Big Bottom, I got'em!

[Psycho Ward]

I will never sell my LMII, love it to death. But sometimes bigger is fun too!
This 18'' Big Ben with a ton of power and a Bongo 5 is a weapon of mass destruction. Too much fun baby!

 

[Rod Trussbroken]

Nice one Chuck!

 

[MrMusashi]

i wasnt sure if i was gonna open this thread and take a look, but curiousity only killed the cat so i took the chance

never heard how the bigben sounds, but i imagine it must be a treat with a 5 stringer!

MrM

 

[fogman]

Close one!
I'm always afraid to open your threads Chuck!

That's a cool toy!!!

 

[Kirby]

Ah Chuck, finally a man after my own heart! I love the Demeter preamps. I too have an LMKII for smaller gigs, but have my SWR Goliath III's (pre sellout) and my trusty 80's version of the VTBP-201 with Mullard 12AX7's powered by a Crown K2. The rack weighs a ton, but man can it move the air. I don't get to play it out much because I am not doing many big shows these days, but every once and a while it is a treat to have that on stage!

That LMKII sure is nice on the back though. Why weren't these around when I was younger and could have saved my back from all of those load ins!

Cheers again! Great pic.

 

[carpedebass]

Sweet!

 

[Ole Man Blues]

I will never sell my LMII, love it to death. But sometimes bigger is fun too!
This 18'' Big Ben with a ton of power and a Bongo 5 is a weapon of mass destruction. Too much fun baby!

Sweet Jesus that thing is awesome and kinda scary too.......

OMB

 

[oddjob]

Had a Big Ben... I miss it... 18s are great aren't they!? Good score

 

[RobertB]

Yeah, I'll bet that baby moves alot of air. I'd probably opt to also run it alongside/underneath atleast a couple of 10's, but for pure low end thunder, that dog will hunt!

 

[theoldmiami]

That's a nice rack there... Love that Demeter stuff!

Is that a B-15 in the back of the photo there?

 

[kerrsedbass]

I was thinking of buying a Big Ben, or building an 18" cabinet, to go with my LMII.

Do you think the LMII will be able to power it, or should I think of purchasing a power amp down the line?

 

[Psycho Ward]

Miami that's a 1966 B-18-N in the picture, the best sounding amp I got. But it might reach 80 watts and the kids music these days is too loud for it.

Kerrsed the LMII sounds great with the Big Ben, but I did get a little farting with it when I hit the Bongo 5 B string hard, but it was at a very high level, higher than I would ever gig at. The Crown/Demeter setup didn't seem to at the same volume or plus a little.

I'm going to take it out to a jam this week and get a real world test, but I like the Big Ben already, plus I got it pretty cheap!

 

[kerrsedbass]

Does the Big Ben get decent highs or should I add some sort of tweeter to it?

 

[oli@bass]

I really dont' understand the need for subwoofer type speakers for a bass amp... live you've got the subs from the FOH, and in all other situations... well, unless you work for a deconstruction company...

 

[mynan]

I really dont' understand the need for subwoofer type speakers for a bass amp... live you've got the subs from the FOH, and in all other situations... well, unless you work for a deconstruction company...

Unless, like most of the live mixes that I've heard, the sound guy has so much kick-drum coming through the subs that the bass gets lost. I used an 18" with a 410 for a long time for larger venues and with enough power behind it, there's nothing like it. I used a crossover set between 200-250Hz so all I was feeding it was lows and no one ever complained about how loud it was because it literally made you feel good...

 

[Psycho Ward]

Well "live" for me right now is small to medium size clubs with no FOH or vocals only PA. I've hit the small time!

I love the sound of my B-18-N so I wanted to experiment with a more modern setup, I'll give this a go and see if I like it live. It's only money.

 

[oli@bass]

Unless, like most of the live mixes that I've heard, the sound guy has so much kick-drum coming through the subs that the bass gets lost.

I see... different approaches. I generally try to have the sound as low as possible on stage, and try to work with the sound engineer (instead of against them ).

Joking aside, yes, I see where you could have the need to support the FOH for a good bass sound to the audience, but frankly, I don't see that as my responsibility (and until now, there was never the need).

Well "live" for me right now is small to medium size clubs with no FOH or vocals only PA. I've hit the small time!

OK, but for a club, that cab might just work as deconstruction tool!!!

I love the sound of my B-18-N so I wanted to experiment with a more modern setup, I'll give this a go and see if I like it live. It's only money.

True, true and true.

 

[mynan]

I see where you could have the need to support the FOH for a good bass sound to the audience, but frankly, I don't see that as my responsibility (and until now, there was never the need).

I agree, it's not you're responsibility or mine...and with a good sound guy it's not necessary, but a lot of sound guys want to keep the bass player in the back of the mix. I think it has a lot to do with the "industry standard" bass brand. You can't bring them toward the front of the mix without a lot of boomy, muddy, mess coming with it, unless the sound guy really knows how to eq it...so it's easier for the sound guy to just leave it toward the back. That's the thing I love most about my MusicMan. It cuts through the mix without bringing a lot of noise...it's also why I don't have to tote my 118 around anymore. Sound guys hear it and it sounds so good in the mix that they aren't afraid to turn it up...and when they do, the bottom-end stays tight.

 

[mynan]

I'll give this a go and see if I like it live. It's only money.

Get ready to wipe a lot of dust off your gear. That thing looks like it would shake the rafters pretty good...

 

[kerrsedbass]

I was just clicking around US Speaker and I think that there may be an 18" in my future. With a tweeter for some high end support. Maybe...

There is a Big Ben at my local music shop I think, so I might just go over and try her out.