brensabre79

Any, as long as its in bypass mode

As an exclusive 4 string player, this has always confused me, but I thinkn the TOP is L and the bottom is R - so a standard 4 string Stingray would be 3L1R... I think you need 3L2R That's based on [url="http://www.amazon.com/Tuning-Black-Sealed-Machine-String/dp/B012MUU7L2/ref=pd_sim_sbs_267_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=31MyaM-TwDL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=04TADX1VTVXCHTVZYYDT"]this[/url] (which is 2L3R and not what you want!)

[quote name='doogyrev' timestamp='1447684894' post='2909481'] Ahh! I see. But is the setup I'm using with the current cable safe to use. That's what worries me. Although, the Bass does sound great to my ears. [/quote] Safe - as in you won't electrocute yourself? Yes it's fine Safe - as in purists might think unkindly of you? No Seriously though, with what you have currently you may as well use the bass in mono. I'd get a lead that works properly (or convert the one you have), because if you want to try the Ric 'o' sound that's the only way. Then, you can plug the Bass pickup into your bass amp, and the treble pickup into a nicely driven guitar amp and enjoy!

Yes! I use compression for everything! Not hypercompression though, thats the horrid stuff that squishes the life out of everything and it's popular with bedroom producers who don't know how to use compression properly. It's also unfortunately the sound that people most associate with compression. You shouldn't really hear a compressor working, unless you're looking for that sound as an effect. Think of it like an autotune for your dynamics - you can go full on Cher if you want, but it's most effective used in a subtle, almost invisible way. Need a bit more attack? Compression More sustain? Compression Want to hear all of the subtle nuances of your playing come out to the fore? Compression Want to even out your sound? Flange Delay (- no just kidding, compression). To all those who say they don't use it because it ruins the sound - you aren't using it right. To those that say it just decreases the dynamic range - ditto All valve amps compress naturally. So does analogue tape. So do most preamps. In fact the 'all-tube' and 'vintage' sounds everyone raves about and manufacturers try tirelessly to emulate - yeah, that's mostly compression too. THAT sound on the record you just can't seem to get anywhere near? Think about it. From the amp, mic-pre, desk, compression insert, tape, more compression, group compression, mix compression, mastering... it's been compressed about 8 - 10 times before it gets to your hi-fi. My advice: 1. Learn about compression and how to use it right. Used properly it can be the most useful thing in a signal chain next to EQ. 2. Have a look at ovnilabs.com for some helpful info on what compressor to get. If you've done No.1 right, you'll probably want one with lots of adjustable parameters (Attack, release, ratio, threshold etc.) so you can really fine tune it.

I use an old picnic cooler box to carry leads and stuff in, it also works pretty well at raising the cab - but make sure you have all the leads you need before putting the cab on it.

As above, ditch it and get a S\H cab thats got the right speakers in. Cabs are designed to suit a particular driver (speaker) because each different type of driver has a different frequency response. Cabs are generally 'tuned' by adjusting the internal dimensions to even out the response. So, if you stick a different driver in, it probably won't work so well. Spending £200 on some drivers, then finding it sounds boomy or muddy, or just wrong is a false economy when you can get a really good S/H Peavey or Trace Elliot cab for next to nothing these days. If you have your heart set on ressurecting an old cab, then find out the internal dimensions and do a bit of research on the best driver to use in the cab - there's a variety of Apps and Programs around these days. WinISD (for PC), FaberAcoustical SpeakerDraft (iOS) for example. Using the internal volume and port dimensions of the cab coupled with the Thiele Small parameters of a driver will give you an indication of whether it's worth trying. Or, for an easier option, if you know what the cab is, and you can get the same drivers it originally had - go for those.

The 'pop' when turning on (and off) in this type and age of amp is completely normal (as is a fair amount of hiss). It has to do with the large capacitors charging and discharging I believe. Make sure the master volume is turned right down before you turn it on/off and it might be better in some amps, others not so much. Another tip, for separates, is after switching the amp off, don't disconnect the speaker until it has 'popped'.

I used to swear by active basses, but having owned a few decent passive basses more recently I'm convinced that they sound better actually, especially in the 'heft' department. Sure you can boost lots of low frequencies with a pre-amp, but still something gets lost to my ears. To answer some of your questions... Yes you can have V/V/V/T - but I would say it'll make it tricky to dial in a sound quickly. Id go for Master (Magnetic) vol, 5 position rotary switch ( N-NM-M-MB-B ), master tone and maybe a blend with the Piezo so you can balance it in well. EDIT: Just to be clear, I'm suggesting you run the magnetic pickups passive, blend with Pre-amped Piezo. You will always get phasing issues when you combine multiple pickups - for some this is a good thing, the classic Jazz Bass scooped mid sound is caused by the two pickups interacting and cancelling out certain frequencies in the mid range. The further apart (physically) the pickups are, the more noticable the effect. P - pickups tend to be much meatier and more powerful than J pickups. (because the P is two pickups in series). Making it ticky to volume balance a P with a J - although it is possible with the right pickups, the Js tend to sound thinner side by side with a P. Having lots of pickups is not necessarily a good thing. The higher the amount of magnets, the more chance they will interfere with the vibration of the string. I wanted 3 pickups on my Lakland Decade, I spoke to Lakland, and Hanson Pickups, and they advised against this as 3 pickups would pull on the strings too much. (Their Chi-sonic pickups are extremely powerful though). The switch 'click' depends on the type of switch you use. "Break before make" switches disconnect one pole before connecting another and are prone to dropping out momentarily (causing click). "Make before break" switches do the opposite, so you'll momentarily have both circuits in play - depending on the setup this can cause a bit of a click too - but usually less so. To add my 2p: I think you have a very complicated sounding setup, and I'd question whether you actually need all those pickups. For example, you can make a passable P-Bass sound by switching the two Jazz bass pickups in-series rather than in-parallel. 2 pickups and a Piezo is much easier to manage. 3 pickups introduces such a number of variables that you'll end up with a confusing array of knobs and switches.

