rmorris

[quote name='lonestar' post='536381' date='Jul 9 2009, 12:50 PM']He made this point after setting up a problematic Strat with a fairly high but perfectly playable action which ultimately suited the type of material that I was playing in a blues band at the time. It was just right for this guitar and the style of bendy stuff that I was playing once I got used to it.[/quote] right. I get it. But that seems to me like the setup was right for what / how you were playing anyway as you say. I'm thinking that you probably do need a higher action for the bendy stuff - taking into account neck radius etc. Along similar lines I read that Clapton preferred a highish nut.

[quote name='lonestar' post='532863' date='Jul 5 2009, 11:25 AM']One other viewpoint that I picked up from my old g**tar teacher who was also a top notch luthier was that rather than spend hour fiddling to get the " perfect" set up for you is to adapt your technique and playing to suit the instrument's action and characteristics.[/quote] I've heard of people doing that for practice / strengthening purposes. But it seems wrong as a playing solution to make life more difficult for yourself and limit your options. And also it sounds odd coming from a 'top notch' luthier who could, presumably, set up the instrument as required.

QUOTE (rmorris @ Jul 4 2009, 08:00 PM) But you can't avoid the fact that, all other things being equal, a lower action allows less string excursion before fret buzz sets in and so the dynamic range of 'clean' playing is reduced. Not really. Play with a softer touch, turn your amp up, and adjust your right hand technique (if you are right handed of course). [i]No real argument with the technique advice if that's what you like. I tend to favour not hitting the strings too hard and biasing toward playing near the bridge myself. But I did state " all other things being equal " - in which case what I say holds true. If you accept there's a minimum string excursion ( whatever it is ) that you're going to have for a note then the lower the maximum excursion the smaller the difference between the quietest and loudest notes. And that gives you a smaller 'dynamic range'. I'm not saying it's a problem - but it is a fact and simple mechanical common sense / engineering. [/i] QUOTE And a certain level of excursion is generally required to get a balanced tone from the note / attack although that's very sound dependent. The sound produced from the "attack" is not down to the amount of force applied. If you can play in a semi-staccato manner by having a good enough technique between your fretting and plucking hand, you can get a very effective tone. Watch the players who have a pronounced tone - they all play near the bridge to get the punchy sound that cuts through the rest of the band. The string excursion is reduced the closer you play to the bridge - you also get more control and less "noise". [i]well it's down to ( amongst other bass variables ) the plucking ( or whatever ) position and the excursion. I'm not simply saying that the bigger the strike the better the attack - but there can be a problem with players who just don't hit the string hard enough to get a well defined attack / note. Like I said - I tend to bias toward plucking toward the bridge for the reasons you outline. But sometimes the sound you want can be better obtained by adjusting that toward the neck. I'd add that I tend to see more players hitting / striking too hard imho when it'd be better to be controlled at the playing end rather than making a mess of the sound or relying on the sound processing. [/i] QUOTE I believe Jamerson had a high action and flatwounds and wanted no fret click / buzz noise. Jamerson was an ex double bass jazz player, and really didn't care about his bass setup. Most basses at the time had poor setups, I know, I played a few. And most bass guitarists also doubled on double bass, so a high action on a guitar did not trouble them. Indeed, a lot of the players I knew at the time actually set their bass guitars up with as high an action as possible so that the switch over from double bass was not so dramatic. And in the last 40 years since he was binned by most of the studios because he wouldn't modernize his sound and style, and started his fall into obscurity, bass guitars and amplification have improved dramatically. So why not take advantage of the improvements? [i]yeah. I didn't expand on that. I suppose my point was just to point that out as it seems relevant given the esteem in which he is held. I wasn't advocating his approach particularly. But I think his setup possibly had more to do with getting a clean sound rather than just not being bothered. But it's certainly unfortunate that he appeared, as I understand it, to become beligerent wrt sound / style. I'm happy to be corrected here, but I believe part of the issue was a reluctance to change strings. Regardless of tone, at some point they just aren't going to tune / intonate properly which is going to lose you favour especially as bass lines become more upfront as with the 'Philadelphia' sound etc. You can't argue with the improvement ( and availability ) of bass gear. Totally in favour of using that. [/i] If anyone would care to watch the Sadowsky video that was kindly introduced in the earlier thread, the problems that are encountered and the solutions to those problems are well covered (if you have an hour to spare). [i]I'll try and catch up with that when I can. But it reminded me of an interesting 'round table' discussion in Bass Player mag some years ago with various makers. I think Sadowsky nmay have been one, plus Pedulla + Tobias + others. If I stuck a PostIt note on it I may be able to find it ( too many magazines :-)[/i] As I suggested, all of the renowned players with good technique and specialist basses seem to have very low actions on their instruments. [i]I take the point although 'renowned players' is something of a value judgement. It's also a bit of a 'chicken and egg' situation since having a low action requires a certain technique.[/i] The Fender players seem to have a higher action - and perhaps it is necessary for an instrument that has not (in the case of a precision or a jazz) been fundamentally changed for 50 years and is needed because of a steep radius on the neck, an average scale length and low break angle at the nut and bridge. [i]Well - yeah. It's all down to the mechanics / geometry at the end of the day. I prefer a flatter radius myself although a steeper radius just 'feels right' sometimes. I do think, however, that you have to accept that 34" scale is a good compromise between tension etc and ergonomics. I'm assuming a 'proper' 4 string bass of course ;-)[/i] Anyway, does it really matter? [i]Well it's good if people are able to make an informed choice - which I hope is rather the point of forums like this[/i]

