Beer of the Bass

[quote name='Fionn' timestamp='1378834542' post='2205355'] Full contact makes a difference, as in the case of neck-through-body basses which have notably better sustain. Both my basses are neck-through-body. I like the acoustic resonance afforded by that method of construction. Bolt-on, less so. Shimed bolt-on .... even less so. Folk will buy basses with shimmed necks then add expensive high-mass bridges and the like to improve the resonance. Why not just buy a bass which has been correctly made in the first place? [/quote] So long as the playability aspects are sorted, I don't understand the notion of correct and incorrect in instruments. If a bolt-on neck as typically executed is less effectively coupled to the body than a through-neck resulting in a different character to the sound, I don't see that as being wrong or incorrect. It's just the nature of that instrument. Personally I find that many of the "improved" bass designs with through necks, no dead spots, long sustain and perfectly even response don't interest me at all.

[quote name='Fionn' timestamp='1378833545' post='2205337'] The space in the neck pocket which is caused by a shim means that full contact is lost at a critical point in the structure of the instrument. As a result the resonance is effected, sustain is lost. The acoustic qualities of the instrument are compromised. A new instrument that needs a neck shim is either porly designed, or poorly made (or both) in my opinion. Aye, that includes the holy grail that is Fender. Och, maybe such technical imperfections are crucial to the wholeFender vibe. [/quote] Although I've never heard any difference when adding a shim to an instrument. Perhaps I have cloth ears, but then there are plenty of other subtle differences I do pick up on. I think that unless the joint has been chalk-fitted by an extremely skilled woodworker (as is done with glued joints in acoustic instruments), there's not going to be full contact anyway.

I suspect that the shim has always been considered to be part of the factory adjustment procedure in bolt-on basses. If the pocket is designed to give the correct neck angle and elevation with a small shim in place, there is scope to adjust the angle in both directions (either by using a larger shim or removing the shim) to correct for manufacturing tolerances. If it was designed for the perfect angle without a shim, adjustment would only be possible in one direction and any instruments that needed to be adjusted for less neck angle would have to be rejected. Viewed this way, it seems like a smart bit of design for production line instruments.

I've just had a thought - what about Prince's Hohner tele? OK, it's not quite conventional tortoiseshell, but it looks great.

I have no photoshop skills, but I think a natural ash body, maple neck and tortoiseshell pickguard would look pretty good.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1378405268' post='2199896'] Just to add that I have been using it regularly and I still like it a lot. An EQ pedal in front of it is not necessary, but it helps as the tone controls of the thing are ok for very crude adjustments but not much more. Plenty loud! Last time I used it was last Saturday. There was an annual "big busk" think along Portobello beach, here in Edinburgh, and we went there. Three small guitar amps (two roland microcubes and one minivox), drum kit (yes, although not played very loud), trumpet, saxophone... I did not push it hard and it was more than enough to keep up. We stopped when two of the guitar amps died. I still had plenty of juice, but I don't know when the guys charged their amps. I wish mine had a battery charge indicator... I just charge it the night before just in case. Love it. [/quote] I'm glad it's been holding up OK. I heard from one of the music shops in town that they've had an extremely high return rate on these and stopped carrying them. Although this might have just been a story to help punt the Alesis battery PAs they had in stock!

Although at your pro gigs, the big valve bass rig will be almost certainly be mic'd (if you're lucky or employing your own sound crew) into a PA comprised of Class-D power amps...

I did this with a bandmates' bass, because we had zero budget for new pots. It was a cheapy Encore, fitted with a decent alnico pickup of unknown origin. It sounded fine, but it was definitely at the grindy/clanky rockish end of P-bass tone - I liked it but it was hard to dial out the clank with the simple EQ on the old valve amp we had in the rehearsal room.

[quote name='Pete1967' timestamp='1377610766' post='2189349'] Stentor told me that Schaller only manufacture in house, in Germany, a statement supported by their website [url="http://schaller-electronic.com/hp801/Produktion.htm"]http://schaller-elec.../Produktion.htm[/url], but it doesn't say so explicitly. [/quote] I bought a new Schaller guitar bridge last month. I can confirm that it is marked "Made in Germany" on the box and on the underside of the bridge itself. Also, there is at least one manufacturer of classical guitar machineheads in the UK, such as Rodgers, but AFAIK they don't offer tuners for other instruments. Given that a set of their guitars tuners costs as much as a decent student classical guitar, I dread to think what a specially made bespoke set of bass tuners would cost!

I don't know about the PF350, but I'm enjoying the word "flunge"! Sounds like something from Viz's Profanisaurus...

The necks seem a bit nicer on the VM Squiers, in terms of shaping, finishing and how the wood looks. If you're buying to upgrade, a neck you get on with is half the battle IMO. Some of the new colours on the Affinity are cool though.

I've skipped a few steps on this build diary, but here's the very nearly finished guitar: [url="http://i1076.photobucket.com/albums/w453/MJBeer/jmfinished010_zps761ec933.jpg"][/url] I still want to level and dress the frets, as it turns out I have a couple of high ones, but otherwise it's come out well. I've wired it with a single volume control and a five way switch going 1: Bridge, 2: both pickups series out of phase, 3: both pickups parallel, 4: Neck with treble roll-off (fixed tone control), 5: Neck. If anyone is curious, there's a slightly more complete build diary on the offset guitars forum; [url="http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=72108"]http://www.offsetgui...php?f=8&t=72108[/url]

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1377536010' post='2188584'] I dont have a really issue with them buying and selling, but i would expect them to contribute to our community rather than just come her to make a profit. This is the reason ive always thought members should rack up some posts before being allowed to sell things (sorry, i know thats off topic) [/quote] I would have agreed with this, except that I've dealt with one particular BCer who meets this description (buying and selling but not posting elsewhere) who has been really useful in supplying assorted bits of cheap secondhand gear I've posted wanted ads for, and were I looking for certain bits of used gear again, he's probably one of the first people I'd ask. I'm not naming names, but I feel like this particular chap is actually a bit of an asset to have on the forum.

