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itu

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Posts posted by itu

  1. So sorry, sir.

    Let's play it again: I gave you but too many ideas. Some studio guys have these switch based P-basses with two switches: on/off, tone on/off. That is probably the simplest configuration that exists. It also provides straight line from pickup to board without any pots or tones in between if needed.

    Stellartone's solution is close to the all on solution but has more sound options, too. I am pretty confident that you would be happy with it.

    If you are not after the very trebly sound, this studio type on/off -thing is probably not yours. Anthony Jackson's Fodera has just the pickup and an output jack. He will have some high end rack effects and a studio mixer after the bass and cable. That's why he doesn't need any cheapo adjustments in his bass.

  2. If you have this switch, do you need anything else? You could do studio version, i.e. no pots, only switches.

    Three position mic switch, tone switch & vol switch (which is also On/Off). Can be done with a multiple position rotary switch, like:

    Off - quiet & tone On - loud & tone On - loud & tone Off - quiet & tone Off - Off (6 positions)

    OR

    loud & tone On - quiet & tone On - Off - quiet & tone Off - loud & tone Off (5 positions)

    Or just one switch for tone and a step attenuator. I have maths for a step attenuator if you want to do quite a few solderings...

  3. I do have a single (very nice) and a double pack (heavy and a bit thick with two basses!). They are somewhat pricey, but the similar competitors had similar prices.

    Have to say, that they are well thought. There are pockets and compartments to notes, tools, cables etc. But I will not give that to any airport executive... prefer hard case for flights.

    • Thanks 1
  4. Every Limelight I have had chance to try has been really good for the price. The details like neck surface finish has been superior to any Fender I have tested, but this is purely subjective. I just happen to like their working concept and the broke-in feel. A relic CS P or Nash may have something similar in them but their prices are astronomical. Test drive before buy.

  5. With two ports it is easier to put them to a smaller front panel along with the driver. A bigger one needs more space. Simple as that.

    If people think that some design principle is better than another, I suggest them to do some blind tests. If the listener sees the equipment, they give funny comments on system's performance. One of the best tests was a speaker test that had just one pair of speakers. This pair was dressed with three different coloured fabrics, one at a time: white, brown and black. With brown cloth the sound of the pair was told to be somewhat muddy (no wonder), with white the speakers had a bit too clean, nearly metallic sound, and with black the sound was articulated. Same music, same pair, different colour. And you were thinking that music is not visual?

    There is no such thing as The Superior Design. Otherwise everybody would use that and that only. Ever seen such a design? Me neither.

    Another thing is that PA (i.e. bass) amplification is everything but linear/flat. The frequency response is not that important and that is why there are very different sounds coming from different systems.

    • Like 1
  6. 2 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

    In short, better lows..."Well if that were true then a 5" speaker should be able to match an 18" speaker no problem. But we all know that's rubbish, so clearly there is a gradation here, right?"

    If you take an example from hifi, you know that you can go really low with good design of the box, the cross over and the elements. But there are three things that go hand in hand. Let us start with basics.

    A speaker may be efficient.

    A speaker may go really low.

    A speaker may be small.

    After these three, the speaker may also have a flat frequency response.

     

    First of all, a very efficient speaker has very limited frequency response. PA (read: bass) systems tend not to be very flat. But they are efficient!

    If a speaker needs to go down low, there are these two other parameters that affect the overall performance: the volume of the box and the efficiency. So you can go really low with the same box (volume kept as is) if you just sacrifice efficiency. And vice versa, you can get good lows at high SPL but you need to make the box far bigger. This is plain physics.

    Hifi guys know, that flat response equals lots of equalizing (through cross over) of the system, which means that the efficiency is sacrificed. And because of size (or design or...) issues, hifi speakers tend to be pretty small and the efficiency is even worse. PA speaker may have the efficiency at a level of 1 - 2 % whereas a hifi speaker at around 0.01 - 0.1 %, which is 10 - 200 times less.

     

    One side note: If you think about this modern FRFR jargon, I have to be a bit sceptical. Full frequency AND flat response equals hifi and that is not efficient at all. It requires quite some more power than ordinary PA systems. If a basic modern bass amp has 500 W, who sells these amps with huge power reserve (kilowatts!) and who has those real FRFR speaker systems? How much would they cost and are they really needed - a magnetic pick-up bass has a limited frequency response, too.

