Sterling SUB
- Thread starter Paulstar
- Start date
SBMM
Well-known member
Welcome to the thread and the family!
The satin finishes can be a little testy to clean without polishing them, but, if you want to keep it as 'satin' as possible, clean it with a paper towel and windex. Just don't spray it directly onto the finish, spray it on the paper towel.
The reason for the paper towel is because it has a mildly abrasive property that will help to keep the finish 'dumbed down'. A polishing cloth will do just that, polish the finish.
The satin finishes can be a little testy to clean without polishing them, but, if you want to keep it as 'satin' as possible, clean it with a paper towel and windex. Just don't spray it directly onto the finish, spray it on the paper towel.
The reason for the paper towel is because it has a mildly abrasive property that will help to keep the finish 'dumbed down'. A polishing cloth will do just that, polish the finish.
SBMM
Well-known member
No polishing cloth, unless you want the finish to start getting a gloss to it. Paper Towels and Windex/Glass Cleaner sprayed onto the towels, not directly to the instrument.
Tollywood
Well-known member
Welcome to the forum.
Don't worry about what amps other players use.
They finger differently than you, their strings are
different than yours, they play in different rooms
and with different bandmates than you .... if you
already own the amp or use it on long term loan,
just keep on using it until, if ever, you plug into
something that knox your sox off.
Ultimately, you will own, sequentially, several
amps ... and keep a few of them. Don't rush it !
`
They finger differently than you, their strings are
different than yours, they play in different rooms
and with different bandmates than you .... if you
already own the amp or use it on long term loan,
just keep on using it until, if ever, you plug into
something that knox your sox off.
Ultimately, you will own, sequentially, several
amps ... and keep a few of them. Don't rush it !
`
Last edited:
SugarMaple
Well-known member
Yeah, that is solid advice from Golem. Most of your sound comes from you and your fingers. The bass is the brush you paint with. You've picked a nice one for starting out.
As for amps, if the Carvin is portable enough and loud enough for your playing situations, keep it and play the heck out of it. I have upgraded amps a couple of times in my life - once when I joined my first club-gigging band and had to have more stage volume (I went with a tube Ampeg head and big Ampeg cabinets), and then once more when the lighter, Class D amps came on the market and totally changed the carrying weight to loudness formula (I went with Markbass head and cabinets). Carvin makes pretty good stuff. If it's loud enough and meets your portability needs, keep it and jam. Welcome to the Forum!
As for amps, if the Carvin is portable enough and loud enough for your playing situations, keep it and play the heck out of it. I have upgraded amps a couple of times in my life - once when I joined my first club-gigging band and had to have more stage volume (I went with a tube Ampeg head and big Ampeg cabinets), and then once more when the lighter, Class D amps came on the market and totally changed the carrying weight to loudness formula (I went with Markbass head and cabinets). Carvin makes pretty good stuff. If it's loud enough and meets your portability needs, keep it and jam. Welcome to the Forum!
SugarMaple
Well-known member
Use the Eden a lot for now. Jam, rack up some hours on it. Make note of what features you really like about it, what you don't use much, what you wish it had. That should help inform your decision for purchase of your next amp.
Like Golem posted above, opinions about amps are pretty specific to individual players' tastes, so the goal is to figure out what works best for you as a player. Do you like to use a lot of EQ? Very little EQ? Compression? etc., those are personal preferences. If the Eden you have on loan for now has any of those features, experiment and see what you like. Keep in mind that what sounds good practicing alone can sometimes need a little tweaking in a full band situation.
Practical considerations such as how loud it can get, how heavy it is to carry, will it fit in my vehicle, does it have an XLR-out jack if I play clubs with sound guys, etc., are basics you want to consider and answer for sure when weighing options. You may not need all options right away. The XLR-out doesn't matter a lot if you're not in a situation with a sound man or sound reinforcement.
Carvin generally gives good bang for the buck. I went to their website and checked out the amp you mentioned. That looks like a pretty versatile combo amp that should be loud enough (500 Watts, 2x10 speakers) for band practice and many live situations. You could likely set that next to a loud drummer and get it loud enough to get asked to turn down. At 56 lbs and with its size, it should fit in most car backseats. It's not ultra-light, though. It has a lot more EQ options than I would ever use, but again, that is getting into personal preference territory.
