stevie

Split surounds can be successfully glued, as long as the rest of the speaker isn't knackered. You'll need some very fine cloth and some of this glue: http://www.wilko.com/adhesives/unibond-repair-extreme-power-glue-20g/invt/0231136.

I agree with Phil. Avoid the W version with foam surround unless you're going to use it in your car. The other one looks like it might be rather good.

I'd second that. Fan noise is generally directly related to its speed. The Quiet PC fan you linked to only runs at 2,000rpm. Did the salesman point this out to you, Jules?

My complaint was about the Quarter Pounder model, not Seymour Duncan pickups in general.

Before spending lots of dosh on amps and cabs, ditch the Quarter Pounder. You can spend thousands on amplification but never get a proper P-Bass sound with that pickup, which is midrange-heavy. Put the original back, or fit a Duncan Vintage P.Bass or something similar.

Consider reconing the drivers, which will cost you half as much as replacing them.

That volume is not really ideal for 15s. I could suggest a couple that would work but they're expensive. Your best bet by a country mile is to make a reduction piece by cutting a hole in some 1/2" MDF and fitting a 12. Lots of 12s will work well in 45 litres, like the Celestion bass guitar 12s or the Beyma SM212.

I'm pretty sure that the tweeter Aguilar use is the P-Audio PHT-410, available from Blue Aran for £19.

Looks really nice. You can't beat a bit of DIY, especially when it comes to speaker cabs.

Seriously, some of the old Country songs are very basic, and there is not a lot you can do about it, because there's nothing worse than a bass player who overplays, IMO. Play some more modern country material and it gets a lot more interesting.

And when it goes from F to C, play F, E, D, C. I think I should start giving lessons.....

When playing Fulsom Prison and the harmony moves from C to F - play C, D, E, F. Knocks them dead every time.

The guitarist in my last band had a knock-off RB 6-string. He changed the pickups and you couldn't tell the difference between that and the real thing. Why are the originals £1500? Because people don't know any better.

I've installed the fan, and yes, it's LOUD. I can't be doing with that, as it's annoyingly loud inside the house, and I'm going to slow it down. I can't see why it needs to pump that much air when there is a huge heatsink inside. It wouldn't have cost them much to link the fan to a heat sensor, but when you stack 'em high and sell 'em cheap I suppose every eurocent counts. Anyone thinking of trying to slow their fan down might like to consult this very useful site: [url="http://www.blackfiveservices.co.uk/fanspeed.shtml."]http://www.blackfiveservices.co.uk/fanspeed.shtml[/url] The calculator tells me that a 8-ohm resistor will do the trick. [The link is correct, but for some reason a full stop gets inserted at the end or the URL. Copy the URL (rather than clicking on it), delete the full stop in your browser and you'll get to the site.]

Check out post 554 in this thread. I'd advise you to make a removable front baffle, as there will be further developments at some time in the future that you might like to incorporate.

I remember these speakers from back in the day. They were very popular and really pretty good. Use a sander on the grilles and buy a can of spray black and you'll have a pair of speakers that will be more than adequate for the pub circuit.

You should know better than to believe everything you read on the internet. Looking forward to your impressions.

PMs are being exchanged as I write. Phil is also going to let me have the prototype cab to work with. So maybe we'll see some developments on a Mk2 cabinet soon. Incidentally, I don't think you're going to get the best out of the Beyma in a 30-liter cab.

I ordered this one, Tim: <http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391490937364?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT>. That brand has quite a good reputation. Unfortunately, I've never heard the amp with the fan going - so I can't make a comparison, but I'll let you know what it sounds like when I fit it. People often make the mistake of fitting a quieter fan without realising the new one will run at a slower speed and will therefore not cool as well. Behringer specified a fan that runs at about 3,000rpm and that's never going to be really quiet. Because of the fan problem, I haven't played the amp outside the house, but I rather like it. I particularly like the eq, which I believe was nicked from Ashdown, but still - they probably nicked it from someone else.

Well, I finally got a reply from Behringer Support in the UK. It took a phone call and a bit of persuasion, as they seem to be scared to death of helping anyone fix their own gear in case they fry themselves. So, for anyone doing a Google search and coming across this thread ..... the answer is: brute force. Haha Undo all visible screws holding the chassis in (not on the feet and corners, of course) and then push like buggery from the back. (Stu_G and Twincam were right, sortof.) It took a bit of huffing and puffing, but it did finally come out - and the fan is as stiff as.... well, a brush. I've ordered a good quality 24V replacement and we should be in business again shortly. Interestingly, the case is 3/4" wood and weighs almost as much as the amp. I'm considering making a lighter plywood case, which should bring the weight down to under 10kg, I reckon. The handles bolt into the case, but I can't figure out how to get the two metal handle covers off. Unless anyone has a better idea, I suppose I'll try brute force on those too.

There is certainly a lot of nonsense on the web about amplifier damping factor. As far as I can ascertain, it only makes an audible difference if it is *really* low, i.e. below 5. The EAW person who wrote that article claims that a cable series resistance of .15 ohms will reduce the damping factor to an unacceptable level. I guess he must not be familiar with passive crossovers. Anyway, there is a video on YouTube where Andy, boss and designer at Matrix, explains that his standard amps didn't produce the kind of sound guitarists are looking for and that dropping the damping factor is what did it.

I'm sure one of our amp specialists will chime in, but I don't think the low resistance of a speaker cable makes much difference to the amp's damping factor. The first time I came across a variable damping option was in the Duncan Convertible combo (although it had been around for decades before that). It was a simple knob that allowed you to vary the damping factor from high to low. Lowering the damping factor gives a pleasant "bloom" to the sound together with slightly more warmth, which apparently makes the electric guitar sound better. The effect was certainly audible. Whether it's appropriate for bass depends on what you're after, I suppose.

It's worth bearing in mind that the Matrix was designed with a very low damping factor specifically for the electric guitar.

Thanks, McNach, that's most useful. It means that the fan is faulty and that I do really need to get inside to replace it. Still no luck though. I couldn't get in touch with the guy on the site BassBunny recommended because they claimed I was spammer(!). I've asked a question on the Behringer forum but I'm not very hopeful. It's at times like this that you appreciate Ashdown's quality of service.