|
Smash it Smash hit posted:never mismatch ohms for a tube head. I've never seen this cause problems as long as you're doing it the same way detailed above. You can give your amp-head higher resistance than it's rated, but not lower, regardless if it's solid state or tube. edit: It should be noted that this issue is highly debated and you'll seen answers supporting both sides. Obviously if you can match the impedance (or if your amp has different impedance outputs or a selector), you should always do so. Scarf fucked around with this message at 17:35 on Nov 5, 2013 |
#
?
Nov 5, 2013 17:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 13, 2024 08:23 |
|
|
Going to toot the Carvin horn here: http://www.carvinguitars.com/bassamps/brhalfstacks.php Their BR series are pretty affordable, and if you want something even more pro their BRx aren't too much more expensive. Plus you can get them in red, blue, white, or snakeskin. As for cabs, keep an eye on weight and size, bass cabs get heavy fast. I have a BRx 10.4, thing weighs 96lbs and is almost too large to fit in my Corolla (and considering I can stuff a 3/4 double bass in that car, this is a feat). Comedy option would be to just get a PA and a pair of these: http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/TRX2121
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2013 17:47
|
|
|
Scarf posted:I've never seen this cause problems as long as you're doing it the same way detailed above. You can give your amp-head higher resistance than it's rated, but not lower, regardless if it's solid state or tube. While it wont damage anything in the amp it will make your amp sound much thinner. I have also heard people claim it can damage the speakers since it is receiving a greater load. I have seen people do this to get the tube distortion without being too loud. I would never do it however. Damage is not always immediate, I have seen people get away with running a 16ohm head into 8ohm cab for much too long. Luckily it didn't fry anything but it was really a crap shoot. Which is also why I love old ampegs built like tanks. I even had my dumb rear end roommate run my v4 through the ext. speaker and not the main output. Which is not activated correctly unless the main output has a plug in it. Ran it with a hugely mismatched load for 10-15 minutes. Works fine. (almost killed him) What I am trying to say is that the problem is not always able to be seen/heard until it is too late. Better safe than sorry.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2013 18:04
|
|
|
Don't discount combos too. The Ampeg BA115 and Fender Rumble 150 are both fine all-in-one units with grab-and-go simplicity that will be just fine for many club gigs or really anything that has PA support. If you can find a used SWR Workingman 12 that's in the same category. That said, my band plays so loving loud that I'm near-dimed on the master of my SVT-3PRO running at 450W, so I get the need for more volume...
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2013 19:21
|
|
|
aunt jemima posted:Don't discount combos too. The Ampeg BA115 and Fender Rumble 150 are both fine all-in-one units with grab-and-go simplicity that will be just fine for many club gigs or really anything that has PA support. If you can find a used SWR Workingman 12 that's in the same category. Backing you up here with my Peavey TNT115 combo amp. Despite being a "200w" amp, it was actually pretty useful to me for years. It has balanced line out which I used to go directly into PA systems to make up for its huge lack of push in those obnoxiously loud bands. It worked wonderfully for playing in the jazz combo at my university though (where I played with drummers who understood what dynamics are). Actually it's almost 10 years old now, been dropped several times (once down a flight of stairs), it's gone through a wall twice (it won both times, make sure people carrying your amp have good balance), and even had a loving cat pee right into the heating vent, and it still works daily as my bedroom practice amp/night stand, and the vinyl/whatever cover hasn't even peeled or cut anywhere. Peavey makes invincible equipment I swear. The tone is bottom heavy and loses oomph in the mid to upper mid, and I find the tweeter to be a little tinny sometimes, hence why I have replaced it with my carvin rig.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2013 19:40
|
|
|
aunt jemima posted:Don't discount combos too. The Ampeg BA115 and Fender Rumble 150 are both fine all-in-one units with grab-and-go simplicity that will be just fine for many club gigs or really anything that has PA support. If you can find a used SWR Workingman 12 that's in the same category. The 3Pros were always criticized as being pretty quiet for supposedly having 450w. Have you played around with your graphic EQ much? A lot of people say that's where some extra oomph lies. Scarf fucked around with this message at 19:56 on Nov 5, 2013 |
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2013 19:53
|
|
|
