Amplifiers
Moderator: jingle_jangle
Phil, those flatwound Rotosounds that you mentioned... Are those black nylon covered? If they are, I had a set a few years ago, supposedly McCartney used to use them, but they were way too large for my nut, the E was something like 125 or 135, but it was mostly the wrap, not the metal that made the circumference large. They were very dead sounding strings, I used them for a few days and took them off the Ric, I think I still have them somewhere.
Bob, those sound like the Rotosounds I had. The E string was so big that when I tried tuning it up, it broke my nut! I figured the black plastic was so soft it would just squeeze into the nut slot. Wrong! They were deader than dead. Slapping and popping was the only way to get a useable sound out of them. What was McCartney thinking? Maybe he needed dead strings with no sustain because of the loud volume he had to use at concerts. I went back to Fender light flatwounds. The guy who bought my P-bass got them thrown in as a freebie. I remember they weren't cheap, considering it was 1976 and money was worth about 3 times what it is now.
Too bad they are such junk strings, because they would really look cool on my Jetglo 4004 Laredo. I never saw anybody else using them either. I couldn't see any possible use for them, except maybe for disco with my folded horn cab. Under that scenario, anything else that's worse wouldn't matter anyway.
Too bad they are such junk strings, because they would really look cool on my Jetglo 4004 Laredo. I never saw anybody else using them either. I couldn't see any possible use for them, except maybe for disco with my folded horn cab. Under that scenario, anything else that's worse wouldn't matter anyway.
Yup, those are the ones, and they are still expensive. I don't know, but he almost always got a great sound, especially with his Ric. Maybe that is why his intonation sounded sharp a lot of the time on the high notes, I think it was more than just bending the notes, which he was great at.
How do you like the Fender light gauge flatwounds? I like their bigger brothers but they exert too much tension on the neck for my liking, do they sound the same as med. light and mediums? To me they are clear, fairly bright for a flatwound and have a lot of bottom without sounding muddy. Would it be fair to include them in that description?
How do you like the Fender light gauge flatwounds? I like their bigger brothers but they exert too much tension on the neck for my liking, do they sound the same as med. light and mediums? To me they are clear, fairly bright for a flatwound and have a lot of bottom without sounding muddy. Would it be fair to include them in that description?
I only used Fender lights or medium lights (I forget), as I believe that is what P-basses came with. After the Rotosound fiasco, my experimentation days were over.
The sound was clear and bright, but with plenty of bottom on the E and A strings. Hearing Howie Epstein or Ron Blair on my Tom Petty music videos, their Fender basses remind me of the sound of mine except theirs sound better as they knew better than to use ****** folded horn bass cabs like I did in the late 70's.
Get a copy of "Listen To Her Heart" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and that is the clear and bright sound that the Fender flatwound strings could get. Man, I love that sound! It's a string you can play lead with on your bass, like Entwistle could do. I now use RIC #95511 Roundwound 45-55-75-105. Martha Stewart would say "It's a good thing".
It may be that McCartney was using a very high action on those Rotosounds. They were lightweight and you could get away with a high action for radical slapping and popping and still have fairly easy fretting. As you move up the fretboard, the notes tend to go sharp if you have a high action and have adjusted your tuning to play correctly low on the neck. Better sharp than flat, in my opinion. McCartney's pickups may have been underwound to where they gave a very bright sound in order to offset the dead Rotosounds. He had the money and technical support to make a washtub and broomhandle sound like a decent bass.
The sound was clear and bright, but with plenty of bottom on the E and A strings. Hearing Howie Epstein or Ron Blair on my Tom Petty music videos, their Fender basses remind me of the sound of mine except theirs sound better as they knew better than to use ****** folded horn bass cabs like I did in the late 70's.
Get a copy of "Listen To Her Heart" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and that is the clear and bright sound that the Fender flatwound strings could get. Man, I love that sound! It's a string you can play lead with on your bass, like Entwistle could do. I now use RIC #95511 Roundwound 45-55-75-105. Martha Stewart would say "It's a good thing".