[quote name='fede162162' post='531620' date='Jul 3 2009, 12:59 PM']higher action = better tone, once it was my idea too, but now I've radically changed my mind. It's all about touch. My mind was changed by a great italian jazz performer whom I told the same thing: "when I want to give a strong dynamic to the sound or just being crazy at y gig my bass play worse with a lower action". He told me: Federico, I know you teach martial arts. When you do that, do you teach your pupils to hit strong? or to hit fast and precise in order to get the most effective result? I said, exactly the second one. He said: when you got expert it's kind of automatic to give fists and kicks fast,precise and bloody effective even in the worst situations. Thus you forget how to be brutal. I said: you've got the point chief. I spent days doing just one silly but effective exercise: left hand laid on the fingerboard in rest, muting the strings. Right hand. Put your fingers on a string. Prepare yourself to hit the strings. Focus on being as much fast as possible. You won't have strenght on your fingers because they'll be already laid on the strings. Focus focus focus and then hit! repeat,repeat,repeat. Have you seen Kill Bill when Uma tries to escape from her cuffin? =D well same idea.[/quote] that sounds like good advice / attitude in terms of not 'wasting' energy/movement unnecessarily. But you can't avoid the fact that, all other things being equal, a lower action allows less string excursion before fret buzz sets in and so the dynamic range of 'clean' playing is reduced. Of course this may not be a bad thing in the case that you may otherwise require a compressor to get the sound wanted. And a certain level of excursion is generally required to get a balanced tone from the note / attack although that's very sound dependent. I believe Jamerson had a high action and flatwounds and wanted no fret click / buzz noise. Horses for courses.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='515215' date='Jun 16 2009, 12:41 PM']I find the BDDI really useful. I once went straight into the board to record, and they just tweaked it a bit ...[/quote] +1 yeah - they are very good at what they do. It isn't, I think, good for 'effect' distortion/overdrive - after a certain point the Drive control just breaks up the sound in a fairly non euphonic way. But for getting an 'amp tone' down it's a real good tool - see players who mention the usefulness ( and not necessarily endorsees ). ParaDriver has dedicated mid control I know - do the drive / presence work the same as BDDI. I'm thinking freq ranges might differ ?

