Connect with us

Gear Reviews

Gear Impressions and Luthier Spotlight With Jake Wolf: Acme Systems Low B-112 Cabinet

Published

on

Review by Jake Wolf –

Email Jake | Read More Reviews

Acme Low B-112 “Flat Wound” System

Frequency Response: 31 Hz to 4 kHz
Sensitivity: 91.1 dB 1 watt/1 meter
Size: 23 x 15.75 x 16.5 (D) inches
Power handling: 350 watts RMS
Loading Method: Helmholtz Resonator
Recommended amplifier power: 400-500 watts
Impedance: 4 or 8 ohms
Weight: 37 lbs
Accepts Neutrik Speakon and/or 1/4” plug

Among the hordes of boutique full-range bass cabs on the market today, many of which boast ruler-flat frequency response or various types of extended top end zing, it’s easy to forget that for a long time we bassists were content with the simplicity and coherence of well designed one-way systems. B15 combos, SVT 810 cabs, and folded horn type cabs created the old school bass tone benchmarks that few current offerings aim to reproduce. Recently, Andy Lewis of Acme Systems released a cool tribute to the cabs of yesteryear, successfully fusing old school sensibilities with modern technology.

Acme’s series II bass cabs have long been revered by loyal users, especially by the sub-happy bottom dwellers and those valuing natural fullness and depth over hyped treble response. His new series III cabs include such refinements as improved bracing (incorporating the port itself into the actual bracing mechanism for example, which Lewis says allows the cab to be lighter and stronger), quieter ports (Lewis states that rounding the edges on the internal port opening also makes the box stronger, and makes the port operate more quietly at higher volume), new finish, and new hardware. Never before has there been an Acme cab available with 12” drivers, nor one with neo speakers. As the “flatwound system” moniker implies, this cabs strength lies in the lower portion of the tonal scale. Not exactly a subwoofer as some might be inclined to think, the cab is designed around the parameters of its proprietary Eminence driver, optimized and tuned to squeeze the greatest low end performance out of a small-ish 1×12 loaded enclosure. The cab utilizes Acme’s duratex finish, which felt rugged and road worthy, and I appreciated its durable, high quality hardware.

Compared to a couple of my favorite 112 cabs, the Low B-112 has a pillowy depth that the others single 12’s couldn’t quite achieve. The Low B-112 moves a truly impressive amount of air for a 112 cab, and has a plump thickness and wooly thud that extends sweetly into the mids. Sounding quite pleasant in that range, its roundness was reminiscent of a vintage Ampeg B-15, one of the most revered studio amps of all time. Part of the reason that a mic’d B-15 is still a studio champ is its extremely smooth and coherent transition into the midrange. When properly mic’d, they sit in a track like Velcro, and have an evenness and focus that many modern day full range systems (many of which aim to provide wide, flat response) do not deliver. There is an elegant simplicity to the Low B’s sound, and it gets the job done excellently without extending itself beyond its range of usefulness, especially in an R&B or Motown setting. Cranking the treble knob on my active basses reveals just how limited the output is in the upper range, again reinforcing that this cab is not necessarily going to appeal to those seeking the twinkly, sparkly tone of hi-fi tweeter equipped cabs. As a self indulgent side note, I gotta say, if I were putting together a modular rig for a reggae band, I would love to hear 4 of these guys thumping away behind me.

As with Acme’s earlier cabs, to get the best performance out of the Low B-112, a higher than usual power requirement is needed. Many Series II users lament the performance of their cab only to discover a hidden beast that reveals itself when the cab is fed a high amount of headroom. Luckily, Acme’s great owners manual and website covers this topic thoroughly. Speaking of which, the cabs included literature was a totally refreshing and pleasant read. A nice departure from both the hype driven “magazine ad” style info sheet, or the dry and sterile “spec sheet only” type literature, Acme’s manual was chock full of easily understood suggestions and useful info that are sure to help the end user get the most out of the cab.

One of the coolest thing about the Low B-112 is the “booty to schlep” ratio (you heard it here first folks). I’d be hard pressed to mention a cab with this much boom that was as easy to move. I loved the top mounted handle. Spring loaded and feeling very sturdy, my only gripe was with its raised profile. This might be problematic for proper seating of some heads, especially the modern lightweight variety. My Mark Bass LMII teetered a bit on the handle, rather than sitting squarely on its four rubber feet. (Acme responds: when designing a loudspeaker to provide great sound, the challenge is to find a way to install a handle that doesn’t detract from the sound, and “does the patient no harm”. As stated in the manual, there is a great advantage to placing a large mass on the cab anyway, to stabilize the system, and anchor it to the floor. the handle offers a subtle hint that you might want to put a heavy equipment rack, small child, or other massive object on top, and then place your featherweight amp on top of that.”)

Acme points out that in the near future, this cab will be available with an optional co-axial tweeter, or as an easily installed upgrade to an existing Low B-112, (one that promises to be easily done by the customer themselves with a minimum of effort or technical knowledge).