Scarf posted:The 3Pros were always criticized as being pretty quiet for supposedly having 450w. Have you played around with your graphic EQ much? A lot of people say that's where a lot of extra oomph lies. Yeah I was about to say the same thing but was not familiar with the SVT-3PRO in particular. A friend of mine has the SVT-450 and it took him to realizing how to EQ right to be able to compete enough for loud jams.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2013 19:56
|
|
|
Scarf posted:The 3Pros were always criticized as being pretty quiet for supposedly having 450w. Have you played around with your graphic EQ much? A lot of people say that's where some extra oomph lies. Awesome - that's helpful to know for sure. I'm sort of in the middle of re-balancing my entire rig since I just swapped out my bottom cab from an Ampeg SVT-15E to an Avatar B212 NEO. I had played with the "Ultra Low" boost switch in for a long time, but for the last month or two had used it out and gotten a tighter sound without too much loss of oomph. With the 2x12 it sounded very dry and dull at first until I re-engaged the LO boost and boom, there was the sound I had been missing. So now that I have the broad picture right I need to dial in the rest of the amp, including the EQ. There's an overall 'level' slider on the EQ that goes from -10dB to +8dB so I definitely should be able to get more out of it then I'm getting. Also I have a bunch of new pedals on the way that will change up everything again. I'll basically never be done knob-twiddling ever. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 00:04
|
|
|
aunt jemima posted:Awesome - that's helpful to know for sure. I'm sort of in the middle of re-balancing my entire rig since I just swapped out my bottom cab from an Ampeg SVT-15E to an Avatar B212 NEO. I had played with the "Ultra Low" boost switch in for a long time, but for the last month or two had used it out and gotten a tighter sound without too much loss of oomph. With the 2x12 it sounded very dry and dull at first until I re-engaged the LO boost and boom, there was the sound I had been missing. ah also more speaker area = more air moved = louder perceived sound.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 01:10
|
|
|
That's what I was thinking too, but the combination of my Avatar 2x10 with the Ampeg 1x15 is undeniably louder than the Avatar 2x10 with the Avatar 2x12. Not what I expected.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 01:18
|
|
|
aunt jemima posted:Awesome - that's helpful to know for sure. I'm sort of in the middle of re-balancing my entire rig since I just swapped out my bottom cab from an Ampeg SVT-15E to an Avatar B212 NEO. I had played with the "Ultra Low" boost switch in for a long time, but for the last month or two had used it out and gotten a tighter sound without too much loss of oomph. With the 2x12 it sounded very dry and dull at first until I re-engaged the LO boost and boom, there was the sound I had been missing. Yeah, any kind of "Ultra Low" or "Countour" stuff you see on an amp is 99% of the time a mid-scoop... Sounds great on your own, but in a band setting it causes you to get completely lost in the mix. Don't be afraid to bump the mids a good bit in the graphic EQ.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 01:53
|
|
|
You need your mids. That's where your tone is! That 250-1k region is where the low order harmonics live.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 02:45
|
|
|
Smash it Smash hit posted:Yes amp and cab. Amp drives the cab, cab has the speakers. I would recommend any ~300w solid state head (no power tubes) for your first head. And probably a 410 for your first cab. Depending on how loud you are playing though, you might want to do a 810. I prefer 12 inch speakers but most do not and 15s are sort of an acquired taste to me. I'd like to spend around $400-500. The PA system the vocalist is going through is a pair of peavey 110tls speakers, and the guitarists both have stand alone amps that are pretty loud. Drum set guy is not miked. Thanks for the help. Thought I'd just have to buy a box the same size as the guitar bros, apparently not.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 03:09
|
|
|
aunt jemima posted:That's what I was thinking too, but the combination of my Avatar 2x10 with the Ampeg 1x15 is undeniably louder than the Avatar 2x10 with the Avatar 2x12. Not what I expected. 15 inch speakers imo are much more capable at replicating the wide range of frequencies, especially that AMPEG, which will give you a fuller sound even with 2 12 inch speakers. Not to say that it reaches the lower frequencies, its just a more rounded tone
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2013 09:37
|
|
|
Jeff Goldblum posted:15 inch speakers imo are much more capable at replicating the wide range of frequencies, especially that AMPEG, which will give you a fuller sound even with 2 12 inch speakers. Not to say that it reaches the lower frequencies, its just a more rounded tone Yeah 15 inch speakers give a rounder low end, 10s tend to be tighter and sometimes lower but, sometimes that is not always a good thing though.
