apa

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1356022491' post='1905909'] Well so far I have just took some stuff from our set to try which funnily enough opens with Moondance! It is quite an odd set anyway as this band is only just getting going and some of the tracks are just from the singer & guitarist's acoustic duo set, things in the pipe line are very different. Paloma Faith 'stone cold sober' and 'upside down' worked OK Valerie in the Amy Winehouse style worked OK 9-5 Dolly Parton! Moves like jagger Maroon 5 was quite effective Love Cats by The Cure obviously Rolling in the Deep Adele you could play on an elestic band and a shoe box TBH By then my wrist was getting really sore and I gave up for a bit, I am just playing them in the same style really but you could improvise over those if you have more skill than me which would be difficult not to [/quote] Thats an eclectic mix youve got going on! Ive found that pop or rock just doesnt work with an upright. With the obvious exceptions I cant even play it properly. Anything I play on it has to have a swing. I think this is common knowledge. Whats also common knowledge is Im pretty crap to. If we had a 'Whos the crappest' I think I'd win matey A

Thanks iiipopes Yes all these things have been going through my mind. Now you see why a stock shape MM pickup wouldnt do at all! The blades are the simple answer. The big picture is a 5 string fanned fret with a P pickup and twin J's going through a pre. In my simple world I was thinking of wiring th two J's to get that humbucker MM sound and was wondering if the pre made any difference. This would have a big factor since if the pre was a big factor in the sound I would need a passive blend on an MM pre since there are effectivly 2 pickups. If its not I could just go with my favoured pre of a U or J Retro. I was considering bespoke pickups so the spacings would be correct but some fanned frets have perpendicular pickups. No sweet spot then! Looks like you managed to use stock size pickups from your bridge mods. I wont have the problem of mountings since all this will be hidden inside the body. So no casings needed. Realy nice job on the build btw. I see you went for the fan to start at the nut as apposed to having the 7th perpendicular. That because of the donor neck? Im aiming for the 7th prep myself. How was it getting hold of strings? Im assuming since the E was 34" you could use standard sets? I should have said all this in the first place shouldnt I!! A

Pete what stuff are you playing on your new girl? I could do with a few things to play along to. A

[quote name='fumps' timestamp='1356014884' post='1905735'] Yeh I got better when I played by sound rather than looking at the neck.......It's just a lovely way to play. The thing i really love about the Stagg is when i get up early in the summer I plug the earphones in & go & play out in the garden.....It's just the nicest way to play bass. Outside in the warm morning sunshine through earphones. It's a feeling of freedom I've never felt before when playing [/quote] Naked? A

As fumps says just get some thin foam style wrapping and bandage the post inside the body. Just make sure it can still pull out. As for string damping........................ [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/160704-accessorise-your-eub-with-this-seasons-must-have-string-damper/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/160704-accessorise-your-eub-with-this-seasons-must-have-string-damper/[/url] A

[quote name='Subthumper' timestamp='1355945968' post='1904942'] No, what I said was I did'nt think you needed a mm preamp. On my bass the pickup sounds the same with or without the active eq. I think the mm eq is +- 15dB at 100hz and 5 or 10khz (someone please correct me). Its the humbucking/out of phase and the pickups design and construction that makes its noise. If your so keen on that sound why not just get a MM pickup and save all the grief of trying to make something that isnt a mm be something its not? [/quote] gahh!! Sorry I missed out the '[i]Doesnt[/i]' [quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1355946830' post='1904954'] J-pickups are RWRP to begin with. All the OP needs to do is wire them together. That's a start, but it will still sound like a J with more midrange. Compared to a true MM pickup: The placement of the pickup is close, but still different. The coil geometry (width, height, number of turns of different kind of wire) is different. With the polepieces, being a single large slug per string per coil, the tone has more "attack" than a J-pickup; And so on. [/quote] Good stuff I cant use a stock pickup though. Its going to be a fan fret so I was thinking of 2 jazz types side by side at an angle. Im not actually looking for 'That MM sound' just something close. Thats why I thought an MM pre would do something for it. Seems not though. Since they will be custom made I could have them made with the big MM cores and windings and use a J-Retro. That would make life alot easier for me actually. A

The question still remains do I need an MM Pre to get close to an MM sound? Subthumper seems to suggest so. Anyone else? A

[quote name='stoker' timestamp='1355915841' post='1904308'] If you had one of the J coils reverse wound you couold have the switch as series/parallel/coil tap for even more options. [/quote] Thats exactly the plan. A nice switch for you to play with to BTW Mums the word because you know what this is about [quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1355918115' post='1904374'] Something like this? [/quote] Thats it in principal yep but not in practice [quote name='ikay' timestamp='1355920157' post='1904439'] Not quite. As stoker says, the stingray pup position falls between the 2 J pups. See measurements below for comparison. These are measured from the centre of the 12th fret to the centre of the polepieces in mm. MM Stringray 5 - 332 neck coil / 356 bridge coil Fender Jazz (60s spacing) - 277 neck / 367 bridge Fender Jazz (70s spacing) - 277 neck / 377 bridge Fender Precision - 281 G D coil / 309 A E coil [/quote] I will probably plump for the MM position and thanks for that very usefull info A

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1355916607' post='1904331'] seeing that you are going to buy atleast one jazz pup, or possibly two in one housing, rout a hole in a body and so on.... have you seen the delano hybrid pickup? [/quote] Unfortunatly these will be very bespoke. Nothing on the market will fit for reasons Im not prepared to divulge at present but thanks for the heads up Ill need either a custom made Humbucker or custom made J's. Niether with housings and with specific spacings. A

