Bonzo

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Look on the bright side, you are half way to 100!!! Wish there was a way to hear the Monty Python theme song when you open this, that would have been so cool! Seriously, have a great birthday, you have earned it!!!

From one "hair lip dog" to another, thanks. It is still a little confusing to me why they would label the same model speakers with different nominal impedence. I don't know of any other manufacturer that does that. It could certainly cause some confusing when matching amps for multiple speakers especially when using the A and B speaker outs. Impedence curves become pretty important even though most modern amps can handle it. Some manufactueres caution against multiple speakers rated at less than 8 ohms, could void the warranty if something happens. Maybe I am over thinking this?

I just picked up a nice pair of Forte' I's in walnut oil. They are clearly marked as 4 ohm on the crossover plate. My last pair of Forte's were 8 ohm and the Klipsch specs say they are 8 ohm. Is this perhaps an early pair or late pair or??? I guess the crossovers would be a little different but what about the drivers? I haven't pulled the drivers out of the cabinet yet. I generally like to leave them alone unless they need fixing. Any help would be appreciated. Mark

One thing you can count on with "Tube Guy", he has no sense humor! I am a big tube fan when it comes to guitar amps, hell I have three of them! My pride and joy is my 1974 SUNN model T head. I also have a Fender Blues Jr., great practice amp, and a Fender Bassman head that needs some work. I just have had too many bad experiences with home tube amps. I am to the point in my life where I like remote control, I like things that last, and I like to have a home stereo that spends more time playing music than sitting in the shop! My days of soldering guns, tube rolling, cap matching, resistor fixing, fuse blowing, ground loops etc., etc., etc., are over! I want to turn it on from my easy chair, and enjoy the music! I think a lot of us enthusiests, me included, spend more time "loving" the equipment than enjoying the music! I am quite happy with, hold on to your valves, my Yamaha RX-777 receiver and my Forte's or my Heresy's. After adding a Synergy Sub-12, I have no complaints and I know it will work tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day.............. My sincere apologies to those I may have offended! ENJOY THE MUSIC!!!

Oh, of course, it's the cheap NAD pre-amp! What were you thinking?

What. someone is not very happy with a wholly of wholly McIntosh tube amp??? He should be drawn and quartered! Of course it's a wiring problem or cap problem or tube problem or your power cord is crap or your speaker wire is sub-standard or you have cheap inter-connects but it can't be that a SS amp sounds as good, maybe better, than a tube amp! Especially, a McIntosh tube amp! It's just not done! Let the Saints preserve us! What ever shall we do???

Hey Stan, How could I forget Mitch Mitchell??? We did "Hey Joe" in the last band I was in and it has always been one of my favorites to play! He is another under-appreciated drummer of that era. Mark

When I first posed the question of who are/were the greatest rock drummers, I was looking at it in several different ways. The question is, how does one define greatness? Is it technical skill, virtuossity, popularity, influence, personality, showmanship, inspiration or a dozen other adjectives that don't come to mind? I tried to look at the big picture from my perspective as a 45 year old garage musician who grew up dreaming of being Ringo Starr, Charlie Watts, John Bonham...... and playing to thousands of adoring fans who could care less if you stunk up the stage with that particular performance!!! They would cheer even if you played half the song in the wrong time or in the wrong key! If you look at this from a musician point of view, you will come up with technically adept, fast, pounding drummers who don't miss a lick. Even the sweat pouring off their brow stays in time! But if you are looking for greatness, look beyond the technical and look to those who inspired millions with their playing and yet were the perfect fit for the best bands to ever hit the stage! I will go out on a limb and say that Ringo Starr inspired more people, mainly kids, to take up playing the drums and who, more than anything else, wanted to be the next Ringo! Call it timing, call it fate, call it what you want, but the fact of the matter is, he was the inspiration of an entire generation of drummers, maybe not pros, but drummers! If that is not greatness than I don't what is!