You can always upgrade later if your situation changes, too. Many amps have extra jacks and can accommodate an extension cabinet (a second speaker cabinet - be careful to check and verify ohm resistances if you do that) to get louder if necessary.
Hopefully that helps a little. It's a big topic with a lot of personal preference thrown in. Experiment with what you have on hand, and add to that some research and testing out if possible. Good luck!
Like Golem posted above, opinions about amps are pretty specific to individual players' tastes, so the goal is to figure out what works best for you as a player. Do you like to use a lot of EQ? Very little EQ? Compression? etc., those are personal preferences. If the Eden you have on loan for now has any of those features, experiment and see what you like. Keep in mind that what sounds good practicing alone can sometimes need a little tweaking in a full band situation.
Practical considerations such as how loud it can get, how heavy it is to carry, will it fit in my vehicle, does it have an XLR-out jack if I play clubs with sound guys, etc., are basics you want to consider and answer for sure when weighing options. You may not need all options right away. The XLR-out doesn't matter a lot if you're not in a situation with a sound man or sound reinforcement.
Carvin generally gives good bang for the buck. I went to their website and checked out the amp you mentioned. That looks like a pretty versatile combo amp that should be loud enough (500 Watts, 2x10 speakers) for band practice and many live situations. You could likely set that next to a loud drummer and get it loud enough to get asked to turn down. At 56 lbs and with its size, it should fit in most car backseats. It's not ultra-light, though. It has a lot more EQ options than I would ever use, but again, that is getting into personal preference territory.
You can always upgrade later if your situation changes, too. Many amps have extra jacks and can accommodate an extension cabinet (a second speaker cabinet - be careful to check and verify ohm resistances if you do that) to get louder if necessary.
Hopefully that helps a little. It's a big topic with a lot of personal preference thrown in. Experiment with what you have on hand, and add to that some research and testing out if possible. Good luck!
ksandvik
Well-known member
Eden are good, Carvin good, GK good, MarkBass good, GB good, TC good and so on. It really depends later what kind of colorization or non-colorization you want with your bass sound. Also the cabinets play an important role. And in this age of aging bass players and shrinking stages the weight and size also plays a role.
Lynottfan
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2008
- Messages
- 367
"the biggest boom that takes the least room" that's the saying I heard at a bass show that has stuck with me.
For example a roland bass cube 100 watt combo miked will happily do a pub gig, 150 people plus size room, I set it to the trace elliot setting, using a Stingray and a magic stomp fx box for compression and my sound was damn fine! I had other bass players that night come and speak to me about the sound as they couldn't work out were my great sound was coming from.
I second what Golem said, don't worry about other people's set up, get yours sorted and a sound you can work with, the rest will come in time, experience and a deeper pocket lol.
For example a roland bass cube 100 watt combo miked will happily do a pub gig, 150 people plus size room, I set it to the trace elliot setting, using a Stingray and a magic stomp fx box for compression and my sound was damn fine! I had other bass players that night come and speak to me about the sound as they couldn't work out were my great sound was coming from.
I second what Golem said, don't worry about other people's set up, get yours sorted and a sound you can work with, the rest will come in time, experience and a deeper pocket lol.
I have one of the "little" Edens, a 260. You can push a decent
8 ohm cab with that. Maybe yours is not even so little as mine ?
You can certainly gig a little Eden !
So you wanna learn about amps ? Learn about about speaker
efficiency, typically spec'd as somewhere between 93 and 101
dB. Research the tech details ... no room for that here EXCEPT
you should know that every increase of 3dB in efficiency rating
is the same result as doubling the power output [watts] of an
amp. Also, high efficiency speakers tend to be the high quality
speakers. So .... one can go a looonnng way on 250W. A 250W
head pushing a 99dB rated speaker equals a 1000W amp of a
similar design pushing a 93dB speaker.
I loaded a cab with a 101 dB speaker. Don't hafta lug a lotta
watts to run it. It's rated for 450W max input and I usually run
about half of that from a small head. I have run it on as little
as 100W and it can be driven to a painful level on 100W.
Now you know.
`