[quote name='Prime_BASS' timestamp='1355914714' post='1904271'] I think in the 60's position, the bridge pickup up is in a similar position to the bottom coil on an MM stingray. [/quote] Thats what I wanted to hear A

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1355913096' post='1904233'] dont forget the pickup placement [/quote] That is another consideration. Placing the twin Jazz in the MM position is OK but would one ofn them still be in the Jazz position!!!! A

[quote name='Subthumper' timestamp='1355910396' post='1904200'] I think the Ray sound is more to do with the actual pickup and the out of phase created by the two coils so you should get pretty close using two single coils as a humbucker. Its certainly the case with my five string, got a seymour basslines MM5 replacement pup and a John East U retro deluxe and it sounds like a Ray in active or passive mode. Personally not a fan of onboard eq so might ditch the u retro. There are some sounds you just cant eq its got to be created by the pickup. Good luck cheers Just [/quote] Ahh now thats interesting! So your still getting an MM sound through a U Retro. But you are using an MM pickup rather than Jazzes! That would actually be more convenient using a U Retro. BTW If this would work I may be interested in it A

Yep Thats exactly what Im thinking of. I know of the twin Jazz config but I didnt know if it did do an MM sound. Thats why Ill be adding the MM pre or is it all in the pups? A

If I put two Jazz bridge pickups together, wire them through a 3way switch to get series/parallel/single then sent that through a MM style preamp would I get something close to a Stingray sound with the added option of the Jazz sound when switched to single? Obviously it wont be smack on but something akin to it. To my mind the Ray sound is alot to do with the Pre? If the answer is no then why and what would (Other than the obvious) and if the answer is yes which Jazz pickups would be best to use. Cheers in advance :¬D A

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1355598572' post='1900500'] Don't rush to change the strings, they might be just fine. And if you do want to change them, check the DB for sale forum in BassChat first as there are bargains to be had [/quote] [quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1355599775' post='1900519'] My teacher should be able to tell me if they are ok or not, what about a bow then? [/quote] Absolutely. I only changed mine since they literaly did have lumps in the winding. They still arent of a high quality but what do you expect. A

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1355595023' post='1900423'] Looks like I am going to be busy! Just how low should I get the strings to the board at the nut? I don't want to overdo it. Hopefully I can get on with the strings for now until the pot looks a bit fuller, but what should I be putting on it? Thanks [/quote] Well Im no luither but I treated it like any other fretless. I eventually cut them to zero and it plays all the better for it. Strings are an each to his own thing of course but since this was all new to me I plumped for some TI Spirocore's. I figured they were the 'industry standard' so to speak. OK........... sitting down?..................... £130 to you squire A

Im realy pleased with mine but you do have to do a bit of setting up to get them going. 1. Cut the nut so the strings are nice and low on the board. This will make it much easier to play straight since they are big tough old birds to grapple with. 2. I had to cut the D and A notches in the bridge so the contour matched the board. 3. I also wrapped some padding around the post to stop a rattle. 4. The power problem with the pre was cured a long time ago on the early ones so dont worry about that. 5. I swapped the strings straight off. The stock were bent and lumpy so useless. 6. It takes a bit of EQ to get a good sound out of it. Boost lower mids and upper treble. Cut the lower bass. Dont bother with the 'Bass boost'. 7. Have a good read of the Stagg EUB Mega Thread on TB. 8. A few have been prone to the machine heads snapping if knocked. Mine have been fine and stock cheapos can be used to replace the ears and stems. Only the posts are bespoke. 9. Its an expensive hobby - Look at the price of strings just for starters so dont go getting too much GAS I think thats covers what I did with it. A

Nother amazing icon gone. I saw him back in about 1989. The most amazing concert Ive ever seen. He could literally make a sitar talk. He was telling tales and jokes on it. Seriously. I will never forget that evening. Thank you Ravi. RIP A

Twas a good night. Well probably still is but unfortunatly its a school night for me so back early. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARNEY A

[quote name='3below' timestamp='1355175495' post='1895137'] Try a simple low damage method. If the lines are plastic inserts, get a black or brown (depending on ebony colour) permanent marker pen ( [url="http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?hl=en&q=staedtler+permanent+marker&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bpcl=39650382&biw=1092&bih=505&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=6895590855099130917&sa=X&ei=31XGUNSZO4qK0AXL8oDoAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CF8Q8wIwBA"]Staedtler[/url] ). This used carefully will colour the lines for a long time. Re-apply as and when. [/quote] Simple, cheap, effective, repeatable and non destructive. Exellent suggestion. Have a gold star A

My experience with ebony is its very odd wood. More like working with charcoal with no grain. Be very carefull - it chips easily. A

Or fill with ebony veneer A

[quote name='stoker' timestamp='1355150691' post='1894639'] This is turning in to a very silly thread. Still a bit of silliness is always fun! [/quote] I didnt start it honest. They asked so its all thier fault A

Aww bless him. A true institution. RIP Sir Patrick. He seems to have been around as long as the Universe itself! A

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1354826114' post='1891041'] Oh i bet she doesn't like being called that [/quote] She was ok with it once I explained it was said in a post ironic way [quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1354981729' post='1892608'] This is as bad a place as anywhere to say: Apa, you've got the most beeoootiful collection of basses I've seen. Same probably goes for your collection of ex/present/future Mrs APAs Oh, and congrats, Stoker. Have a nice day! best, bert [/quote] Cheers Bass Tractor Heres an early shot with some of my girls including that present one [IMG]http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q491/apasher/PICT00032.jpg[/IMG] Sorry foir hijacking your birthday thread Barney. We'll see you round yours on Monday A