| Author |
Message |
davehouck
Moderator
Username: davehouck
Post Number: 11614
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Friday, December 26, 2014 - 6:33 pm: |  |
Love the video; the depth is really striking. |
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61
Post Number: 1453
Registered: 2-2011
| | Posted on Friday, December 26, 2014 - 8:28 pm: | |
Thanks Dave! |
dead_head
Member
Username: dead_head
Post Number: 64
Registered: 5-2014
| | Posted on Friday, December 26, 2014 - 8:54 pm: | |
The video was great. It really does look 3-D, like blue satin under the light. Beautiful bass, Rusty! Congratulations! |
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61
Post Number: 1465
Registered: 2-2011
| | Posted on Thursday, January 01, 2015 - 8:01 pm: | |
I made a HUGE mistake tonight, I set up both my amps & went STEREO! Oh My God!!! This Series II was MADE for stereo!!! It was like uncapping the headers!!! More about that tomorrow, I will shoot video...... |
edwin
Senior Member
Username: edwin
Post Number: 1890
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, January 01, 2015 - 9:36 pm: | |
Stereo is indeed awesome. I recommend it, even if it's just for the front end. |
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61
Post Number: 1466
Registered: 2-2011
| | Posted on Friday, January 02, 2015 - 7:32 am: | |
Just when I was happy with the sound I was getting from my Fender Rumble 350 with my SCSD, & glad to not be hauling my 4X10 & 1X15 Eden cabinets with my WT 800 Eden amp, now I have experienced the incredible sound of the Series II in stereo with the bridge pickup going to the Rumble & the neck going to the WT 800 & 4X10 box! The SII sounded good with the Rumble alone, but it is like it is way over compressed compared to the sound I get in Stereo. I commented to Mica that my Europa didn't have the highs that my SCSD has, but it does in stereo! It really comes alive! Currently I set my Rumble up tilted back & facing backwards like a monitor so it doesn't affect the FOH mix, but it is going to be really hard to not bring both amps & set them up in a traditional backline now that I have heard the difference in sound. I have a gig tomorrow night at one of our smaller venues & the stereo rig would be way overkill, so I will just bring the Rumble & see how the Europa sounds with the band, but if I can't get the sound I want I'm going to start bringing the stereo rig. I left the rig set up & will shoot some video tonight & post it so everyone can hear how incredible this bass sounds. I took another "Family Photo" with all my gear last night. The last time I took this picture I had 9 basses & guitars & that prompted my wife to say I needed one more to make it an even 10, & that got the ball rolling for building my Europa. So here is my "10."
 |
elwoodblue
Senior Member
Username: elwoodblue
Post Number: 1545
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Friday, January 02, 2015 - 10:45 pm: | |
Love those kind of mistakes.
Its good to hear the highs are available.It would be hard to fathom that blue beast doesn't have a little bite.
11 is a good number too ;),though I'd be happy with '1' if it was like your Europa !! |
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61
Post Number: 1474
Registered: 2-2011
| | Posted on Saturday, January 03, 2015 - 6:16 am: | |
Well, I tried 4 times to record video of me playing through my stereo setup but apparently the sound was too awesome for my camcorder to comprehend because it kept distorting. I put the camera in AGC & tried turning down to TV volume level & it still distorted. I was surprised because I video my band all the time & it never distorts. I'm going to video my gig tonight so maybe I can post some videos of the Europa with the band.
Elwood, I can't imagine ever improving over this Europa, so I think I'm going to stick with 10! If I was a fretless player I would consider getting a fretless Alembic, but the bass on the right in my picture is a fretless I built in woodshop in high school, so I have no need for another one. You can probably tell by the symmetrical shape & Mahogany laminates that it was inspired by the Stanley Alembic. It was originally a fretted Mighty Mite neck, but I always loved the sound of a fretless so when I got my Rickenbacker I had the frets pulled out & they filled in the slots so I can still see the fret lines for a cheater fretless. I would definitely consider getting some Activators for it! |
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61
Post Number: 1477
Registered: 2-2011
| | Posted on Monday, January 05, 2015 - 4:32 am: | |
I played my first gig with my Europa Saturday night & it was AMAZING! The sound is much fuller than my SCSD & it plays like a dream! It is much easier on my fingers than my SCSD too, but I think that is because I found myself playing between the pickups VS right over the bridge pickup like I do on my SCSD. I had lots of comments on the look & sound. One guy told me it was the best sounding bass he had ever heard! I'm still getting used to the string spacing & playing a 5 on every song, & still tweaking the controls, but they are not nearly as complicated as I thought they would be & was able to get a sound I was VERY happy with! I videoed the whole night but haven't had a chance to watch it to see if it came out good enough to post. I will post some songs if it sounds good.