[quote name='hubrad' post='520774' date='Jun 22 2009, 02:29 PM']It did seem so, but after a free trial on a gig - get a gig at The Cricketers' Arms in Keighley and talk to Neil of The Den.. [url="http://www.thedenkeighley.co.uk/"]http://www.thedenkeighley.co.uk/[/url] - the effect on the sound of the whole band was [u]very[/u] surprising! That line-up, Euclid Avenue, is now fully kitted out with Cream, as is Crosscut Saw [url="http://www.crosscutsaw.co.uk"]http://www.crosscutsaw.co.uk[/url] Now the only time I don't carry them is when I'm really not going to be in any control. Can't have any T,D and H trampling them. Nice colour too![attachment=27516:Edinburgh280308.jpg] We can spend a couple of grand on a bass, then hundreds (or more) on an amp...[/quote] what cables/connectors were you using previously ?

[quote name='farmer61' post='509220' date='Jun 9 2009, 04:43 PM']Thanks, although I panicked on Saturday and it's already with him........[/quote] Any update on this - as I wrote above I have a similar issue wthe an old TE 7 band AH head .

I think it would be useful to say why you need the rig - backline / on stage monitoring ; running the whole bass sound from the rig ; mic'd recording etc. What size stages you playing if applicable ?

[quote name='farmer61' post='508100' date='Jun 8 2009, 11:41 AM']My TE 500 AH has been cutting out on me when gigging. On Sat, lost volume on Song#2, came back and played for another 2.25 hrs withoug problem then failed on the final track. I've been putting this down to the MM Stingray as I thought the Jack Socket was playing up (Again, new batteries btw). Went to my local store and explained the problem to the guy who has done may of my set-ups and repairs in the past. He felt that it could be the send / receive effects loop (never used) that was cutting in and out. Anyone come across this before, for the first time I noticed that the Input Gain Led's were flashing although there was little / no volume which suggested something was getting through to the amp. I having the thing serviced but am interested in anyone elses experiences with TE problems of this nature. Thanks[/quote] That's such an annoying problem. Does it cut out completely or is it a loss of power with still some signal level and possibly very distorted ? I have the latter problem with an old AH150 (?) head. Had it serviced by GM audio a few years back but it came back. It could be the send/return jack(s) where the contacts have lost their spring and tarnished / oxidised enough to cause the problem. I had a similar problem on the insert point of a mixer. Loud notes might 'break through' the barrier and things might be fine for a while before it fails again. Anyway - get some Caig DeOxit cleaner and give them a good clean as per the directions - also other jacks etc while you're about it. Good Luck

[quote name='stoatsbrother' post='460862' date='Apr 12 2009, 11:12 PM']Anyway I guess that sort of answers my question anyway - and it is off to London I will need to go... [b]6stringbassist[/b] thanks - might be the one I need - although 60 miles away[/quote] have you had the work done yet ?

[quote name='Mikey R' post='506648' date='Jun 5 2009, 09:34 PM']Al, when I finally get round to prototyping something I might have to give you a call! do you know of any free software for laying out circuit boards? In the past, Ive always done it the analogue way using OHP film, a permanant marker and some transfers for the IC pins, but maybe its time to go a bit more digital. [/quote] I don't know about totally free or low cost packages although Easy PC is probably worth checking out. But ORCAD ( Cadence ) is still available as a fully functioning program as long as you have a maximum of ( I think ) 30 components. You'd need to check that info' but I think it's right. btw for anyone looking to get on board with a full pro level system Altium Designer have cut the price to about £3K in response to the current market conditions I think according to my latest email from the UK vendor. ( I've used it in my last 3 jobs but not currently ) Lots of £s I know but useful info' if anyone is looking at investing a middle level product. Last time I bought it ( not with my own money ! ) in 2007 it cost £5K - £6K and it's been updated a few times since.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='497926' date='May 26 2009, 12:42 PM']No, it totally depends on the individual components. Some valve preamps sound amazing and valvey, some sound amazing but not in a valvey way, and some sound mediocre. Just like generalising on tone based on speaker diameter leads you to often incorrect conclusions, so does generalising based on amp topology. Alex[/quote] +1 A valve stage can be pretty much as clean as a transistor / opamp stage if not driven into non-linearity - depending on the design and toplogy - class A ; AB etc. Some real electronic engineering knowledge helps but basically listen carefully and trust your ears - then go for what you like.