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2013 22:44
|
|
|
Okay, so this is probably a really dumb question, but here goes. I've got an Ampeg 8x10 cab, and I want to try running it in dual mode with two different heads. The question is, how do I get my signal from my bass to both of the heads? Is there some kind of splitter I need to get?
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2013 05:48
|
|
|
Yep - an ABY box.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2013 06:46
|
|
|
Bruce Boxliker posted:Okay, so this is probably a really dumb question, but here goes. I've got an Ampeg 8x10 cab, and I want to try running it in dual mode with two different heads. The question is, how do I get my signal from my bass to both of the heads? Is there some kind of splitter I need to get? As mentioned above you can either purchase an ABY box or you could simply find a effects pedal that has "stereo out" but the aby gives you the option of running either both at the same time or one at a time. Also they can take two signals and put them into one amp. Its a very good pedal to have lying around.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2013 16:35
|
|
|
Decided to start playing bass again after six years of no music. Played a ton of violin and piano in high school, but took some bass lessons towards the end so I wouldn't be a complete musical pussy. When I pulled my bass out of storage, it had an awful amount of fret buzz. It was there before I put it away, but not nearly as bad. I beat the frets in (gently) with a rubber mallet since I figured they might have come out a tiny bit over time and adjusted the truss rod, but really the problem is with the nut. I put a piece of cardboard under the nut which solved my problem but I don't expect that to be a permanent fix. Are there any recommendations for raising the nut? I'm also willing to buy a new nut and shave it down to size, but there's a million nuts out there and I don't know which I should buy, nor could I find a cheap file that would actually work for my needs. I'd rather not spend a lot of money since I'm just starting again and I don't know if I'll stick with it. The instrument is a copy of a Fender P Bass if it's relevant. I'd rather fix it up myself than taking it to a shop. Maintenance is half the fun for me, I just never actually learned how to maintain a bass before. I did everything on my violin myself short of the sound post, so I'm no stranger to instruments.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2013 01:33
|
|
|
Would raising the action via the bridge not help?
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2013 02:13
|
|
|
The strings were buzzing on the first fret. I put the bridge as high as it would go and it was still buzzing, plus the action was way too high everywhere else and it was loving with the intonation on the higher frets as well as being uncomfortable as poo poo. Raising the nut let me lower the bridge and it sounds much better as well as being more comfortable to play.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2013 02:58
|
|
|
It's probably much simpler to just shape a new nut. I like brass nuts on bass but bone and synthetic bone substitutes are also fine. Brand doesn't really matter much. If you like the way your nut sounds now you could always just make a wood shim and that would be a permanent solution. Might look a bit ugly but if you're really into how your bass sounds and plays now it would let you do the same thing.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2013 03:37
|
|
|
Renegret posted:The strings were buzzing on the first fret. I put the bridge as high as it would go and it was still buzzing, plus the action was way too high everywhere else and it was loving with the intonation on the higher frets as well as being uncomfortable as poo poo. Ahhh gotcha. Yeah, I'd just get a new nut or shim it as already suggested.
|
|
#
?
