Beer of the Bass

I've had Sadowsky Black Label flatwounds on my 5-string for about 2 1/2 years, and have just recently decided that they were getting a little too dead for me. Out of curiosity I stuck on a set of stainless steel rounds I had lying around (they're Warwick Red Label 0.045-0.130"). I don't think SS rounds are for me overall, as they're so clanky and I just can't get the same character out of the upper strings in particular, but there are some qualities I like about them; the slightly more flexible feel makes them feel easier and a little "faster" to play, and the B string is suddenly usable all over the neck. I've yet to find a flatwound B that speaks clearly above about the 5th or 6th fret. So far I've had the Sadowsky, a D'Addario Chrome, D'Addario tapewounds and a brief dabble with Status Half Rounds. All of those gave me more or less of a muddy, inharmonic thud higher up the neck, while almost any roundwound sounds good on the same notes. I feel like this may be related to the stiffness of a flatwound B, and I wouldn't mind a slightly more flexible feel across the board. So, do I seek out some lighter gauge more flexible flats, perhaps the 0.040-0.125" Fender set, Thomastiks or anything else I'm not aware of, or do I just mix and match and keep a roundwound B with a set of four-string flats?

I have to ask, did BFC stand for "Big F****ng Cab"?

[quote name='The Jaywalker' timestamp='1479088269' post='3173870'] I'm in agreement here. Whilst I don't agree at all that TB folks are "ahead of the curve" they do tend towards using decent equipment and don't appear to regularly sing the praises of £30 piezos... (unless that's what ambient was hinting at in a gentle way :-) ) I'm sure it's a very good system - probably a bit over priced; but good gear often is, sadly. There are exceptions, but like as not we get what we pay for. [/quote] I think the J-Tone comment was supposed to be a bit flippant there. The £30 piezo in question is fine for what it is, but I'd put it up against other simple piezos like the Bass Max, Shadow or Rev Solo II, rather than as an alternative to a high-end microphone, and the gigs you'd take them out on are not the same. The guys on talkbass do occasionally get enthused over less expensive gear, like the MSP contact pickup from Japan.

I find it often helps to scuff up a small area on the back of the pot with fine sandpaper immediately before soldering, then it will take the solder much more easily. IMO the old style tin/lead solder is much friendlier too.

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1478958726' post='3172970'] I think I've seen cream concentric ones on some Danelectro basses. It might have been a dream though! [/quote] I think they've got one black and one cream layer and they're pretty big too, which might look strange on a P bass.

As a high voltage preamp, it may well retain some charge on the filter capacitors (and other connected parts of the circuit) which could certainly give you a nasty jolt. Some modern gear uses bleeder resistors which discharge the caps when turned off, but even if it has one you'd still want to check it each time you work on it. I'd recommend reading up on how to drain them and check that they're drained.

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1478891536' post='3172573'] I doubt there is a 'suitable replacement'. The cab size was probably dictated by the marketing department, based on customer wishes for the cab to be as small as possible for portability, yet loaded with a fifteen, under the mistaken assumption that bigger is always better. The dichotomy is that where low frequency output is concerned bigger is usually better, but that applies to the cab size as well as the driver size. I agree that it's too small for a fifteen, and for best results should be re-configured to house a twelve. [/quote] By "suitable" I meant "as good as it ever was". Twincam said that he was not equipped for woodworking, so my suggestion was made with that in mind.

Would it be worth calling Ashdown, given that it's for an Ashdown combo? I get the impression that they're quite helpful regarding spares, so perhaps they'd sell you a suitable replacement.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1478686064' post='3170863'] IIRC from the interview in International Musician, Mr Birch had some very strong views on bolt-on necks and none of them were favourable. [/quote] I suppose it's just about possible that he might have arrived at those views by building a few in his early days, though I have no idea if the bass linked could be one of his.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1478639717' post='3170594'] I've gone the other way and carried the hand shape using three fingers (with the 3rd behind the pinkie to help) onto electric bass [/quote] Yes, I do the same with the 1-2-4 fingering on electric bass. I think it may be because I spent several years in my teens with only a fretless bass, and the fingers fall on the note positions more naturally that way.