[quote name='stevie' post='502249' date='May 31 2009, 01:28 PM']The resistance of 30m of your recommended 6-amp cable is nearly 1 ohm.[/quote] But the OP states that he has a run of [b]10m[/b] + a bit on another chained cable. Someone else mentions 30 Foot - is that what you meant ? The power loss is small in audio terms. What may be more important is a worsening of the ability of the amp to control the speaker especially at low frequencies ('samping effect') so that notes might 'overhang', 'blur' etc. Whether it's an issue really depends on the actual amplifier and speaker combination

[quote name='joshua' post='502296' date='May 31 2009, 02:18 PM']i would shorten my cable but i am not at all confident at soldering back on the speakon connector[/quote] from memory when I used these - you can buy screw terminal types - although it's an extra cost if you have solder types fitted.

[quote name='steve-soar' post='501951' date='May 30 2009, 10:31 PM']I think you've got about 30 foot of excess cable there, which is just getting warm by all your precious watts from your amp.[/quote] there's no point in having more cable length than you think you might need - but always add a bit on - sod's law etc. But as long as you use cable with a decent amount of copper the power loss on the cable will be insignificant. You'll also get a low pass filter ( ie treble loss ) effect from the cable due to the resistance, inductance and capacitance. This depends on the physical characteristics of the cable. But it's unlikely to be significant / audible and almost certainly not for bass or elec guitar. Even if you were running a full bandwidth PA signal out of the into the cabs it's not generally a problem. Just think that PA amplfiers often have to have cables longer than these. As for cable - 2 core mains cable , say 6 Amp guage, generally works fine both electronically and mechanically with Speakon and other connectors.

[quote name='stoo' post='463140' date='Apr 15 2009, 04:34 PM']Ouch - just noticed they've appeared on the [url="http://www.stringsandthings.co.uk"]Strings & Things site[/url] - from £689 for the Ray (or from £749 for the 5 string) and from £639 for the Sterling [url="http://www.stringsandthings.co.uk/sterlingbymusicman_page4.htm"]SB (Sterling)[/url] [url="http://www.stringsandthings.co.uk/sterlingbymusicman_page5.htm"]Ray34 & Ray35[/url] Bit too strongly priced to be anywhere near tempting for me - At that sort of money, I'd be looking at a used EBMM one... though maybe they'll end up selling for a fair bit less than RRP? Bargain![/quote] just looking up some OLP info and found out they are no more. I was going to ask if people thought the necks ( I have an MM2 ) were more prone to movement than average. I noticed mine taking a while to settle after truss rod adjustment. I know this is normal but I noticed it's significantly longer than , say, a Westone Thunder 1 and was wondering how big a factor is that the Westone neck is 3 piece laminate whilst the MM2 is one piece ?

[quote name='mathewsanchez' post='459828' date='Apr 11 2009, 10:04 AM']The other day in a shop I played one of the OLP Levin sig basses (one of the later ones in peach) and to be honest in a side by side comparison with a stingray five there was a small difference in sound but not a lot. The SR5 felt much much nicer to play and was clearly better build quality but the £1000 price difference does make you wonder. EDIT: Although I might add, I would never part with my stingray for anything.[/quote] hi. can you elaborate on the 'much nicer to play' bit. Neck Profile ? Acoustic response ? ergonomics ? Thanks

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on why popular stuff like Deep Impact gets discontinued. Okay - some stuff gets reissued but not very often. I contacted Akai some time ago and was just told there were no plans to reissue. Seems a bit odd as presumably they have all the design and manufacturing information. Component obsolescence ?

