still more bass porn
 

in progress photos. Pete Skjold in Ohio is building a pair of 5-strings for me, one fretted, one fretless.

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Very cool. I expect that I'll have a five-string one day. That'll be the day the Sun rises in the West. Ebony fretboard on the fretless?

Nice!

Skjold - sounds Scandinavian.

That is purdy.

I got nothin that fancy, but I did redo the grillcloth on "ol Spanky."

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The fretted is ash body, mango top, and morado fingerboard. The fretless is alder body, redwood top, and ebony unlined fingerboard. Both will have Pete's "estate" finish which is a poly/oil thin satin finish.

Supe, I used to play nothing but 5-string. I got back into 4 some months back and like it a lot but they are two different instruments. 5-string gives you some serious advantages, especially if you're reading charts or are tired at the end of a long night as you have more notes available up the neck without having to move your hand.

Pete's site: Bass Guitars - Bass Guitars

He is a great guy and a one-man operation. Wood comes in, basses go out. He specs the pickups and strings and uses East preamps. No cnc, no automation.

You have a road crew, right? :D

My rig the past couple months has been an Aguilar TH-500 (4 lbs, 500W) and a Bergantino AE210 (40lbs). If I'm feeling manly I can do a one-trip carry though I try to use my cart when I can (curse you, stairs!)

I'm going to need more amp one day, so I've been looking and reading. It looks like Bergantino is the premier cab maker out there. I'd love to have something like 1x15 and 2x10 in one box.

fwiw I prefer to be modular. I have a pair of 2-10 cabs. For small/med gigs I just use one. For bigger gigs I stack them. Unfortunately Jim doesn't make the AE line any more (though you can still find some out there) due to the skyrocketing price of neodynium. His new cabs are a tad heavier but his are my favorites. A lot of guys run 12s these days and like them. Either a 2-12 or a pair of 1-12 cabs is a typical setup that can get plenty loud. The biggest change since the old days is with the amps though. I have a Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0 (900W into 4ohms, 5lbs) and Aguilar TH500 (500W into 4 ohms, 4lbs). The class D amps work great and make for really light gear. I ditched my beloved 30+ lb Ashdown head a few years ago. As much as I love the sound of an SVT, no way I'd gig one these days.

A lot of guys dig the fEARful 15/6 setup as well. Not my thing as I like the way that Berg voices their cabs but there are a lot of options. And a few crooks as well...

Thx, Nostatic. Despite having an ongoing, 35+ year jones for an SVT, I am likely to take advantage of today's technology. Class D and ported cabs. Twelves probably do make more sense than 10s. Then again, the only way to really extinguish the jones is to yield to it. Decisions decisions.....

Got a question. Do the non-rare-earth speakers perform just as well, but are simply a tad heavier? Or are the rare earth speakers still more sensitive?

Nice tops on those! Are you going to leave them natural or color them?

No color on the tops - just an oil finish that will bring out the grain more.

Ceramic mag speakers perform as well (some say better) than neo. The advantage with neo is less weight. For instance with the Berg 210, my neo cab is 40lbs, the new ceramic is 54lbs. There are other differences with the build materials, but typically ceramic will result in about 20-30% heavier cab.

10 vs 12 is almost a moot point - the way the cabinet is voiced is what makes the difference rather than the speaker size. It really is more finding a sound that you like and going from there. I went through a bunch of different stuff and love my Bergs, in part because of the size. They are only 12.5" deep, so they are easy to carry and easy to fit on tight stages (I run them vertical). Typically cabs are more like 15"+ in depth. I had a pair of his 1-12 cabs but prefer the way the 10s speak. It is subtle though.

I only play bass out maybe once a month, so it's worth it to take the SVT; If I played bass all the time there's no way. Of course, my key rig makes an SVT look like a walk in the park, so I think my perspective is a little off.

Ohhhhhhh I DO miss my SVT 810. I dragged the beast around for 20 years. Nice J.

Small compared to a B3 ehh?

it's the Leslie that is the killer...

...for those who tuned in expecting real bass porn

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Very cool!!