SmoothHoundChris

I can send you a few pieces of tape. We're out of stock right now but should have some more arriving in the next few days. I'll let you know when it gets here.

[quote name='sbrag' timestamp='1451817030' post='2943569'] I'm about to pull the plug but can't choose between the Smoothound and Sony. There doesn't seemove much to choose between them. I'm probably erring towards the Smoothhound due to battery life and i like the design but there isnt much to choose. Any final suggestions before I buy i mostly will be doing pub/club and the occasional function gig. [/quote] Good decision sbrag. Your set will be in the post tomorrow.

[quote name='gelfin' timestamp='1446739698' post='2901935'] Plenty of advice and help from Chris. Even replied to emails at 10pm. [/quote] No problem, gelfin, it's a pleasure. Thanks to Bobthedog and mrtcat for your kind words (I'll quote you on that if it's OK!). Big thanks to Dood for putting me in touch with Guitar Interactive magazine who just published my [url="http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk//launch.aspx?pbid=09bbc891-57ce-46e2-828d-3bc5adf0c587&pnum=118"]first review[/url]. Sorry, they never tried it with bass but you guys know it works with bass already!

[quote name='Bobthedog' timestamp='1445985034' post='2896012'] Mine has just arrived. Sadly I will not get a chance to play with it until Sunday. It is also missing the Microsuction tape, any ideas as to a good replacement? [/quote] Hi Bobthedog, Very sorry to hear that. Not sure how that happened. There'll be some Microsuction tape in the post tomorrow. Regards Chris

[quote name='HazBeen' timestamp='1445345807' post='2890713'] Just ordered one.... hope it does what it says on the tin, but going by this thread I should be fine. [/quote] Thanks HazBeen! A set is on its way to the Netherlands right now.

[quote name='funkydamo' timestamp='1445287109' post='2890344'] pulled the trigger and ordered. I have a gig Saturday so looking forward to breaking it in. [/quote] Got it funkydamo. It'll ship first thing tomorrow.

Nantwich is five miles from Gresty Road so might be a touch on the optimistic side

We're at the [url="http://www.b-visible.co.uk/businesses/72/mojo.html"]Cheshire Guitar Show[/url] in Crewe tomorrow. Come and say hello if you're in the area and try out the Classic wireless for yourself!

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1444230863' post='2881387'] Understood, but just to emphasise the point that all I had to do was to plug the pedals in using reverse order. Putting the receiver & polarity inverter [i][b]after [/b][/i]the other pedals completed cured the ... erm ... issue. [/quote] That's good to hear. It's possible that that is a real fix but a word of caution. The loudness of ground loop noise depends on the resistance in the connections. That resistance can change when you unplug things and plug them in again. I don't know that happened in this case but it's possible.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1444223936' post='2881301'] Oops ... except accidentally at the end. I meant to call it an issue. [/quote] Ha ha. The politest non-complaint ever. EBS is right, the noise is caused by a ground loop between the receiver and effect pedal but it's not specifically down to the choice of centre-positive supply. Daisy chain supply shared between digital and analogue pedals is a common cause of noise. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NweK7wVh_LQ"]Here's a video[/url] on the subject. Other well known wireless manufacturers say that you can only use the supplied adapter or an isolated supply like those from Voodoo Labs. In hindsight, I was a little rash when I said the receiver doesn't need isolated power because of the potential for this effect. Different rigs may vary but the safest ways to avoid ground loop noise like this is to use the supplied adapter or an isolated power supply. BTW I would recommend reading reviews before investing in one of the low cost 'isolated' supplies because I understand that some are more isolated than others.

[quote name='Muppet' timestamp='1442777672' post='2869433'] Try this? [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/264519-smooth-hound-innovations-digital-wireless-guitar-system"]http://basschat.co.u...s-guitar-system[/url] [/quote] I'd say that's your best option but I could be considered biased as I'm in the middle of building a batch of 50 sets.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1441279340' post='2857451'] I'm on my third (and hopefully final) attempt at wireless at the moment, and I'm delighted with it: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/264519-smooth-hound-innovations-digital-wireless-guitar-system/"]http://basschat.co.u...-guitar-system/[/url] [/quote] Great to hear you're still a Happy Jack [quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1441279340' post='2857451'] Put in a pair of new batteries before EVERY gig (well, why wouldn't you?) and - as Chris says - always lay out a cable for emergencies. [/quote] Says the man who [i]deliberately[/i] lets his batteries run out [i]during[/i] a gig? [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1441279125' post='2857444'] All I can say is always have a good supply of batteries and a lead laid out as a backup. [/quote] With systems like the Smooth Hound Classic that have a reliable battery level readout then you should have a backup set of batteries to hand but there's no need to replace them for each gig. Performance is the [i]same[/i] from fresh batteries to almost dead 15 hours later.

