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Gibson Basses / Re: Gibson returning to Summer NAMM
« on: July 02, 2018, 10:56:17 AM »
Gotta say, I really dig it in white
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77
Bass Amps & Effects / Re: Mesa OUT, Reeves IN............
« on: June 26, 2018, 05:28:14 PM »I dunno; I was skepti. Rolling some preamp tubes was easy and I didn't notice much difference unless it was between long plate and short plate varients. But then I replaced the GE 6550s in my Sunn with the Teslovak KT88s and it's pretty obvious. I mean, yes, the GECs were older and may have lost some low end, but the KT88s were so woofy I doubt the GECs where anywhere close even when new. Also the midrange snarl the6 have is completely unmatched by the KT88s. I guess they're technically not the same tube type, but still.
You're right, another thing I should have qualified, tubes of the same type have subtle differences, when you change types they're much more noticeable, such as the 6550s generally having more prominent mids and KT88s having bigger lows and glassier highs. Though I don't think you'll ever drastically change the baseline character of the amp, unless you were to pop in something like EL34s in place of 6550s and KT88s. I really should proof read my posts to make sure I'm saying what I mean to be saying.
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Bass Amps & Effects / Re: Mesa OUT, Reeves IN............
« on: June 26, 2018, 11:50:29 AM »Add to this that new tubes are more likely to have more/better low end than worn tubes no matter what. Tubes can last long, good tubes last longer, but they will loose their bottom at some point. You can recap the psup, measure the tubes and re-bias and get more out of them, but eventually they need to be replaced. I have a KT88 reference setup that I like, with Dynaco mk3 monoblocks and those large Tannoy cabs with gold 15" coax speakers. Needless to say, any chinese or russian KT88 will blow away worn GEC's. But of course, get good NOS GEC's and nothing can reach them. There is surprisingly little sound difference between new production KT88's, the only notable different sounding ones are SED's with their amazing low end.
I wouldn't expect much difference. Same factory, same tube, same production line, different glass. But a much better construction than the JJ's and more reliable.
You mention KT66's too, and I agree. New chinese or russian KT66's are very close to GEC's, and I have compared dozens of NOS GEC's to them- both from the 50's and 60's. They really nailed it with the KT66. Last long too.
Yes, I should have mentioned that, the old tubes certainly aren't NOS though still going strong, but definitely will have lost some low end strength. Which is why I say the new Tung Sols are tops, they sound spot on, very likely representative of what the US made ones sounded like new. The other nice factor with the Tung Sols is you can get them at around $35 a pop, same price as the JJ.
I should also mention I've heard very good things about Shuguang KT88-98, though I have yet to try those. Evidently sound decently similar to old GECs. Part of the reason I'm interested in the current Cold Lion, though I know they come from the same factory is that I've heard they are a bit glassier in the top end with sparkle, quite close to old ones. The other part is I have enjoyed their KT66s and quite liked the EC883 when I popped it in one of the Sunns. You're right about the KT66s, they really sound great, it's a shame more amps aren't made based around them. I will say I have not been impressed with the reissue Mullard 12ax7s that came in the JTM 45/100, both have gone very noticeably microphonic. Not so with the Tung-Sol and Gold Lion replacements I've put in.
But honestly whether all of the different brands have much of a differing sound is a pretty small factor, after doing a bit of tube rolling the differences are often so subtle as to not be terribly noticeable in any context but specifically listening for differences. The amp is going to have its own sound, and I really think that is going to shine through no matter what tubes are in there with small variances depending on what brand and variation you use. Might be the differences are more noticeable in a HiFi setting, but I don't think I'e ever popped a fully functional tube into one of my Sunns and thought it sounded bad, though obviously there's some I prefer over others.
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Bass Amps & Effects / Re: Mesa OUT, Reeves IN............
« on: June 25, 2018, 03:41:41 PM »The Sunn forums are near unanimous about the JJ KT88s specifically being the best new prod option, and long lasting, at least in Sunns. Then again Sunn did not run super high plate voltages. They also say vintage GE 6550s are the absolute best, but also most expensive.
