Mottlefeeder

The signal and safety earth should be the same thing as the amps will use the normal earth. 

Possibly an over-simplification.

As an example if you run two extension leads from a generator, and one powers digital equipment and the other powers old school amps, the current dumped in each earth wire, caused by the equipments' interference suppression circuits, will be different. This means that the voltage on each earth wire will be different, and if your bass amp is on one circuit and your mic is on the other, that voltage difference might be the cause of the shock tingle you get.

If you can't run from one extension lead, so all your gear is connected to the same local earth point, you probably need some professional advice / installation.

David

8 hours ago, tayste_2000 said:

So obviously this is a hugely long thread so I’ve not been able to check if someone is already doing this.

 

But basically I had a really bad gig the other day (fine out front and performance etc) but my IEM mix was awful, so it just ruins my enjoyment.

 

I was using my new Cosmic Ears C8A’s and the isolation is absolute. So add in the PA only had the acoustic guitar, vocals and bass in it. My sound was lacking to say the least.

 

I’ve always had to hack an IEM mix and my current pedalboard is built around a Behringer P2 (Tried a Passive Rockboard option and I need the boost of an active circuit) doing XLR/Jack conversion and Stereo/Mono conversion (so I can take any type of feed basically) into the aux in on a Darkglass Element. So this gives me a blend between bass and feed. Works really well, was on tour in March/April and it was some of the best sound I’ve ever had.

 

But at the time I didn’t have my moulded IEMS and the band was going through the PA.

 

Anyway, I’d thought for ages about like an ambient pack or something. I know a few options exist but they only work with specific IEMs or are quite expensive.

 

Then I saw a content creator recommend these, they were recording guitar and vocals at the same time.

 

https://rode.com/en/products/wirelesspro

 

And it dawned on me I could use the receiver as a wireless IEM pack.

 

Run out of the element headphone into the 3.5mm in on one of the transmitters and stick the other transmitter somewhere central on the stage/on the singer/ or even wear it myself.

 

This would allow me to blend in whats going on on stage, whats in the PA and my bass.

 

Same setup could be used for just running out of the headphone out on the mixer into one of these wireless transmitters blah blah.

 

So it gives me a versatile way to hack a feed which just seems to be all I can ever do.

 

Can also click a button and record everything going through them which is an added bonus.

 

 

Other than that I think I’ll have to practice and get better gigs, but who wants to do that 🤮

 

So anyone doing this? Any issues anyone can see (except latency, I imagine it’s the same as any digital wireless system), blowing the mics out of the transmitters first snare hit?

I have had a mixer on top of my rig and  mixed a pa feed, an ambient mic and my bass feed, and fed that back to my in-ears, so it can be done, but if all the mix controls are at the back of stage, they are not easy to adjust. Also, I found that an ambient mic at the back of the stage will not pick up a mid-song shouted comment from a band mate.

The closest I have come to my ideal is to wear the ambient mic and mix it and the bass in a belt pack, but that assumes you can pick up the band mix from a monitor speaker.

I hope this helps you avoid some of the unworkable solutions.

David

.

+1 for Leathergraft.

I have the 100mm wide strap and I can busk a 5 hour set without shoulder pain (but my brain is totally knackered)

David

Something to be aware of is that the original rack specification was for 19" by 1.75" modules, but as a result of standardisation in Europe it is now a close metric equivalent. Although the new standard allows compatibility with older gear, building your sleeve around an unknown panel may mean that not all panels will fit.

David

Just to add my thanks to Rob for the organisation and pizza, and to say that it was great to meet other bass players and listen to their playing style, and talk about bass gear. Also, thanks to our drummer for the day, whose name I didn't catch.

David

Planning to arrive about 10 - satnav tels me it's about 90 minutes from home.

David

I replied to James' wanted advert for a Zoom B1-4.

The resulting sale was smooth, quick and stress-free.

I'd be happy to buy from/sell to James again.

David

1 hour ago, rwillett said:

David

 

You are very welcome, especially if you being your amps and cabs. Very interested in those.

 

Rob

Great, count me in please.

I'm vegetarian too.

David

Have you got room for one more body?

I can bring -

5-string acoustic Ibanez EW205WNE

5-string fanned fret headless Ibanez EHB1265MS

5-string Hohner active cricket bat

Home brew Eminence neo 10" in cab *2

Home brew briefcase combo

Battery powered amps (and batteries)

Vong variable HPF,LPF & DI

David

15 hours ago, rwillett said:

So is the idea a modular combo, allowing you to choose amplifiers and different power sources for different options?

Yes, that's the plan. 

Most of my busking is done on 240v from street furniture or battery power packs provided by the event organisers. For those I would use the Meanwell power supply.

Where there is no 240v supply I would need a little under 2 × 7AHr batteries to run for the 5 hour set.

For open mic nights, and / or Victorian pubs where the only power socket is on the wrong side of a gangway, I can play for a couple of hours on one battery.

For 'acoustic' rehearsals and the like, the smaller amp and battery will reduce the weight by about a third.

David

And finally, fully assembled, the slightly briefer briefcase: 

If your band has a drummer, then your target is to be loud enough to be heard alongside him/her.

If they can play quieter for rehearsals then one of the Elf/Gnome etc heads should be enough. If not, then you probably need the same wattage as your performance rig, and wear earplugs.

