B.Flat

Thank you police squad, that is exactly the kind of detailed advice I was wanting !

 Excellent!!

OK thanks for replies.

BTW "countersunk" means an flat angle to accept a recessed screw or bolt head i.e. it still has a sharp edge but not 90°. a rounded edge to provide a smooth curve is a radius!

So endeth the sermon, now hymn N° 139 in your hymn books omitting verses four, seven and ninety-six.

I have  not explained myself clearly it seems.

The base plate is perfect but ,yes, holes will be drilled and a radius put on the edge so there is no sharp edge to catch the strings windings? These holes and the radius edge will be bare steel,, therefore open to oxidation. So this newly bared steel will need chroming. The question is:

1) is it possible to chrome just this bare steel, i.e. holes and edges, without  subjecting the whole plate to re-chroming ( this is where I ask could some resist ,wax or oily coating be applied to the already chromed surface) or.

2)Can new chrome be plated over the existing surface (chromed and newly bared steel) or:

3)Would the whole plate need to be taken back to bare steel and be re-chromed from scratch.

I have a feeling that maybe bassists with a biker background might be helpful with this.

Of course Ant advice is always welcome but 'any' advice is better !!!

Hi All.

Any advice sought on re-chroming a Stingray bridge/tail piece. I want to convert a top-loader to thru' body by drilling the bass plate as per Guitar Centre 2009 special edition.

I know that the holes will need radiussing (is that a word ?) and polishing, but will the whole plate need to be stripped and polished or is there some kind of resist that could be applied to the whole plate except the bare steel of the holes ?

As usual grateful for ant advice

Hi Ikay.

I have investigated the East mid control but I would prefer a switchable, 800/250hz ?, rather than continuously variable freq. pot.

I have looked for self-build mid circuits on the net with no joy as yet (wrong search terms?), do you have any suggestions ?

Can anyone tell me, in layman's terms, If I could add a mid control, with possible two-choice freq. switch, to the existing Ibanez two-band preamp in my 1980 Ibanez RS924 ?

If it is possible it would need to take its power from the existing 9v battery.

I have a feeling this will not be possible but hope springs eternal etc..............

On 22/05/2019 at 08:59, Phil Starr said:

It might be worth looking to get something like this https://www.gear4music.com/Recording-and-Computers/Behringer-P2-Ultra-Compact-Personal-In-Ear-Monitor-Amplifier/26FN A beltpack headphone amp with some limiting to further protect your ears and crucially a volume control you can reach without bending. There are also passive models and one which allows you to mix in a stereo signalwhich could be a feed from the PA or possibly useful for headphone practice. I'm using a wireless connection with a beltpack receiver which is similar...but wireless. It's a Trantec system bought used but there's a LD systems one which our vocalist uses https://www.ld-systems.com/en/series/mei-one-series/

Hi again Phil. I have looked at the Behringer Powerplay P1. Do you think I could find a small mic. to put in the second input so that I could mix a very small amount of ambience into the IEMs.? If yes would it work directly into the P2 input, and any suggestions where to look for a suitable mic (I do not think high quality would be absolutely neccessary.)

Thanks for the tip.

Is there limiting on the Behringer unit you suggest ?

I am a deaf old duffer, being told I am now playing too loud, so some sort of IEM seems to be the way to go.

My rig uses a YAMAHA PB1 preamp, which has both post-eq output and 'phones output (with level control on the phones out only) on the front panel..

I need the system to be inexpensive and a wired option need not be ruled out.

Would it be possible to run some sort of Bluetooth TX from either of the front panel o/p's ?

Advice on ear buds and any other aspect would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Vinorange, sorry for late reply, yes Sparkymark is correct it is 2 band, and yes it is still available.

OK, now bear with me , this could take some time.

We speak of frequencies etc. but what we are really talking about is energy transference, which we remember from school physics lessons is conserved and cannot be eliminated or lost, only changed to our perceptions .

Now here is the experiment. Take three identical coins and a clamp of some sort. Clamp one coin to the table, or firm flat surface, as hard as you can. Put another coin to touch the clamped coin anywhere in its circumference edge.  Now shoot the third coin to hit the clamped coin directly opposite the second coin touching the edge. This second coin will absorb the energy from the shot coin, which passes through the clamped coin, and jump away.

OK, so just another version of Newtons Cradle. But now clamp two more coins on top of the original clamped coin  ( now 'High Mass, yes?) and repeat the experiment. The second coin jumps away exactly the same !

So I contend the transfer of energy/frequencies remains the same, irrespective of the mass of the transferring, fixed, mass.

OK, so the bridge might have a resonant frequency that may or may not ( I don't know) absorb a certain frequency, but I suspect the greater the mass the lower the frequency so, to keep the maximum amount of frequencies in the string, surely a low mass, high resonant frequency, bridge will be better for the register of a bass guitar ? (But maybe the resonant frequency of any bridge is so high as not to make any difference,  again I don't know.) 

