tm486

[quote name='GarethFlatlands' post='1185435' date='Apr 1 2011, 11:41 PM']From the picture you've linked on the Maplin site, the left hand lug connects to ground on the circuit and the right hand one is the signal, so 'in' on the diagram on the site. [url="http://sound.westhost.com/pots.htm"]http://sound.westhost.com/pots.htm[/url], just over halfway down. Hope this helps.[/quote] Hi, That site is just what i was looking for, thanks. with regards to the jacks, do i connect 'in' to 'in' and ground to ground? And would the pot go between the two signal lugs? Thanks Tom

Hi, I bought the components today, but i wont be able to use a soldering iron until monday. Just to make sure i don't mess it all up, where do i solder the wires to on the jacks? I bought these as maplins had none of the normal type in stock, i assume they are the same, these just have tabs to solder to instead. [url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/1-4-mono-socket-withchrome-bezel-1263"]http://www.maplin.co.uk/1-4-mono-socket-wi...rome-bezel-1263[/url] So does anyone have a diagram of how i would wire this all together, or to be honest a simple explanation will do. I just got home and realised that i whilst i understand the concepts involved, i dont know where to solder things to on the actual jack. Also, on the potentiometers, would i use the two outer pins? or one of the outer pins and the middle pin? Thanks Tom

[quote name='martindupras' post='1184092' date='Mar 31 2011, 11:18 PM']I did say I was tired. You're right. At 1/4 vol you have 3/4 of the resistance. If you have a 500k pot you'll get 0-500k resistance. If you wanted to restrict the range you could put another resistor in series, e.g. 250k resistor + 250k pot would give you a range of 250k-500k. I think. - martin[/quote] If i restrict the range then i will need to add a switch to make it bypass for when i use a passive bass, if i just use a larger value pot then when it is turned all the way up then i can use passive basses without the need for a switch. And depending on the output of my active basses i would just need to have it nearly all the way down. Also, i have just remembered that it sounded good when at 25% AND i had the backtrack before the fuzz. So i assume that i would need an even larger pot? maybe a 1M pot? either way, they aren't expensive, i'll get both and test it i think. Thanks Tom

[quote name='martindupras' post='1184055' date='Mar 31 2011, 10:54 PM']Try lowering the volume on your bass to somewhere around 25%-50%. That will behave much like the pot you would put in the box, since it's essentially the same thing. If it sounds great, then you know that the pot-in-a-box solution will work, and you can probably work out what pot will work best. I'm very tired so correct me if I make a mistake in the following logic. A volume pot travels from no resistance to the maximum resistance; 500k is common for volume pots. Therefore, assuming the pot is linear, set at the halfway point you'd get 250k of resistance, say. At 1/4, you'd get 125k. It wouldn't be exactly that of course because even a linear pot is not totally linear, but it would be close enough. If, say, it sounds good between the 1/4 and 1/2, then that gives you a ballpark for what pot to use. - martin[/quote] I have been using my bass set to about 25% as i had the same thought as you and discovered that it did sound better there. Surely though, as impedance is measured in ohms, and i want to raise the impedance, when the volume is at 25%, the resistance would be more like 75% of the 500Kohms of the potentiometer? so i would be looking at a potentiometer of around 350-400k? but then would it be a better idea to go for something larger like another 500k one? Cheers Tom

[quote name='Quoth'd' post='1184016' date='Mar 31 2011, 10:13 PM']I think the Pinch knob controls the power to the transistors (from memory, I may be mistaken) - makes it sound more torn the higher you set it - this is the most susceptible to input levels. I always used to hate the way all my pedals sounded totally different with different basses & needed constantly resetting if I wanted to change between them. Nice one on the Line6 by the way - what's it like? I looked at the reviews but never got round to getting one to play with.[/quote] Yea, i hope that the use of the potentiometer will let me set the input to a level which allows the gate control to be used. The Line6 is great, i haven't got the version with the microphone but i just leave it plugged in my signal chain. It is so easy to record stuff and you can put it before or after effects and they work well. The only thing that can be annoying, the level of overdrive which sounds great through a 15" speaker doesnt sound so great when recorded. But if you intended to use it to record and add effects on the computer its fantastic. I personally only use it to record songs which i sync to the video on iMovie at the moment. i have uploaded a couple to youtube and the audio quality is much better than people who record with a webcam microphone or similar. Thanks Tom

