Mottlefeeder

[quote name='onehappybunny' post='22210' date='Jun 22 2007, 11:35 PM']During my latest bout of GAS I was thinking about either getting 5 stringer or maybe even just stringing a 4 string bass B-E-A-D ( as I don't tend to use the G string too much anyway...oooer missus!!) Is the latter a really bad idea (i.e. likely to knacker the neck?) or would it just need some careful set up and truss rod adjustment. Please let me know your thoughts Thanks Stu[/quote] I strung a fretless Warwick Corvette BEAD with LaBella Deep Talkin' strings and played it for a couple of years - I really enjoyed it. Warwick told me which Mk1 adjust-a-nut screw to replace, and sent me the replacement free. Meanwhile, I also worked on my technique on a 5-string fretted bass, and eventually upgraded to a 5-string fretless (also Warwick) The bottom end definition on Corvettes means that they will work as EADG or BEAD no problem. Hope this helps.

[quote name='wizbat' post='24053' date='Jun 27 2007, 04:51 PM']Here,s an idea!!! the guys in the band said "that,s crazy" so I guess this is where this idea belongs. I,ve been on a quest to get a antonio tsai inlaid 7 string bass into a playable condition and after many hours of fret stoning it now plays a treat but I still had the problem of the fact it is neck heavy due to the fact that the top horn is not long enough so... I had this made :-)[/quote] Interesting - I've just done the same thing on a Warwick Corvette 5 string. The alternative was to hang a pound of lead, in a padded phone case, on the strap at the bridge-end of the bass - it worked, but it was a pain to have such a heavy bass. I installed a threaded bush (wood screw on the outside, 6mm metric thread on the inside) in the end of the horn, with a 6mm diameter hole behind it, so there is 1.5 inches of 6mm steel inside the horn. My mock-up with pine showed that I did not have the strength to break the pine, which is weaker, so I am confident that it is strong enough. I filed the end of a piece of 6mm studding down to about 3mm, so that I could put a standard strap button onto it and splay it out (rivet?) it to hold the button on. I covered the exposed screw thread with black heat-shrink sleeving. I have a wide black strap, and a dark stained bass, and while it is obvious if you look for it, most people don't even see it. And it works. Screwfix do a threaded bush, but it has a flange on it which makes for a tidy installation, but is bigger than the end of a strap button, so it will be visible if you go back to a 'standard' arrangement. Also, it is about 1/2 inches long, and about 40% of that is taken up with the hex socket recess for the key with which you screw it in. Woodfit do a better one that has no flange, and is threaded right through. It has a screw-driver slot at one end to help you screw it in. With that bush, I can fix the original strap button to a 6mm screw, and there will be no holes/flanges showing when I put that back on. If anyone needs more detail, please PM me.

[quote name='Pbassred' post='24556' date='Jun 28 2007, 05:30 PM']Individual Rotosound swing bass strings in london? I just want to top up a set because I busted a .045". ( 2nd ever!).[/quote] The Bass Cellar in Denmark Street (off Totenham Court Road) gets very mixed reviews, but last year they were selling single strings at £5.00 each.

[quote name='The Funk' post='23132' date='Jun 25 2007, 06:01 PM']Would you recommend something like 2 10" speakers in a cab the size of your average 4 x 10? Speaking as generally as possible, leaving aside all the other factors to consider.[/quote] If you check out the forum on Bill's web site, he has a section on graph plots for typical cabs. The message comes across very strongly that most manufacturers fill the front-face full of speakers on a box that has insufficient volume; fewer speakers in a larger (purposed designed) box will sound better.

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' post='18908' date='Jun 16 2007, 07:39 PM']The opposite is actually the case, round structures are highly non-resonant and have a far higher strength to weight ratio than flat panel structures. But aside from that all the other shortcomings of the design as pointed out by Alex et all are spot on.[/quote] Bill, there was something doing the rounds a couple of years ago where two speakers in a tube had the cavity stuffed with wire wool. The theory was that you got more phase shift using that as wadding, so you got more phase addition, to a lower frequency, from a smaller box. Does that ring any bells with you?

