The Last Bass Outpost

Sadly, it was some other variety of weed.  Good thing it was there though, cushioned the impact when the drummer knocked his mic off the stage. 

Quote from: slinkp on January 28, 2014, 08:06:28 PM
Great thread. I would be really curious to hear the 400 with some decent cabinets. I wonder what cabs would be a good match for it (aside from the folded horn things... I'm dubious about those).

After reading years ago what cabinets Psycho Bass Guy used with his, I picked some up for mine.  Was only able to find 2 used, I couldn't afford to buy them new.  I've used them with a Carvin 10.2 NEO.  Sounds good to me and to the people that have heard it, or so they tell me.  At practice, I use a Sunn 415M instead of the Carvin.  I use the Carvin at home, while the practice space is the only place I have room for the Sunn.  I like it better with the Carvin.  I also like being able to fit the whole thing in the car. 

That's pretty impressive looking.   Tough to find someone local who likes that sort of thing and has the money and space for it.  I have no idea what the cabs sound like, but I like my 400PS head. I could live without its bizarre output configuration, but it sounds good to me so I'm happy.  At least until the day it needs work.

Quote from: Psycho Bass Guy on January 24, 2014, 04:43:25 PM
They DO NOT have three output transformers. They have three taps on the transformer secondary split from a single primary winding. I HAD one until I sent it away for cosmetic restoration and it, the nice set of NOS GE 6550A's, and the custom roadcase it was in disappeared into New Jersey.

That's terrible.  Especially with those tubes!   

I recently put guitar pickups in one of my basses, though not P-90s; Epiphone Goth Les Paul.   Not much bite, but a good classic rock sound, from nasally to mud.  I suppose it might have more treble if the strings weren't 6 year old half-rounds.  I put in a series/parallel switch, fattens up the bottom.    Was going to trade it in, not so sure now.  It's pretty fun.

It wasn't very popular, even for a Yes album, but this riff got me to buy my first 5 string, and tune it down a step.  By the time my infatuation had cooled off, I had gotten used to the tuning and floppy strings and still use it.

Weight isn't too bad, I haven't weighed them but it seems no worse than my old  8X10, maybe even less.  The sound is pretty bass-shy.   One of the original speakers blew shortly after I bought it, it has had 4 15" Fender OEM 16 Ohm speakers in it for years.  I really couldn't tell the difference in tone when the band is playing.  It sounds like a huge guitar cab.  Pretty good with guitar actually, with the big Fender amp.  It's in the drummer's garage because I have no room for it at home.  I liked the Fender rig better with a Carvin 10.2  NEO in place of the Sunn,plus I could put the whole thing in my car.

I loved the Sunn with a distorted Sound City amp and an Exploiter, but clean it leaves something to be desired.  The 2 Bag End cabs don't have any highs to speak of, so the 3 sound good with the Fender. 

I like having an excuse to show the pic, on that other forum they threw stones at me for owning this stuff, and worse than stones for daring to play non-identical cabs together.  No doubt it would be a nightmare onstage with a PA, but that isn't likely to ever happen.

You guys have some pretty cool rigs.  Makes the thread more fun when it's full of things I'd never see in the mega chain music store.  Took this last night, let's see if I can get it to post. The pedals and most of the mess on the floor are the guitarist's.  

Back of headstock is marked "ADQ."

After a little tweaking I have the action fairly low, and think I could remove the bridge spacer plate and raise the saddles accordingly.  Can't get it any lower without too much buzz though, so my compulsion for lowest possible action is satisfied for now, can't afford to have it worked on.  I was considering making it fretless some time ago since I have several 4 string fretted basses, but ran into one problem.  I can't afford to have it worked on!  Not that I'm not confident in my own skills.  I am completely confident I'd destroy it in the attempt.  Interesting pics in the other thread, cool to see the work progress.  I like EMG selects, have put them in many a bass over the years.

Very happy to have found out more about the bass.  Thanks again all!

Awesome! you guys rule.  The Schaller bridge has the spacer plate mounted under it, the only one of my old Schaller-equipped basses to use it.  The saddles are currently almost completely down, with a pro setup and possibly fret job it might be able to go lower, but not much without hitting the pickups.  I liked that the stock pickups and rings had 3 screw holes, would make adjusting pickup angle very easy.  One ring was broken and had to be replaced even before I changed the pickups.  Wish I could afford to get it refinished.  Nobody else cares or even notices, but old war wounds on a bass bother me.

I set up an old Bartolini XTCT for a full spectrum boost and it sounds great.  Somehow, at least with my amp at home, when I solo the neck pickup there's a slight distortion not present with solo bridge or both pickups.  That bothered me, until the guys I play with heard it and now think I'm a genius for my built in distortion effect.

