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MartinB

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Posts posted by MartinB

  1. On 10/12/2024 at 22:44, meterman said:

    I haven't got any decent pictures of it, but surely someone's going to post the original cut-down homemade bass that Bill Wyman made (Dallas-Arbiter with the frets pulled out?) in the early 60's that had a hilariously bad DIY pickguard.
     

    Same goes for some of the early (late 50's / early 60's UK made basses. And some late 60's or early 70's plywood MIJ basses too. The pre-lawsuit "we're not really sure what we're doing but we're doing it anyway" ones. Teisco were repeat offenders.

     IMG_0890.thumb.jpeg.bdcca60bb8014c957d043252ec08b6e0.jpeg
     

    Italian company Meazzi also made some pretty wild looking basses, the Jupiter models in particular. I sort of admire their Italian bonkers-ness in a way.

    IMG_0891.thumb.jpeg.8ab441fbd02eaf6b32ca52cabb1e1c88.jpeg

     

    These are pretty cool! Also:


    image.png.d5057165145ae5bed58b802b931b9bea.png

    • Haha 2
  2. The figure-8 cable I was looking at (https://custom-lynx.co.uk/product/2sj-2sj-_-rean/) says the following:
     

    Quote

    Figure 8 Audio Cable
    • Flexible, Noiseless, Oxygen Free Cable
    • Copper Screen 38 x 0.10mm per conductor
    • Copper Spiral Shielding
    • 8.2mm O.D (4.1mm O.D per side)
    • Flexible PVC Jacket
    • 24 AWG


    Think I'll just get one and see what's what, since I've got a use for it elsewhere if this idea doesn't pan out. My Aliexpress "P2" should be here this afternoon - will give it a test to see if it really does have a limiter or not.

  3. 2 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

    The links are all in the opening posts - but admittedly, this one was out of date.

     

    If you are handy with soldering, heres the cable you need - https://www.sommercable.com/en-gb/Instrument-Cable-TRICONE-SYMASYM-1-x-2-x-0-14-mm2-PVC-11.3-x-11.3-mm-black/301-1101#neonCfg=pulength::pu100


    Yep, I saw that - thanks! That's what the made-up Designacable one uses. I'm wondering whether there's a middle ground between this premium option, and lashing together separate mono and stereo cables.

  4. I'm looking at options for a single cable with the unbalanced mono bass signal going one way, and a stereo or balanced-mono signal coming the other way and into a headphone amp (Behringer P2 or similar).


    The pre-made options seem quite spendy:
    - Ernie Ball Instrument And Headphone Cable ~£60

    - Designable Combo Cable for IEM Systems ~£80

    Plus they need an additional patch cable to connect to the headphone amp.

     

    Could the same thing be achieved more affordably by using a dual TRS cable? e.g. this for ~£15

     

    sj-sj-rean_web1-600x600.jpg.5968cdf7b337e10ba31f33c21c05fa4f.jpg

    The second core (Ring) on the connection from the bass would be unused; if this was going to cause an issue (e.g. with an active bass that uses a stereo socket for switching), it ought to be simple enough rewire those plugs to join Ring and Sleeve.

    Does this seem viable, or am I missing something? Possibly something to do with shielding and grounding?

  5. You could try using the "Ba PEQ" (parametric equaliser) effect to see if there's a specific range of frequencies that sound harsh to you. Set Q1 to maximum and Gain1 to minimum, and then adjust Freq1 while playing. This will be removing a narrow band of frequencies, so when you find a spot that makes the pickups sound, you can try reducing Q1 to make it wider and Gain1 to make it less dramatic.
    If you're having trouble finding the offending range, try setting Gain1 to maximum instead, and twiddle the frequency until it really emphasises the bad sounds - then you can turn the gain down to knock them out.

    • Like 3
  6. I used to use a Peavey Microbass combo (20W, 8") to rehearse with my surf band - bass, 2 x electric guitars, drums. Loads of volume to spare.
    Context really is everything - it probably would have been absolutely useless for rehearsing with a drummer with no volume control and a guitarist with a Marshall stack and no understandng of frequency slotting.

  7. Could you not just stick a battery in the tuner? It's not like it's going to be switched on for more than a few seconds at a time, so it'll last ages. Plus the noise problems that folks sometimes have with rechargeable 9-volters are unlikely to be an issue for a tuner.

  8. Collect all the Beach Boys! They're conveniently alphabetical - Al, Brian, Carl, Dennis.

    We don't talk about Mike Love 😒
    The Punchline's getting some glowing reviews over on the other bass forum... but everyone seems to want to replace the knobs 🤷‍♂️

  9. On 19/09/2024 at 10:06, neepheid said:

    I think "burgundy mist" would ordinarily be the full colour name, but after they got their knuckles rapped for the initial headstock design they're probably feared of being sued by Fender or whoever used that term first.  Or something got lost in translation, I dunno.  But yes, I wouldn't drink burgundy that colour, it's gone off, mate! ;)

     


    The same paint was "Burgundy Mist" when applied to an Oldsmobile, "Royal Amethyst" on a Pontiac, or "Lido Lavender" on a Buick 😆
    It was 1959... I'm pretty sure everything was black and white until shortly before then, so they were only just getting the hang of these new-fangled "colours"

    • Like 2
  10. 1 hour ago, tauzero said:

    Folsom Prison Blues - it's country, root-5, following a typical 12-bar chord progression, I IV I V IV I

    Worth checking that everyone involved is on the same page for this one - it follows a typical 12-bar chord progression, but it repeats every 11 bars if you play it like the original version. You only get one bar of the I chord at the end each time round.

    • Like 2
  11. We're all on headphones for band practice; I use a pair of (over-ear) Audio Technica ATH-M50s. I'm direct to the mixer, the (acoustic) drums are mic'd, and the guitar amp goes to an isolation cab. The only sound in the room when not wearing headphones is the drums, the vocals, some muffled noise from the iso cab, and quiet twanging of guitar strings. I was originally using in-ears, but it turned out that full isolation just wasn't needed - the M50s are enough to get the drums to a comfortable volume, and the cymbals that get muffled I can bring back in through the mixer. And they're a lot more comfortable to wear for a long period, and less faff to get in and out.

    • Like 1
  12. I was looking at a Debut as a modding base, but I ended up going for a Sonic instead (£30 more), because the average weights of the Sonics seemed to be lower. Mine came in at 8lb 11oz; not a boat anchor but more than I was expecting. Now that I've hacked a cavity in it big enough for a MM-type pickup, and some weight relief holes under the scratchplate, it's 8lb 4oz, and I should be able to get it down to 8lb with lightweight tuners.
    Spent about £230 in total so far. Proper alnico pickup and 2-band Stingray pre-amp circuit. Definitely better value than those new passive ceramic pickup Sterlings at £349 O.o

  13. I've never had shocks, but I've had crackling sounds when touching the scratchplate of a guitar where that scratchplate is quite large (e.g. Jazzmaster). It's easily fixed by adding some conductive tape to the back of the scratchplate, and making sure that this is grounded - e.g. run another bit of tape out of the body cavity where there is shielding or conductive paint, so that the two are in contact when the plate is screwed on.

    • Like 1
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