mcgraham

Well, I've been in discussions with Silent Fly at SFX Sound, and he's started work on designing this project. It's been developed a bit more to become a preamp/monitor device. I'll keep people posted on it. By the way, big thumbs up for SFX sound! If you guys have any custom sound ideas that you are interested in perhaps making a reality, drop him a line! Fast response, knowledgable, professional, and a host of other complimentary superlatives! Mark

Nottswarwick, sounds great. Drop me a line when you know more I'd love to watch/listen you and your band do a gig. Mark

Nottswarwick, would it be cool for me to join you and Bigredx to try out the Barefaced? Mark

Thanks for your input Steve Some valid points there. TBH, I've not actually encountered a limited passive monitor setup with power cables running from amps at the desk to the monitors on stage. Most setups I've encountered are active monitors, or passive monitors that have power amps on/off stage. In either case, I can/could still intercept the feed on stage. I've actually been in discussions with Silent Fly @ SFX Sound, and we've come up with a set of specs. He'll be giving me a quote shortly. I'm really excited. What we've come up with could replace a host of other devices that I currently use, whilst still satisfying the design brief we set out initially. Hopefully the outlay won't be too bad, as I would love to have this badboy Mark

That is looking seriously hot. Mark

The problem is with a splitter is that there's likely to be some signal loss unless it's being driven in some way, at least that would be understanding. I really want this to be something that is 'just' what I want, and not some compromised approximation. I play in a lot of places where monitoring situations aren't ideal, and where I cannot have my own mix, or I cannot even guarantee a line out for a box such as the micromon. Something that can sit between the desk and an existing monitor without 'damaging' an existing setup is what I'm after.

Thanks Max, I've just emailed you Mark

Bump. Still looking for anyone that could do this or direct me to someone who could? Mark

I'd be up for trying it out too! Also based in Nottingham! Let me know when/if you're trying it out. I could bring my Berg IP rig to compare. Mark

I've seen that micromon before. That setup didn't quite occur to me at the time though. Thanks for the help! I'll need to check the monitor system we have though. A link output would certainly be useful. One of the reasons I was keen on my original setup was so that no matter what sound system I'm using I can 'leech' off the existing monitor system. Mark

Thanks for the info BOD2. I tried doing this with a mixer, a preamp and a DI out on my Berg, and it worked (somewhat). But I'd prefer a small compact box solution, something I can sling in my gig bag. I also see it being useful as a home practice tool as I could use it just as a headphone amp, also for mixing in a second signal (ipod or the like). If it could be made with an adaptor and battery option then it'd be fairly flexible too. I'm not a hardcore electronics person so I have no idea if this is too complicated to make as a project, but it seems that there'd only be a few small headphone amps to connect to a power source and two attenuators to control the individual levels to the headphone out. Mark

Hey all Basically, have had this idea rattling round in my head for a while. I'd like a device that allows me to tap into a pre-existing monitor mix and mix my own headphone mix of monitor with bass signal, whilst also passing the bass and monitor signal back out to respective pre-existing setups. This is what I've come up with: [i][u]Input/Outputs[/u][/i] - Input 1 (for bass - straight from bass) - Input 2 (for monitor feed - straight from desk) - Output 1 (for headphones - blend of the two inputs) - Output 2 (for bass out only - direct to amp/DI setup) - Output 3 (for monitor out only - back to monitor setup) [i][u]Controls:[/u][/i] - Volume 1 (for headphones - controls overall level of headphone amp) - Volume a (controls level of bass signal to headphone amp) - Volume b (controls level of monitor signal to headphone amp) [u][i]Other options:[/i][/u] - Volume 2 (for bass out - allows me to control bass out signal level to amp) - Volume 3 (for monitor out - allows me to control monitor out signal level) The idea is to have it sitting on my music stand and allow me to create my own monitor mix in any pre-existing sound setup. Would anyone be interested in doing this as a project? Or recommend someone who could? Mark

Whilst I like the PX4D for headphone practice, I would never use it through a speaker or live. Even without noise reduction on, it has a cutoff threshold below which your instrument just cuts off or dies. This is crap for those who like to play with dynamics (like me). Don't worry about the effects too much. They are useful and you should be able to get a nice selection of sounds, but as you may find it too noisy and glitchy to use live, it's not so important to work out what every option is. Mark

Hey! I grew up in another country! Cut me some slack

Just checked out HMWYRS this morning having never heard it before. I disliked the song greatly, but... gotta be honest... I really liked NWR's tone, particularly over Jaco's. Nice and round, almost 'chewy' if that word could be used to describe a bass tone. Mark

I still maintain I can't really feel a difference between 33" and 34" scale, but there's no denying my W&T is a verrry comfortable beast to play Mark

Possibly. More than likely. I would think it's normal to play towards the strengths of the instrument, in the same way that you'd pick a particular tool for a particular job. Mark

[quote]Can't be a bad thing surely...[/quote] It could be! What if they're filling those chambers with something awful? Like poorly placed apostrophes...

I've not actually had much experience with chambered basses. But Enrico and Roberto have been going crazy over their latest experiment with the chambered extra deep bubinga body, so I'm not going to say no to the added benefit of this Mark

He does indeed. Enrico knows Matt from NY, or Berklee days or something like that. So Enrico has sent Matt one of his basses. very similar specs to his current Fodera. The Chronos 'Klimt' spec bass that I have is inspired by and in homage to Matt Garrison's playing style. Mark

I saw a teal/green one, but it was such a deep colour it could be perceived as a number of other colours. I believe that one was a 33" scale. Robert Badoglio is a big Matt Garrison afficionado, albeit with his own sound. That bass is verrrrry similar spec wise to Matt Garrison's latest Fodera bass (semihollow body with Koa top!). Mark

Thanks Eude! I'm looking forward to getting a concrete spec sorted in the near future. I suggested the Zoid shape because I like it, it's quirky but stylish. The shape also lends itself well to the particular modification we had in mind. It'll look similar to the bass you linked to insofar as it is a Zoid-esque shaped bass! After that the similarities end. It's actually going to be a humbucking bridge pickup. Partly for tone, partly for another reason. Chambered was Enrico's suggestion. He's just made a bass for Roberto Badoglio (bassist in Italy) using a chambered bubinga body and koa top, and both of them are over the moon with how it turned out. Here's a bodyshot of that particular bass: [attachment=29352:BODY.JPG] The only thing he wishes he'd done with that bass is to stick a bubinga top on it. So we're doing that 'wood recipe' with this one Mark

Alright, so I finally managed to speak to Enrico about the specs. Here it is after the first wave/iteration: [u][i]Base specs:[/i][/u] 5 string, neck through 33" scale, strung EADGC Modified Zoid shape body (reasons for the modification will become clear later) [i][u]Neck & Fingerboard:[/u][/i] Ash-maple-Ash neck Ebony fingerboard, unlined Side dots at every position (we have a scheme to make it clear which position is which ) [i][u]Body:[/u][/i] Bubinga body, chambered/semi-hollow (60mm body depth) Quilted Bubinga top (wings only) [i][u]Pickup/Electronics:[/u][/i] Single dual coil pickup by Christolph Dolf (@ Bassculture) - one coil @ 70s jazz bridge position, one coil @ 60s jazz bridge position East SP-02 preamp (3 band - trim pots to adjust center frequency of each control in the cavity) [i][u]Controls:[/u][/i] Volume, Bass, Mid, Treble, Passive tone (push/pull for active/passive) Series/parallel/single coil switch I'm keeping the real inspiration behind this bass secret for a little while longer, at least until Enrico has made the full size template for the modified body shape. After that, all will become clear. Mark