Smooth Hound are at the [url="https://twitter.com/mojoguitarken/status/638715436268392448"]Manchester Guitar Show[/url] this Sunday. Come along if you'd like to try out the Classic wireless system and take advantage of our special show price of £129.

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1439737007' post='2845324'] Not long back from 2 gigs in Aberdeen this weekend. I took the wireless still in it's box and not having had the chance to try it out at home. Got to the first gig, plugged it in, attached the tape to the transmitter and that was really it. Really simple to use and having no cable mean that I can hear the bass clearer now. In fact my drummer said it was the best that the bass had sounded. [/quote] Really glad you like it Delberthot. I prefer the sound of my Stratocaster and Les Paul through the wireless. It's the same result you'd get from fitting a pre-amp. Removing the cable loading on the pick-ups makes the guitar sound brighter and more detailed. [quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1439737007' post='2845324'] I have only one minor concern in that when removing the transmitter from the body, which I had attached using the tape, it's so strong that I'm worried that I'm going to break the tabs that hold the battery door onto the unit when I pull it off. I had to try to hold the battery door as I removed the transmitter from the bass. Any tips on how to remove it without risking damaging the battery compartment tabs? [/quote] Only really to grip the unit so you're holding the battery door as much as you can but it sounds like you're already doing that. Don't worry though, the battery door is made from a very tough plastic (Delrin) that will bend a long way before it breaks. The worst that's likely to happen is that the battery door stays attached to the guitar! Of course, if you did have a problem (which you won't) we'd send you a replacement door.

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1439736213' post='2845316'] Just call me Sherlock, Chris. Presume the deluxe model will be the Starry Smooth Hound. Home grown and made by an angler? That'll do for me Order just placed. Atb. [/quote] Got it, Dan. Thanks very much. It'll ship tomorrow.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1439666160' post='2844866'] Would [url="http://cpc.farnell.com/1/1/14269-pro-signal-psg02791-6-35mm-jack-socket-line-mono.html"]http://cpc.farnell.c...-line-mono.html[/url] fit the bill? [/quote] Thanks tauzero. That style of in-line socket works fine but the end is too wide to allow the jack to close fully. The end of the NYS236 is narrower allowing the jack to close fully. Hopefully, this [url="https://www.dropbox.com/s/dw68pshwanmzq5t/1_4_Inch_Sockets_Web.JPG?dl=0"]picture[/url] shows the difference. You may be wondering why I keep going on about the hinge closing fully. If the hinge can close completely, you can sit on, stand on or jump on your transmitter and it'll be fine. If the hinge can't close properly then the jack acts like a crow bar acting on the hinge so there's much more risk of damage in use.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1439546493' post='2843710'] Outstanding. I never had the balls to do that. Things have turned out OK for me anyway, but you do find yourself wondering "what if I had ...". Good luck Chris. [/quote] Thanks Jack. In case any anglers are interested, here's the [url="http://www.smoothhound-innovations.com/static/img/original_smooth_hound.jpg"]original smooth hound[/url] and here's the only [url="http://www.smoothhound-innovations.com/static/img/other_catch.jpg"]other catch of the day[/url]! Neither my dad nor my brother had so much as a bite.

Ha ha ha. Dan, yes. You got it in one. The company is named after the mighty smooth hound shark. Hence the logo though real smooth hounds aren't really very frightening at all. I caught and released a beauty off Yarmouth pier on the Isle of Wight in June 2013. Totally unexpected. Two weeks later, I made a snap decision and packed in my job to start my own company.

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1439320869' post='2841939'] Thanks Chris - that's me just ordered one now. Looking forward to using it this weekend [/quote] Got it. It'll ship tomorrow and be with you on Thursday before 1pm.

