rmorris

I've used this type of 'pen' in electronics development. Idea sounds great but a couple of things to bear in mind :- 1. As I recall youi have to press down on the nib to get the stuff to flow - think like a 'glitter pen' - and that means you can't produce the narrow traces you might typically want on a pcb layout. 2. The stuff has a short 'shelf life ' (days / 1 week ???) after opening. Seems to be the case no matter how diligent you are in replacing the cap. After this it seems to become sort of 'yukky' and unreliable. To put this in context I used to work at a fader manufacturer where they used similar solution to attach wires to the track substrate where low resistance was paramount. But they would make the stuff themselves before start of shift and use it all within 2 hours or so otherwise the performance deteriorated. Same problem with the stuff you get from somewhere like Maplins to repair rear screen heaters on cars - the factory stuff was popular for that :-) It probably has a place in a busy repair shop esp for edge connectors etc but I've never really found a use for pcb prototyping etc and I doubt you'd get money's worth of use from it as it's not cheap.

[quote name='pobrien_ie' timestamp='1345503091' post='1778381'] The only downside is the finger noise you mentioned. This is something I struggled with anyway even before you gave me the advice, so working on overcoming this. The strangest thing happened last weekend though....after bathing my baby I noticed there was no finger noise (with or without pedal) when I picked up the bass. Perhaps softer fingertips or something! Bizarre...or maybe John Deacon was on to something!! [/quote] re finger noise - it's a basic result of compression that finger noise will be 'enhanced' since the overall effect is to reduce the level difference between the loud bits and the quiet bits ( technical terms :-) A compressor with adjustable attack / release times will allow you to influence the exact nature of this but it's an unavoidable consequence. Softer fingers are likely to reduce the amount finger noise produced - think about how much 'string/contact' noise you can get using a coin or metal plectrum. Different strings will also produce different amounts of finger noise - not just whether roundwound / groundwound / pressure wound / flats but also the material, finishing and winding geometry. To seriously remove finger noise that is produced (without simple eq that will give a duller overall sound) you can use a further compressor with an equalised sidechain to target offending frequencies or a dedicated 'de-esser' more usually used for vocals but can be tuned to the relevant frequencies. Not so easy for a pedal type setup but worth investigating digitally on computer DAW at least ? Also, specific to the Trace Elliot SMX compressor pedals - worth noting these are not all equal in sound. I had two at one point courtesy of ebay. Noticed one sounded better than the other. Better one turned out to hav a Rev3 pcb while the other had a Rev2. I have the schematic somewhere but I couldn't relate it to any differences Rev2 pcb cf Rev3.

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1346757863' post='1792674'] I wouldn't bother with Vintage pots, I don't see the value in them. Keep the originals in case you want to sell your bass as all original. But if you pay a fortune for some 70s ones they are likely to be worn and the date codes won't match your 70s bass exactly anyway so those who know... will know. Just replace with CTS pots of the same type. This is what Fender used. Most people accept that parts are replaced as part of the maintenance of a working instrument and it shouldn't devalue in any way, but keep the originals just in case! [/quote] +1 there's no real 'magic' in pots of the same value but using a good quality conductive plastic or cermet type would be better in terms of noise when moving and reliability over time compared to carbon types. I don't know if these are readily available in the high resistance values needed on passive controls. CTS definitely have a reputation for quality - are their 250K or 500K pots carbon or conductive plastic ? There's a noise penalty using higher value pots if not at maximum ( worst is at 'halfway' 50% or -6dB position ) but you need high values on output of passive pickup tp maintain a decent frequency response. On tone controls , to be honest , I don't really see the point of passive unbuffered tone controls as I've always found it more effective to do that stuff on pedal or amp eq (or use old strings :-)

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1346193587' post='1786470'] 200 quid to resaw the slots, level the board, refret, fret dress/level and polish is quite reasonable. [/quote] Sounds about right. Would new strings be on top of that ?

I'd recommend using a Craig DeOxit product on the contacts - they do various formulas for the contacts and pots/faders - suggest Google and look at their website. They do seem to do better long term than other 'Contact Cleaners' etc though you may want to look at products from Servisol or similar. But I have an aerosol of DeOxit in my cupboard and I'm usually sceptical of 'special' cleaners etc. It's not cheap but not 'hi-fi geek' expensive either. Seems to deal well with oxidised contacts as claimed eg on mixing desk inset points that have not been used for a while. Following that I'd clean with Isopropyl alcohol which will remove any grease contamination. I'd say any problem after that most likely due to mechanical issues of contacts losing 'spring' as Big Stu indicated. Bending contacts will help short term but you'll be better off replacing with quality components (Neutrik ; Switchcraft etc ) as space allows. Good Luck.

