stevie

Of the dozen or so amps I've used over the past 20 years, I wouldn't say any of them were particularly "coloured". @Phil Starr's bass amp shootout at the last SW Bass Bash revealed some differences between the wide range of models tested, but I wouldn't call any of them significant. If I were looking for a neutral bass rig, I wouldn't be bothered too much about the amp, but would concentrate on finding a neutral speaker that works for you.

Yes. There'll be more new models later this year.

Thanks for the mention, John. The new model should be available next month. Check the Basschat Affiliates section nearer the time for more info and special deals for forum members.

@Merton's TE1200 sounded amazing at last year's Bass Bash. I probably won't be able to get my hands on one again until next year's Bash - but I'd like to spend some time figuring out why it was so impressive.

The internal volume of the Trace 1153 is approximately 90 litres and and it's tuned to 45Hz. I modelled both drivers before recommending the Faital Pro. It's a good, modern driver. If you can get it for a good price, you should. Modelling is only useful if you know what you're aiming for. Otherwise, it's a trip down a rabbit hole.

With the proviso that I've never actually used either of those drivers personally, my choice based on its specification would be for the Faital Pro. The Celestion is likely to sound boomy in that cabinet. I think the Faital Pro should work fine.

He doesn't have a big advertising budget - or even an advertising budget. Like many of the best under-the-radar products, his business relies on word-of-mouth recommendation. 😀

You might suspect there'd be a problem with comb filtering but it's not actually a problem in practice. It's helped to some extent by the vertical positioning of the drivers. One option to reduce the height of a stacked pair would be to place the bottom cab horizontally on the floor. The height of a normal Monaco stack is around 1.2 metres - well below head height for the average person. Because the horn is rotatable, you can easily reduce its vertical dispersion by rotating it 90 degrees if you wish. Less sound would then reach your ears from the horn. The horn is directed upwards towards the player on the assumption that the cab will be used on the ground.

@Chienmortbb took over ABBM's stock and has been supplying Basschat customers since OBBM retired. His cables are second to none.

An awesome rig - even though I say so myself! 😀 Have you changed your amp,Jeff?

Grilles can rattle for a variety of reasons. Ideally, you need to pinpoint the exact location of the vibration. The most likely source of the problem is around the edge of the grille where it's attached to the supporting batten. The screws could be vibrating against the grille, in which case @alexjbassist's solution would work. It's also possible that the foam strip beneath the grille has disintegrated or isn't damping the grille effectively. You would then need to replace the foam strip. 2mm thick should do the job.

This is an important point that's generally neglected. The reason you need to point a cab at your ears is because the cone drivers used in bass cabs beam at mid/high frequencies, above about 1kHz or so. So, unless your cab is a constant-directivy design (like a proper PA), you'll only hear those crucial frequencies when your head is directly in front of the cab. Most tweeters fitted to bass cabs don't help either because they don't produce much below 5kHz and the cheap bullet tweeters normally used also squirt the sound forwards in a tight beam. So, tilting a cab might help the player standing directly in front of it (just don't move to the side) but, in those instances when the bass isn't going through the PA, it actually makes it worse for the audience because the mid/high freqencies are now being squirted at the roof. Taller cabs or cabs on stands are easier for the player to hear, of course, as their ears are closer to the drivers. But even then, unless you have a constant directivity design cab, your audience is still going to hear the indistinct, muffled sound that is typical of the bands I hear playing in small venues around here. The solution is a cab that's been designed to be used on the ground and that delivers the same sound to the player as to the audience by crossing over to a midrange driver or HF horn before the beaming becomes a problem.

The peak is unlikely to be a function of the steel basket. If that is the only subsdtantial difference, which seems to be the case, I would expect the frequency response to be the same.I wonder how reliable the published curves are.

I'd expect the higher Le driver to have a longer coil (all other things being equal) but the spec sheets claim the coil lengths are the same. The specs seem to be identical otherwise - so I'd expect the Le values to be the same. One major difference I noticed, however, is that the pressed steel chassis has an undesirable resonance between 3 and 5kHz that is not present in the cast chassis version. For that reason alone, the more expensive driver would be worth it to me - if the published curves are accurate, that is. Another thing you're getting with the cast chassis driver is spring-loaded terminals, which are much nicer and more reliable than the push-on type.

That's a workshop and instrument hire operation rather than a retailer. Also, they operate by appointment only. This place looks interesting: https://www.geigenbau-winterling.de/. They build, restore and repair. They have a large selection of antique, old and new double basses and stringed instruments, including, for example, 300 bows. Note that they are only open on two days in the week unless you make an appointment: Thursdays from 2 to 6.30pm and Fridays from 10 to 6.30pm. They have a single page in English, which is here: https://www.geigenbau-winterling.de/service/-english-

Bought a set of lightweight tuners from Alex. They arrived much more quickly than I expected and were in perfect condition. Recommended.

Yeah!!!😀

On the other hand, there are plenty of reviews saying it's fantastic. There was a video on YouTube about setting levels to minimise the noise but I can't find it any more. It could be that some units are noisier than others.

There are an awful lot of complaints on internet forums about noisy Flyrig V2s.

If I were in the OP's position, I'd concentrate initially of sorting out the cab. At the amp shootout at the last SW Bass Bash, we tested and compared a range of low powered mini-heads through an LFSys Monaco. At one point, one of the amps was driven into clipping to see how loud it would go. There's no doubt that they all produced an SPL that was more than enough for your average pub/club gig. So I wouldn't worry too much about the amp at this stage, although it's always nice to have more power on tap. "The sound is very muddy and lacks definition (and that's when I'm able to hear myself in the mix)." I'm afraid that's what cheap cabs sound like. To get to a low price point, manufacturers specify drivers with small magnets and small voice coils, which distort easily and tend to produce a one-note bass. If you buy a second one, you'll still have a muddy, undefined sound - but louder. You might be able to hear your self a bit better by virtue of the fact that the second cab is closer to your ears. As @Dan Dare advises, you need to try out some more cabs. Don't rely on forum recommendations. If money's tight, go for a used 15" cab made by a decent brand. Fifteens have fallen out of favour nowadays and can be picked up for very little money. A decent fifteen will do the job for you. As far as hearing yourself is concerned, try turning the midrange control up on your amp, or tilt the cab so that it's directed towards you.

For me, hi-fi is a sound that reproduces the bass accurately and without colouration. As @Dood says, it's probably easier to define it by what it isn't than what it is. Most bass heads can do hi-fi well or reasonably well. I've used Markbass, TC Electronics, Ashdown, Behringer Veyron, Aguilar Tonehammer, various Trace Elliot - even a cheapo Behringer Ultra BX4500, as well as power amps and preamps. They all did hi-fi. The weak link in the hi-fi chain, whether you're talking home hi-fi or hi-fi bass, is always the speakers.

For those still wishing to take part, I can reveal that I didn't do very well with my guessing. So, don't let it put you off. You're likely to do better than me.

Your follow-up post makes the naming clear, at least to Windows users.