Bass Rig Suggestions for a 1967 Guild Starfire I

Mosthigh

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So I've been racking (no pun intended) my brain about a new bass rig for my newly acquired '67 Starfire I. I currently have a late 90's SWR Silverado Special 2x12, and although the bottom is tremendous and clear, it's very lacking in highs, and the mids are kind of click-y. Although a 2x8 or 2x10 extension cab might solve things, I think I might want to start from scratch.

I've toyed with going the pure vintage route with a Sunn 2000s or Ampeg SVT and cabs (my ears say yes, but my back says no), or maybe a slave power amp with a Alembic F-2B preamp. Then there's the slightly more modern angle, maybe an Aguilar Tone Hammer with the F-2B preamp, or there's the new, cutting edge Mesa TT800 Subway which everyone is raving about, with 2x10 and 1x15 new Mesa 'Ultra-Lite' bass cabs.

As far as tone reference points, I'm not necessarily hung up on a 'classic vintage' tone, BUT I do love the natural round full sound of Phil Lesh, however, I also dig the overdriven Jack Casady sound, and John Entwistle, who is somewhere in between. I would like to incorporate the F-2B preamp, and possibly a SWR Interstellar Overdive into the mix.

I play basically classic/jam/psychedelic rock in mainly small clubs and jam studios, apart from the occasional outdoor gig, so I'm not looking for overkill, but I'd really like to bring out the best in the Bisonic and natural hollow wood tone of the Starfire, and not get the mids and highs swallowed by the drums. Sure, it would probably sound amazing through anything, but a little direction is appreciated. Cheers.
 

fronobulax

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@mellowgerman ?

I'm using the first iteration of a Phil Jones Bass Cub. The tone is good enough but I'm using it because it weighs 12 lbs. I can get away with that because I haven't had to compete play with a drummer in quite some time and most of the time I am playing out I can actually get away with using the B-50 unamplified :) So my requirements are very different from yours :)
 

mellowgerman

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I would make 3 suggestions (in no particular order):

-pair the Alembic F2-B with a modern Crown power amp (which are nice and light)

-Mesa as you mentioned

-find a used USA Eden Highwayman WT-500 (I still kick myself for selling mine for ~$500, ten years ago. They've gone up quite a bit in value!)

Those are what I would recommend, given your parameters, and they should all get you into very Leshy territory (though of course a proper filter preamp will be the missing link if you wanted to nail the tone). Add whichever dirt pedal you like best and you're good to go!

My personal favorite amp in general is the Acoustic 370. Had one that I loved, but sold it when I was moving long-distance and needed to free up space. Luckily they're not super rare so I was able to pick up another one and, after a few months in the shop, it's firing on all cylinders and I still can't figure out why I considered my first one to be expendable when it came to moving!

Of course, if you wanted the old 60's Casady tone, you'd want to track down a Versatone Panoflex or one of several amp models also made by Bonham/AGC in the same era, which got essentially the same circuit, but was branded under a different name. Like my Bonham 213R, which is a tone-monster, though lacking in volume in any large room or outdoor setting.
 

Mosthigh

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Cool. Thanks for the feedback. The Eden head sounds interesting. There's a photo on the Alembic Club site of Phil with his Eden WT800 from around 2010, and you can see his settings, with the 'Enhance' knob all the way on 10, which everyone says is highly unorthodox because although it heavily boosts the bottom end, it seriously cuts the low mids, but he apparently eq's them back in further down the line. Mike Gordon from Phish seems to do something similar with his Eden.

As for Casady, if I could even find a Versatone, or the like, at a reasonable price, I would jump on it and experiment using it as an preamp effect, as he does, but I think the SWR IOD, which Jack had a hand in designing, would be an acceptable substitute (although they're almost as rare).
 
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