Bridgehouse

Well now. Check my other thread. I got an FRFR for use with my helix, and I think I might use the damned thing for this too.

I've fancied an FRFR for my Helix for some time. Always had my eye on a Yamaha DXR10 - for both guitar and bass duties. Mostly I'd DI Helix to front of house so the FRFR became a monitor - and it's useful at home too. In the local music shop today I decided to have a look at a DXR10. Yeah. It's quite nice. Over pops the assistant. I explain the setup and my need. "I wouldn't have the DXR10 personally. I'd have the QSC K10.2 instead. It's a bit more but..." The what now? Ok, I think. Prove it to me. Let's hear them side by side. So he did. Set them up for me. The QSC was louder. A lot louder. A lot lot lot louder. And it was a more natural reproduction of what you hear through headphones on Helix - much less coloured. "It's on the default flat DSP setting." He said. "Here, try the bass amp DSP setting" Uh? Well, not only was it interesting as a setting, but I plugged the bass in directly. There's 3 channel input - two have combi XLR/jack and one small 3.5 stereo. Channel A can be set as line or mic, but B can be set as line or instrument. So jack into B with inst straight from a passive bass and it does a pretty damned good impression of a decent bass amp - there's even eq on it to tweak it. Crikey. So I bought one. Got it home and tried my mini pedalboard straight in. Signal chain is smoothhound - tuner - Ampeg SCR-DI - QSC k10.2 I would say realistically it's about as loud as a 500w head into my BF Compact. Possibly a bit more, and with slightly less heft but a bit more top. But, it's 14 kilos and really very compact. And it's one less thing to drag to a gig. It's also a wedge so I can angle it and use it as a proper bass monitor with DI out to FOH. So this is my live rig (to be trialled!) Now I'm wondering whether it's worth bothering with another power amp for use with the BF cab for the board, when it looks like the FRFR I bought for the Helix can pretty much do both.

Yep! Thanks

Will do. There will be a lot of posting about wood stain and tru oil first I reckon, and then lots about pickups. I will get there tho

Oh don't worry - I know it's a rabbit hole In some ways, I think I'd prefer a shorter sustain on a semi - one of the reasons for looking at a wood or nut material saddle was to shorten sustain. Maybe. Or maybe not. Either way, I'm just going to have a play about. First priority is decent weight and balance, finding a decent pickup to match and getting the basics sorted. Then I'll think about messing about with needle files

I think a lot of it is the language to be honest. Brass is more twangy (hence brass saddles being a good thing on a Telecaster) and steel can be more "metallic" - but depending on the strings, twangy or metallic could mean either are "brighter" At the end of the day you have to pick a combo that works for what you want to hear. I'm actually most interested in the effects of the different materials on sustain..

CTS pots and a switchcraft jack make a huge difference I find..

You know, I have no idea - it will be an experiment! I know the steel saddles are a bit brighter - I wonder if a wood or nut material saddle might be a bit more "acoustic" - thought it would be good to try on a semi-acoustic build. I'm sure there's some science here but I don't know

Yep. I'm tempted to fashion some custom saddles for the kickass. Not sure what yet. Maybe rosewood. Maybe ebony. Maybe even nut material.

Yes, ultralight tuners and a slightly heavier bridge I think.. I will assess balance as I go. As it will be a gigging bass then balance on the strap is very important.

Ah but one of the reasons I enjoy being in a band is the creative input. I don't think I could cope with a dreary band

This is very true. Kinda all sounds a bit soulless tho doesn't it?

I've always thought, with an originals band, writing decent bass lines is more important than technical prowess.

Nobody here would bother joining if the singer "wasn't interested in what the bass was doing" In fact, why is he bothering to recruit at all?

Well I'm glad you have been a stuck record cos I totally missed these and they do look rather tasty... I'm off for a proper read up now.

5 piece. Drums, bass, guitar, keys and singer who usually plays acoustic - so yeah. For monitoring it should be fine. I notice the 350 has an aux in (not FX return) - is it's volume controlled by the master volume?

Yeah - it is - doesn't mark quite as easily!

Obeche is another wood for lightness - I did a telecaster out of it which came out about 6lbs Just over 8lbs is about my limit for comfort..

I'm going to go with an f-hole on this one to keep the thinline tele vibe - but to be honest it's an aesthetic thing - it wouldn't sound much different if it didn't have the f-hole and just looked like a solid body I am aiming for 7lbs. Anything under that and I'll be very amazed.

That's the idea. Just like a thinline Tele, but a P bass. It will be a swamp ash body with a swamp ash cap. There's two reasons I want to try this: - lighter weight - capture some of the hollow body tone (hopefully!)

I'm slightly concerned that the Mag 350 into my 8ohm Barefaced might be a touch quiet, but I don't know.

Made a start on the plate and fittings.. Jack socket and pots on. Popped the knobs on (but they need aging at some point.) Thought I had enough pickguard screws but I'm three short (d'oh!) - will have to order another pack. Tonight I will have a look at darkening the board.

I've developed a method for my gigging.. I'm finding I get the best mix of sounds if I use either a DI/Preamp pedal or Helix DI to front of house, with an amp and cab for monitoring. Usually I use my EICH T-1000 either into the Vanderkley or barefaced cab. For backup I have a Markbass LM III, but I know that the fx loop is before the Preamp. So, I would like to either swap it or sell it and then get a similar spec'd amp (500+ watts) with power amp in (FX return directly into power amp) I could get a poweramp but I don't want to go rackmount and I want to keep the size and weight down. Budget in the 4-500 quid new, and less used range. Looked at the Peavey Minimax, Hartke 600w job, and a few others. Suggestions from the crowd?

Nobody has ever said my bass playing is smokin'

Do be prepared for a long old chinwag tho. David doesn't do quick in and out sales...