andyhaines

Thanks both - really useful!

Hello All, Having now got a nice new PJB D400 I’m looking to pair it with a small cab - but my needs are rather… niche… This will be for mostly fretless use (Zon and Sei), solo and small ensemble - no loud bands or need to keep up with noisy drummer so volume is not a concern. I play with a touch of reverb for that singing Manring vibe and what I need above all is for the cab to have an open sound and avoid boxiness wherever possible. I also need it to be small enough to tuck into a theatre band-pit for musicals work. So, I’m looking for an 8, 10 or 12”. The following could fit the bill, but hard to find good online demos of them: BF One10T (could be too coloured/classic rock sounding?) Eich 110XS or 112XS GR Bass AT110/4 or Cube 112/4 Glockenklang Accoustic 8 1 - out of all the online demos I’ve seen this seems to have the most open, natural sound Anyone had any experiences with these? Thoughts welcome! cheers! Andy

Thanks for confirming James. Further tinkering now seems to show that just engaging the compressor switch adds a little brightness boost regardless of the knob setting - once I was aware of this overall lift, turning the knob does then apply a more subtle compression to the “lifted” sound. Switching it off then returns to a slightly softer overall tone. Which makes me think that there’s some kind of gain make-up going on under the hood when engaged (much like a conventional compressor pedal would do) - it’s clearly advanced since the more blunt-edged compression on my Flightcase!

Thanks for posting such a comprehensive and useful review - much appreciated! I have just taken delivery of a new D400 - I'm a long time PJB Flightcase combo and wanted to move into separate head and cabs and your review confirmed my thoughts about this particular head. I'd be interested to hear more about your experience with the compressor as it seems to sound and behave differently to the one built into the Flightcase. On the surface both compressors look identical and are described identically in their respective manuals, but the compressor on my new D400 initially didn't seem to be doing much, even when turned all the way up (anticlockwise). On my old Flightcase, cranking up the compressor definitely squished the sound and audibly reduced the dynamic range. On the D400, when turned up it seems to give the sound a little boost and makes the definition of the notes stand out more - almost making them "3D", but certainly not the heavily compressed sound I was used to before. Does this chime with your experience? Thanks again! Andy

Thanks Bill, good to know.

Hi All, Got my eye on a PJB D400 which I also want to use as a preamp/DI for teaching online lessons. Anyone know if PJB heads can be run safely without having a speaker load attached? Conventional wisdom seems to indicate that class D power amps don't need a load, but wanted to check! Thanks! Andy

Thanks and Well spotted! - the Lane Poor is the best pickup I’ve used. Such a shame they’re no longer being made.

I’m sure it will, thanks!

Nice! Flats or rounds?

Finally achieved the dream of owning a Zon fretless thanks to fellow BC'er Skinner. Top bass and top chap - it now takes pride of place along with my Sei fretless.

Just wanted to post my appreciation for the effort and care shown by Skinner in the sale of his fab Zon Sonus fretless to me today. Went above and beyond in getting the bass to me and sent video on request of the bass in action prior to the sale. Top bass and top chap!

I'm keeping an eye on this - seller has 0 sells/purchases and it seems a very low price to start such a rare bass. Seems too good to be true...

Good call, thanks!

Worth a look - thanks! I suspect not as I didn’t have this problem in the previous bass these pickups/electronics were in, but that was some years ago so I may be mis remembering!

Interestingly, swapping the pickups around on the blend pot reversed the issue - the pronounced hum is now on the opposite side, indicating that the issue follows the pickup.

Thanks everyone- really good advice all round! I’ll probably try to swap the pickups on the blend to confirm whether it’s a blend or pup issue, but sounding like a new blend pot may be required.

Thanks, good to know. I’m assuming the blend pot was wired by bartolini (part of a pre wired harness)

Yes, they’re mid 90s bartolini jazz pickups (passive). The undersides are marked N and B so designed for neck and bridge.

Thanks - so the yellow and blue wires that cross over behind the lugs should be soldered to the lugs and not to the rivets?

No. The hum is not present when 100% bridge. Turning the pot back then gradually introduces the hum, through 50% blend increasing hum as you get to 100% neck

No problem -pic of the blend pot before I disconnected the neck pickup - hot wire goes to centre lug and the ground braid is soldered to the same lug as the bridge ground. 2nd pic of the wider control cavity. Hope that helps!

Hi All, Recently had two Bart Jazz pickups and early NTMB preamp (pre-wired harness) moved from an old bass to another -all works fine except that when moving the MN250K blend pot away from 100% bridge towards the neck where there is a steady (ground?) hum. When fully on bridge it's silent (as in no hum). Both pickups work fine and you can clearly hear the neck pickup tone coming through, just with the added hum! I've disconnected the neck pickup from the blend pot just as a test and (as expected) turning the blend pot to 100% neck results in silence (no pickup or hum). Touching strings and bridge makes no difference so I'm assuming there's no ground problem there (otherwise the bridge pickup setting would also hum) and the ground wire is making contact below the bridge. Any clues as to what's going on? Possible failing blend pot? Thanks! Andy

I have the bubinga version of this bass, exactly the same bridge -yes there’s a small allen key screw on the top and bottom of the bridge. Loosen these up then move your saddle pieces and tighten again. Andy

Very useful stuff, thanks, much appreciated. i’d also found the same fender link to the spellbinder schematics so at least I’ve got something useful to give to an amp tech if I can find a good one locally! Andy

Thanks for the tips - phantom power is off. Yes it has a tube preamp but as I’m very new to tube stuff I don’t know what a tube warming up sounds like. Power socket is earthed. with everything down apart from the master, the popping sound is quiet but certainly there - almost like a high pitched heartbeat, with the mute light flashing every other ‘pip’. Slowly turning the gain up increases the sound of the pips (as well as a 50z hum I think). Any of that help? cheers! Andy