Wren and Cuff

[quote name='cheddatom' post='386149' date='Jan 20 2009, 07:32 AM']I didn't know the EHX signal pad was passive. That's a bit crap. Anyway, following on from what you're saying, his active bass will have a buffer built into the pre-amp, surely? So he can use the volume knob on his active bass to sort out his problem?[/quote] Damn, that's a really good and obvious point that hadn't crossed my mind at 2am last night (here in the states). I love simple solutions, and that's a good one. I don't have an active here to try it (just a J Bass). Maybe someone else (or the OP) can try to match the output of another passive via the volume knob and see if it hits their pedals similarly?? Just like the clean boost Idea, it's not the same thing, but it may work fine... matt

[quote name='katri' post='385685' date='Jan 20 2009, 01:07 AM']Would the EHX signal pad not do the same thing and cheaper.[/quote] Nope, that's the thing I referred to earlier. The EHX SP is passive. The reason it's so cheap is that it's a potentiometer in a box. So if you roll it back, it's going to rub your signal in the same way your vol knob would. If you like that sound, great. But if you want to cut your signal, and retain the same tone, you gotta stick a buffer in there. It's similar to taking a distortion pedal, say a DS-1 to use a generic example. You can turn the volume up and the distortion to 10 and hear it sounding nice and fuzzy. Now if you turn the vol. down on the pedal what happens? Nothing, it just gets quieter. The distortion doesn't lessen, the tone doesn't change, only the volume. Why, because its active and buffered for one. I'm oversimplifying here, but you get the idea. [quote name='cheddatom' post='385701' date='Jan 20 2009, 01:54 AM']Yeh it would. The difference in tone could be down to impedance though couldn't it? Rather than volume.[/quote] you could say impedance, but thats a big discussion. I'd say impedance is a big factor, so is the wood in the bass, so is the volume, so is the difference in strings, in the pickup type, on and on... again you get the idea. breaking it down to real basics, the active has more output, plain and simple. the passive is a .22 rifle, the active is a 12 gauge. Why do some not like actives? because a .22 can kill your dinner, but a 12 gauge will kill it and shred it into little pieces. in short, if we are only referring to my suggestion above, than no, the ehx won't work. For some other application you have? sure... I'm not claiming my way is the only "right" way. hope this helps someone! matt

Someone on t-bass had a similar problem, here's what I came up with. Very, very EZ. Buy a clean boost. My recommendation would be a zvex "hard on" ($240) or a "super hard on". ($320.00) All money in USA $$$ BTW But, I know those are more money than you'd probably want to spend, so: [list] [*]Fulltone "fat boost" $140 I think?? [*]BBE Boosta grande $60 Bargain [*]Seymore Duncan Pickup Booster $80 [*]Keeley Katana $199. Just to name a few... [/list] Anyways, here's what you do: Set the Clean boost with your ACTIVE bass to match your PASSIVE bass. You're basically using the Clean boost as a "cut". If it's a good boost, even though it's not boosting, it'll still add a nice "sheen" to your tone. Put the CB pedal first in your chain. use your passive bass with the CB pedal OFF. Your active with the pedal cutting the signal. Most clean boosts are basically a buffer with a knob, so you can lower the volume but keep your tone. Some may suggest putting a 250K-500K pot in a box and cutting the volume that way. It's a totally different thing, basically the same as turning your bass' volume knob down. Now, IN THEORY this should help your active to hit your pedals more like your passive. It won't be exactly the same, and since everyone's setup is different, it may sound amazing, or it may sound like crap, but I pretty sure it would be a good bet. I just haven't done it myself. I would say just call keeley up and ask them, but they just had a fire at the factory and I heard he's down for at least 8-weeks. best, matt

Any of the voodoo labs p supplies (except the older "AC" version) are great. The keyword here is "isolated". The voodoo labs is basically like having a separate wall-wart for each female jack. I'm oversimplifying here, but you get the idea. It also has a switch for the older boss, arion, and others that require 9V/12V or "ACA" adapters. You can power these on a daisy chain with a regular power supply and a 9VDC pedal, but many times you get weird hum issues. The AC switch on each jack solves that. That is why the voodoo PS's are more expensive. Many of the cheaper look-alike boxes are basically a daisy-chain in a metal housing, some even have a wall-wart to power them! The voodoo is just a standard grounded plug. The new ones have some fancy features that I don't need, so I found a used older model (the "2" I think?) on eBay for $125.00. That was a long time ago and I've beat the hell out of it, and it's never failed me. no, I don't own stock in voodoo labs... matt

[quote name='BassManKev' post='223905' date='Jun 21 2008, 04:19 PM']already said, when i had it the hum didnt happen with two wallwarts, but it did with the zoom 506 and a boss odb-3 for example. with a regulated 1.3A power supply[/quote] yes, but you never described how it may happen, as in the pedals just plain trying to pull too much power from the wall-wart. [quote name='BassManKev' post='223905' date='Jun 21 2008, 04:19 PM']i had this exact problem with my zoom 506, whenever i had powered from a daisy chain linked with other, especially gain, pedals, there was a loud hum. however if i powered it off a seperate supply, the hum went, so thats what i did, not an ideal solution[/quote] Although possibly the same solution, this could be a totally different problem than what I described.

Maybe its the reg/unreg problem as obbm says. But I have a feeling its much simpler than that. #1 rule as you start to collect more pedals: Daisy chains can make your pedals do screwy stuff. With some pedals, people use them on a daisy forever, and never have a problem. But for many, as you mix vintage and new pedals etc. Weird s*&t happens. Here is my simple answer. Those two pedals are trying to suck way too much juice from your wallwart. The hum is your power supply saying "please, I have nothing more I can give!! (if I'm right)" Thats why you get the hum with 2 but not 1 pedal. I believe those are both digital pedals??? Correct me if I'm wrong. Digi pedals use wayyyyy more power than analog. Some wall warts can't handle 2 digi delays daisy chained. Try using SEPARATE wall warts for each pedal, wallwarts made for music gear, Boss, Dano, etc. Then see if the hum is still there. good luck, matt

Just FYI, The pickle pie "B" is much different than my own pickle pie or the BYOC kit. The pickle pie "B" is not a clone of anything. It simply uses the skeleton of the muff/pickle. It has a fet-hybrid clip section (I'd tell you the "hybrid" and FET part but I cant give away all my secrets). An active clean blend. Tonestack made to accommodate bass and retain its usability as the fuzz is turned down. A few major changes to how the pedal handles low-end signals. also other small tweaks here and there that only slightly affect the overall tone. And it makes you play as good as Jaco when you flip the magic "Jaco" switch. As far as my original pickle pie and the BYOC "pickle" kit. I would imagine they would sound pretty similar. I've heard good things about all their kits (not that anyone asked me). FYI, my favorite vintage muff is the PNP wired Ram's Head (uses 2n5087's). matt

Hey Kev! I know you sold your Pickle Pie but I thought you might want to check out my new Pickle Pie "B" version. It's a new version I made that is voiced for bass guitar. It has a totally revamped circuit, completely changed FET based clip section and best of all for bass, an active buffered clean-blend. It's not up on my site yet, but I saw this post and thought you (and everyone else) might want to check it out. I worked on it for months, so I guess I'm a little impatient! [url="http://wrenandcuff.com/mp3s/pp_b_3samp.mp3"]http://wrenandcuff.com/mp3s/pp_b_3samp.mp3[/url] thanks, Matt