More/bigger here:

http://www.use.com/5d6d9b405a6726d8b0ab#photo=1

I've had this one a number of years.  Nobody on Talkbass had any idea, for all I know it's the product of a local luthier but I thought I'd try here. 
At least it's an excuse to post some horrible pics.  Made me think of an Overwater C Bass/Gibson hybrid when I saw it, so I had to buy it.  I'm guessing late 80's/early 90's
from the styling and condition.  Besides dings and scratches, it has a fair amount of finish cracks.  Neck is angled slightly back like a Les Paul.  34" scale, so it's not a very exact C bass copy, but the body resembles one.  I tried to string it with a set of .105 D'addario nickel rounds but the E was too big for the nut.

Bought it here in the US, North Dartmouth Massachusetts to be exact.  The store had taken it in trade and knew nothing about it.  Schaller pickups,bridge, and tuners.  Passive, I believe 2 volumes, 2 tones and 2 coil switches.  Sounded good but had too much feedback to be usable, so I changed the pickups and electronics.  Original knobs were all chrome, not the mess I've got on there now - that's what I had that would fit the pots I had.  Original pots were 2 300kOhm, 2 500kOhm, marked "Japan."  Set neck, wider and thicker than the Jazz type I like but comfortable.  I modified a beat up old Explorer bass case to fit it.

Thanks for looking, I don't expect anyone will recognize it but you never know.

Not as much low end as you might expect if you are thinking it's like 4 1X15 cabs.  Very little actual internal volume due to the design.  Just guessing, but judging by the cloth mine's newer, and not in that kind of shape.  Was only $400, but one of the drivers blew a month later.  Can't really tell the difference in tone from before that to now with Fender OEM 16 Ohm 15s in it.  It does blast sound all over the place, but not the boom that the Acoustic 408 4X15 had.  I do prefer its high end to the Acoustic though.  Works really well with this:



If you like a bit of grit and a lot of bite, it's a great cab.  Right now it's at my drummer's.  Guitarist couldn't make it one night so I plugged his 5150 into the Sunn, and ran subs with my bass amp.  He hasn't made it since then, either, but we haven't missed him.

Quote from: stiles72 on December 21, 2011, 04:24:21 PM
My '63 B-15 was a rehab. It took a while, but it was a fun project!  The good thing about B-15's is that there are plenty of parts and resources out there. Here's a link to my restoration photos:   
After:
 

Extra points for the coily cord!

I lack the skill to rehab mine, so I have to settle for sounding great but looking like a "before" picture. 

I like whatever sounds good.  Only one 1 SS amp currently, a Genz Benz Neo-Pak, but I like it.  I've owned tube and SS, liked both, but also played through both types of amps that didn't sound so good.  That said, to date nothing has sounded as good to me as my B-15, for any bass tone I desire.  Nothing has impressed me with sheer sonic force (while still sounding pretty darn good) as my 400PS running the right 3 cabinets.  I do tend to worry more about the tube amps, I've left the Genz at the practice spot for months now but wouldn't do that to a tube head.  Not that I fear their reliability.  Also much more reluctant to sell a good tube head than a SS head.  Tube amps have souls, while solid state amps don't.

Quote from: hieronymous on December 10, 2011, 04:22:32 PM
I can't believe I started this thread over 3 years ago! Today was a nice sunny winter day in the San Francisco Bay Area, not too cold, so I decided to take pictures of some basses - pictures I've been meaning to take but too lazy to make happen!

This is a shot that I've been wanting to take for a long time - I call it "brown 1970s basses":



It's not complete - still need to get my Alembic doubleneck in there, but I also wanted a pic of just these two. The Triumph is early-'70s, the Ric is 1976.

Feel free to help me revive this thread by posting more pics!

I find those Gibsons intriguing.  Probably never get the chance to play one, but they look exceptionally cool.  Short scale, blocks, 24 frets...these things I like.

Most of that last pic are gone, sold off to buy others that I don't have group shots of, but it's one of the few times I had them all together.  Still have the Mouradian and the Kent (sentimental - 1st electric, gift from neighbor who is no longer with us).  The current collection is still too big to fit in one pic and still have them be big enough to identify.  The 3 in the top pic and the Bich are still with me, though the Bich is now BEAD - low 4 of a baritone guitar, with octave up strings. 

When I look at pics of the Ric and Vox I miss them, but realistically the Vox didn't sound very good and the Ric wasn't touched after I got the Mouradian.

Tragically, the posters in the old jam room did not survive.