Nov 9, 2013 03:55
|
|
|
Hey guys, after coming back from the music shop with a DITTO loop pedal and being assured it comes with a battery i've just run into the misfortune of finding out it simply isn't made big enough for a battery to go in it and the sales guys didn't know either. Although kinda pissed, I guess it forces me to try and find a way to power my pedals through the wall without batteries now. I was planning on doing this eventually so I guess I should start learning about this stuff now. I'm looking for some pointers to the stuff I absolutely need to use or avoid in my chain. I'm specifically looking for info on how to power a few effect pedals together in a way that won't make the voltage or power surge or whatever with the pedals I have and plan to get eventually. My goal is to have a portable setup that could fit inside one pedal bag (in which they can be properly placed and won't move around so as they won't break or anything). What i've got : - Cry-Baby Wah pedal, - Ditto Looper, What I need : - Some way to power pedals to an electric outlet. I've heard of daisy chains, dc adapters, and other boutique stuff but would like to have the opinion of some guys here on what would be useful and what would just be wasteful space and price-wise. - Some way to have my pedals be portable, in some kind of case or some such, I see some people with them and would like to know more about them. What I eventually plan on getting if (when) i'm going to start playing with others (In order of priority) : - EQ, I don't know how many bands are recommended for bass though without going crazy so input is encouraged, - Compressor pedal, - Fuzz + Overdrive - Tuning pedal (Can a guitar one work on bass?), - Volume pedal I know there is a pedal effects thread but the advice in this one seem to be quite consistent with the instrument. I'll gladly move my post if you guys think it would be better there though. Odddzy fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Nov 11, 2013 |
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2013 02:50
|
|
|
You can use baking soda and crazy glue to build up a nut slot you should be able to use it to build up the bottom of the nut then re-file it flat. Or use it as an opportunity to upgrade to a bone nut. A well cut binge nut is one of the best upgrades that can be made on any instrument.
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2013 02:57
|
|
|
Odddzy posted:Hey guys, after coming back from the music shop with a DITTO loop pedal and being assured it comes with a battery i've just run into the misfortune of finding out it simply isn't made big enough for a battery to go in it and the sales guys didn't know either. I use a power supply for the few pedals I use, specifically this one. It's a really great value for what it is. An alternative would be the venerable Voodoo 2 power supply. The advantage of a power supply like this Joyo or the Voodoo is that they are "isolated," which eliminates some fuzzy noise caused by pedals sharing a power source. A cheaper solution that will work for a small number of pedals would be a daisy chain (sometimes referred to as a "one spot") like you mentioned. This video roughly shows the advantage of an isolated system over a daisy chain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NweK7wVh_LQ For the number of pedals you plan on, I suggest getting a power supply. As for how to carry and organize your pedals, you can't go wrong with a pedalboard, try to look for pedalboards that have either a gig bag or a flight case included. Pedaltrain is a good brand, and probably one of the more prominent players but I've heard some good things about Gator pedalboards too. Avoid Stagg pedalboards, they are essentially cardboard boxes with fancy styling. This is an entertaining web app that lets you plan out a pedalboard. It doesn't have an exhaustive list of pedals, but you can still make a decent plan with it. Remember to leave space between pedals for cables, and don't forget to leave room for a power supply (some pedalboards have room to mount them underneath). And yes, a tuning pedal should be general purpose and work for bass. The top two tuning pedals are probably the BOSS TU-3, and the Korg Pitchblack (this is the one I use). I highly recommend a tuning pedal btw, it is an underrated piece of gear because amateur players see them and think "that's too expensive, I'll just use a clipon/mic-tuner/tune-by-ear" but they really outperform other types of tuners in speed and accuracy (except for maybe a dedicated rack mount tuner). The Pitchblack is a true bypass pedal so it won't effect the signal when it is turned off, and when it is turned on it mutes the signal; I believe the TU-3 operates similarly but I am unsure. As for an overdrive, I have a BOSS ODB-3 overdrive pedal that gets the job done; not great, but good the few times I need it. I'm sure someone else in this thread could steer you towards a better overdrive than this unit though.