[quote name='stevie' post='485457' date='May 11 2009, 11:47 PM']Can't say I've noticed NiMH rechargeables weakening as they age, and I use quite a few. However, it is true as you say that they 'self-discharge' over a period of between 3 and 6 months. You should therefore top them up just before you use them and remember that you will need to fully recharge them in 6 months at the latest whether you use them or not. There is no point in using them in things like clocks (or basses for that matter), where an alkaline normally lasts for years. Having said that, alkalines usually last a year in some of my meters, but I have a habit of forgetting to switch them off. That's where rechargeables really come into their own.[/quote] Maybe it's the application I'm thinking of - a battery operated radio which takes 3xAA. Various Brands - all seem to last a shorter time in there than they did when new. Not that I've written the figures down.

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='486587' date='May 13 2009, 06:52 AM']Yes no problem if its not too big/complex (like anything over 40 components and 3 IC's I deem too complex) The etching gear is not expensive if you go the non-uv route, you can use a laser printer to print onto the blue press'n'peel paper which is heat-transferred to the pcb blank then etched in the normal way with ferric chloride. What put me off for a long time was it is a faff getting all the stuff when you only want to do 1 or 2 stompbox circuits, so I tried with Veroboard a few times but had little success. Once you have the gear its not too much trouble rattling off a few small boards. They make the circuits so much easier to put together and guarantee a far greater chance of success. I'm going to charge a measly £2.50 per board if its a stompbox-size one plus a flat rate £1 for p&p. Send me the pcb image and I'll have a look for you.[/quote] Hi How would you be looking to receive pcb images ? 1:1 plot / Gerber / ODB++ etc...

[quote name='umph' post='483839' date='May 9 2009, 03:58 PM']it doesn't cost a grand to design and make a good simple buffer ;<[/quote] +1 sticking with having normal 'high Z' pickups with a buffer internal to the bass (rather than lo Z EMG type pickups ) - an active buffer/driver circuit has the simple but important advantage of improving the electrical interface in terms of impedance matching / line driving which has advantages wrt frequency balance and noise pickup. Your pickups sound the same except they are not loaded by the cable capacitance ( = treble roll off ). It's essentially taking the 'use a short lead' approach as far as you can. And even allowing for manufacturer / retail mark up a good buffer circuit isn't an expensive item. Everything else after the buffer can go anywhere in the chain - bass / fx board / amp etc. - and it sounds the same. Just a case of where you want it. You may want/need an eq box in addition to the eq etc on your amp / desk but soundwise it won't matter if it's in the bass itself or not. Practically, electronics in the bass is more likely to be battery powered so the more in there the shorter the battery life (all other things being equal )

[quote name='alexclaber' post='485615' date='May 12 2009, 08:16 AM']Conventional NiMH rechargeables self-discharge far too quickly to be a good idea in basses. However the newer 'Hybrio' ones that are fully charged when new are very good and have almost zero self-discharge (about 10%/yr) - I gather they are now available in a PP3 size. I've been using the AAs for a while and am very impressed. Alex[/quote] right. thanks for the info'. I haven't seen those around - are they generally available ? Sound useful in lots of applications.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='485386' date='May 11 2009, 09:23 PM'] I've owned a lot of Stingray's and gig regularly and maybe have had to change a duracell battery maybe [b]once a year[/b] or longer a lot of the time. Do you keep your bass plugged in all the time?[/quote] yes - I don't know about Stingray but generally an alkaline PP3 should last months at least. I would have to say that NiMH rechargeables do tend to drop their voltage / power more rapidly than alkalines and more so as they get older. It depends on lots of things though - pattern of use / temperature etc. and is a whole topic in its own right. btw they also tend to lose charge more quickly when 'in the drawer' so don't bank on those ones that you charged up the other week still being okay. Various brands tested but I can't see big differences between them. Views welcome. I use mains power unless it's not feasible ( or phantom for BDDI going into desk ). Takes away the 'left it plugged in' scenario.

[quote name='JPAC' post='485239' date='May 11 2009, 05:30 PM']Do rechargeables distort the output?[/quote] no - although when the voltage drops too low the circuit will distort or stop working same as with any battery.