HowieBass

I'd bet the black one is alder and it's the Cort website with the error, that's a better wood to use than swamp ash when you want a solid finish; Cort seem to use swamp ash for open pore finishes and there's about a 100 euro difference in full price between the two. Thomann are discounting the open pore brown burst swamp ash model by about 29% and the black alder body model by about 58%, hence the major difference between them.

I think my kitchen chopping board is a nice big hunk of sapele - every time I look at it I imagine it being used to make a bass body from

Shergold made some double neck instruments, of a few different configurations, but Shergolds are now quite collectible and I imagine the custom doubles even more so... http://www.shergold.co.uk/models.html

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1409412978' post='2539500'] I'm pretty certain that that is mahogany, not beech [/quote] ... and after seeing that incredible table of yours, I'd be inclined to believe you.

Have you got a canteen there? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv5iEK-IEzw

The contact number for Limelight has an 01626 area code - that's Newton Abbot near Paignton so very much Devon.

Ah ok, I was trying to think of ways to reduce the standing about time for you; hopefully you've a coffee machine there to keep you company!

Yeah I immediately thought mahogany before I looked at other replies, just from the wood colour and grain alone. I don't know if you'll get any tone colouration from the body but I'd bet it has good sustain.

When you tell it to rout out something like the electronics cavity or the cavity for the pickup selector switch you're telling it to create a hole. I suppose you could create a hole/channel that's effectively defining the outline of the body... so with the model, create the outline of the body, duplicate that outline but increased in size by 5% and then get the router to take material out from there only?

I've never done anything like CNC design/programming but is there any way to limit the areas that the routing head travels to? It's removing a lot of material from areas that could be ignored if there was some way to confine the routing head to only take out material near to the outline of the body.

Why does it take so long to create the shape? Is the machine limited to the size of the routing bit and can only run slowly because of that?

Definitely a Squier...

Modern capacitors tend not to fail unless they're of the electrolytic variety which I doubt you'll have in your bass; the old fashioned paper in oil (PIO) and waxed paper caps do dry out (and fail) but again I think unlikely to be fitted in the Hohner. The first thing I'd check is that the output jack has no corrosion or crud built up on the contacts so check and clean that first. Next I'd use switch cleaner in the control pots (especially the volume) to make sure they're not at fault in any way. Does the bass work in passive mode with no battery in the circuit and if so does it seem as loud as usual? If the volume drop is only revealed when in active mode then I have to assume that the preamp circuitry is the problem but hopefully other BCers with the same bass might have better advice for you. Edit: Oh yeah I'd also check the battery contacts to make sure you have no corrosion or crud from an old leaking battery as well.

Well here's our very own Dan 'Dood' Veall reviewing the Zoom unit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2AG3n8KVzA

[quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1409308275' post='2538496'] The Fishman unit looks fun, but uses a USB receiver which I don't think will pass a signal into a GR55, or a VB-99 come to that. You would need a USB - Midi converter, I think they exist but haven't seen one before. You could use it via a computer to trigger synth samples in something like Studio One or Logic. [/quote] This is a USB to MIDI convertor http://www.dv247.com/cables/esi-midimate-ii-cable-style-usb-2-0-midi-interface--65367 - but you can't always guarantee that it'll work correctly with both computer and MIDI unit (it only does some of what I wanted to use it for with my Zoom B9 editor software). I can't help thinking that for the playing style you need to adopt with a bass triggering a synth (simple, clean notes) and the possible problems with tracking and latency that it'd be simpler learning how to play some simple lines on a small synth (which is the direction I took when I was more active musically).

Fab Lab, what a great idea! Just looked it up and there's one in Manchester... hmmmmm wonder what I could build? http://www.fablabmanchester.org/

Some BCers have started a patch library on Google Docs too https://docs.google.com/folderview?id=0B7b88q8uy5hYMFJUem5nUDNyMkk#list

Mostly conscious knowing but I have moments of unconscious knowing when I'll pull something off after some noodling and I wouldn't be able to tell you exactly how I'm doing it, it just happens (as in yesterday when I realised I was raking across a few strings in a syncopated circular riff where getting left and right hands in perfect synchrony was required). There are times too of conscious not knowing where I try to do something like slap and I cannot get the multiple pops using index and middle fingers. It's a bit like driving really, a lot of the time I'm on automatic but I could explain to someone what I'm doing if I think about it... my conscious not knowing here is double-declutching (never needed it) and the heel-and-toe method for racing!

I've got two basses with 'slap switches', the one on the Tanglewood (Cort) Curbow 5 cuts mids and boosts bass and also some treble - the contour can be adjusted to taste via a micro pot on the back of the body and I think it works well. My Squier Deluxe Jazz Active has a preset EQ contour that boosts bass a lot, less so on the treble side and it's less well implemented than the Curbow. I can achieve a similar effect using the Contour pot on my Genz Benz combo which also boosts bass and treble and cuts mids (and for good measure I've also got a similar EQ shape assigned to one of the footswitches on a couple of my patches on my Zoom B9). I guess this is one occasion when a smiley curve EQ is called for?

Bass seems to come easier to me than other instruments I've had a go on (drums, guitar, keyboards, clarinet) and it does feel natural though I might well enjoy something like cello or upright bass just as much - I must admit that had I the space and the cash I'd probably get a small arsenal of synths to keep the basses company...

Love seeing this kind of work and so much the better for it being another Westone! Those Magnabass pickups have quite a few fans

Have you considered using some kind of EQ stomp box that you could switch in when you need to cut treble?

Much synth porn here (look there's even an old Jen SX1000 at the back, I had one of those LOL). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmQ7O-Oz88Y

His bass is so Goth you can't even see it...

My Cort B4FL is the same, you can switch off the EQ completely so only the volume and blend control are in play; switch the active EQ on and with the pots centred there's no noticeable difference in tone. There's no difference in volume either. I haven't tried it without a battery in there yet.