There is a guy on ebay with a massive inventory selling NOS military surplus Teslovak (not JJ) KT88s (extra thick glass for durability) and I have them in my Sunn 1200s (same chassis and power section as the 2000s). Had them in there about a year now. replaced the original GE 6550s which were done. The KTs are bassier than the 6550s, but the midrange bite and cutting power of the GEs is deserving of the hype.
I get the unhappiness with the Mesa tho. I feel the same about modern (have not played enough with vintage) Ampeg stuff and just about anything into a modernish 4x10 - there's a midrange thing I hate and can't seem to dial out.
I'm with rockbobmel on the vintage Sunn love. Amazing amps. I kinda regret selling the similar vintage Solarus I fixed up; it was great when you didn't need all 4 power tubes and the fx on it sounded a bit better than my 1200s. The dude who bought it from me did some stupid mods and is now trying to flip it in the local classifieds for $400 more than he paid me (citing mod/repair expenses, including the cap job I did). He basically ruined a great sounding amp trying to make it sound like a Marshall.
A number of Sunn users do really like the JJs, though personally I prefer the current issue Tung-Sols. My first 2000s still has its original Tung Sol 6550s and Mullard GZ34 rectifiers, and sounds fantastic. When I had my second 2000s retubed the shop put in the new Tung Sols, and so I decided to try them side by side. The new ones sound identical, maybe with a bit more oomph in the lows and higher headroom, though that last part is likely due to the fact that #2 is SS rectified, so they definitely get my approval. I'd also like to try out the Gold Lion KT88s, I have a quad of their KT66s in a JTM 45/100 and it sounds fantastic very glassy and rather hifi for a Marshall.
I concur on the Ampeg and Mesa front as well, I've never quite been able to get the sound I'm looking for out of them. Mesas I've only played through a couple of times, but I felt lacked a certain...something. Hard to put my finger on it, I don't use a lot of lows, but it seemed to lack a bit of sparkle and punch. Ampegs...I'm not sure I'll ever get along with. After nearly a decade of using Sunns, Ampeg rigs just sound muffled, like there's a blanket over the whole setup. I haven't tried the head and cabs separately, but have used a Classic and VR and a Heritage (never a full vintage squareback rig) with matching cabs, and they all struck me as not bright enough in the top end with the mids a bit too honky. Don't get me wrong, I like mids to be present and forward, but without the top end sparkle of the Sunn+JBL combo, they sound a little nasally, maybe strangled? The top end just seems muffled to me, and I can't stand that. To each his own though, I know most people absolutely adore Ampeg, but to me the Hifi-ness of the Sunns and similarly Hiwatts make them stand fairly tall above the rest.
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Bass Amps & Effects / Re: Yet another backline du jour ... how is the Ampeg 410 HLF?
« on: March 08, 2018, 11:30:05 AM »
Personally I never cared for the HLF. I found it way too boomy/woofy in the lows, and felt it lacking in the high mids and treble. It has a tweeter, and that can help with some highs, but if you run any distortion or drive the tweeter doesn't sound good. The lows are strong and powerful, but I felt they were a bit much, really overpowered the other frequencies. I preferred the HE, which was a sealed 4x10, more similar to the classic 8x10.
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Gibson Basses / Re: '64 Thunderbird, (Sensitive viewers BEWARE!)
« on: January 29, 2018, 10:20:29 PM »
While my first response was "Jesus Christ, WHY", my follow up is rip those Alembics out, give it two proper 'Bird buckers, slam a EB-0 bucker at the neck and let that mother rip. Use one of the silly knob holes as a second output jack, stereo Thunderbird.
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Guitars Etc. / Re: New Fender Meteora
« on: January 12, 2018, 06:12:56 PM »
Love the body shape, hate that they went with a boring tele setup on hardware and pickguard. Here's the same body that they used on the Voyager prototype in 2012:
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Gibson Basses / Re: Glenn Cornick bass timeline pre-JT through Wild Turkey and Paris - updated
« on: January 12, 2018, 06:10:03 PM »
Glenn started modifying this bass soon after he bought it. This photo shows a Guild pickup in place of the original Gibson and the pick guard has been removed. This is the only color photo of this bass that I have found so far. I've been in touch with Drew Cornick who offered to try and locate a few more photos of this bass for reference in the restoration of mine.