More info is available on Acme’s website http://www.acmebass.com/ which also features hours of useful and interesting reading and educational material. MSRP for the Low B-112 is $499

Jake Wolf welcomes your comments and questions… drop him a line

Bass Videos

Review: CrystalBright Rombo Picks

Published

on

Review: CrystalBright Rombo Picks

CrystalBright Rombo Picks

PR Sample

Playing bass with a pick is still a touchy subject in our community. I believe you should be able to use whatever you need to get your sound. Even though I mostly play with my fingers, I like to check out innovative new picks that might have something new to offer, sonically speaking.

Judith and Carlos from Rombo recently contacted me about a new material called CrystalBright that they have been researching for the last 12 months and offered to send some prototype picks. After trying them out, I put together this video with my findings.

For more info check out @rombopicks

Continue Reading

Gear

New Joe Dart Bass From Sterling By Music Man

Published

on

Sterling by Music Man introduces the Joe Dart Artist Series Bass (“Joe Dart”), named after and designed in collaboration with the celebrated Vulfpeck bassist.

Above photo credit: JORDAN THIBEAUX

This highly-anticipated model marks the debut of the Dart bass in the Sterling by Music Man lineup, paying homage to the Ernie Ball Music Man original that all funk players know and love. The bass embodies many of the original model’s distinctive features, from its iconic minimalist design to the passive electronics.

Joe Dart Artist Series Bass

The design process prioritized reliability, playability, and accessibility at the forefront. Constructed from the timeless Sterling body, the Dart features a slightly smaller neck profile, offering a clean tone within a comfortable package. The body is crafted from soft maple wood for clarity and warmth while the natural finish emphasizes the simple yet unique look.

Engineered for straightforward performance, this passive bass features a ceramic humbucking bridge pickup and a single ‘toaster’ knob for volume control. Reliable with a classic tone, it’s perfect for playing in the pocket. The Dart is strung with the all-new Ernie Ball Stainless Steel Flatwound Electric Bass Strings for the smoothest feel and a mellow sound.

Joe Dart Artist Series Bass

The Sterling by Music Man Joe Dart Bass is a special “Timed Edition” release, exclusively available for order on the Sterling by Music Man website for just one month. Each bass is made to order, with the window closing on May 31st and shipping starting in November. A dedicated countdown timer will indicate the remaining time for purchase on the product page. Additionally, the back of the headstock will be marked with a “2024 Crop” stamp to commemorate the harvest year for this special, one-of-a-kind release. 

The Joe Dart Bass is priced at $399.99 (MAP) and can be ordered globally at https://sterlingbymusicman.com/products/joe-dart. 

To learn more about Joe Dart, visit the official Vulfpeck artist site here https://www.vulfpeck.com/.


Continue Reading

Gear Reviews

The Frank Brocklehurst 6-String Fretless Bass Build

Published

on

The Frank Brocklehurst 6 String Fretless Bass Build

A few months ago, my Ken Bebensee 6-string fretted bass needed some TLC. You know, the one rocking those Pink Neon strings! I scoured my Connecticut neighborhood for a top-notch luthier and got pointed to Frank Brocklehurst, F Brock Music. He swung by my place, scooped up the bass, and boom, returned it the next day, good as new. Not only that, he showed up with a custom 5-string fretted bass that blew me away. I couldn’t resist asking if he could whip up a 6-string fretless for me. 

Alright, let’s break down the process here. We’ve got our raw materials: Mahogany, Maple, and Holly. Fun fact – the Mahogany and Maple have been chilling in the wood vault for a solid 13 years. Frank is serious about his wood; they buy it, stash it away, and keep an eye on it to make sure it’s stable.  

First up, they’re tackling the Mahogany. Frank glues it together, then lets it sit for a few days to let everything settle and the glue to fully dry. After that, it’s onto the thickness planer and sander to get it nice and flat for the CNC machine. The CNC machine’s the real star here – it’s gonna carve out the body chambers and volume control cavity like a pro.

While the Mahogany’s doing its thing, Frank goes onto the neck core. Three pieces of quartersawn maple are coming together for this bad boy. Quartersawn means the grain’s going vertical. He is also sneaking in some graphite rods under the fingerboard for stability and to avoid any dead spots. The truss rod is going to be two-way adjustable, and the CNC machine’s doing its magic to make sure everything’s just right.

Screenshot

Now, onto the design phase. Frank uses CAD software to plan out the body shape, neck pocket, chambering, and those cool f-holes. I had this idea for trapezoid F-holes, just to do something different. The CAD software also helps us map out the neck shape, graphite channels, and truss-rod channel with pinpoint accuracy.

Once everything’s planned out, it’s CNC time again. Frank cuts out the body outline, neck pocket, and the trapezoid F-holes. Then it’s a mix of hand sanding and power tools to get that neck just how we like it. Oh, and those f holes? We’re going for trapezoids of different sizes – gotta keep things interesting.

Next step: gluing that neck into the pocket with some old-school hide glue. It’s got great tonal transfer and can be taken apart later if needed. Then it’s onto hand-carving that neck-body transition.

