used to use those old "Funkmaster" 30-90 strings. Far too light for someone like me with big, strong hands. No tone whatsoever... I kinda jumped in at the deep end - learning slap via my (then) obsession with Mark King. It's probably why I ended up with a Status.... Hours and hours of hard practice over months and months. Oddly, I can't remember being crap at it! Not that I [b][i]wasn't[/i][/b] crap of course, I just don't recall that particular period! Then I went down to something called the "Bass Weekend" in autumn 1987. Every trade stand (and especially the Goodfellow one) sounded like a typing pool!!! Rapid "machine-gun" triplets from half a dozen bassists at the same time.... It kinda put me off the style for a long time. Now, when I use it, I try to be much more tasteful in my approach. A bit like a good ribeye steak, when its overdone, it's horrible!

Geddy Lee got me started. Still one of my biggest influences, but I added to this with liberal sprinklings of (in roughly chronological order) Mark King, Marcus Miller, Geezer Butler, Bernard Edwards, Verdine White, Pete Trewavas (Marillion), JJB, Leroy Gorman, Chris Squire, Mike Rutherford, Stanley Clarke, Pino Palladino, Norwood Fisher, Doug Wimbish, Les Claypool, Victor Wooten.... As someone else said: "How long have you got?". I still hear new players now that influence me!

Very impressive!

[quote name='Wil' post='823025' date='Apr 29 2010, 01:59 PM']Ever played a Status?[/quote] Yes. What's your point exactly?

[quote name='skej21' post='822994' date='Apr 29 2010, 01:30 PM']I just feel that a machine-built bass cannot match the feel and quality of something hand-made.[/quote] I suspect that some of this is subjective. We expect something "handmade" to be of a higher quality. But surely a good example of a machined instrument will beat a "friday afternoon special" that was made by hand? And that seems to be one of the problems with Fender (and, to a certain extent, Squier) - the inconsistency.

[quote name='skej21' post='822959' date='Apr 29 2010, 12:51 PM']Compare the sounds of any bass signal through a beautiful, expensive amp. Would it sound as good through a budget amp? Because lets face it, if you're buying a budget bass, you'll probably be buying a budget amp.[/quote] On the other hand, the added clarity of a high-end amp leaves a sub-standard bass with nowhere to hide (as it were). Any tonal inadequacies will stand out loud and clear! We weren't there in the room with Ed, and therefore have to listen to his sound through our PC speakers which will obviously colour the sound up some more... But having said all that, I didn't notice any huge differences in sound between the Squiers and their Fender counterparts! But that's just the sound - he makes no comments about the playability of each instrument. One assumes that his own personal guitars have been set up to his requirements, but maybe the Squiers are straight out of the box? Interesting comparison, but not enough to help anyone decide which one to buy! Have to admit that I'm pretty impressed with the Squiers at that price though...