Author Topic: So... this is way the fuss is all about. :-) (Read 621 times)

jazzyvee · « **on:** April 27, 2012, 05:35:52 AM »

Well I have to admit that there is quite a difference between the sound of my series II bass and my non series basses.... Hmmm.

I have to admit, I was kind of scared that the difference may be subtle or something I would have to convince myself of due to the price difference. ( but let's not dwell on price since that is an emotive subject and as I've already bought it, pretty irrelevant).

Anyway since I've got the Other Twin home I've been pretty much taking a lot of time playing it and trying to get to grips with the extra knobs. I've been using Clarkee's recent two albums as a sound reference for some target tones. From what I'm hearing it would seem that he gets down on record the sound he wants out of his bass most of the time rather than with the studio gear, which is pretty much what JJ advised me to do when I was doing a studio session a couple of years back.

Well, today I decided to get my other Europa's out for a sound check between them and both have pretty new strings on and haven't lost their brightness.

Starting with the all Maple bass which has a naturally a fat, piano like, meaty tone. I put both filters fully open and balance in mid position and volume full on.

Even with all that maple, the Series Bass came out on top with a fatter, cleaner, brighter and more defined clarity in the sound and the attack is something else. Changing the tones to a more mellow tone the Maple signature bass still has some crispness on the attack of the not but nothing anywhere near the series bass which has a very defined clear round ness and a very full bottom end.

Next I compared it to my Bocate Europa that has been retrofitted with some ACG Filter circuits ( think spellbinder) thus it has for each pick up, a low pass filter with a CVQ Pot and a high pass filter with a boost only gain pot.

On it's own this bass sounds great and is usually my first call bass for gigs. But compared to the series II, it sounded significantly different, was weaker in tone and lacked warmth in all registers. Where It did score highly over the series II is in the very low lower frequencies as the LP filter starts at I think 80 Hz to 6.3k so you can get the lower frequencies and whack up the Q to get some righteous dub reggae bass.

If I use the SF-2 I can get down to those subs too but I could also do that with the other bass. However I can imagine how much bigger it would sound with the SII.

As for the ebony laminates, I don't really know what I'm listening for and without a similar bass that has regular neck laminates it's hard to know what it is bringing to the sound. But I'm liking what I hear regardless of how it is composed.

So all in all i'm extremely happy with my purchase and if a suitable short scale series bass came up for sale in the future at the right price, I'd be comfortable about letting one or more of my non series basses go to help with the purchase.

Any good advice on tone changes would be most welcome.
Jazzyvee

dannobasso · « **Reply #1 on:** April 27, 2012, 09:12:56 AM »

Let us know about you black 5 with leds sir.

tubeperson · « **Reply #2 on:** April 27, 2012, 09:41:16 AM »

In my experience, the Ebony lams add clarity, or increased definition to the notes, and of course the ladies favorite, Infinite Sustain!!!! They also weigh a ton so start pumping iron or pay a roadie well.

JuancarlinBass · « **Reply #3 on:** April 27, 2012, 10:10:05 AM »

The Ladies Favorite? Hahahaha!!! That was awesome!

tubeperson · « **Reply #4 on:** April 27, 2012, 10:44:41 AM »

So is the infinite sustain, Viagra and all (for those who need it, fortunately not me).

serialnumber12 · « **Reply #5 on:** April 28, 2012, 05:17:13 AM »

Enjoy wife .....eat out more often.

tubeperson · « **Reply #6 on:** April 28, 2012, 05:34:11 AM »

Yo serial #12, if you change your sentence around to eat the subject of your sentence .... U O monitor suppression alert. Keep chomping!

serialnumber12 · « **Reply #7 on:** April 28, 2012, 07:43:03 AM »

HaaaHaaaaaHaaaaahaaaa!.....................you just made me spill my malt liquor & i dropped my joint!.

tubeperson · « **Reply #8 on:** April 28, 2012, 08:06:10 AM »

Yo your twelviness just don't drop the joint on your joint. Beside you should be drinkin' single malt. Next time you are in NY or CT, call me and we shall imbibe together, Grasshopper (and smoker). Only then will you be partaking in a real alcoholic drink.

bigredbass · « **Reply #9 on:** April 28, 2012, 04:27:10 PM »

JV:

The ebony is a subtle difference in the fundamental of the note. What we usually hear as 'bass', which you'll recognize instantly dialing up the deep end for dub reggae tone is that range around 100-200hz, where it gets thick mighty quick. If you think about those frequencies, and remember that open E is around 43hz and open B around 37 if memory serves me correctly, you see these are actually first and second octave range (those numbers doubled and tripled), not actually the bottoms of the note.