David

Two more pictures:

The back of the cab, with the amp connectors in the recess and the power connectors besides the battery compartment access.

Amp and battery options -

Top left: 90w per speaker Kenwood car amplifier

Top right: 7AHr battery with fuse and one way only plug

Middle right: Meanwell 12v 5A mains power supply.

Bottom left: 15w per speaker ebay amplifier for home practice or 'jamming with a friend' - work in progress.

Bottom right: 2.3AHr battery to power the smaller amp, giving a reduced weight rig for travelling - also a work in progress.

David

Getting there...

The preamp layout

The preamp circuit

The capacitor bank and acoustic foam on the back wall.

David

5 hours ago, itu said:

Why a switching does not do? If it is done well, it will work as well as a linear power.

I understand that some switching power supplies conserve energy by going into a burst fire mode on low loads, and the power-up / power-down is audible as noise on analogue circuits.

David

Filling in some of the background, when I started the revamp I considered the electronics recess on the back of the Mk 1&2 and whether I could fit in 'Treble, middle and bass' on one row and 'variable HPF, swept mid-frequency & variable LPF' in a row below.

But when I thought about it, I already have EQ on my basses, and I tend to leave the HPF set to suit the speaker,  so I was able to curb my enthusiasm and go for a simpler option. - one hi-Z input stage with switched gain, followed by an 18dB/octave fixed HPF to suit the speaker, with a volume control between that and the amp. The only frills were a tuner out and a live/tune switch.

Having made that decision, I then realised that the recess I built in for the electronics would be a tight fit for two jack sockets and the circuit crammed in between them, especially since I could not use the space under the overhanging control panel supports.

To minimise the number of items on the control panel, I had to ditch the live/tune switch. The tuning jack socket is now always on, and can be used as an emergency 'DI', and you turn down the volume for silent tuning.  I also opted for a combined power switch and volume control - a bit retro but it also solved another problem: the switch-off transient that blasted out from the Mk 2 is effectively muted by turning the volume down before switching off  - simples.

Another problem with the Mk 1 & 2 was that the peak current drawn by the amp was enough to pull down the voltage of the battery to the point where the amp momentarily tripped out on low voltage. Fitting a bank of 10  x 1000mfd capacitors in parallel with the battery seems to cure that problem.

David

They are are gone- recycled a week after the first post.

David

5 hours ago, rwillett said:

Shout if you need any 3d printing done. I was thinking stuff like amp panels and things like. Some stuff is easier if you print it.

 

Looking forward to reading the next steps.

 

Happy to help.

Thanks for that - I may have a problem that could be solved that way. My experience to date has been fabricated structures made from Plasticard.

David

One problem with the Mk 1 & 2 was the positioning of the battery hatch, so this was the first thing to change. The original design had the battery in the speaker enclosure with an air-tight door (as PJ does in the briefcase). Keeping the battery outside the speaker enclosure, and allowing for a choice of battery depending on the required power and duration meant that the box would be bigger. Also, keeping the speaker enclosure volume the same as the Mk 2 but moving from 9mm Birch ply to 12mm Poplar ply also increased the volume. With the help of a spreadsheet calculating all the volumes,  I found that the overall box size would increase by about 10mm in all three dimensions. 

The Mk2 layout - 

The Mk 3 layout - 

Battery access from below - 

One of the advantages of putting the battery outside the speaker enclosure is that I can have a cable route from the battery to the outside world without it having to be airtight. This will give me the option of using a mains power supply with an IEC male 'kettle connector ' on a short flying lead. One disadvantage is that all my battery packs have to be modified from 'fixed socket on battery' to 'flying lead socket on battery'.

David

Having staggered to the end of this project in 2021, there were a few niggling problems - 

1) The Mk1 was going to have a battery hatch on the back, and a class D amplifier module built in to a cavity on the back. The chosen amp module (Ebay) turned out to be very noisy, so I decided to replace it with a larger module hanging on the back, which preventing easy access to change the battery. This was the basis of the Mk2.

2) The Mk2 had a simple preamp containing a gain stage and an HPF, but it produced an annoying click as the compo was powered down.

3) The Mk2 was limited to battery power only, unless connected to an external mains 12-14v power source.

The Mk3 is a rebuild intended to fix those issues and add some further benefits.

David

Reading the synth/mixer/shock sub thread, I wonder if the mixer connection was by jack or XLR, and whether the shock could have been caused by phantom power being connected to the signal lead in some way?

David

Kev was freecycling several packs of mic wind shields.

I asked for one and it arrived promptly, no charge for postage either.

Thank you Kev.

It is also worth checking where the centre point of the fan is. On my Ibanez 5-string it is about the 5th fret, which is also my normal cage position, so the transition is very easy. If you often play down by the nut, your transition to fanned fret may take longer.

David

I busk in a band fundraising for Cancer Research UK, and we have to do risk assessments for every gig in order to be comply with their insurance requirements.

It's mainly common sense - 

Typical hazards are:

1) Cable routes not thought out - keep as many as possible out of the performance area.

2) Gear falling onto people - less of an issue if it isn't your PA.

3) Electric shock - test gear regularly and visually check each mains cable as you set up.

4) Audience members on stage (invited or not) - higher risk from trips and falls & probably not covered by your insurance, so no audience on stage.

5) Crowd surfing...etc

David