It may be that McCartney was using a very high action on those Rotosounds. They were lightweight and you could get away with a high action for radical slapping and popping and still have fairly easy fretting. As you move up the fretboard, the notes tend to go sharp if you have a high action and have adjusted your tuning to play correctly low on the neck. Better sharp than flat, in my opinion. McCartney's pickups may have been underwound to where they gave a very bright sound in order to offset the dead Rotosounds. He had the money and technical support to make a washtub and broomhandle sound like a decent bass.
Phil,
Interesting idea you have.. the coleman camper of bass....
Bass Player reviewed the Acme cabs a few years ago and gave them a very positive review. In a nutshell the Acme 2x10 cab sounded very close to a conventional 4X10 and are very lightweight. As far as radical cabinet designs go the Acme's might fill that definition.
Ceramic magnets appear to be the coming thing and are used in the Ampeg Portabass which is why it's so light weight... and why it's a little pricey. I imagine if a SVT 8X10 cab was built using ceramic magnets it would be close to half the weight but very expensive.
Interesting idea you have.. the coleman camper of bass....
Bass Player reviewed the Acme cabs a few years ago and gave them a very positive review. In a nutshell the Acme 2x10 cab sounded very close to a conventional 4X10 and are very lightweight. As far as radical cabinet designs go the Acme's might fill that definition.
Ceramic magnets appear to be the coming thing and are used in the Ampeg Portabass which is why it's so light weight... and why it's a little pricey. I imagine if a SVT 8X10 cab was built using ceramic magnets it would be close to half the weight but very expensive.
Phil,I've been using the med.light Fenders now for a few years, actually I was wondering how the lights compared to the med.lights and mediums.
I don't remember his name but the first bass player for Tom Petty used a Jetglo Ric, with a great resulting sound. Petties early stuff during the late 70's was all Rickenbacker bass.
I'm sure McCartney had high action, with those strings you needed it,and actually I don't like a real bright sound, that probably sounds strange coming from a Ric player. I like the sound for example he had in Magical Mystery Tour, or Come Together, also The Ballad of John and Yoko. Lots of bottom but clear at the same time, same as the Petty bassist's sounds. I will have to be more precise in my posts, I am always in a hurry and assume that people read my mind I guess.
I don't remember his name but the first bass player for Tom Petty used a Jetglo Ric, with a great resulting sound. Petties early stuff during the late 70's was all Rickenbacker bass.
I'm sure McCartney had high action, with those strings you needed it,and actually I don't like a real bright sound, that probably sounds strange coming from a Ric player. I like the sound for example he had in Magical Mystery Tour, or Come Together, also The Ballad of John and Yoko. Lots of bottom but clear at the same time, same as the Petty bassist's sounds. I will have to be more precise in my posts, I am always in a hurry and assume that people read my mind I guess.
Phil, I have a friend who made a bass out of a broom handle but no wash tub, he has some kind of contact pick up on it, it sounds terrible (doesn't have McCartneys money or talent) but he loves it. And was Ron Blair his first bassist? If so, there should be plenty of videos with his Ric also. I think we like the same kind of sound also by the way, because I have always listened to the bass in Petty's stuff and liked it.
My videos of TPATH begin at around the time of Damn The Torpedoes. Ron Blair was the first and current bass player. He was using a P-bass by that time. Howie used a J-bass on my latest video, may he rest in peace. Howie was a good backup vocalist as well as good bass player. You know, I always thought Ron may have used a Rick bass on the early albums. It had that high ringing tone, but with big round bottom also.
For what it's worth, you can get something of a P-bass sound out of a 4004 if you switch to the bridge pickup. Not as much ringing tone as the old 4001 basses, but still punchy like a P-bass with Fender strings. Of course, I use a totally different amp now than in my P-bass days.
For what it's worth, you can get something of a P-bass sound out of a 4004 if you switch to the bridge pickup. Not as much ringing tone as the old 4001 basses, but still punchy like a P-bass with Fender strings. Of course, I use a totally different amp now than in my P-bass days.
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ricnvolved
Robj-- Why would the use of ceramic magnets make the price of the cabinet more expensive? Check out the Weber Vintage Sound Technology website and you'll understand why I ask. Their speakers that are constructed using ceramic magnets aren't nearly as expensive as those utilizing Alnico. Were you thinking of Alnico instead of ceramic?