Maybe just better to forget it all and listen to the the beautiful bass lines of great bassists, which are still beautiful ideas even if we hear them on 'less than perfect' equipment. I never heard anyone say a poem was< more meaningful on high mass paper.

P'll have to go and have a lie down for a bit

I am looking for comments from people who have changed bridges from high mass to light weight or vice versa. Is there a definitive characteristic for each type or is it all in the ear of the beholder ?

I have this spare preamp board '78 Stingray, as original, tantalum caps, correct IC etc. unused.

There are no pots or battery clip but there is a clear wiring diagram with all details.

I am in Brittany but can post to UK. pm for details

Second apology in one minute, I had not seen your reply to the value query,  sorry.

Back again iKay !   47K, net search produced the answer, and I'm out of your hair now, thanks again for your respnses.

48 minutes ago, B.Flat said:

iKay,  I must apologise for wasting your time ! I have solved the riddle. One of the resistors  on the A/P switch is faulty! However maybe you can decipher the colour code for me,  yellow purple orange green, either 47K or 470K

iKay,  I must apologise for wasting your time ! I have solved the riddle. One of the resistors  on the A/P switch is faulty! However maybe you can decipher the colour code for me,  yellow purple orange green, either 47K or 470K

Yes, well that is what I thought but my electronics knowledge is near zilch so I was not sure. These resistors are still in place and connected OK. Would you advise leaving them or replacing with the resistors with values as shown on BassBnnys diagram. Would the change of pickups  and their DC resistance have needed a change of these?

3 hours ago, ikay said:

Adding a 1Mohm resistor between signal and ground on the switch seems to be a common fix. Can you post a pic (or wiring diagram) of your active/passive switch?

The IMohm resistor sounds like the solution, here is the wiring for the EQ switch.

BassBunnys diagrams also look very useful, I will try the Mohm resistor first

Hi iKay.

I have fitted the DPDT switches and they are performing correctly. However I have noticed that the previously silent active/passive switch operates with a loud click/bang.

However the volume of this noise appears to vary from time to time, not from one p/u or tonal setting to another. A bit confusing, any ideas ? It is almost as if there is some kind of static build-up that triggers it, but I am sure I am probably wrong about that. !

You have responded to several of my other queries in the past and I would just like to say again that I am very grateful for your advice;

Hi iKay.

Sorry I assumed too much. I should have explained that the DiMarzios are four conductor hummbuckers, so the series parallel is between the two coils in each pu, hence the need for individual switches.

I hope that clarifies it.

What do you think ?

I wish to add series /paraiiei switching to my DiMarzio P+J set. I have a wiring diagram but the notes accompanying it say I require an ON/ON DPDT switch for each pu.

I have a couple of ON/OFF/ON DPDT switches in stock.  If I follow the diagram using these will I obtain the correct switching, albeit with the respective pu being switched out in the centre position.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Thanks for the replies;

How do people feel about the B3n being upstream of other effects and tone shapers if these downstream items are bypassed?

I ask because I am trying to implement the Zoom along with a Yamaha FX500B and a Yamaha PB1 preamp. The 500B bypass I think cannot be true bypass as the gain control still works, and I can only set the PB1 controls to flat response. Do you think the B3n can be considered truly bypassed on an "EMPTY" patch setting ?

Why am I  doing this? Well there are certain settings on all three items that I would like to remain at my disposal, plus there are some settings when the 500B & ZOOM are are together in the PB1 FX loop which I also like.

If you think I am being a bit of a "richard-head" feel free to comment !

I already posted on the quality of the B3n amp/cab sims, but I have another specific query, as follows.

Has anyone got useful advice on the use of the ZOOM B3n, particularly with regard to signal path pros and cons of before amplifier preamp versus being in the FX loop.

Any other observations and advice would be good.

16 hours ago, Phil Starr said:

Yeah the kappalite is an 'upgrade' compared with the deltalite and pretty much as good as it gets with current technology. Most manufacturers offer similar spec speakers with a decent excursion well designed cone and suspension and a decent sized Neo magnet. There are lots of tweaks you could design in to improve in one area or another but eventually as you improve one area of a speakers performance you start to compromise others. 'Better' then becomes a relative term defined by what your design spec is, lower frequency roll off, better excursion, less cone break up, higher efficiency, better power handling, lighter weight, it's hard to get them all.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I for one wouldn't ever argue that any particular driver is the 'best' but the Basschat two way design is very comparable with the best commercial designs. Having been involved in the early stages of the design (though the credit is all Stevie's) I know that there was little, if anything to be gained by using the Kappalite for example.

Hi Phil, Bill, Luke, Barkin,

Thanks for the useful replies. If one of you gentlemen could help an old duffer to find the Basschat 12" design that would be great. I have searched the site for it but obviously not well enough.