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2013 03:20
|
|
|
Thanks for the great info! Reviews on the power supply you use are kinda wild going from 5 star to 1 or 2 stars on amazon and saying it isn't perfectly isolated and stuff. I'm not well rounded on my technical side but was wondering if I should either go for a voodoo 2 or is it just marketing trying to scare me in spending more?
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2013 04:22
|
|
|
Ericadia posted:The Pitchblack is a true bypass pedal so it won't effect the signal when it is turned off, and when it is turned on it mutes the signal; I believe the TU-3 operates similarly but I am unsure. All Boss pedals are buffered: http://www.bossus.com/boss_users_group/article.php?ArticleId=1633
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2013 05:01
|
|
|
Odddzy posted:Thanks for the great info! Reviews on the power supply you use are kinda wild going from 5 star to 1 or 2 stars on amazon and saying it isn't perfectly isolated and stuff. I'm not well rounded on my technical side but was wondering if I should either go for a voodoo 2 or is it just marketing trying to scare me in spending more? The Voodoo 2 is honestly a very solid piece of kit, and I doubt you'd regret getting one. For my own purposes, the Joyo works well without noise, but I generally only use my Korg -> BOSS DigiDelay -> BOSS RC-2 Loop Station, occasionally with two more pedals. There could very well be truth to the low star reviews, but I am not sure, my technical understanding of isolation (how it works, why it works, etc) is very limited. Another very highly rated power supply to consider is the Fuel Tank from T-Rex Engineering. EDIT: Thank you Minto Took ^^^^ I did not know that Ericadia fucked around with this message at 05:16 on Nov 11, 2013 |
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2013 05:11
|
|
|
Ericadia posted:The Voodoo 2 is honestly a very solid piece of kit, and I doubt you'd regret getting one. For my own purposes, the Joyo works well without noise, but I generally only use my Korg -> BOSS DigiDelay -> BOSS RC-2 Loop Station, occasionally with two more pedals. There could very well be truth to the low star reviews, but I am not sure, my technical understanding of isolation (how it works, why it works, etc) is very limited. Thanks for the info man, i'm going towards the voodoo 2 now and the boss tuner thanks to your info and Minto's. Everyone else can join in to this but what kind of EQ, compression and octave pedal should I get with all this? although I understand there isn't always a right answer for these questions, what are good pointers?
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2013 06:07
|
|
|
I'm thinking about picking up a used Dean Playmate CE NS acoustic electric bass off Craigslist. Looks like the CE model was introduced in 1999, and discontinued in the early 2000s in favor of the lower-priced EABC ("acoustic electric bass w/ cutaway") which is available for around $200 today ($225 at Guitar Center, $175 at Amazon). I played a new EABC model at Guitar Center last night and was pleasantly surprised at the quality for the price. Much louder than I would have expected, especially when using a pick. I'm not sure how much the CE models went for new, but I recall something in the $300-$350 neighborhood. Anyway, I pointed out that the EABC is available new on Amazon for $175 + free shipping, and the Craigslist guy lowered his $150 asking price to $100 with the only caveat being that it needs new strings. Is this a steal, or am I missing something? Anyone have experience with Dean acoustic electric basses, or tips on evaluating a used acoustic instrument in general? The only non-obvious-ish things I was planning on checking were confirming the neck's straight, that there are no issues with fret buzz, and that the electronics work.
