vinorange

There should be an Eden Metro Appreciation Society (it even has a good acronym - EMAS).

The Metro combo was my go to for many years. For a 2 x 10 it had huge presence and it was a very hi-fi sound. I guess the only thing I always hankered after was a bit of dirt which it very definitely didn't have. I don't know why but active basses sounded wonderful and passive less so. My gig set up was a Modulus VJ4 with an East preamp through the Metro. I had many comments about the sound - which was wonderful. I have neither the Metro nor the Modulus (stupid me.....)

I have a VT300. Ive had a Metro combo (well 2 actually), a WT550, a WT800 and even a recent WTP600. You could say I’m an Eden fan. The recent WTP600 was a real throw back to the proper Edens from the 90s. To dispel a myth, the VT300 is about 20kg, is very serviceable (thanks to valve biasing on the rear panel) and it sounds fantastic. It even sounds fine for low volume practice and of course it has a bit of grunt n grind to it which the other Edens generally don’t. It sounds great with passive basses whereas the others lend themselves to active a bit more. It’s my personal fave of all the amps I’ve owned.

Open back headphones are apparently better for tinnitus sufferers as some of the sound naturally escapes and, as you’re aware of the background volume, you can set the level better. With sealed / closed back headphones the sound pressure level can get high without realising it. The only trouble with open back headphones is that they sort of defeat the object of silent practice. When I rehearse with headphones on I only have them half over my ears.

Isn't mine different as the cap goes to the left lug of the tone pot instead of the middle? Mine also has a link from middle tone lug to right vol lug (as you look at it) and the hot tone output comes from the left vol lug not the middle so it differs a bit. Maybe it does the same thing but differently.... It sounds fine btw.

There's nothing up with it at all. It just had me baffled but then I'm easily baffled. Thanks for the explanations. I'll lock myself away somewhere and make sure I understand.

It's from a recently acquired from this parish, rather nice, Daphne blue CIJ Fender P bass. I think it's a 70s re-issue as the pickups have baseplates. When I look at the wiring I get confused as it's so different from standard.... Thanks

In simple terms then (as there were a few suggestions along the way), what do you use to help with your tinnitus?

I was reading about a couple of other therapies for tinnitus. One is associated with the temporomandibular joint (your jaw to skull joint). If your tinnitus worsens when clenching your jaw or if you have teeth misaligned, neck pain etc. coupled with tinnitus then this could be making things worse; https://www.tinnitus.org.uk/tinnitus-and-tmj The other treats normal tinnitus (is there such a thing) with a different type of neuromodulation but seems to have high success rates; https://www.lenire.com/the-science-of-lenire/

I too am a tinnitus sufferer. I probably had it since my teenage years but very minor until a rehearsal in a small room with a heavy handed drummer around 4 years ago. The other band members had to compete for levels and unfortunately I had my back to a monitor. I came away with the normal post gig type ringing but it didn't go and still hasn't. I probably won't gig again but got some specsavers moulded ear plugs with -15db protection. As HappyJack says they reduce the overall volume but you van still hear everything. I also have been trying tinnitus therapy at the tinnitus clinic in Manchester. This is expensive but aims to pipe into your ears a similar frequency to convince your brain that it doesn't need to produce the tinnitus noise any longer. Tinnitus is caused by the ciliary hairs in your inner ear falling over under the sound pressure caused in loud environments. They normally recover and get back up but once over permanently then your brain reproduces the missing frequency (mine is around 4khz) and makes a rather poor job of it by producing a hissing we all know as tinnitus. Anyway, I have Signia hearing devices (like hearing aids) and wear them 8 hours a day. Firstly they mask the tinnitus entirely and present a much more acceptable noise in its place. When you take them out the tinnitus is still there but the idea is that over time the impact of the tinnitus is softened. I used to have to sleep with a background sound from the Ambience App playing all the time but almost immediately was able to stop. I'd say the perception of my tinnitus has reduced but, as others say, it's critical not to get exposed to those frequencies that will upset it again. I don't know whether I'd advise splashing the cash on these devices but there has been a definite improvement in my tinnitus to the extent where I'm tempted to gig again (but keep bottling it for now!!)

You should be. Apart from extreme cases, you shouldn’t need a luthier set up ever again. Oh yeah he teaches you about when and how to make neck shims too,

It’s a full day course. You take off the neck, tuners, string retainer, mask up the fretboard (learning how to trim the tape without damage), protect the nut, adjust the neck to dead flat, test the flatness, mark up the frets with perm marker and fret level using a levelling bar. Then check your handy work before re-marking the frets with your marker and then proceeding to re-establish the crown of the frets with a fret crowning file (correctly sized fir the frets), then finish the crowning with the fret levelling paper (wrapped in the file). Check your handy work and then lightly polish the frets with kovax finishing paper. Then polish each fret with metal compound (hence the tape to protect the neck). Wipe off polish and check your work. Re-assemble the bass, set the neck tension, re-string, correct the relief, adjust action and adjust pickup height to new set up. X 2 if you want. After that it’s onto fret removal and replacement on a spare neck, and repeat the above for your new frets if you get time (which you won’t). Also up for grabs are any questions you can Chuck at Jon like how to repair a neck if the truss is maxed out or finishing / touch up tricks. Phew. That’s me knackered at the thought of it......

I went on a bass maintenance course, rather than the build course and Jon was brilliant. I took 2 basses, both of which had a full neck off set up guided by Jon as part of the course. He's an absolute gent as well as an amazing guitar builder. As a result I've shipped out my Fenders in favour of 2 of Jon's creations. Meet the Shukers.

Tested it with my Ricky last night but tried with my Shuker P/J this morning and all I can say is wow. A gamble that seems to have paid off.....

Do you know I never noticed that. Luckily it nuzzled in perfectly....

An update! I received the transformer from Webb in Taiwan. They were amazing which is more can be said for Gear4Music, Eden or Marshall. Anyway it arrived last week but I've only just got around to fitting it but it was perfect plug and play and even better they only charged £120 including shipping. On plugging it in I found it sounded even better than I thought it might. Snappy, crispy, lots of attack & punch and plenty of headroom. It's just like like old Eden World tour amps but with tube control which I reckon is even better. Happy days thanks to a transformer maker in Taiwan!!