Hey, I have found a temporary solution. I use a Line6 backtrack to record tracks, and if i stick this before the mammoth it sounds a lot better. I dont think its perfect though as when the pinch knob it past 12 o'clock, it sounds bad once again. I dont have my passive bass with me at the moment but when i go home for easter, i'll be able to tell whether this works or not. I am still going to try the potentiometer as if i want to record anything whilst using the mammoth, i'll need to have another method of matching the impedance, but until then i at least have some way of using it which sounds good. Thanks for all your input and i'll post on here after i have tried the potentiometer and let you know how it works out. Tom

[quote name='Quoth'd' post='1183376' date='Mar 31 2011, 02:44 PM']Volume and tone pots are essentially the same - the only difference is that a tone pot will have a capacitor which soaks up the higher frequencies. Maplin also do the metal boxes, jacks & LEDs (although you'll need to run a power circuit if you want an LED to indicate if it's set for active or passive mode).[/quote] Hey, So will i wont need a capacitor, i just need to stick the potentiometer between two female jacks and it should work like that? Also, would the 'no-load' pots work as a true bypass when they are set to no load? either way, it seems like a much easier method which i can build and test tomorrow if my local maplins has the parts in stock. Thanks Tom

Although i guess it wouldnt matter whether it was a volume or a tone pot, as there are many guides available on how to make a pot 'no-load', so i should be able to do this regardless of whether it is linear or logarithmic.

[quote name='martindupras' post='1183198' date='Mar 31 2011, 12:18 PM']You could just put the pot in a box with a switch, before the mammoth. Bypassed, you have the whole signal, with it on it's just attenuated. The pot is working just the same as the volume control on your bass. - martin[/quote] I hadnt thought of that, do you know whether it would be a volume or a tone pot or could either be used? because if it was a tone pot, you can get those ones where fully clockwise the pot is disengaged and then i wouldnt even need a switch. I believe they are called no-load pots as when they are fully clockwise they offer no load. This looks like it could be getting simpler, this is good. Thanks Tom

[quote name='Quoth'd' post='1183080' date='Mar 31 2011, 10:41 AM']I added an input variable resistor to drop the gain on the input to the circuit. (since switching back to passive basses, I've removed it though [/quote] Hi, I do understand what you mean and that thought had crossed my mind, if it werent for the fact that i have both active and passive basses, i would certainly have tried that. but i want to be able to easily switch back and forth between active and passive basses, so its not the perfect solution for me. However, i have more active basses than passive, so i will do that if my attempt at this impedance matching pedal fails. Thanks Tom

[quote name='martindupras' post='1183055' date='Mar 31 2011, 10:24 AM']Good point! That's a very good reason to have a switch. Let me know how you get on. - martin[/quote] Thanks, it is a little more complicated, but not too bad. I will post on here when its finished hopefully with positive results. Thanks Tom

[quote name='martindupras' post='1182860' date='Mar 30 2011, 11:21 PM']If it was me, however, I'd prototype the circuit first and see if it does and sounds like what you want. It's such a simple circuit that I'd do that on breadboard to save time. All of this to say: unless you want to be able to switch between the Mammoth driven by a high impedance and by a low impedance, there will be no advantage to turning it on and off, and therefore you can lose the switch. If you lose the switch, you can also lose the LED. If it's not switched, it doesn't have to be a sturdy box so a very small plastic enclosure would probably do, which would save you some time, effort and money. I had another thought: pedals usually have a high input impedance and a low(er) output impedance. Boss pedals are typically 1k ohm on output. Some are designed to have a slightly higher impedance so that the next pedal "thinks" it's seeing just a guitar pickup. If you have pedals lying around, you could look at their spec: it could very well be that there is one of your pedals that would be a good match for the WM. I'd say if the output impedance is somewhere in the region of 5k, it'll probably work fine.[/quote] I had that thought, i am going to produce the circuit before i make any enclosure etc so i can test it all. And i hadn't thought about other pedals. but if i want to put the mammoth first in the chain, or i want only the mammoth then i'll need this circuit before it anyway, regardless of my other pedals. But i am definately going to test it and make sure its exactly what i want before i put any effort into making an enclosure or buying other components. If not i'll have to stick with using only my passive through it. Also, i would like a switch as if i wanted to switch basses without having to remove this circuit, i dont know if plugging a passive bass into this would be a problem, but from what i have read, plugging a high impedance passive bass into a low impedance load will not work well? Thanks Tom