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2013 19:33
|
|
|
Since I can't afford to get the drums I want, I figured I might start learning to play bass in the meanwhile. My dad has an old bass guitar that needs some light repairs and I figured I'd get it to a shop to fix it and buy Rocksmith 2014 I have two questions for you, mighty bass thread: 1: How much does it cost to fix up an old guitar? Near as I can figure the electronics are hosed up because it doesn't output to a working amp, but other poo poo might be hosed up too. Dad claims the guitarr is some unique collectors item or something so it might be worth fixing up? I don't currently know the brand and model of it 2: How good is rocksmith at teaching bass anyway? I can't afford to get a teacher and kind of don't want to get one anyway (I do bad with teachers) and I'd be happy with only learning the basics. Still need to ask if my dad is okay with this whole me borrowing the guitar thing (He doesn't even play bass), otherwise I'm just gonna save up for the drums and get the bass later on (Because drums are apparently not expensive enough for me)
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2013 21:53
|
|
|
organburner posted:Since I can't afford to get the drums I want, I figured I might start learning to play bass in the meanwhile. My dad has an old bass guitar that needs some light repairs and I figured I'd get it to a shop to fix it and buy Rocksmith 2014 1. Electronics are easy. Worst case is you might have to buy new pickups and knobs (which you can do for like $50 on eBay). I'd be more concerned about the neck. Strings will cost ~$20-$30, setup at a local music store will be like $20. 2. Buy a drum machine instead. I tried Rocksmith with bass and it's great provided your favorite genre of music is "guitar hero". MancXVI fucked around with this message at 22:10 on Nov 11, 2013 |
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2013 22:08
|
|
|
I'm looking at a Behringer tube compressor rack unit to add to my rack with a SWR Bass 350, but I'm trying to get an idea of what the unit will actually accomplish for me. I understand that it will sorta normalize the volume of the bass so nothing is too loud or too quiet, but is there anything I can expect from a tube compressor when using theSWR tube preamp, as well as a VT Bass? I ask because I've been looking for things to occupy space in this rack and would like to take the opportunity to remove footpedals from the equation and localize everything to the rack, since I don't really toggle between things, I'm just looking for a solid tone that will play well in live settings. Anyway, I read in some talkbass post about some method of chaining the two channels of the Behringer to create a more high gain compressed sound, which may or may not play well with the SWR, and possibly remove the necessity of the VT Bass? I have no idea until I plug it in, but that means I have to either bring everything with me to test this out, or gamble $80 on another potential garage block. Jeff Goldblum fucked around with this message at 03:37 on Nov 12, 2013 |
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2013 22:21
|
|
|
Blakkout posted:I'm thinking about picking up a used Dean Playmate CE NS acoustic electric bass off Craigslist. Looks like the CE model was introduced in 1999, and discontinued in the early 2000s in favor of the lower-priced EABC ("acoustic electric bass w/ cutaway") which is available for around $200 today ($225 at Guitar Center, $175 at Amazon). I played a new EABC model at Guitar Center last night and was pleasantly surprised at the quality for the price. Much louder than I would have expected, especially when using a pick. I can only offer the same caution that applies to all acoustic basses: no matter how loud they seem when you're playing by yourself, they will not be able to keep up with other instruments in a purely acoustic setting. My Tacoma Thunderchief could almost hang with one acoustic guitar, but not two, and it was the loudest acoustic bass I ever tried.
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2013 03:53
|
|
|
I'm having a hard time skipping strings for some reason. I end up rushed or missed and usually out of time. Anyone have some good exercises to cure that easily? Or do I just do the old  Which is usually a pretty good answer for technique issues.
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2013 05:21
|
|
|
RetardedRobots posted:I'm having a hard time skipping strings for some reason. I end up rushed or missed and usually out of time. Anyone have some good exercises to cure that easily? The Part B exercises in Bass Fitness would be a good place to start with fixing string crossing. I know it's painfully boring but do start at 60bpm on your metronome and slowly increase the speed after each run up and down the neck. Andrew Pouska has a lesson about this on his website as well.
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2013 05:49
|
|
|
Rufus Reid's "The Evolving Bassist" has some good string-skipping exercises, and they're all open strings too, so you can concentrate on the technique without worrying about notes. They're meant for bowing on the double bass but they work just as fine for electric, just start slow and work your way up. Here's an example:
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2013 05:57
|
|
|
RetardedRobots posted:I'm having a hard time skipping strings for some reason. I end up rushed or missed and usually out of time. Anyone have some good exercises to cure that easily? Bass fitness and a wood shed?
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2013 06:28
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 13, 2024 08:23 |
|
|
Pocket Billiards posted:Bass fitness and a wood shed? "get in the woodshed", an expression meaning to put the hours in.
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2013 06:52
|
|