julesb

We are (Japanese) family.

1978 BB1000

1978 BB1200 Fretless

1985? (not sure) BB400s Fretless

1984 BB Vis.

I also have a really nice 414 and a battered and abused 614...

Some people have a crack habit. I have a bad BB habit...

The first two are unbelievably great instruments. The 1000 has a replacement bridge as the original snapped in half! How? I have no idea. It came with that and the replacement gotoh which to be honest is a better bridge. I have the original black pickguard but I like the replacement. This bass has seen some action but it's just lovely. The 1200 is a lined fretless which I've only just acquired. I'm not sure if they did a factory lined fretless but the job that's been done is perfect and it wouldn't surprise me if that was a custom option. It's bee in a case for 30 years but will get an outing next week at a gig.

The 400s is good but weighs as much as a horse. It could use a bridge pickup imo. The medium scale BBVis sounds tremendous and is mint condition with original hard case. I still find it a bit odd playing a medium scale after a 34". It does have a little bit of neck dive which I've never experienced with a BB.

Hi all,

I've just installed/replaced an undersaddle piezo in my previously butchered (😀not by me!) Godin A5 and although it works, the signal is overloading my recording interface even with the gain set to minimal. I've had to turn down the volume on the onboard pre to stop it distorting. I'm sure I've made a schoolboy error so can someone tell me what it may be? I have vague memories of some sort of resistor somewhere from the pre-amp to the battery but I can't remember as this project has been on the shelf for a while and I didn't take any pics beforehand (another schoolboy error)

Many thanks,

Jules

15 hours ago, silverfoxnik said:

Thanks for sharing this @julesb@julesb 👍

 

Great artist with a great band! 

 

Looks like a lovely Roscoe Beck 5 that John Giblin is using there.. 

 

I saw him playing with Kate Bush eight years ago on her 'Before The Dawn' series of shows (with Omar Hakim on drums) and he was just impeccable in his playing! 

👍There's not much quality footage of him it seems, so a treat for us all. I'm beyond jealous that you got to see the Before the Dawn shows!

For all the Giblin (and Joan ) fans out there in in case you haven't seen it.

For what its worth, my final attempt before taking it in was to replace the neutrik speakon connectors which I had my eye on from the beginning. Voila, the amp is back and sounding great.

Ok fair enough. Looks like new amp time. This is the second issue I've had with Markbass so I'll try my luck elsewhere this time. Clearly people have great experiences with MB so I know they're not all bad. I'll take it in a some point to the local electronics guy and you never know...

Cheers!

Yeah, I'm actually in Germany but it's the same thing here. One service centre. Unless a board needs replacement it might be doable by a regular repair person. (he says hoping...)

Hi, Which YT video is he using?

Hi everyone,

Before I think about taking this to a repairer does anyone have any ideas what could be causing this sound? There's a pretty much constant woosh/hiss which you can't hear when playing but sometimes it makes the sound in the attached file which then goes away for a while and then starts again randomly. The leads are all good and I've checked for obvious cold solder points. The amp works perfectly apart from this but I fear it will break when I need it most. Interestingly it doesn't make this sound through the built in DI which is perfectly quiet.

Any ideas appreciated. The amp is quite old now so it may be a case of it becoming a paperweight if it's expensive to fix.

Thanks in advance.

p.s. The fan never seems to come on. I replaced it and it's still the same but it doesn't seem to get hot.

1 hour ago, RichardH said:

We rehearse at Starfish, but we're not sure what the recording facilities are like - did you ever use them for recording?

I haven't but friends have and if it just for the purpose of getting a demo together...

Welcome to Lewes! I'm just about to leave after many years but for high quality use Echo Zoo in Eastbourne. Or if you want cheap and cheerful Starfish in Lewes.

That's (almost) better 😀

These are soooo good. Why would any working musician buy a 70's Fender for three times the price (yes I've been there) when you can have this? Crazy times...

Perfect transaction with Paul. Great communication and a top man. Hope you enjoy the bass as much as I have. Cheers!

12 hours ago, Shaggy said:

I use Ashdown mini 4x8 and 1x15 cabs (with upgraded drivers) with either an Ashdown MK 500 or Mesa Walkabout head as my "compact" rig - they're superb and robust little cabs, and the entire rig fits in the boot of my hatchback without needing to put the rear seats down. 

Looking at the pic in the OP - wouldn't it work better with the 4x8 on top, or does that block ventilation slots on the combo?

I think your're right that it would look better the other way round but you can take the lid off the MB for ventilation and it would indeed cover that hole so rather than risk it I stack it this way. The 4x8 is a great little cab but the revelation for me with this amp is adding the cab and running at 500 watts. It was always a good combo but now it just sounds brilliant. This could be the simple fact I'm just shifting more air but whatever the reason I love it. The problem for me is that I have a stiff load cover in my car and the MB will not fit under it so I have to travel with it on my back seat and it's why I'm thinking of selling it. I wouldn't hesitate to have the head and separate cabs...

MB Cmd 210 paired with an Ashdown ABM mini 4×8. Not one for the visual purist but wow it sounds good. Adding a cab to the MB turns it into something else all together.

Anybody changed the pickguard on their Ray 34? The pup rout is different from the standard SR. I have a black I want to change to tort with minimum expense.

Total Bargain.

SOLVED! After taking it all apart what seems like a hundred times, the culprit was the connection between the battery poles and the  contact strips in the battery holder. TFFT! 

Thanks again to all who got involved in trying to help. I know a lot more now then I did at the start of this. Cheers!

Ok, just checked it with a multi meter and there is continuity between all points from the pre to the battery and the jack which has also confirmed that the wires are in the correct places. New battery installed. Zilch....

Thanks for everybody's help. I'm certain the jack is now correct. Black and red from the top of the board are to the battery.Gnd sw and out go to the jack and appear correct. I'll check the wires haven't melted together. I'm snowed under but determined to get to the bottom of this soon. 

Thanks Andy. Yes, the red is on the longer one and contacts with the tip when a lead is in. I also though about the battery and replaced it with one from a working bass. Interestingly it didn't wreck the battery as that works in the other bass.

Thanks Andy, that was the point I'd got to which seem the same as your instructions and still no Joy. I've had everything apart and everything seems connected and in place. Red and black wires you see from the pre are going to the battery. The wires you see connected to the jack are from the underside of the pre and there seems to be no loose connections. I'm not sure what I could have actually disturbed whilst doing this. Dog was no help btw😀

After further investigation from the LR baggs forum it seems the black is the switch and the blue wire was not from the battery but some sort of additional ground from the cavity shielding. I soldered accordingly and it still doesn't work so I'm worried I may have blown something in the preamp with my messing about. I imagine that's fairly unlikely but... Many thanks for your help John. I'll continue over on the LR Baggs forum to see if they have any more ideas.