    • Like 1
  7. Although the power is split to two cabs 33/66 %, the amount of sound (SPL) is not so simple. If you know the sensitivity of the cabs, you can have a more accurate guess of the volume you get from each other.

    Very, very often this SPL (the actual dBs) is put aside and people look only at power (W). Wattage may give you an idea of loudness but is not exactly telling you anything about perceived loudness.

    • Like 1
  8. - I am so sorry: I can put everything together in to a very short message, or I start a book. Hope this helps. -

    High impedance (hi-Z)

    Pure passive system is hi-Z, because a passive pick-up/mic has lots of wire in the coil. It is high impedance by nature. That is also the reason to use high Resistor values in the pots (V and T; typically 200 000 - 500 000 ohms). If you have two pickups, they affect each other if they are connected together with wire and/or pots, which also have an effect on the system.

     

    Low impedance (lo-Z)

    A lo-Z system has at least one active part (blend, bass, middle...) somewhere in the signal chain, which is powered by a battery or some external power source (see: Alembics, EBS preamps...) and drives the signal line. Low amount of wire in the pickup equals very, very low output, so true lo-Z pickups (like EMG) NEED a preamp. Not because of the impedance but to amplify the minimal signal level.

     

    The biggest thing to understand here is that if you change any part of the hi-Z ("passive") signal chain to lo-Z ("active"), the system becomes lo-Z. Once more: Active equals low impedance (lo-Z). That's all. Everything else can be "passive" or rather "hi-Z": You can use big resistor values for pots, because high resistor values are OK for BOTH active AND passive use. Low resistor values are good for active only.

    Lo-Z has advantages like cable lines can be longer and the signal does not get disturbed so easily by other signal sources (like radios). But you need the power source (a 9 V battery, anyone?). If you want to have an A/P switch somewhere (in case of died battery), you also need to bypass the active (i.e. battery driven) parts, too.

    This noll blend pot has the inputs for pickups and after that you can put a volume pot. I think that everything from 25 k to 500 k is OK. From the electronics point of view it is somewhat cumbersome to have the blend as the first pot after pickups. But the layout in the bass body is naturally V - blend - tone control(s). And as said, V and T can be hi-Z or lo-Z, your choice.

    http://noll-electronic.de/files/a91_mixpot_wiring_diagram.pdf

    • Like 1
  9. On 26/10/2018 at 11:46, vinorange said:

    I was just after solving the blend issue rather than going full active. ...but then I’ve gone all old school, valvey and passive.

    Remember: One active component in the chain and you are lo-Z = no more passive.

    Passive system with two mics just has its drawbacks or sounds, depending on one's attitude. There have been trials to modify the instrument's active output to hi-Z with transformers and whatever but let's say that the results vary.

    Of course, there is a possibility to build step attenuators that work as mentioned. I have used rotary ELMA switches and metal film resistors. The maths is pretty easy to handle - you can make 3 or 6 dB steps or what ever else you want. Then it is just soldering.

    • Like 1
  10. Blend solutions from oldest to newest:

    I: V + V and 1 - 2 T pots, passive. Microphones and pots have influence on each other. Hi-Z out.

    II: Passive blend pot, master volume. The idea is that the two carbons run only to halfway of the 270 degree turn. This way the mic is full on after 135 degrees and the other mic starts to go to -infinity. Hi-Z out.

    III: Volume and passive blend pot (or V + V) and an active preamp. Mics and pots have influence on each other. Low-Z out.

    IV: Preamp with two active inputs. Mics go to separate active buffered inputs before blend and volume. This way the mics or other electronics do not affect each other. Low-Z out.

    • Like 1
  11. 5 hours ago, Jimothey said:

    I've tried to plug it and made up some filler using sapele dust and glue but you can still see the disc a bit its certainly not an invisible repair??

    I stepped few steps away from my monitor and the repair lines disappeared. I would say that she looks good. And an old way of hiding something is to put something flashy just beside it. Special knob(s), maybe?

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