JessRobinson
Well-known member
Wow. Just got back from my first opportunity to play my Big Al at gig volume. She (he?) arrived from Bass Central on Tuesday, and I’ve been playing it through my headphone unit since then. But tonight was jam room night at Pete’s. Holy guacamole.
I started out in passive mode, which is new for me since I’ve been playing my Sterling 4H and Bongo 4HH exclusively for the past four years. Chunky and chewy tone, definitely sounded like a P Bass. Turned the tone pot all the way to treble and it still rumbled. Yowza.
Then I went into active mode and went to series, with all three pickup selectors up (off). Definitely brighter, more punch, but still monster low end. I boosted the mids a bit, and even rolled off some bottom. As the night went on and the volume went up, I had to keep rolling off the low end. Before I knew it, I had the low end all the way down, and it was still shaking the room.
I also tried the middle and bridge pickups and that sounded awesome too. Lots to play with here.
The ergonomics are top-notch. The neck was like buttah (as they say) and the bass was so nicely balanced it felt like part of my body. No fighting it all night like some basses.
Now my rig may be predisposed to project lots of low end – SWR 700 Bass with their top end 2x10 and 1x15 cabs, coming out the corner of a rectangular room. But my Sterling, which is incredible too, never thundered like this.
The Big Al is a beast to be tamed. A few pix of the beautiful beast are attached.
I started out in passive mode, which is new for me since I’ve been playing my Sterling 4H and Bongo 4HH exclusively for the past four years. Chunky and chewy tone, definitely sounded like a P Bass. Turned the tone pot all the way to treble and it still rumbled. Yowza.
Then I went into active mode and went to series, with all three pickup selectors up (off). Definitely brighter, more punch, but still monster low end. I boosted the mids a bit, and even rolled off some bottom. As the night went on and the volume went up, I had to keep rolling off the low end. Before I knew it, I had the low end all the way down, and it was still shaking the room.
I also tried the middle and bridge pickups and that sounded awesome too. Lots to play with here.
The ergonomics are top-notch. The neck was like buttah (as they say) and the bass was so nicely balanced it felt like part of my body. No fighting it all night like some basses.
Now my rig may be predisposed to project lots of low end – SWR 700 Bass with their top end 2x10 and 1x15 cabs, coming out the corner of a rectangular room. But my Sterling, which is incredible too, never thundered like this.
The Big Al is a beast to be tamed. A few pix of the beautiful beast are attached.