There's a strong possibilty they'd make for nice guitar drivers though!

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1376907998' post='2180549'] Right. Next job. Lets find that waistcoat... or at least a like for like replacement. [/quote] Only if we can have a Waistcoat Relay, where we all wear it for a gig, take a picture then pass it on!

I can't remember which value I've got in there at the moment, but it's probably a .0047 as I got the idea from a rickenbacker diagram. I like it because it reduces the interaction between the two pickups in the lows and low mids, so I can run the neck pickup on full then use the thinned-out bridge pickup to dial in some extra highs without getting the usual scooped mid jazz sound.

I've got a similar series capacitor on a push-pull pot on the bridge pickup of my bass, even though it has Jazz pickups and wiring. I really like what it does to the two pickup sound, though it's kind of useless with the bridge pickup on its own.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1376664736' post='2177679'] I would say that , in my experience of comparing them side by side , what you get by buying a good ( emphasis on [i]good [/i]) high quality , high -end bass over something like an EBMM , which I would class as a [u]very [/u]good quality factory- produced bass , is that a boutique bass will play with far less relief in the neck( if you want it that way ) , the action can be lower(if you want it that way ), and a quartersawn and reinforced neck will feel more solid and need less frequent adjustment . In terms of the overall quality of the sound , however , at what they do , I think EBMM basses can match many or even most bespoke basses . [/quote] I'm curious as to why a "boutique" bass would play with less relief in the neck than any other. A vibrating string doesn't care how much you paid, the laws of physics remain the same. A bass with perfectly levelled frets will be playable with less relief and lower action than one without, but it's simple enough to achieve a good fret job and setup on almost any properly functioning bass. OK, only the higher end instruments come like that from the maker, and perhaps that's what you meant. I'd agree on the usefulness of a stable and stiff neck though.

It's specifically the Fuzz Face and Tonebender based designs that behave oddly with active basses or with a buffer in front of them. That covers a huge number of contemporary fuzzes though, and it can be hard to find out which. Big Muff based pedals are usually OK, as are derivatives of the Univox Superfuzz. It's a shame manufacturers are often cagey about owning up to whose topology they've borrowed, though perhaps understandable given the size of the boutique "not quite a tubescreamer" market for guitarists...

[quote name='lowlandtrees' timestamp='1376642986' post='2177160'] Which gauge TI flats should I go for? This is a subject that I know bugger all about. I had always assumed that string gauge and tension were directly related. How do you know which strings are high tension and which ones lower (probably a tigga nooby question) ? [/quote] I think TI flats only come in one gauge. They're lower tension than most other strings of the same gauge, as they have some sort of silk or synthetic winding between the core and outer layers, so have lower mass.

[quote name='lowlandtrees' timestamp='1376600527' post='2176802'] No I did not feel good about messing with the rods. Thought that I was buying light guage strings. Last ones were Elixir. Have loosened them and re thinking. What guage and make of string then. I do like the feel of flats on the fingers [/quote] TI Jazz Flats are nice, low tension flatwounds but expensive. D'addario Tapewounds are flat feeling and low tension, and I rather like them.

Which sort of double bass sound are you after? I found that TI flats on a fretless give a little bit of a double bass vibe, but in a modern growly Dave Holland-esque way. If it's a more old fashioned thumpy sound you're after, tapes plus a higher action might take you in the right direction. The ones I've tried (D'Addario) have some brightness, but it's quite natural sounding rather than zingy. After all, even a gut strung double bass still has some bite and attack to it.

Woohoo, I have my first pickup! My slightly ridiculous winder is a cheap Dremel copy stuck down to a bit of wood, with a PWM circuit to cut the speed down to a couple of hundred RPM and a dowel with slices of cork on it to limit the wire travel. The spool sits on the floor with the wire whipping off the top and I'm tensioning it using a scrap of leather held between my fingers. The motor has very little torque at this speed, which is nice, as if I tension the wire too much it slows down rather than snapping it. I have no counter, but then neither did Fender back in the day, apparently. This one measures 7k DC resistance, though I was aiming for around 8K. Looking around the net, Lindy Fralin uses a 7k neck pickup in some of his sets so I'm going to keep it as it is and use it for the neck. I'll try and wind the other bobbin a little fuller for the bridge. There's a couple of mm on either side of the coil, so I'm sure I can squeeze on a little extra. Here's my shonky winder, shown here with no tension on the wire, because I've just finished winding. Next up will be winding the bridge pickup, attaching leads and waxing them. This pickup winding lark is quite fun - I may have to have a go at some bass pickups some time...

A lighter set of Chromes?

I've built one too, which I don't use very often, but it does more or less what you'd expect. It's good for getting a bit of amp-ish character when running a DI. It doesn't overdrive very far (though you can tweak that through FET choice and bias adjustments), but does so in a smooth, compressed way as mentioned above. I found with mine that it's just a little too mellow sounding - I like to turn the treble up on most preamps (including old-school valve amps), or use a bright switch if I've got one - more for upper-mid bite than sparkly modern sounding stuff, but I can't really get that out of the stock flipster. Mine is the older design though - I think it's had a redesign since then.