Leslie speakers and Bass

gbazinet · #1 08-12-2010, 07:35 PM

Anyone ever use a Leslie with a bass? I have a 145 i always wanted to play through. Only trouble is i need one of those trek pre amps. Mines got a big old Jensen 15in speaker and a tube amp with two 6550's. You would think that should sound pretty cool right?

Jeff Scott · #2 08-12-2010, 07:49 PM

I did use a Leslie back in the early '70s, mostly for recordings.

D.M.N. · #3 08-12-2010, 08:13 PM

JPJ on Heartbreaker.

Buster Brown · #4 08-12-2010, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

I did use a Leslie back in the early '70s, mostly for recordings.

yep...me, too....

Played with one live for about a month...then I got tired of the hassle of moving it and said - goodbye.

PolkaHero · #5 08-12-2010, 09:24 PM

I've played my bass through my Leslie 330 (solid state) via a Combo Preamp pedal. I think it sounded pretty good with a nice natural chorus effect in chorale mode! Not enough power and too big to cart around to use on a gig, though.

SurferJoe46 · #6 08-12-2010, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buster Brown

yep...me, too....

Played with one live for about a month...then I got tired of the hassle of moving it and said - goodbye.

Did you actually feel it worked for a bass?

I've got the two my mom had in Minden, Nevada and I've been thinking about getting them and bringing them home to here.

I have hard the effect is rather lost on a bass though since the low notes don't seem to have any directionality and the swirl isn't as effective at low freqs.

beans-on-toast · #7 08-12-2010, 09:50 PM

I have two stacked 145's that I have used as an effect for bass. I don't have a trek pre, I use various tube pre-amps or run into an aux in on my Hammond organ. The Leslie power amp uses two 6550 tubes and puts out about 40 watts. You don't get much volume.

The swirling effect is more pronounced in the mids but it can be used with the motors off as well. Organs can pump out a lot of bass and it comes out fine through the leslie.

When it comes to bass though, I find that it's more of a good effect for recording than it is a useful bass amp.

rbonner · #8 08-12-2010, 10:00 PM

I've tried a Leslie with bass in the 70's as in Heartbreaker. The Les needs to be miced with bass and if you crank them too much you blow out the Jensen... For Organ they will get quite loud and that's where they belong.

I had the Behringer Bass V amp Pro preamp for a while and it had an electrical leslie mode built in. It was a lot lighter and a lot cheaper (like 100 bucks).

PLEASE, no matter what you do, don't tear up any dual level leslie cabs (as in separate horn and woofers) These things are expensive and they can be restored to new by talented hands.

I'm a B3 band type guy and there's only one organ that was ever built and it comes with a Leslie. I'd throw my own kid under a B3 to protect it if it was going down.

BOB

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHq4l...next=1&index=4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5j8J...eature=related

Mark Olson · #9 08-13-2010, 12:11 AM

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...songID=9521074

My brother gave me a Rotary Wave with a Jensen Mod 10" 50 Watt speaker in it. Here's a clip of it on bass, SG Bass, bridge pickup. Single mic (mono). Sorry for the innocuous playing, I'm not feeling very inspired by the tone. A little too much doppler effect for me, and it's late so I won't crank my amp through it.

Anyways, I could see how this or an even better rotating speaker system would have it's use on bass.

Buster Brown · #10 08-13-2010, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SurferJoe46

Did you actually feel it worked for a bass?

I've got the two my mom had in Minden, Nevada and I've been thinking about getting them and bringing them home to here.

I have hard the effect is rather lost on a bass though since the low notes don't seem to have any directionality and the swirl isn't as effective at low freqs.

No, they work just fine, but like anything else, it tends to get old pretty fast. Couple that with the idea of moving the heavy bastard (147?) and, at least for me, wasn't worth it.

lbwdog · #11 08-13-2010, 05:33 AM

Not worth the trouble IMO. The effect would be more pronounced on higher freqs and can be approximated electronically on bass for all intents and purposes.

If you already have one, get a nice B-3 to go with it and call yourself blessed!

gbazinet · #12 08-13-2010, 05:48 AM

I agree, i wouldn't tear up any Leslie. I spent about a year trying to find one that i could afford but also wasn't a basket case. Not easy in northern New England.

chadds · #13 08-13-2010, 09:25 AM

Great for home and recording. So tubey and nice. Used a Fender without a lot of serious low end. Sounded great. Lows could make cab rattle. Not worth moving but nice effect. More real of course than any pedal..