Point taken but I was trying to illustrate that GREAT bands are a whole unto themselveves. When you chip away at the key parts, all that remains is a shell of it's former self. Some lesser bands can thrive but the real innovators are a whole, a unit if you will. The only great band I can think of that breaks that mold is The Yardbirds. I actually liked them better with Jeff Beck out front. Just my opinion. As far as Ringo. Which of The Beatles, besides McCartney, had the most successful solo career up until John Lennon's death and after??? Answer: Ringo Starr

It is true that the unsung heros are the guys who drive the band. It is our lot in life! Some lead singers and lead guitar players will say the drummers and the bass players can easily be replaced! What I say is Led Zep is not Led Zep without Bonham and/or Jones! The Beatles could have never been The Beatles without Starr and/or McCartney! And, it's my humble opinion that The Stones have not been the same since Bill Wyman left! Were The Who ever the same after Moon died? Certainly not when Entwhistle died! Etc., Etc., Etc......... Where I live, "lead" guitar players are a dime a dozen, good drummers and bass players are like gold! Donald "Duck" Dunn, A Bass GOD!!!

Imagine Led Zep with a different lead singer! The story goes the job was offered to Steve Marriott, RIP, of The Small Faces and later Humble Pie. He turned down the job to form H.P. I guess because he thought Led Zep would go over like a "lead balloon". How things would have been different as then Bonham probably wouldn't have joined without Plant and Jim McCarty, Yardbirds, would have likely been the drummer. Don't know if this is actual history or just legend but it's interesting to me to ponder it, Led Zeppelin without Plant and Bonham, I need to wake up from this nightmare!

LOL, How did I ever forget about Chris Partridge???

Hey Craig, I saw one of Bobby Rock's clinics in Redding California about 4 years ago, AWESOME!!! He can do more on a practice pad with a towel on it than I can do with a whole kit. OK, so maybe thats an exageration. One thing that really impressed me was, he broke his snare head in the middle a song. His tech. came out, removed the snare, replaced it with another and if you didn't see it happen, you wouldn't have known it! He didn't miss a lick with another guy in the middle of his kit removing and replacing a snare, WOW!!! I will certainly check his web page and try to catch another clinic and be humbled once again! Mark

I don't know if it's true, but I hear most replacement diaphragms sold by Klipsch and others are made overseas. I have also had an experience with a new diaphragm from Klipsch for a Cornwall II that was bad when it arrived. The dealer told me they had a bad batch about a year ago and have since fixed the problem. The lead wires on the new ones I have seen are hair thin and I question their durability but what do I know, maybe they are all that way? I will say I have never "blown" a diaphragm but have purchased Heresy II's and Cornwall II's that were gone when I got them. I know how they blew the Corns. A crappy 30 watt SS Sony receiver ran full bore for most of their life. It is likely these tweeks blew the tweeters years ago and didn't know it. It was only until the mids went that they knew something was wrong. They were from 1986 I believe and withstood almost 20 years of abuse when I got them. I would say that speaks volumes for their durability and quality! Sure wish I still had them!!! Mark

Hey Olorin, You are correct, I confused Carter Beauford with Dennis Chambers, it must be old age or something. Carter Beauford is awesome, and so is Dennis Chambers! Chambers played with Steely Dan on their Alive in America tour. He was also in Funkadelic and John Schofield's band! More of a Jazz/Funk drummer but did great work with Steely Dan. I will have to correct my initial list. If you ever get a chance to go to a clinic by Bobby Rock, I would hughly recommended it. He is an outstanding drummer with some wicked feet! I think he uses about twelve different pedals for various things. He did some work with Nelson, Ricky's kids, but I'm not sure of any other artist he played with, maybe Victor Wooten? The guy will make you want to burn your sticks and take up the harp! Hey, at least it's a lot less equipment to haul![]

I guess I never did dig Moon's style of playing, I don't know why. I think Pete Townshend is a musical genious but The Who were never my favorite band, I do have several of their albums and cd's though. A buddy of mine went to a Zep concert in L.A. where Moon made a guest appearance. I guess he was drunk and/or loaded off his A**! Supposedly they had to carry him off the stage. Wish I would have been there! Aynsley Dunbar was in Mayalls band when he had Peter Green, my favorite rock gutarist, and John McVee on bass. Great classic Brit. blues! I will have to dig out my Zappa albums to see which ones he played on. I am pretty certain he was the drummer on (').

