Conference napalm::guitar

    
    See note #104.
    
    Some quick asides, since you specified *compact*:
    
    For a single piece unit, try out a Peavey Combo 300.  210 watts,
    8 band EQ, single 15", crossover for adding second amp for biamping.
    
    For head/cab, get a small Thiele cab with 15" (try Sonic/EV,
    Mesa/Boogie, EAW, Joe's, etc.) matched to almost anything for a head... 

  

    The newest Guitar Player (Feb. 1989; yesterday's mail) gave quite
    a good review to a new version of the Ampeg B15 called the B15T.
    It's 100 watts with extremely good patching facilities and, I think,
    a built-in limiter.  It's now all solid state but still retains
    the classic "head flips over into the cab for transit".  It's got
    a thiele design 1-15" cabinet.  With EV speaker, list price is $800.
    
    I've never heard or seen one, but it sounded like it might be worth
    trying before you buy.
    
    - John -

    Thanks for the pointers.  We are currently using 2 theile-design
    15" cabinets for the PA, and they definitely won't fit in his car
    without danger of upholstery damage.  I believe what he's looking
    for is something no bigger than  twin reverb size.
    						joe

    i know lots have people dont have much of an opinion on gk amps,
    concerning their relyability and so on, but i've been playing through
    gk's for 2 1/2 years without a problem,  i have a gk 400rb and gk
    200rb,  i run the low end through the 400rb into a 118 sonic/400watt
    ev cab, and the high end through the 200rb into a 210 sonic/celestian
    cab.   but to get back to your question i'ld say get a 200rb and
    run it into a 115 sonic/ev cab. the sonic 115 cabs can fit in the
    passenger seat of most cars and the gk 200rb is as small as a bass
    head comes.  just my two cents . . .
    
                                                          smokin' bass,
    
                                                           dan . . .

    
    	I have the Peavy Combo which is great. If that's too big,
    	the model below is the TKO I think. Those also sounde pretty
    	good with the BW speaker.
    
    	Guy Novello
    

>>>                                  -< New Ampeg B15T >-
>>>
>>>    It's now all solid state but still retains the classic "head flips over
>>>    into the cab for transit".  It's got a thiele design 1-15" cabinet.
>>>    With EV speaker, list price is $800. 

    Since size seemed to be a problem, I looked back at the review for
    the specs.  I'm pretty sure that the "in transit" size (i.e., head
    flipped into the cabinet for storage) is 25 1/4" x 25" x 14" or
    something close to that.  Depending on the car, this may or may
    not be too big.
    
    - John -

    Yea, I noticed that ad in the new "Guitar Player".  Personally,
    I would lean toward finding one of the originals in decent condition.

    While we are talking bass rigs, I am considering buying a bass,
    and putting an amp together. Has anyone checked out the new Fender
    400 head? This is a rack-mount (3 high) head which includes an 11 
    band eq, efx loop, biamp (200 watts for both the low and high end),
    or "warp-drive" mono which will do 400 watts into 4 ohms. Anyone 
    have any idea how much dinero for this head ?? Is this head made 
    in USA or Japan.
    
    I would like some opinions on basses, and speakers as well. First
    of all, I am considering either getting a Precision or Jazz bass. I 
    am sort of leaning towards the Jazz bass, since I don't want to be
    limited to one pickup. What is the average price for a nice clean
    used Jazz Bass? I have heard that a P bass has a much fatter low
    end than a J bass? Is this true. If so, would replacing the stock
    pickups in a J bass give you a fat sound like a P bass (assuming
    I would install something like Seymour Duncan pickups)?? How about
    the differance in neck between the two. I understand the Jazz bass
    has a longer scale length. Does this make it harder to play. I play
    guitar, and have dabbled in bass, but have never owned one. I mainly
    want one to lay down bass tracks on my Multitracker, but if I get
    one, I might as well put together an amp as well.
    
    Now let's talk speakers. I have a mint Fender Dual Showman cabinet
    that is sitting empty and un-used. I would like to install some
    speakers and use it for a bass rig. This cabinet is designed for
    2 15" speakers, but I believe it could easily take a single 15
    on the bottom, and 2 10's on top. Would I be better off with the
    biamp setup with 1 15, 2 10's, or would I be better off with
    2 15's and a regular (non-biamped) setup??
    
    I realize these issues are real subjective, but I am mainly just
    looking for some general information. I have an extra Twin Reverb
    in my arsenal, and I think I could sell it for enough $ to buy
    a Bass. Once I do, I could get the amp one piece at a time, but
    could play bass through my PA, or directly into my multi-tracker
    for now. This Dual Showman cab has been sitting idle for a long
    time, and I would like to put it to some use. 
                                                
    I would appreciate any advice !!
    
    thanks,
    
    Mark
    

    
    Jeez, what a great question...
    
    Have you read note #104 yet?
    
    1.  The Fender head is in the $5-600 range.  It's built in Oregon
    at the old Sunn factory.  Stu Hamm who tours with Joe Satriani uses
    one.  It's kinda big when compared with stuff like GK, AMP, SWR,
    etc. and I thought it looked cheap...they could have spent more
    money on the graphics, eh?  The guys at EUW said it was Ok but they
    thought the EQ was a bit noisy.  I haven't tried one yet, but it's
    definitely worth looking at.
    