Hi. Apologies for being obvious but is it really worth the hassle / cost ? What bass is it ? And might the neck / fretboard might not be compromised by the whole defret / refret thing. Wouldn't it be a better choice to buy a fretted bass that you really like or a fretted neck to swap out ?

Hi. Has the buzz / hum come in as a definite 'step change' ? If it was okay before and then developed this 'fault' then logically one of two things seems to have changed - either the bass electronics : maybe a broken or damaged screen / shield - not easily seen if it is a non visible cable shield eg a shield connection into the pickup. Or the 'electrical environment' ie there is more noise. As warwickhunt says computers and striplights are suspects ( alongside crt monitors but they are pretty rare now ! ) but also energy saving bulbs or low voltage led lights and possibly any electronics. Don't ignore lights etc that may be in another room - eg bass in spare room above kitchen - kitchen lights changed to energy saving or low volts led. A wood and plasterboard ceiling is transparent to rf noise ! Once tracked down a regular noise from a guitar amp down to a DVD player in a downstairs room. If it's down to the bass then getting everything back to original should get you back to original noise performance. Shielding may help but the problem won't have been solved. Hope this makes sense and comments welcome. If not blame the time I spent in the EMC lab today :-)

Right. Which cable was it ? Split in the screen or signal or both ? Congrats on sorting it.

Interestingly I have one of thes - Aria Pro II Magna Series 5 string - as pictured. It has 3 pots only Vol / Vol and Tone Pot is where your 'missing' pot is ( there's no pot or switch where your third pot is positioned ). Unless it's a version thing then I think that a previous owner may have moved the tone pot from the original position ? If you remove the third pot maybe you'll be able to see if it looks like the hole for that is original or a diy job ?

alternative view: the effectiveness ( or otherwise) of tone controls in high impedance ( standard passive pickup ) circuits is always an issue due to the electronic parameters involved. Do you really need a high impedance tone control at all or can you better get the tonal variation wanted using amp / preamp / pedal controls ?

well I guess if you sell it you might be able to find out if the buyer would prefer the original tuners or the lightweight tuners ? Would seem a waste of effort to refit the elephant ears if the new owner is going to replace them with lightweights again.

Sounds puzzling. But can you test the SPX90 with another amp with an fx loop ? Is it okay if you plug into the SPX 90 direct from bass (or via pedal / buffer etc ) then into the input ( not fx return ) of the Trace AH250 ? etc...

I reckon it's handy to have an amp sim / DI option so you can go DI into the FOH desk and get an 'amp' sound if the gig setup calls for that. eg Sansamp BDDI ( I have one ) or whatever your preference - DHA / Alembic / whatever - but the point being to have an 'amp' sound rather than an overt overdrive / distortion ( though they are , of course , strictly speaking distortion effects ) and should provide a low impedance balanced ( interference and ground loop defeating ) output if you're sending it to the desk.

He bought my JOYO flanger. Quick with no problems. Cheers.

Did you get to the bottom of this ?

[quote name='winterfire666' timestamp='1327402790' post='1510503'] +1 for reaper, give it a go its free to try and very cheap to buy [/quote] add my +1 to that

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[quote name='JohnFitzgerald' timestamp='1328438492' post='1526797'] Cheers Mike I had kinda arrived at that concluion myself. The 1212M, having an ADAT connection seems like a good call. The fact that it's pretty low cost kinda helps too. If there's a little extra cash, I might actually bin it all and get a Zoom R16. 16 track, but able to record on 8 at a time via combo xlr / jack inputs. Also works as an audio interface to the PC via USB 2.0 and again gives 8 discreet ins to the laptop. That would cost £275, so not a fortune. Thanks again. JF [/quote] But I think you can only send a couple of tracks down the USB 2.0 to the PC at a time ? Easy enough to line them up just more time consuming and 'fiddly' Or am I getting that wrong ? from SOS review: Enter The PC The reason I don’t feel too inclined to dwell on the R16’s shortcomings as a mixer is that it is so clearly designed to be integrated with a computer recording system. Once you’ve installed its ASIO driver, you can hook up a USB cable from R16 to PC (assuming you have a USB2 port on your computer, which almost everyone does nowadays). The R16 will happily take its power from the USB connection where it’s available, and when it detects such a connection, gives you the option of starting up in Card Reader or Interface modes. Assuming you actually want to work on material recorded to the R16, you’ll need to use the Card Reader mode first, so that you can transfer the necessary files over to your computer’s hard drive. For some reason, all R16 projects appear to the computer as ‘PROJ001’ and so on, regardless of any name you’ve given them within the R16, but confusion is unlikely unless you’ve got lots of them on a single card. You can’t import Projects themselves into a DAW, but it’s easy enough to line up the audio files — helpfully, even takes that were started halfway through a Project are automatically extended to the Project start.