mcnach

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1352317945' post='1861644'] An LED A [/quote] no kidding, I thought about it for a minute!

[quote name='steve-soar' timestamp='1352314540' post='1861562'] Just watched both bands. One was a band and the other was a bland. [/quote] funny, that's just what I said... I was going to watch something with my gf when we noticed Soundgarden on JH's. We watched that. Ok. I was not in love but I quite enjoyed it. Then the other guy/band/bland came in... and she looked at me like "can we watch something else now?". "Bland" was the adjective we used to describe them too. It sounded like... another hundred similar "bands", same voice, same sound, same lyrics... totally uninspiring.

Aha! It lives!!!!!!!!!!!! I wrongly wired the - wires of the coils at the - terminal of the preamp, when they should be grounded directly and instead take a wire from the parallel/series switch to the - of the preamp (which I had grounded by mistake). It now works... and it's mighty The only question left is... what to fill the hole left by the preamp off/on/boost switch with. I'll probably just put a dummy switch there.

[quote name='vegas j' timestamp='1352287147' post='1861027'] I've just spent 68 pounds on a peavey 300 combo off of Ebay! Sounds good, and for that money id say its a bargain! [/quote] I think the zombies agree with you

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1352168216' post='1859693'] I cannot test it right now but... I have an idea: the cable I took to ground from the parallel/series switch... should probably go to the negative terminal in the preamp, not to the common ground. I suspect I have a "simulation of a broken pickup" with my present wiring. I hope this is it, as it'd be easy to fix! Tomorrow... [/quote] No, it wasn't that I must have made a silly mistake somewhere... but I can't see it. So, time to remove the whole thing and start again, carefully.

[quote name='JohnFitzgerald' timestamp='1352204905' post='1859979'] Spoke too soon. Went to pick it up at lunchtime. The only thing missing was a pair of green tights and a quiver of arrows to wear whilst playing it. Yes, the neck had a bit of a shape to it. Who knows, it might well have adjusted iut, but then again it might not at which point I'm stuck with it. Walking away is sometimes the best approach. Next !! [/quote] it did seem a little cheap... pity. hey, want a great one with all those mods already in place? I believe 'wildman' is still selling my old one.

I cannot test it right now but... I have an idea: the cable I took to ground from the parallel/series switch... should probably go to the negative terminal in the preamp, not to the common ground. I suspect I have a "simulation of a broken pickup" with my present wiring. I hope this is it, as it'd be easy to fix! Tomorrow...

No, and this is not the usual "it's a bit quiet compared to other basses". It's almost silent.

I'm sure I must have done something wrong, especially considering I wrote down the wiring a few days ago while I was very ill... Anyway, I finally went ahead to install the John East Stingray 3-band preamp into my Tribute G&L L2000... I gutted it, removing everything except the pickup switch and the series/parallel switch, and stacked the MMSR on top of that. As the pickups were already wired to a couple of switches all I had to deal with were: the hot output from the pickup switch, which I fed into the + terminal of the preamp (the pickup hot wires go to the series/parallel swith, and the output into the pickup selector switch). there was a ground cable from the series/parallel switch. Connected to a common ground ring. the - wires from each pickup were joined together and connected to the - terminal of the preamp. Each pickup has an additional shielding wire. I connected them to the common ground ring. Then I rewired the jack socket as per the MMSR's (the L2000 uses a side mounted barrel type), and joining there the common ring grounds and the ground cable from the bridge. When I tried it... I got no sound Actually, I did... but it was so low it took me a while to realise it. I turned up fully my practice amp, and what should have been really loud for the house turned to be just about as loud as a whisper. Enough to verify everything worked... the switches, the EQ, everything... just at extremely low volume. So, what did I do wrong? Any hints before I disassemble the whole thing and I start a systematic aproach building it up one bit at a time? (very slow) To summarise: negative from each pickup joined together and fed to preamp - positive(s) from each pickup fed into series/parallel switch and then into a pickup selector switch. Output fed to preamp + grounds directly to jack socket: pickup shields, bridge, and wire from series/parallel switch (originally wired to the back of a pot)

[quote name='StephenFerguson' timestamp='1352123758' post='1858964'] Dont do, the original SUB series is far superior and CAN be found for about £50 more, same spec and build of the american MM's just with less finish and therefor less man hours spent, so they could sell it for cheaper. In the end this stoped being cost effective and the range was discontinued and the inferior sterling came about. IMHO the matt black, plain original sub looks bad ass aswell! [/quote] I agree. The original SUBs are fantastic. If I hadn't bought a Stingray already when I got my SUB, I'm not sure I would have bought a Stingray at all. Probably another SUB and use the change to replace my amp or something like that.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1352112921' post='1858751'] Stop giving me gas! (although the neck on that one was *slightly* too chunky for me... ...doesn't mean I'm not lusting after one though ) [/quote] It is the chunkiest neck I own right now, and it does feel a bit... hefty. But you soon get used to it, unless you are a Jazz-only type of person. It has a very huge, unique and lovely kind of sound.

