stevie

That's how most people play it and how Dire Straits played it live. I much prefer the original bass line as recorded, which has half as many notes. It's good though, and you seem to have the bass sound spot on.

If the problem is the bottom panel of the speaker cab transmitting energy through the air to a resonant floor, wouldn't it be easier just to brace the bottom panel of the speaker cab (assuming the cab has rubber feet at least)? I can't see how a Gamma pad could possibly make any difference on a concrete floor though.

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1326300193' post='1495160'] I know the whooping, merry women at the various dos we play at would struggle to tell. [/quote] I don't know about that. Did a club gig last week and this gorgeous blonde came up to me and said 'Your amp sounded great. I bet you've had your valves cryogenically treated, haven't you?' I replied, 'No, I haven't, but my leads are 99.9% pure OFC.' She nodded knowingly and took my arm.

I'm doing a similar thing for my band. I'm sure there are plenty of people on here who can tell you what brands are good and what aren't, but for starters.... With your budget, I'd definitely go second hand. Although you can usually get nearly new PA for around half the new price, I think you'll probably end up with something older for that money. If you get decent brands, reliability shouldn't be too much of a problem. Put as much as you can into the speakers and go for a vocal PA only - i.e. forget about bass cabs. A 12 and a horn is probably the optimum configuration for vocal cabs. For pubs you should be able to get away with 250 watts of amplifier power, although more is always better. Check that all the inputs on your mixer are working and check for noise from the control knobs, especially sliders. Avoid piezos and bullet tweeters in your speakers (like in the old HH PA cabs). Make sure the horns are working on your PA cabs - listen to some music through them. There were some very cheap Peavey speakers for sale on here not so long ago that might be worth checking out.

And what did your measurements reveal?

Give Roland Lumby a call. I've used him over a number of years and there's none better. And he'll give you an honest opinion. His number is here: http://matrixamplification.com/index.php?view=article&id=16&option=com_content&Itemid=4&limitstart=1

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1323963069' post='1469261'] I remember when the gramophone was invented ... [/quote] That would make you about 140.

Anyone else have that problem? It opens up fine on my machine, although that's not surprising. I didn't think PDFs needed special fonts.

[attachment=94751:Merry Christma.pdf] You'll have to change the suffix to .pdf. This it will open.

I'm doing my best to attach a PDF but not having much luck.

Bought a mixer from Nick on Sunday. It was sent off on the Monday and arrived on Tuesday. Great service, and it was packed up really well. Can't recommend highly enough.

All you have to do is ask yourself why it costs 400 quid. You're answer's right there.

I'd agree with that.

What cabinet material are you using, David?

[quote name='wal4string' timestamp='1319219453' post='1411540'] If you can recommend a better site to hoste the files please let me know. [/quote] Try Dropbox. It's free, gives you a couple of GBs of space, works very smoothly and people can download immediately without having to wait. You can use this URL (which gives me extra storage space on my Dropbox account) - http://db.tt/vrB3x5Vy. Stevie

It's a Fane. It looks like an OEM driver and quite a high spec one judging by the size of the magnet. 140 is unlikely to be the power handling - I'd guess it's at least 200W. You can't tell whether it will handle bass by looking at it in a photo, I'm afraid, but if it's a mid driver the suspension will be very stiff.

[quote name='danhkr' timestamp='1318337104' post='1400728'] And if they had been 'so much better' I'm pretty certain they would've cost more. That's what building to a price means. I have a couple of MAG cabs and for the price I think they're superb. Slightly more expensive than the likes of Behringer, but miles better. Despite this at under £300 they're not going to be up there with top end cabs are they? [/quote] Of course they would have cost more. But I didn't say anything about building to a price (and yes, I know what that means, thank you) but building down to a price. I don't have the MAG cabs, I have the ABM ones - the top of the range. So they should be up there with top end cabs but they're not because Ashdown skimped on the bits you can't see. I've no reason to believe the latest ABM range is any different. You're a MAG cab user, eh? Miles better than Behringer - well that's great. You must be very happy. What exactly is Ashdown's market share, by the way?

[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1318266983' post='1399895'] Just look at this: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSxbFwmXAi0."]http://www.youtube.c...?v=wSxbFwmXAi0.[/url] That's the head of marketing and artist relations. Soooo embarrassing and just not how you build a brand. [/quote] I know I'm quoting myself here, but you really should take a look at this Ratneresque example of how to wreck your company image. In the first few seconds of this YouTube presentation to a global audience, this senior company representative says "Ashdown..... errrrr.... Engineering" as if has forgotten the full name of his company. This load of cobblers should be shown at marketing courses as a warning. I can't believe they haven't pulled it by now. It shrieks: "We know nothing about quality at this company. We're just a bunch of greasy-haired amateurs." Then take a look at the simple and slick TC Electronics videos and weep.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1318155251' post='1398536'] I want them to be great, because they're a British flagship. I just find them disappointing. [/quote] I agree with you. I have a couple of Ashdown cabs, which had potential but were clearly built down to a price and could have been so much better. Whatever you think of their products, Ashdown have a real brand image problem now. You just can't go on serving up shoddy, unreliable and unfixable products for years without paying the price. And their marketing efforts are laughable, too. Just look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSxbFwmXAi0. That's the head of marketing and artist relations. Soooo embarrassing and just not how you build a brand.

You paid HOW MUCH for a 1x10" combo without even trying it out?

Whoah, that's a bargain!

I wish I'd seen this a few years ago before I taught myself these bad habits.... Wonderful stuff!