Quote from: cozmik_cowboy on June 01, 2026, 07:03:34 AM

Quote from: JimmyJ on June 01, 2026, 12:03:12 AMThat Cipollino rig is a riot!  What could those trombone-style tweeters possibly sound like?  Wow. Not much fun to haul around and set up either. But it sure looks cool!


Jimmy J

They sounded like this:

And I'm pretty sure John wasn't humping it his own self; rigs like that are why there are people like me 

Peter

He was certainly a rascal of a player.  Great sounds and notes!  I wonder if he actually used that rig shown above in the studio?  You might need to mic it from the next room.  

I had just never seen tweeters like that aside from train horns, marine fog horns, or yeah, trombones.  A search reveals that there is a Chinese hi-fi company called Iwistao that still makes a kind of brass horn tweeter.  Not as large as those two on top of JC's rig, but there you go.  Plus, sometimes the visual effect of the equipment can be important.  Like EVH's wall of speaker cabinets with only a single driver actually operating. 

Good stuff!
Jimmy J

Quote from: Barend on June 01, 2026, 04:33:58 AM

Quote from: FC Bass on June 01, 2026, 01:12:47 AMYou could upgrade Signature electronics to Anniversary (stereo) 

Is that an expensive upgrade? And can it also be done by another luthier than Alembic? Can you still use the same pickups and electronics?

You can re-use the filters, volume, pan and output will have to be replaced. 
Those will be replaced with dual volume, pickup selector, stereo output and mono/stereo switch.

You'll need to drill two holes (for the pickup selector and switch) that's the " difficult" part, electronics click together with connectors. 

I guess you could order it without the pickup selector, whatever works best for you.

I would recommend to add a master volume,  very handy at the end of a song. 
I think dual volume and pickup selector could also be replaced with a single volume and stereo pan pot, but those are pretty expensive IIrc.

Mica can tell you what the exact costs are, you can recover some when you sell the leftover bits (I might be interested)

Should be an easy job for any luthier, I've done it myself a couple of times. Those were other type of electronics, but did require to drill some holes.   (Essence to signature, added filter + Q to Orion Electronics  and added master volume to Series I)

Quote from: JimmyJ on June 01, 2026, 10:07:38 AM

Quote from: cozmik_cowboy on June 01, 2026, 07:03:34 AM

Quote from: JimmyJ on June 01, 2026, 12:03:12 AMThat Cipollino rig is a riot!  What could those trombone-style tweeters possibly sound like?  Wow. Not much fun to haul around and set up either. But it sure looks cool!


Jimmy J

They sounded like this:

And I'm pretty sure John wasn't humping it his own self; rigs like that are why there are people like me 

Peter

He was certainly a rascal of a player.  Great sounds and notes!  I wonder if he actually used that rig shown above in the studio?  You might need to mic it from the next room.  

I had just never seen tweeters like that aside from train horns, marine fog horns, or yeah, trombones.  A search reveals that there is a Chinese hi-fi company called Iwistao that still makes a kind of brass horn tweeter.  Not as large as those two on top of JC's rig, but there you go.  Plus, sometimes the visual effect of the equipment can be important.  Like EVH's wall of speaker cabinets with only a single driver actually operating. 

Good stuff!
Jimmy J

I'm pretty sure he used the whole thing live; studio? Who knows; Lesh used his whole rig (not his Wall Of Sound rig....), and an engineer at one of the places they recorded said that when the Dead left, they had go through the iso room Phil was in with a screwdriver and retighten everything that had a screw in it.
  The horns were from a Wurlitzer organ.

Peter

Quote from: FC Bass on June 01, 2026, 10:31:49 AM

Quote from: Barend on June 01, 2026, 04:33:58 AM

Quote from: FC Bass on June 01, 2026, 01:12:47 AMYou could upgrade Signature electronics to Anniversary (stereo) 

Is that an expensive upgrade? And can it also be done by another luthier than Alembic? Can you still use the same pickups and electronics?

You can re-use the filters, volume, pan and output will have to be replaced.
Those will be replaced with dual volume, pickup selector, stereo output and mono/stereo switch.

You'll need to drill two holes (for the pickup selector and switch) that's the " difficult" part, electronics click together with connectors.

I guess you could order it without the pickup selector, whatever works best for you.

I would recommend to add a master volume,  very handy at the end of a song.
I think dual volume and pickup selector could also be replaced with a single volume and stereo pan pot, but those are pretty expensive IIrc.

Mica can tell you what the exact costs are, you can recover some when you sell the leftover bits (I might be interested)

Should be an easy job for any luthier, I've done it myself a couple of times. Those were other type of electronics, but did require to drill some holes.  (Essence to signature, added filter + Q to Orion Electronics  and added master volume to Series I)

Thanks. Good to know the stereo option for a signature is there if I want to. That may make me pull the trigger on buying a signature bass if I can work things out with the seller....to be continued

I am planning to use my Brown Bass with Anniversary electronics with my Glockenklang Steamhammer amp for the neck PU with a 12" Vanderkley cab and use the bridge PU with my Genz Benz Shuttle (tube pre) with FX (bit of EBS overdrive, chorus and maybe OctaBass), also with with 12" Vanderkley cab. For a true stereo effect you need to place both cabs on the ground and leave sufficient space between them. it's hard to hear any stereo effect when placed on top of each other. I don't play on stage anymore but still have fun trying different setups.
Have fun exploring!

Still waiting to receive a stereo cable though, but that's a whole different topic (Mogami, Canare). Bayou doesn't send them anymore outside the US. Alembic no longer makes cables. I think they used Belder cable but I'm not 100% sure.  

Quote from: bassbuddy on July 07, 2026, 06:36:24 AMI am planning to use my Brown Bass with Anniversary electronics with my Glockenklang Steamhammer amp for the neck PU with a 12" Vanderkley cab and use the bridge PU with my Genz Benz Shuttle (tube pre) with FX (bit of EBS overdrive, chorus and maybe OctaBass), also with with 12" Vanderkley cab. For a true stereo effect you need to place both cabs on the ground and leave sufficient space between them. it's hard to hear any stereo effect when placed on top of each other. I don't play on stage anymore but still have fun trying different setups.
Have fun exploring!

That sounds like a great setup! I used to play a Glockenklang Heartcore top in the 90s.