    Oh, yeah on biamp heads see if you can patch into the power amps
    separately.  This lets you do cool things like run one side for
    bass and use the other side to run your PA!  Carvin, GK and Peavey
    Megabass don't allow this, while the old Peavey Max did.
    
    2. Basses...the big diff between a *real* Jazz and a Precision is the
    neck, which is tapered (narrow) on the Jazz, many guitarists like that.
    There are a lot of basses around that have J necks on P bodies and vice
    versa, though. Contrary to popular opinion, P-basses don't have a *lot*
    of bottom, but they have a thick low-mid punch that the Jazz doesn't
    have...thus the P-J combinations found on many modern basses.  You want
    bottom, get an old Gibson EB-whatever. 
    
    I have used mostly two pickup basses over the years and still have
    one, but I find the P bass actually does get all the sounds I need
    from one pickup.
    
    The scale length is 34" on both basses.  Only the Mustang and
    Musicmaster basses from Fender used the short 30" scale in the old
    days, but I have seen some Bullets and Squire Precisions with 30"
    necks (but they are not that common).  Gibson used to use the 30"
    scale, as did Danelectro.
    
    As far as "difficulty" of playing the longer scale, well, you get
    used to it.  I started on a 30" neck and found my first 34" to be
    painful to play at first due to the stretch.  Well, now I find my
    30" Danelectro neck funny to play because it seems *small*.  Depends
    on how much adjustment you are willing to make.  Most guitarists
    I know who hack around on bass have 30" basses, for two reasons:
    first, there are a lot of cheap ones flaoting around, second, they
    don't play bass much and find the shorter scale more comfortable.
    Short scale basses don't sound as deep as long scale ones due to
    physics.  
    
    Average price for an old Jazz?  Non-vintage ones about $300 if you
    look around.
    
    3. Speakers
    
    Twin 15s are the "traditional" bass setup.  Newer styles requiring more
    high midrange often call for biamping, 10s, etc.  *If* you buy a biamp
    head, might as well go biamp with a 15 and 2 10s in your cab.  You
    don't need biamping to get a killer sound though, it's just that if you
    want clarity in the mid/high end and *lots* of volume, biamping makes
    it easier. Remember to get max output, the 15 must be 4 ohms though the
    10s can be 8 ohms.  Personally, I don't care for such large speaker
    cabinets (you will immediately lose all your friends once you get one
    8^)  8^)  8^)) but since you *have* it already, hey go for it. The
    advantage of a separate low cab (either a 15 or an 18) plus a separate
    mid/high cab is that you can set your amp up for mono and use just the
    low cab for practice or small gigs.
    
    Here's something to try at a dealer: Using a biampable head, try using
    two cabs in these combinations: Both cabs with one 15, full range. Then
    biamped. One cab with 15, one with 10s, full range.  Then biamped. You
    may be surprised at how different these setups sound. 
     

    
    

    I looked at a couple of basses last night. First of all I tried
    a new Fender vintage '57 Precision. This was sunburst with a maple
    neck. I couldn't tell if I would be comfortable with it or not,
    because it had the dumb bridge cover, and palm gaurd. The price
    was high (about $600 not incl case). I like the sunburst finish,
    but I am partial to rosewood boards.
    
    I also tried out a Jazz Bass (at of all places Kurlan's). This
    was listed as being used, but it still has the plastic packing
    on the pickgaurd and was flawless. It played very nice. It had
    a rosewood neck, and an ivory (blondish) finish. This was listed
    at $375 including case. Seems like a great deal. The only kicker
    was that it did not have the normal Jazz bass setup (plastic 
    pickgaurd/chrome jack plate). In stead it had a one-piece pickgaurd/
    jack plate, with the pots and jack attached directly to the plastic.
    I can't recall ever seeing a Jazz Bass set up this way. Was this
    a cheaper version of the Jazz bass ?? Could this pickgaurd be
    replaced with a separate pickgaurd/chrome jackplate or would there
    be problems getting the holes to line up, etc. It is suppossedly 
    only a couple of years old, and is stamped "made in USA" on the 
    headstock. Does this gaurentee that it was in fact made in USA, 
    and not Japan ?? Doesn't $350 seem kind of cheap for this instrument,
    especially from a retail store like Kurlan's ??
                                                
    Mark

    
    In 1984, Fender dropped the guitars they were  making and started
    three series, Vintage (still made), Elite (great axes but duds on
    the market, no longer made) and "Standard", not the same as the
    current "Standard"s .....confused yet?
    
    In an effort to cut prices, the Standard line made such innovations
    as an all-plastic control plate on the Jazz Bass, two knobs on Strats,
    six bridge saddles on Teles (!!), etc.  They were US made but sold
    for maybe $200 less than the previous US models.  This lasted until
    Fender reorganized, dropped the Standard and Elite lines and started
    putting the Fender name on imported guitars.
    
    $375 is a bit steep to my taste, but if it's almost new...
    BTW the catalog claimed only maple fingerboards were available on
    Standards.  Does it also have the cream pickups (earlier basses
    always had black pickups)?
    
    The $600 for a Vintage is reasonable.  All 57 models have maple
    boards.  The rosewood boards can be found on 62 vintage models.