 |
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61
Post Number: 1486
Registered: 2-2011
| | Posted on Friday, January 09, 2015 - 11:21 am: | |
As it turns out, the video from my gig isn't any good. The house lights were stuck on red so the video is dark & the mix wasn't good. We have another gig at a much better venue on the 23rd so I will video that one & try to post some songs with the Europa. I got a great sound on stage with just using my Rumble combo amp, but I set it up at home last night & got an even better sound! I have found out that the Series II is much more sensitive to small changes in my settings than my SCSD is. I turned the frequency knob on the low channel of my SF-2 about 1/16" & it made a huge difference! I also switched it from Low Pass to Band Pass & that cleaned up my low end & gave it a tighter punchy sound. In Low Pass, there were some overtones that were drowning out some of the high notes. It still sounds better in stereo, but I'm extremely happy with the sound I got last night! |
dhagopian
New
Username: dhagopian
Post Number: 1
Registered: 1-2015
| | Posted on Sunday, January 11, 2015 - 10:30 am: | |
Beautiful. I love the finish. |
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61
Post Number: 1518
Registered: 2-2011
| | Posted on Sunday, January 25, 2015 - 11:38 pm: | |
It's been really hard to capture the exact color of this bass in pictures, but the ones my wife took at my gig Friday night are the "True Blue" of the bass. I also bought an Ampeg BA112 to run in stereo & I now have the sound I have been looking for! I run my neck & bridge pickup through the Fender Rumble 350 in mono & my bridge pickup through the Ampeg to enhance the mids & highs. The Ampeg is only 50 watts so it is not adequate to run full stereo & compete with the 350 watt Rumble, but thankfully Ron, in his infinite wisdom built the DS-5R where the treble jack is still hot even in mono mode.
On another note, I have worn red hi top Converse "Chuck Taylor" shoes at every gig since 1985, but to honor my new Europa I switched to blue ones!
 |
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61
Post Number: 1519
Registered: 2-2011
| | Posted on Sunday, January 25, 2015 - 11:43 pm: | |
It's been really hard to capture the exact color of this bass in pictures, but the ones my wife took at my gig Friday night are the "True Blue" of the bass. I also bought an Ampeg BA112 to run in stereo & I now have the sound I have been looking for! I run my neck & bridge pickup through the Fender Rumble 350 in mono & my bridge pickup through the Ampeg to enhance the mids & highs. The Ampeg is only 50 watts so it is not adequate to run full stereo & compete with the 350 watt Rumble, but thankfully Ron, in his infinite wisdom built the DS-5R where the treble jack is still hot even in mono mode.
On another note, I have worn red hi top Converse "Chuck Taylor" shoes at every gig since 1985, but to honor my new Europa I switched to blue ones!
 |
jazzyvee
Senior Member
Username: jazzyvee
Post Number: 4388
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Monday, January 26, 2015 - 3:47 am: | |
When I was trying out bi-amping at home I i connected a low volume Roland JC120 on the bridge pickup from the high pass output of my F1-x and that was superbly crispy on the top without being harsh. Easy to do at home but probably a headache to organise and transport and set-up so much gear on a gig. |
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61
Post Number: 1520
Registered: 2-2011
| | Posted on Monday, January 26, 2015 - 4:37 am: | |
I bet the JC120 sounded sweet with the chorus effect! The little Ampeg I bought is small & light, so it's not too much more to carry to the gigs. It really adds to the clarity & fullness of the sound. |
5a_quilt_top
Senior Member
Username: 5a_quilt_top
Post Number: 424
Registered: 6-2012
| | Posted on Monday, January 26, 2015 - 10:45 am: | |
Hey man - way to "play th' Blues"! |
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61
Post Number: 1522
Registered: 2-2011
| | Posted on Monday, January 26, 2015 - 12:44 pm: | |
Yeah, I could stand in front of a blue screen & be invisible! |
rjmsteel
Advanced Member
Username: rjmsteel
Post Number: 238
Registered: 7-2008
| | Posted on Monday, January 26, 2015 - 6:05 pm: | |
Rusty,
This may be unconventional but with my Series Bass, (Richs Series Sans Filters), I send the outputs of my DS-5R to my SF-2 and then to my small format Mackie mixer (802-vlz-3). The EQ is set completely flat, (I wish it had a defeat switch), and pan the Main Outs to my two amplifier Heads.
This way I can pan (1) pickup hard left and the other hard right... or what I usually do is pan both channels 1 & 2 almost dead center and let my volume controls on the bass dictate the "strong panned" channel to the respective amp.
The whole thing is wired up in a rack with one head mounted and the other head sitting on top of the rack so I can take it home. (Let me know and I`ll try and take a picture of the rig).
Sounds great and I have full control of the cabinets from each respective channel on the SF-2, each respective amplifier driving the paired or single cabinet (and respective pickup) all the while keeping the system as close to Full Range without the Bi-Amp "headaches" of speaker cabinet issues when combining 2 to 4 cabinets full of speakers.
Love your SII!!!!
