samhay

That transformer is fine - don't rush out to Maplin. Will run some simulations...

>I think the above is what could be predicted? Yes - that sounds about right. The mudbucker has considerable resisance - perhaps 30k, so you probably won't want to add much additional resistance to get this work (2 x 100k resistors in parallel are 50k total resistance). I have seen some design(s) that use a resistor to balance between pickups, but these are mixed before the signal makes it to the volume control. The transformer will have somewhat variable inductance (this varies with frequency) and non-negligable resistance. If the resistance is more than a few k ohms then the notch becomes very broad. Are you using a blue LT44 transformer from Maplin?

Nice build! As I understand it, the varitone is a notch filter. You can get a RLC notch filter with a resistor, inductor and capacitor in [u]series[/u]. If you put the 22n cap and the transformer in series (to ground) then 22n and 1.5H will give you a notch at about 880 Hz. Any series resistance will not change the frequency, just make the notch less deep. So - I suggest you lift one leg of the 100k resistor (so it is out of circuit) and see how it sounds. Edit - just realised your transormer is parallel to the cap and resisotor too. If you disconnect the resistor and cap and then splice the cap between the volume pot and rotarty switch, you will get everything in series.

You are building a negative ground effect, so you will not have a -9V supply (but it should play nicely with the rest of your pedal board if you daisy chain the DC supply). You will need to tweak the wiring below - connect your +9V to where it says -9V and reverse the LED. [quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1475922541' post='3149767'] To have a status LED you will need a 3PDT switch. The size of the LED doesn't matter, and it won't affect the sound, but you will need to add a resistor (say 1k) in series with it. Like this: [/quote]

>Each sale since that has resulted in small losses, until most of the £1800 I'd invested in the Rick had disappeared... Rather than looking at it as a financial loss, instead consider it as the price of your (furthering) education. And compared to today's university fee's, it's a bargain!

Johnny Roadhouse have a bunch of used stuff. Very little is really high end, but there is usually something weird/interesting worth a look. If you have any interest in acoustic instruments, Forsyths on Deansgate is also worth a look. They usually have a few interesting (electric) basses too. In both cases, the guys that work there are unusually sound for music store folk. There is also a big-ish Dawsons on Portland St, which has a good selection of the usual suspects. Staff are less excellent and there is no used gear AFAIK. Been a while since I was in either of them, but both Piccadilly Records and Vinyl Exchange (both Northern quarter) should be worth a visit.

Only thing to add is that if you are building a clone using old PNP transistors, it may be positive ground and you will thus have trouble getting the DC jack to play nice with other effects. What are you building?

Do you play chords on it, or predominantly single notes? If the latter, then tune the Gb -> G and you will find some familiar territory in strings 2-5.

The Beatles were likely more influencial, but much of this influence led ultimately to the pop music of today, which may not be seen as a good thing. Once the Baby Boomers are gone, I am not sure how much radio play the Beatles will get. Conversely, I am pretty sure you will still hear Bob Marley baselines coming through the walls/floor/spaceship window in a hundred years time.

People have always said I'm special...

I ordered one of these on the 9th and it arrived this morning. The good - Specs say is is good down to A0 (27 Hz) and it had no problem with my open E string. Tuning seems as accurate as the other cheap-ish clip on tuners I have used. The not-so-good. It has one button - on/off and no obvious way to change the tuning from concert pitch, which is what I assume it is set to. This may not be of concern for most users. The even less-good. It feels pretty cheap and the swivel is not terribly well designed. I would guess this or the battery contact will die at some point. But, it was £2, it showed up, and it works. So I would still call that a bargain. It's at least good enough to be a backup.

>Could be electrical or more mechanical/hardware related. Maybe narrow this down first - where do your interests lie? I ask as you are more likely to enjoy the project, and do well, if you are doing something you enjoy.

>...So...is there a consensus/generally agreed upon/wildly differing definition of punch? [quote name='samthebassman' timestamp='1472755162' post='3123979'] Based on the responses so far, I think that's a 'no'! [/quote] It would seem that way. So seeing as 'punch' is effectively undefinable, why do almost all pickup manufacturers insist on using it as an adjective?

OK - so I see that the consensus is that there is no consensus. But is punch any good for metal?

>...but you never hear one say, "The strings are too close together on this Les Paul". You do on other forums, particularly among the acoustic guitar set. I flit between guitar and bass and I recall struggling when I first started playing a telecaster as the string spacing is very narrow at about 10.5 mm. Now as long as I play an instrument fairly regularly, it usually only takes a moment to reboot when I switch between familiar instruments.

Good - after the first reply, which is more-or-less what I originally thought punch is/was (thanks dood), I thought there might be some consensus. Apparently one's chest has a resonant frequency of 50-100 Hz, so perhaps this dictates the punch frequency range? (taken from here: [url="https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/human-body-resonant-frequencies.501607/"]https://www.physicsf...uencies.501607/[/url])

Coming back to the bass after a long hiatus (from essentially pre-internet), I am trying to (re)aquatint myself with the lingo. One thing I am slight puzzled by is 'punch'. I thought I knew what it meant, but as the days go by and I read more (bass) forum posts, I am now not so sure. So...is there a consensus/generally agreed upon/wildly differing definition of punch? Thanks in advance, and apologies if I missed the thread when this was discussed last month/year/Tuesday.

Do you slap much? Fingerstyle guitarists get by with sting spacing that is much less than 19 mm - perhaps half this in some cases. Slapping on a 6 string is not great, but everything else seems to work ok for most people. It will take a little muscle memory, which takes a little while to develop, but if everything else about the bass is to your liking then why not invest a little time. If you really can't stand it down the road, you can still sell it.

Good catch. Fixed.

>On a fiver with standard tuning, what length are the waves when you hit your low B please? B0 ~ 31 Hz is ~ 11.1 metres (sorry - ignore earlier typo) E1 ~ 41 Hz is ~ 8.4 m at sensible room temperature, etc. For reference, 20Hz is ~17 m.