For the custom-made bridge, Frank uses brass for definition and Ebony for tonal transfer and that warm, woody sound.

BTW, for tunes, Frank went with Hipshot Ultralights with a D Tuner on the low B. This way I can drop to a low A which is a wonderful tone particularly if you are doing any demolition around your house! 

Now it’s time for the side dots. Typically, on most basses, these dots sit right in the middle of the frets. But with this bass, they’re placed around the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 12th frets.

Frank’s got his pickup hookup. Since the pickup he was building wasn’t ready, he popped in a Nordstrand blade to give it a whirl.

It sounded good, but I was itching for that single-coil vibe! And speaking of pickups, Frank showed me the Holly cover he was cutting to match, along with all the pink wire – talk about attention to detail!

A couple of things, while it is important for me to go passive, it is equally important for me to just go with a volume knob. Tone knobs are really just low-pass filters and the less in the way of a pure sound for me, the better. 

Finally, it’s string time! As usual, I went for the DR Pink Neon strings. Hey, I even have matching pink Cons…Both low tops and high!

Screenshot

Once we’ve got everything tuned up and settled, we’ll give it a day or two and then tweak that truss rod as needed. And voila, we’ve got ourselves a custom-made bass ready to rock and roll.

I want to thank Frank Brocklehurst for creating this 6 string beast for me. 

Continue Reading

Gear Reviews

Review Transcript: BITE Custom Bass – The Black Knight PP Bass

Published

on

Review - BITE Custom Bass - The Black Knight PP Bass

This is a written transcript of our video review of the BITE Custom Bass Black Knight PP Bass originally published on March 4, 2024

BITE Custom Bass – The Black Knight PP Bass Review…

Bass Musician Magazine did a review on a Steampunk bass from BITE Guitars about three years ago, it was an amazing instrument, and we were very impressed. Now we’re happy to bring you another BITE bass, the Black Knight PP.

Everybody needs a P-type bass, it’s the standard of bass. If you’re recording, they want you to have a P bass. So why not have something that gives you a little more by having two instead of one P pickup. That’s the idea of this bass, it’s the first thing that leaps out: the double P pickup configuration.

Installing two of their 1000 millivolt split-coil pickups, BITE then went one step further and wired them up in a 4-way parallel/series circuit, a look at the controls reveal a 4-way rotary selector:

The first position, marked “B”, gives you the bridge pickup by itself.

The second position, marked “P”, gives you the bridge and neck pickups in parallel mode, that’s the traditional J-type circuit, it reduces output due to the physical law of parallel circuits.

Position number 3 is marked “N”, it gives you the neck pickup by itself.

And finally, number 4, marked “S”, gives your bridge and neck in a series (humbucking) mode which adds up resistances and thus boosts output. The other two controls are master volume and master tone.

What’s more, like every BITE bass, this one also has a reinforced headstock heel designed to give it extra output and sustain. The BITE website features a graph and explanation of what they have done to the heel, as compared to traditional headstocks.

A look at the body reveals a beautiful Black Blast body finish and underneath that we have alder wood. The bass has a matching headstock with a 4-in-line tuner setup and the traditional bite out of it, so everybody will know what kind of bass you’re playing. The pickguard is 3-ply black, the neck is vintage tinted hard maple and it has a satin speed finish at the back which keeps your thumb from sticking.

On top of that, there’s a clear-coated roasted black locust fretboard with black blocks marking the frets. The nut is a black Graph Tec nut, we’ve got diamond dome control knobs, and the tuners are lightweight compacts with cloverleaf buttons and a 1:17 ratio precision gear. The bridge is a Gotoh brass bridge with 19-millimeter string spacing.

Overall measurements: we’ve got a standard 34″ scale, a 1.65″ width nut and a C neck profile. This bass weighs 8.2 pounds, or 3,7 kilograms for our metric friends, and it uses standard 18% nickel silver frets.

Taking a closer look at the sound, this bass is a joy to play. The BITE proprietary 1000 millivolt pickups deliver an extraordinary amount of output which is surprising considering this is a passive instrument. You may even want to set your amp to active mode because of all of the juice you’re getting out of this guy.

The tonal possibilities are very versatile, it’s a straight P if you want but also much more with those different arrangements of the circuitry. So why have multiple basses when you’ve got one that can give you your basic P plus a lot more?

To sum it up, the Black Knight PP is an amazing instrument. The attention to detail that BITE puts into their basses is second to none. This bass is also amazingly balanced and gorgeous to hold and feel with the satin neck finish.

For more information, visit online at bite.guitars/product/black-knight-pp

Continue Reading

Bass Videos

Reviews: Phil Jones Bass Compact Plus 450 and Bass Engine 17

Published

on

Reviews Phil Jones Bass Compact Plus 450 and Bass Engine 17

Phil Jones Bass Compact Plus 450 and Bass Engine 17 Reviews…

In this issue, we take an in-depth look at two new amps from Phil Jones Bass, the Compact Plus 450 and Bass Engine 17.

For more information, visit online at pjbworld.com

Continue Reading