Of course the octave overtones repeating and doubling up the scale give the sound we're used to hearing.

The ebony, coupled with that mostly maple construction, will let you hear those fundamentals if you know where to listen. This happens on my Elan: No ebony, but a completely white wood (maple + ash) axe, and I notice a certain solidness or a type of penetrating bottom to open B, low C, low D, etc., I've never quite heard before.

When Will Gunn was here in Nashville, I played his monstrous coco/ebony five string, and you could feel those fundamentals through the floor.

It's not obvious, it depends on the room, the amp, your Q, a lot of things. But over time, I think you'll begin to notice a presence at the very bottom of your lowest notes, once you learn where to listen for them.

J o e y

tubeperson · « **Reply #10 on:** April 29, 2012, 10:17:37 AM »

Joey, once again you provide extremely useful information. Your post on setting up an Alemic is absolutely mandatory reading. Please accept my thanks, and I have excellent single malt waiting for you if you ever get to the NY CT area. The only thing about ebony lams is you need to be real manly. Remember the Salem witch trials - More weight.

jazzyvee · « **Reply #11 on:** April 29, 2012, 01:40:32 PM »

I don't think I'm an experienced enough bass player to hear the specific items that make up the components in the tone as you are Joey. All of my gigging bass playing experience has been gained since I got my first alembic so i've always had a good solid bass sound.

Mica showed me on the scope at the factory how the fundamental sustains so I know from a technical perspective it is there I just don't think I can separate it from the overall sound of the bass and attribute it to the Ebony..... yet. I just love the sound I get from that bass. Whatever part of that is attributed to the Ebony lams is perfectly fine with me. :-)

I hope to develop the ear to determine the factors as you have done.

jazzyvee

bigredbass · « **Reply #12 on:** April 29, 2012, 04:01:24 PM »

JV, I hardly have the ears that the serious guys have: I just noticed I kept hearing 'something else' on the Elan that I didn't hear on the BigRedBass. I can't tell you what does it, but it has it and the other one doesn't, it's just a certain extra weight, only on the lowest notes on the B. Sometimes I hear it as a very slow harmonic, a very slow-paced growl, almost a beating type sound, like you'd get on a double-stop if the two strings were just ever so slightly out of tune with each other.

Besides, you don't want my ears: EVERY day I play (the same axe, the same room, the same Q on the amp), it sounds very different, to the point I'm going to sell my amps and only play through headphones from now on to take the room out of the equation. This happened every night I gigged, often on 'sit downs', the same venue for weeks. I'm done fighting it.

The ebony does add some weight, but hey, bass is a 'full-growed-man's' instrument. Buck Up !

Steve, I'd love to come to NY and CT, but I don't drink (the drink does NOT like me). However, I'm sure you know someplace I can find some great crab cakes, so we can wheel and deal !

The connection between the frequencies of the notes on the bass and the frequencies indicated on EQ's on amps was once illuminatingly pointed out to me by someone WAY smarter than I, and it's been very useful ever since.

J o e y

tubeperson · « **Reply #13 on:** April 30, 2012, 05:24:53 AM »

Joey I save my drinkin for very special occasions so no worries there. Crab Cakes it shall be! Between your post and Mica's encouragement, I am willing to attempt a neck set up on my Alembics that I would not even consider for any of my Vintage Rick's.

tbrannon · « **Reply #14 on:** April 30, 2012, 06:56:48 AM »

Jazzy,

I'm guessing that as you get used to hearing your Series II that it'll be that you find something is missing when you pick up another bass.

I know that's how it was for me and my Elan with a single ebony lam. I didn't really hear it the first time playing it. The bass sounded great and the lower registers were strong, but I didn't know what I was hearing. However, after a couple weeks of hearing it, when I played something else or listened to recordings of my previous Alembic with an all maple neck, I noticed the difference. Subtle, but you'll know when it's NOT there.