By the way, until very recently I was highly sceptical that ceramic magnets could do as good a job as the alnico variety, either in loudspeakers or guitar pick-ups. But after talking with Ted Weber and Pete Cage, it's probably not the case. If ceramic can do as good a job, I'm more than happy to save money on the price difference.
By the way, until very recently I was highly sceptical that ceramic magnets could do as good a job as the alnico variety, either in loudspeakers or guitar pick-ups. But after talking with Ted Weber and Pete Cage, it's probably not the case. If ceramic can do as good a job, I'm more than happy to save money on the price difference.
Actually I was thinking of Neodymium magnets, sorry for the brain checkout. I was reading a review of the Portabass and the reviewer mentioned the increased price of speakers using these magnets over conventional magnets. I would have to look but I think Bassplayer mag did the review a few months ago.
I gotta agree with Phil on both the Ampeg amps and Vandersteen speakers (I've had 1B's in my living room for almost 15 years, and a good friend just got a pair of 2C's - wow!). As for the bass rig:
Ampeg SVP -> Mackie 1400i -> Ampeg 4x10 + 2x10
('cause I'm too much of a skinny weakling to carry around a real SVT.)
Doug
Ampeg SVP -> Mackie 1400i -> Ampeg 4x10 + 2x10
('cause I'm too much of a skinny weakling to carry around a real SVT.)
Doug
My basses are Rickenbackers. My synthesizers and recording gear are analog.
Doug, my Vandersteens are the 2Ci model from 1991, right after the upgrade to the Vifa aluminum dome tweeter from the fabric dome tweeter. One thing about Vandersteens, especially if you are a bass fanatic, as readers of this thread should be. They are current hungry and need a hefty amp of at least 100 watts RMS per channel to get the best out of them. I tried a tube amp, and the bass was very loose compared to both solid state amps I tried. A B&K ST-202+ and my present favorite, the Conrad-Johnson MF-2250. The B&K is excellent for the money, but the Connie-J is in another league entirely. It not only has deep, tight bass, but is also very extended in the highs and has definition with liquidity. It is a Velvet Fist, you could say. Runs unbelievably cool and sounds extremely good at very low levels late at night. It is now even easier to hear nuances in bass guitars, as well as everything else. My local Vandersteen dealer told me that selling Vandersteens had one problem: He has a hard time ever selling the owner another set of speakers. Except for a better set of Vandersteens. If you think the Model 2C has good bass, You ought to hear the Model 5 when it is set up properly. I have never heard a better rendition of a bass guitar from any other speaker. Period. Other speakers sound lumpy and uneven by comparison. Richard Vandersteen says that bass is the basis of all western music. He designed the Model 5 with the ability to adjust the bass to any room you set it in. The bass amps are built into the speakers; therefore, it doesn't take a real monster amp to drive them properly and that saves you some major coin on an amplifier. I never thought I would want to spend $10K on a set of speakers until I heard them. Every bass player would drool while listening to them. Richard is the speaker man!
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ricnbacker
- Veteran RRF member
- Posts: 532
- Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2002 5:00 am
wow this thread really took on a life of its own.
i have to say the reason i havent updated this thread is because i cant put my bass down long enough to post a message.
i got the b100r shortly after i posted this and i am absolutely in love with the sounds i get out of the amp.
i was dead set on the fender bassman.......thats what i had always used in the past , well that and my kustom 350 watt tuck and roll, anyways for small jam sessions and playing in the house, the amp to have is
ampeg b100r.
i have to say the reason i havent updated this thread is because i cant put my bass down long enough to post a message.
i got the b100r shortly after i posted this and i am absolutely in love with the sounds i get out of the amp.
i was dead set on the fender bassman.......thats what i had always used in the past , well that and my kustom 350 watt tuck and roll, anyways for small jam sessions and playing in the house, the amp to have is
ampeg b100r.
Can anyone here throw some light on the ampeg I picked up this morning. I,ve just stopped in a pawn shop looking as ever at what,s about...There in the corner was an ampeg, model B100, looks a little worn, but not too bad. 2 outputs, one volume, treble and bass control. Plug it in, run the only($100)bass there through it. Sounded O.K...Beat them down to $75. Anyone know how old it is?. Any info appreciated. Thanks Andy.