FWIW I would say that the quality of your pots and switch and the type of capacitor used don't make a significant difference to your sound. High quality pots do feel nicer, last longer and the taper can be better, but that's all about ease of use rather than sound. I've yet to see anyone demonstrate with measurements which electrical characteristic of cheaper pots makes them sound inferior. The value of the pots and tone capacitors and the way they are wired can make a difference, and can be worth experimenting with. For example, some people like a smaller tone capacitor than comes as stock and changing to "50s style" wiring where the tone pot is wired to the volume control differently can keep things a bit clearer sounding as the volume control is turned down.

The prices are at a level where you could easily spend the same just on body, neck and fingerboard woods for a scratch build. This does make me wonder how good they could be.

I can think of one guy locally who buys and sells a lot of gear, is known to be trustworthy and has always been very helpful when I've dealt with him, but he only uses forums for the marketplace. A post count rule would exclude guys like him and that would be a shame.

Well, that's my mother-in-law's Christmas present sorted. She apparently ran some sort of Cliff fanzine in her college days and still has a bit of a soft spot for him.

What did the packaging on the old set look like? Fender flats did change, but it was several years ago. Could the old set have been old stock?

There is an ex-Genz designer active over on Talkbass, and I'm sure he has mentioned at some point that they used a DC filament supply on these. If I've remembered that correctly, it would make hum less likely as a valve failure mode, since there should be no AC on them to leak into the signal. If you're a member over there it might be worth asking his advice - his name on TB is Agedhorse.

It wasn't a Squier, but I had a five-string OLP neck which just didn't have enough range on the truss rod to get a good setup with 0.045" to 0.130" Ernie Ball flatwounds (which are at the stiff end of things). It wasn't entirely unplayable, it just always had too much relief for a low-action setup even when adding washers to the truss rod. So it does seem to be a thing that can happen with some necks. But if you're not going for the heavy Jamerson set and others have been OK with the same bass it'll probably be fine.

It does still have a "beach body" though. That's handy, as it'll save me from buying all those diet magazines that tell you how to get one!

The advert isn't so interesting, but "Squirt by gender" might be one of the finest pieces of autocorrect nonsense I've seen. I'm not sure if gender should really be defined by how one squirts in this more enlightened age, but still... [url="https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/squirt-by-gender-guitar/1196710756"]https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/squirt-by-gender-guitar/1196710756[/url]

If I remember correctly, the Sound Control shops overstocked on these a few years ago and then cleared them out at a much reduced price. I thought about picking one up at the time.

[quote name='rushbo' timestamp='1477651479' post='3163558'] Does the headstock decal look like an aftermarket waterslide to anyone? Or is it just me being cynical? [/quote] I've certainly seen other Japanese photo-flame Fenders from about the same time where the decal backing isn't visible like that. But then the serial number and "made in Japan" decal at the heel look right, so I'm not sure.

Are you building them with Alnico poles in the Fender/Musicman style? All poles within each coil need to be oriented the same, but if you are building a humbucker or a pair of single coils then one coil should be North upwards and the other should be South upwards. This allows you to set them up as a reverse wired/reverse polarity pair for hum cancelling.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1477307170' post='3161201'] Settle down - 'car radio amps' is my tongue-in-cheek name for the micro crowd that use the ICE module. That the same modules are also used by charvas in their cars is just coincidence :-) [/quote] It would be a coincidence if it were true. But the ICEpower modules used in bass amps are power amps with an integrated power supply made to run on 120V/230V AC mains supplies, and car audio gear is made to run on a 12V or 24V DC battery supply. So I'd hazard a guess that the same modules are not being used in car audio. There are ICEpower modules used for that purpose, but they're not the same series.

I don't have any basses that do the same job as each other, so it's not a question I can meaningfully answer. The fretted 5-string and the double bass come out on the gigs that need them, and the fretless 4-string stays at home.

When gigging on guitar, there are a couple of tunes where I use the tremolo a lot and I'll always check tuning after those. It's rare that it'll need tweaking though, which I've been quite surprised about as I have a Jazzmaster tremolo.