Hey Michael. Hit the nail on the head with The Mothers.... How about John Mayall's alum.? One of the most under rated drummers IMHO is Aynsley Dunbar, despite the fiasco with Journey. Probably Bonhams biggest influence! I saw him with Eric Burdon about 3 years ago and man has he got some chops! He made that little 4 piece Yammy kit explode! Listen to some of the stuff he did with Zappa, tight man tight!!

If we are talking Jazz drummers, that's a whole different animal! I listened to and tried to copy Joe Morello, Max Roach, Gene Krupa,, Omar Hakim, Billy Cobham and of course Buddy Rich! There are certainly others but these are the guys that got me interested in trying Jazz beats. If I were to go onto the top 20 Rock Drummers certainly Hayward, Copeland, Palmer, Moon, Fleetwood, Keltner, and Aronoff would be represented. How about drummers that lead the band like, Phil Collins, Don Henley, Carmine Appice, (already mentioned), and Levon Helm, OK maybe not the leader of "The Band" but certainly the glue! Maybe be I should have started this as my "favorite" Rock Drummers?

I never got into Keith Moon. The only Who song I have covered in the countless bands I have been in is Pinball Wizard, pretty basic. While he is a great showman, probably second to Pete in The Who, I just feel he was all over the place with his playing. Ringo was the reason I started playing and hey, he was in that moderately popular band from England. Jim Capaldi is one of the best time keepers I have ever heard. Just listen to some of the original Traffic stuff like" Dear Mr. Fantasy." Come on, Ginger Baker? Dust off the Blind Faith album and listen to "Do What You Like." Nuff Said..... Oh, Dennis Chambers is Dave Matthews drummer, he's awesome!

For what it's worth, here's my list of the top ten Rock Drummers of all time, in no particular order except for number 1! 1. John "Bonzo" Bonham 2. Aynsley Dunbar 3. Bill Bruford 4. Ginger Baker 5. Jim Capaldi 6. Ringo Starr 7. Charlie Watts 8. Carmine Appice 9. Neil Peart 10. Dennis Chambers Honorable mention to Doug "Cosmo" Clifford. I respect all these drummers for the different aspects they have brought to how I approach playing. Some would argue with Ringo Starr being a great drummer. How many of us picked up the sticks after seeing Ringo on The Ed Sullivan Show? Count me as one! Sitting above the rest on that riser and looking like he is just having a ball, that's for me. Inspiration counts for a lot, but, BONZO IS KING!!!

Hey Erik, thanks for the info., Bruford is in my top 10 of favorite drummers. I will surely ad that to the collection! Oh, Alan White can't carry his sticks!!! Cheers

I would agree with the good Dr. If using a sub, the advantages of the better compression driver out-weigh the floor standers bottom end. I have a pair of RB75's and use them in a bedroom system. Give them about 100 hrs. of break-in and they are good to go! The bass will not rattle your windows but the sub will take care of that. Good luck with your decision and Enjoy the Music!

Maybe I grew up? I just turned 45 and decided to enjoy the music, not the equipment! I am very happy with my system, which is fairly simple , not real expensive, and sounds great to me! As far as Tubes vs SS, give me my tube SUNN guitar head and two JBL D130's and a Tele' for the stage. For home, a Yamaha receiver, a pair of Heresy's with a Sub-12 and a Sony multi- changer with outboard DAC. Bottom line, IMHO, tubes for live guitar, SS for home and bass. Just my two cents worth.

http://www.craigslist.org/eby/ele/98909432.html Looks like a nice pair of Corns for a decent price!

Strictly based on my own experience, given the proper set-up, you can't beat a K-horn!