Rich |
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61
Post Number: 1524
Registered: 2-2011
| | Posted on Monday, January 26, 2015 - 7:55 pm: | |
Hey Rich, your rig sounds impressive! I would love to see pictures of it! I have been thinking about running one channel of my SF-2 to one amp & the other channel to the other amp similar to what you are doing, but I was planning on patching the SF-2 through the effects loop which is how I have it now. My line out on my amp is pre-EQ so using the effects loop allows me to color the sound I hear on stage without effecting the signal I send to the PA. You don't have any problems with the SF-2 overdriving the mixer or amps going into it first? |
rjmsteel
Advanced Member
Username: rjmsteel
Post Number: 239
Registered: 7-2008
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 27, 2015 - 5:41 pm: | |
Rusty~
No issues with overdrive from the SF-2. Remember I am not using the SF-2 as a preamp (in this situation). I patch directly out of the back of the DS-5R, Bass output to channel 1 and treble (bridge) output to channel 2 all on the rear panel of the SF-2.
From the rear panel outputs of the SF-2 I patch directly into the Mackie, then of course Main Outs to the amps.... and yes I have had issues with the mixer, (I cannot remember all of them right now), adding "coloration"; but have rectified all that now where it is completely silent. I can even mute each channel by the fader!
In my (8) space Rack ~ (I swear its not "that" heavy ~the Eden head is the worst part) ~ I placed the (small format) Mixer in a Rack Drawer and doubled up velcro on the back side of the mixer - to the velcro added to the shelf of the drawer, velcro`d the power supply down, made patch cabling to reach all the inputs/outputs to where or when the drawer is open or closed, and patch cable to a 1/4" Patch Bay on the Racks Front to any of the amplifiers (or effects back to mixer if I choose)... works like charm.
So Rack top to bottom is the 2 Space Rack Drawer (with Mackie), The Patch Bay (1 space), Furman Rack Power, SF-2, DS-5R, Eden WT-550. All wiring is at the rear of the rack with the exception of the outputs of the Mixer Mains to the Patch Bay to the heads. The other Head sits on top of the rack and is also fed from the Patch bay.
By the way even with all the patch cabling it is still quiet except for any over eq`ing at the heads.
Here is another thing, (you may already know), but while talking to Will (Gunn) after getting frustrated he "enlightened" knowledge to me on the best way to setup the SF-2 - Volume wise. Here goes... The filters Gain on each channel is at Unity Gain at 1:00 O`clock. The Direct Gains can be addressed in a similar fashion where you could have them open all the way but its better to begin throttling back. This is your Starting point. Keep in mind my Series bass is Sans Filters so you may encounter more gain from your bass. Below is my response back to confirm I understood what Will explained to me,
Will,
Here is what I got out of our conversation and what I will try on my SF-2/Rig setup.
SF-2/Series Bass Settings:
Think Subtractive!
Both Pickups set full up (wide open).
Input Gain/ Direct Gain Channel A:
Set @ Full up subtract to remove highs when trying to play with a mellower tone;
(remember Gains are NOT (amplified) volume additive, but instead are Tone additive!
Direct Gain Channel B:
Same as above
Filter Gain Channel A:
Set Frequency Gains at 1:00 (pm). This is Unity Gain on the unit. Do this on both channels Filter Gain controls.
Filter Gain Channel B: as above.
Remember to think Subtractive instead of boosting (Bass or Treble Frequencies, etc.)
Enough rambling now,
Rich |
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61
Post Number: 1525
Registered: 2-2011
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2015 - 5:47 am: | |
I run my Direct gain full open & tend to run the filter gain between 11 & 1:00. I had an issue with the SF-2 distorting when I first got it, but I may have had it hooked up wrong. I haven't had that problem lately. I did not know that 1:00 was unity gain on the Filter Gain, so thanks for that info!
I have a WT-800, what EQ settings are you using on your 550? |
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61
Post Number: 1552
Registered: 2-2011
| | Posted on Saturday, February 21, 2015 - 1:57 pm: | |
Have I told you how much I LOVE this bass??? I have loved every Alembic I have ever played, but there is something different about having a custom build. Selecting all the ingredients that went into building this bass makes it feel like it has my DNA, like it is my own offspring. When I pick it up I instantly become one with it. It fits my hands so perfectly it feels like an extension of me rather than a tool in my hands. For a while I questioned myself on whether it was worth spending this kind of money on a bass, but after spending some time with it, you really can't put a price on what I feel when I play it! Every Alembic is a work of art, but this one is truly special!
To Quote Ferris Bueller - "It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up." :-) |
edwardofhuncote
Advanced Member
Username: edwardofhuncote
Post Number: 235
Registered: 6-2014
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 - 5:10 am: | |
Amen Rusty. There's volumes to be said for having EXACTLY the bass of your wildest imagination.
"Beyond Custom"... indeed.
*edit - ...and Ferris Bueller is still my hero! =) (well, one of them anyway)
(Message edited by edwardofhuncote on February 24, 2015) |
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61
Post Number: 1555
Registered: 2-2011
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 - 12:14 pm: | |
Gregory, when you deal with Alembic, sometimes you get something way beyond your wildest imagination! You start bouncing ideas off of Susan & Mica & they can come up with stuff you never even dreamed of! Ron is the Wizard of electronics, but Susan & Mica are Wizards in their own right when it comes to design & construction. They can take your ideas & your likes & dislikes & transform them into an instrument that will blow your mind! They have a gift for knowing what ingredients work that will materialize your dream.
We should all be as cool as Ferris, but then again, he didn't have an Alembic & I will take that over cool any day! |
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