A good place to start, and a cheap solution if it works, is to add a small shim to the front of the neck pocket. A business card or similar should do it. I'm guessing at the moment the curve is up and the top of the neck, so a shim will flatten that out, so you might need less truss rod compensation then too - which would make the action more playable.

As other have said, the 'sweet spot' is somewhat subjective. But another huge factor in placing the pickup is the tone of the pickup itself... I love the tone of the neck pickup on my Ric copy - it's a Kent Armstrong toaster style one. So when I bought a Lakland Decade, it was because it had the neck pickup in a similar position and I thought I'd get a similar tone. I don't. It sounds completely different. With the Jazz Bass bridge pickup, I have a 70s one and it's a little too barky on it's own to be honest. I always end up blending a bit of the neck PU with it. On the 90s jazz I can use the pickup on its own no problem, same pickups (Wizard, 74s custom wound) with 1/2 an inch difference in position. So the 'sweet spot' is finding the right pickup and the right location for [u]that[/u] pickup in my opinion. e.g. muddy pickup, put it nearer the bridge to add bark. This is why somtimes people replace their pickups to something with a different tone, they could get a similar effect by moving the pickup they have, but on an already made bass that is messy. You have the luxury of choosing from two separate variables. Your best bet would be knocking up something like Leo Fenders plank, screw the neck and bridge to it, string it up and move the pickup you have chosen to fit until you like the sound. Measure it, and put it there on the real body.

Great tutorial!

All strings, one at a time. Unless the fretboard is looking grubby, then I'll take them all off and give it a good clean - I usually combine this with a service and setup though so it needs a bit of time. I change them when they start to feel a bit like rubber bands (they seem to go quite dead and lose all their life). When I was playing for a living (many years ago now) I used Elites and changed them once a week - they wouldn't last me 2 weeks. Occasionally, if I could get them, I'd use Thomastik roundwounds, they would last me a month and sounded sweet, but were twice the price and nobody stocked them. These days I've changed my string provider and I don't do 4-5 gigs a week either, so changes are more like every 6 months.

Is it any good for metal?

Tricky to tell without seeing it in the flesh so to speak. So don't take this as a solution... Depending on how much laquer there is... I have been able to successfuly (and carefully) remove decals with a razor blade before, smooth sand and polish. But I suspect you're going to need to take it back quite a long way and then re-laquer a few coats over the top. It's reasonably straightforward if you're doing the whole headstock face, but doing one section and preserving another is going to result in an uneven face (the former Shaggster part being lower than the Shuker part.) So in conclusion it's probably not worth the risk. In my opinion, for such a nice bass, it would probably be best talking to Jon Shuker. If you want to get it refinished I'm pretty sure he'd be happy to sort the headstock too.

So in summary... Some people like Wal's, some people don't, some dislike them with such vengence that one wonders if they are a closet Wal fan over compensating... or trying to troll their way into being invited to try one before they cast such opinionated twaddle..? who knows. I've only played two, one was badly set up, the other was lovely (and all black). All i have learned from these 5 pages is this: They are not quite as good as a pension for mitigating tax liability, probably a slightly better financial investment though, and despit the efforts of Monsanto, there are quite a large number of bees.

[quote name='Sparky Mark' timestamp='1444435404' post='2883334'] Not wishing to derail this thread but why are the Barefaced Two10s available as either 4 or 12 ohms? [url="http://barefacedbass.com/product-range/retro-two10.htm"]http://barefacedbass.com/product-range/retro-two10.htm[/url] [/quote] The answer is in your link, just scroll down to the "4 or 12 ohms?" section

Hello and welcome from a few miles west

Boundary Mic / PZM, as mentioned above, just hang it off one of the speaker stands, or use some gaffa tape. They don't look like microphones to most people. Although I just can't help but think there's something fundamentally wrong with the whole set up if I'm honest. If you're only playing small gigs (no stage etc.) do you really need such an elaborate monitoring system that so effectively disconnects you from the audience? Why not just use normal monitors (wedges or stand mounts) for vocals only, sort the backline levels out on stage and wear decent earplugs?

+1 for Bernie Goodfellow, he's quite meticulous, and quite a character too!

It depends on the tone you want. But the pickups in parallel won't change much - it's just like having a switch in the centre position and a single master volume pot so I'd stick with 250k. You're just not having a switch in there. 500k (and in some cases 1 meg) are usually used with humbuckers to combat the slightly duller tone they have. IF you were wiring them in [u]series[/u] you would usually lose a bit of the treble and potentially (see what i did there?) want a higher value pot like a 500k - as you're essentially doing the same thing as making a single humbucker out of the two pickups in that scenario.

[quote name='Sparky Mark' timestamp='1442912693' post='2870370'] What class d head did you get? [/quote] Carvin BX500 (in signature ) - they have 'improved' on this model now - but I've no desire to upgrade. In terms of power, I've never had it above 9 o'clock on the Master volume, even in a large venue with only vocal PA. I couldn't imagine needing more, but I think my cab is probably helping a great deal with that too.

Cool. I hope your luthier is filling the gaps with something nice

Usually not too much - depends how soft the rosewood is but my fretless is uncoated rosewood, every 5 years or so it gets a very light sanding to remove the small grooves left by roundwounds.

Awesome! Thank you. Anyone downloading will need to change the .ipb file extension to .pdf (don't worry about the panic warning from your computer) - it'll open in Acrobat then.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1443007112' post='2871331'] Sounds like Triggers broom. [/quote] Yes, exactly