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1439225855' post='2841031'] Is the suction cup tape that sticks the transmitter to the bass designed so that the transmitter lives attached to the bass all of the time or can it come off at the end of the gig and go back on for the next one? Kind of looks like it goes on and off again as long as you keep it clean according to the manual. Just thinking that it might wear out the jack socket if it's in there all of the time. [/quote] As Iain says, you can take it off the guitar no problem. I don't think you'd have any problems leaving it plugged in either. One customer has bought a second transmitter so that he can leave the transmitters plugged in to his two basses and just pick them up and turn them on.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1439191913' post='2840577'] Deliberately ran my transmitter dry at Saturday's gig. I'd had a single bar on the r/h side of the display for a couple of hours, and I wanted to know what happened when the batteries finally died. ... In truth, it wasn't much of a mystery that needed solving but I've had battery-powered units go dry in several different ways and I always like to know what happens. [/quote] Thanks for clearing that one up, Jack. I can confirm that the design intent is to stop working when the batteries run out! More seriously, if you were playing at the time, you may not have seen the blinking light telling you it's getting critical. You've typically got 10-20 minutes once the light is blinking. As you found, the first sign of exhausted batteries is the system disconnecting and reconnecting which gets progressively worse until it won't connect at all. I looked at designing a 'cleaner' run-run-run-stop behaviour but that would've taken some time off the battery life so I figured it wasn't a real benefit.

[quote name='Iain' timestamp='1438950326' post='2838915'] Well put. Nice to be able to support British innovation too. [/quote] [quote name='Iain' timestamp='1438950326' post='2838915'] I'll need to make up an extension cable though as it isn't possible for the tape to keep it on place on my Dingwall or jazz but that's no biggie. Maybe an idea to put these as orderable accessories if there's some profit in them? [/quote] The Neutrik Rean NYS236 plus a short patch lead is the best solution. The end of that adapter fits beautifully and lets the transmitter jack close completely flush. If I could find an inline jack socket that fitted as well as that does then a made up patch cable might be viable but I've had no luck so far. The NYS236 is available from a few sellers on ebay or we can send you one for £4.00 inc. P&P. Just make a paypal payment to [email protected] and I'll get one in the post.

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1438769793' post='2837020'] This seems to be the best place to ask a techie question... I see that 1 wireless maker is now using 5.8Ghz rather than the more common 2.4. While I realise that 5.8 is not as congested as 2.4, is that really an issue? I have seen some wifi computer users complain that new 5.8Ghz routers are not as good at getting the signal through walls (not really an issue on a stage) Are there any advantages? Or is it really just a firm looking for a unique selling point? [/quote] EBS Freak answered alot of this pretty well earlier in the thread but I'm happy to offer my thoughts ... as a developer of a 2.4GHz solution of course! 5GHz is less congested than 2.4GHz right now. This will change over time but how quickly is difficult to say. The unlicensed part of the 5GHz spectrum is significantly wider than the 2.4GHz band (455MHz vs 79MHz) but it's being filled with wider bandwidth channels for higher throughput so ... How congested is 2.4GHz? A Wi-Fi router takes up 22MHz of the 79MHz available. That's normally the biggest user. Note that it doesn't matter how many PCs, laptops, tablets, phones, games consoles you connect to that router, they're all talking over the same 22MHz channel. You can probably see more than one WiFi router but as they get further away their signal strength drops so will be less of a problem. You may be one of the people who managed to get Bluetooth working usefully. A streaming Bluetooth connection takes up one 1MHz channel at a time so is not a big problem. Wireless door bells, mice and burglar alarms use a small amount of bandwidth on an infrequent basis so aren't really much of a problem. Is congestion at 2.4GHz a problem? That depends on how you use the available space. If you design a system that sits stubbornly on one or two channels (from the 79 available) then a competing wireless system or Wi-Fi router is going to block communication at some point. The Smooth Hound Classic selects which channels to use depending on the amount of competing traffic it sees. It uses four from the available 79 to transmit data and continually tests four more as back up. When doing battery tests earlier this year, we had ten Classic systems running in our house and the WiFi still worked fine. Assuming that the reduced free space range and absorption problems of a 5GHz system have been compensated by increasing output power then the lower congestion is a positive point compared to a 2.4GHz set but I don't think it's a big enough one to justify the reduced battery life and cost.

Here's a short video that shows the buzz that you'll hear if the receiver isn't getting enough volts. [url="https://youtu.be/mO4uA8C5Kus"]Classic Wireless Receiver Alternative Power Supply Requirement[/url]

[quote name='Ant' timestamp='1438759288' post='2836890'] so i gave it the first proper run at YNOT festival on the friday just gone, but was then ALSO unable to use it because when i tried i was getting some really really loud interference/electrical noise (like an "eeeeeeeeeee") so had to revert to cable, i wasnt getting this noise at ANY practices or any times when playing on my own, so im going to try with a few different power supply configurations and see if i can re create it. [/quote] That's frustrating, Ant! The only thing that I know that can cause the sort of noise you desribe is low supply voltage to the receiver. I think you're right to look at your power supply configuration. I've heard something that sounds like the same thing when powering the receiver from a flat PP3 battery. I'll make a recording to see if we can confirm.