somebody mentioned my name? [quote name='StephenFerguson' timestamp='1352139225' post='1859264'] £80? Bargain! I would def get the big round plate MM bridge as I think these fit on the OLP without routing. [/quote] They fit but leave a small gap (about 4mm) between the pickguard and the neck. The pickup routing is pretty large on these basses, so it's usually easy to move the pickup up a bit and close teh gap a little. If you want it to close perfectly you need to enlarge the routing a little bit to move the pickup upwards a little, towards the neck. But... £80??? Bargain!!! It looks in good condition! 'wildman' is selling one here in BC that used to be mine, and was just like this one when I bought it. I had some work done on mine: got it set up which involved fret levelling, I had a new nut installed and also rolled the fingerboard edges a bit... then a Basslines SMB4A turned the bass into a veritable beast. I don't like the original pickups on these at all. Put a SMB4A there and smile . I also put a 3-band Seymour Duncan preamp, the STC-3M3 (or something like that). I spent more than you did on my OLP, and then the extras added up quite a bit... but it was well worth it. £80? Great score! I still have one OLP left. This one is still passive, but I did change the pickup, which I think it's the least you can do to it. Tommorichards of this parish was assembling and selling clones of the 2EQ Stingray preamp... that would be a great addition to the OLP too! I got one, and it's going to go on my OLP.

[quote name='Earbrass' timestamp='1352134597' post='1859178'] If only one of the audience had decided that sitting still and listening was too "boring" a way of experiencing a lecture, and had instead opted for shoving a huge custard pie into the speaker's pretentious smug face. [/quote] smug? did we watch the same video?

[quote name='Mikey R' timestamp='1352113186' post='1858761'] Hey all, does anyone have off days / weeks / months? Like, practicing just makes everything worse and you just get frustrated? I feel like Ive been in this rut for a couple of months now, I thought I was just not practicing enough but practice just doesnt help. Got no control over the strings, my quarter notes are all different lengths, cant seem to hit the strings with the same velocity each note, the ghost notes dont sound, and I keep forgetting what section of the song comes next. Its like my muscle memory has gone to pot. Someone please tell me it'll pass some time soon cos Im really not enjoying it right now! [/quote] is this you? [url="http://youtu.be/9DbUPjEbIvA"]http://youtu.be/9DbUPjEbIvA[/url]

[quote name='bassman344' timestamp='1352139059' post='1859262'] Take the plunge and grin benz. [/quote] did you get a discount in exchange for this? I really must try GB... I like what I have, but I am not "in love", if you know what I mean... and the more I look around, the more it looks like GB would make me smile

oh, another one like a million before it, goody!

I already bought "Rage"... loving it.

very nice!!! Thanks, I didn't know these guys!!!

[quote name='bassman344' timestamp='1352054116' post='1858231'] Thanks to everyone for their input here. Despite this I have decided not to go with Behringer. I went with Genz Benz and it has been the best decision I have made since selling the whole stable and buying a Dingwall ABII. Played first gig with it and it is unbelievable how easy it is to be very loud and overbearing with very little on the volume control. Not sure if it's the amp and cab alone, or because it's teamed with a fantastic bass; but nevertheless - money very well spent. Certainly not my sleek tickling of the (Ernie) balls. . . . . . . . but it sounds incredible. [/quote] Which Genz Benz did you go for in the end? I have my eyes on a couple of things in the GB stable.

I read great things about the Sterling SUB but haven't managed to try one yet... For me the Jazz-like neck is a bit of a negative point. ONly a bit, I have a couple of Jazz basses and it's fine... but I do prefer something a bit more meaty, neck-wise. If you consider Stingray-type basses, don't ignore the original US SUB ones. There was a beautiful all black one here a few days ago for £320, and you often see them for £350 or thereabouts, and that's a superb bass. Or get a CV50, and add a Stingray pickup to it with a MMSR preamp

[quote name='buff' timestamp='1351991033' post='1857714'] I love my 50's CV as well, but found it lacking a little. In the end i put two bartolini pick ups meant for a rickenbacker. Will at some point get another one. [/quote] At one point I thought of putting an MM pickup on mine. But then I thought I had already enough Stingray-territory basses

[quote name='Huge Hands' timestamp='1351683343' post='1854065'] I used to agree with this until someone pointed out that if a drunken punter caught your lead and yanked it - might be better to have the plug just pull out of the socket (jack) that throw your stack across the room with a locked connector (Speakon). This happened to me once, so it definitely gave me food for thought.... [/quote] I have a special "look" I save for people coming too close to my gear. It seems to deter them.

I think you get this issue sometimes when the pole pieces are ground together with the ground of the pickup... so when installing the preamp one should separate those and only feed the preamp with the negative (from the pickup) and not the ground from the polepieces...