I feel it's rather important from a documentation standpoint to mention that the sides of the fretboard appear to be unpainted. Many Gibson experts, including some friends who have original NR Thunderbirds, state that Gibson always painted the sides of the fretboards on custom color basses. Knowing how Gibson did things it seems entirely possible they painted some fretboard sides and left some unpainted.
What you can't see in that pic is that in addition to the Guild humbucker, he also added two Jazz bass pickups, side by side like Berry Oakley, at the bridge. He also added a small pickguard to help cover the routes for the wiring. Here's a version that's less cropped:
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Other Bass Brands / Re: Hamer 8 string in action
« on: December 19, 2017, 04:25:29 PM »
Totally forgot about this one too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqQelCIGYMI&ab_channel=LedZeppelin-Topic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqQelCIGYMI&ab_channel=LedZeppelin-Topic
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Other Bass Brands / Re: Hamer 8 string in action
« on: December 16, 2017, 07:23:40 AM »
As far as best recorded 8-string sounds, I'd have to go with Achilles Last Stand, Spanish Castle Magic and You Got Me Floating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t4KLOm7pO0&ab_channel=LedZeppelin-Topic
And here's the isolated bass for You Got Me Floatin':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t4KLOm7pO0&ab_channel=LedZeppelin-Topic
And here's the isolated bass for You Got Me Floatin':
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The Outpost Cafe / Re: For Dave: Yet another C&W authenticity test ...
« on: November 03, 2017, 07:14:59 PM »
I've never really understood the propensity for the overly exaggerated accent especially in modern country bands. There's plenty of C&W without such put on accents, Marty Robbins, Alan Jackson (there's a twang but it doesn't sound ridiculous), even some of Hank Williams stuff doesn't have that thick of an accent. A lot of the modern stuff sounds like they're singing a pastiche bordering on parody of the "country accent". About the only accent I can put up with currently for much time is Sturgill Simpson. As far as country rock, I'd far prefer without the accent more like Commander Cody or Doug Sahm.
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The Outpost Cafe / Re: To Kill a Hummingbird ... (Let Us Prey!)
« on: October 04, 2017, 05:09:49 PM »I've only seen a Mantis twice in my almost 60 years, interestingly both times they were clinging to the of the building I work at in Tacoma, Wa. Can they change color? This one is obviously trying to blend in a bit.
Interstingly enough, up until the last few years we'd never seen them on San Juan Island, and I wasn't really aware they were in Washington. But about four years ago my dad said he saw on on island, then last year I saw two, and this year they are EVERYWHERE. In the house, on the car, flying awkwardly around the yard...
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Bass Amps & Effects / Re: Let's see your rig!
« on: September 14, 2017, 06:51:26 PM »
Figure I'd update. I need to grab some 4x12 or a 6x12 for the Masrhall, though it sounds great through the JBLs as well.
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Gibson Basses / Re: Music videos that feature EB0 to EB4 and SG variant basses...
« on: July 20, 2017, 08:56:18 PM »
Yeah, I wouldn't equate groove with being tight necessarily. I've always thought you can play around the groove and still be tight with regards to timing and note placement, which I think this is a pretty good example of. I certainly wouldn't call this loose. I think Uwe's descriptor of angular is the perfect fit for Bruce's playing.
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Gibson Basses / Re: Music videos that feature EB0 to EB4 and SG variant basses...
« on: July 20, 2017, 11:32:16 AM »
This is a combo that I wish had actually recorded some tracks. Buddy Miles and Jack are super tight and busy.
(Unfortunately, this video isn't up on youtube and SMF doesn't embed dailymotion)
(Unfortunately, this video isn't up on youtube and SMF doesn't embed dailymotion)