[quote name='GarethFlatlands' post='1182548' date='Mar 30 2011, 06:33 PM']I guess you could use a plastic enclosure shielded with electrical tape if you plan on leaving it on all the time and don't need a footswitch, it would be easier to work with than metal.[/quote] I have lots of metal working equipment at my disposal so i'm gna go for making a metal enclosure. i am also thinking of adding a 3PDT stompbox type switch so i can get true bypass when im not using the effect or im using a passive bass. This also lets me put an LED in to tell me when its on. I might try putting a SPDT switch so i can use either half the inductor or the whole thing at a flick of a switch, just interested to see what it does to the sound tbh. Thanks Tom

[quote name='martindupras' post='1181769' date='Mar 30 2011, 01:22 AM']I'd say: try it. You can't harm anything. All that's going to happen is that the sound will change, and if it sounds good to you, who cares whether it's textbook correct? [/quote] Thanks, i reckon i'll give it a try, from the link that dannybuoy offered, it doesn't look too complicated. Although which circuit would be better? i assume that the second circuit will allow me to tailor the impedance so i can use different active basses to get the same results? Thanks for the info on the mic level converters, it was exactly what i was looking for. Whilst the extra gain might come in handy for some, the woolly mammoth has more than enough gain for me so i think having a go at building the buffer would be a better idea. Thanks for the input Tom

[quote name='martindupras' post='1181725' date='Mar 30 2011, 12:10 AM']Most fuzzes want to see a high impedance signal from the pickups. I believe what you want is an impedance buffer: in essence a unity-gain pedal that takes your low-impedance input and turns it into a high impedance signal.[/quote] Hey, I had seen this thread but i have had no luck in finding anything designed solely for this purpose. This is why i was wondering whether these might do the trick as they do say they go from a low z XLR input to a high z jack. Is this not likely to be the case? If so, i would appreciate help from anyone who might know who makes/stocks an impedance buffer. Thanks for your help martin, Tom

Hey, I have been reading about people's experiences with the woolly mammoth and active basses. Many people advise that it is only worth using with a passive bass. As far as i understand, it isnt a matter of just turning the volume on the guitar down, its an impedance issue. What i want to know is, could i use one of the devices below along with a 1/4" Mono to male XLR cable to play my active basses through the mammoth and achieve similar results to passive basses? [url="http://whirlwindusa.com/catalog/black-boxes-effects-and-dis/transformers-isolation-devices/little-imp"]http://whirlwindusa.com/catalog/black-boxe...ices/little-imp[/url] [url="http://www.shure.co.uk/products/accessories/a85f"]http://www.shure.co.uk/products/accessories/a85f[/url] I am new to effects and impedance and all this lot so simple explanations of why this would or wouldn't work would be much appreciated. Another possibility, the effects send and return on my amplifier (Ashdown MAG 300), are stated as being 22k ohms on the Ashdown website, would this be a considered a high or low impedance and therefore could i place an effect such as the woolly mammoth within the effects loop, getting results similar to a passive bass. [url="http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.as...=mag&ID=112"]http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.as...=mag&ID=112[/url] Any replies will be much appreciated Thanks Tom

Hey, I have been reading about people's experiences with the woolly mammoth and active basses. Many people advise that it is only worth using with a passive bass. As far as i understand, it isnt a matter of just turning the volume on the guitar down, its an impedance issue. What i want to know is, could i use one of the devices below along with a 1/4" Mono to male XLR cable to play my active basses through the mammoth and achieve similar results to passive basses? [url="http://whirlwindusa.com/catalog/black-boxe...ices/little-imp"]http://whirlwindusa.com/catalog/black-boxe...ices/little-imp[/url] [url="http://www.shure.co.uk/products/accessories/a85f"]http://www.shure.co.uk/products/accessories/a85f[/url] I am new to effects and impedance and all this lot so simple explanations of why this would or wouldn't work would be much appreciated. Another possibility, the effects send and return on my amplifier (Ashdown MAG 300), are stated as being 22k ohms on the Ashdown website, would this be a considered a high or low impedance and therefore could i place an effect such as the woolly mammoth within the effects loop, getting results similar to a passive bass. [url="http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.as...=mag&ID=112"]http://www.ashdownmusic.com/bass/detail.as...=mag&ID=112[/url] Any replies will be much appreciated Thanks Tom

I am an 18yo bassist looking to join a band. I have been playing for about 4 years. I am interested in most types of music and enjoy playing pretty much everything. I have decent equipment but no transport. I enjoy playing music from bands like muse, rage against the machine and rhcp, right through to jamiroquai. basically anything that isnt really simple. Suggest a few songs with any replies and i'll tell you where i stand in relation to them standard wise. I have both 5 string and 4 string basses so i can do songs that need a low B. I chose this instrument because i genuinely enjoy it. i played upright bass for 3 years before this and piano for about 5 years before that. Cheers Tom