[quote name='Mokl' post='22747' date='Jun 24 2007, 09:04 PM']... I was considering the PX4D, which I believe does guitar and bass. Has anybody any experience of this unit? I have been using a PX3 (guitar version), which works to a point, but I can't help wondering if something bass-specific might be better. All opinions welcome![/quote] The bass version has bass cancellation when you pug in an ipod etc, and you can programme the drum machine for verse/chorus/fill etc. but I think it is now obsolete. The bass and guitar version lets you play drums with or without a trainer bass line - it seems to be designed for guitarists, with bassists as a last minute add-on. I am not sure whether it has bass cancel or guitar cancel. I have used a Zoom 708 fx pedal as a headphone amp, and that works well. Second hand, you should be able to find one for about £30, and that includes a compressor, reverb, a tuner and a simple drum machine (and 89 other effects that you will never use). I also use a Spirit notepad mixer as a headphone amp, which allows me to play Band in a Box arrangements from my PC while I add in the bass lines. I also have a pocket rock-it, which works, but is slightly hissy as others have said. However, the stereo chorus effect is good. It also is slightly top heavy, so if you plug it into an edge mounted jack socket, it tends to swivel upside down. It seems to work best on a front-mounted angled-jack. I am not using mine now I have the Pandora, so if anyone is thinking of buying one, PM me. I use Sennheiser 485s. They were the best sounding in the bass dept, while still being drivable by a standard CD player. The next pair up needed a dedicated headphone drive amp, and then sounded great.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='20858' date='Jun 20 2007, 04:51 PM']Cheers. I have just had an email from DV apologising for the 2 pin plug and that they are sending me an adaptor out tomorrow. I have told them this is not acceptable and im sure its against EU rules as well. The unit will be returned if this is the case. Either way i didnt get the same treatment you did.[/quote] There are several types of adaptor, and some of them are fine for this application. The european standards for electrical equipment now require that a plug is fitted in order that the appliance can be legally sold in the EU. As a result, there are a couple of designs of adaptor where the continental or US two pin plug clips into a modified 13 Amp plug, and the plug lid then holds the whole lot together, like this [url="http://rswww.com/cgi-bin/bv/rswww/searchBrowseAction.do?D=230v%20mains%20plug&Nr=AND%28avl%3auk%2csearchDiscon_uk%3aN%29&Ntk=I18NAll&Nty=1&Ntt=230v%20mains%20plug&Dx=mode%20matchpartial&Ntx=mode%20matchpartial&N=0&name=SiteStandard&forwardingPage=line&R=1843820&callingPage=/jsp/search/search.jsp&BV_SessionID=@@@@0128066808.1182674032@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdjaddlfijillicefeceeldgondhgi.0&cacheID=ukie"]http://rswww.com/cgi-bin/bv/rswww/searchBr...mp;cacheID=ukie[/url]. These are fine if you have a 'soap-on-a-rope' type PSU, but if you have a wall-wart and they offer you a shaver adaptor, I suggest you refuse, and if necessary, threaten to call in the trading standards officers. Standard US two pin plugs do not have sufficient clearance between the pins and your fingers, and as a result, ceased to be legal for 240 v mains applications some years ago. You may remember they used to have US power sockets on the back of HiFi systems. They, (and XLR mains connectors) disappeared because of that change in the law. Whether a wallwart complies with the clearance dimensions would depend on its size and shape, which is where trading standards officers come in.

Final bump - this does not look viable as a group event, but if anyone in the Luton area would like to hear/ play through an Omni 12, I'm in Luton for the week, and not doing much most evenings. PM me if interested.

Bump

Thanks for the interest so far. With people still coming in, I plan to leave it for another few days before I start considering the offers on the table. So far, we only have an Omni 12 ...

[quote name='beerdragon' post='2953' date='May 20 2007, 02:44 PM']Nearly happen to me, Straplocks, that cured it [/quote] I have had 7 years of playing without dropping a bass, but with my new bass, with straplocks, I have had two near misses in two weeks, both due to my error in not pushing the pin fully in. I'm going back to my old way - strap onto strap button, plastic 'straplock' to hold it on. YMMV!

As I have mentioned on another thread (in the previous forum), I really like my Omni 12 and I am happy to let potential builders try it out. I will be in Luton from the 8th to the 14th July, and I wondered if we could get a bunch of BFM designs together so that people could hear them, and decide whether they wanted to build them or not. Would anyone be prepared to bring their Omni 10, Omni 15, DR250, Tuba 24, Titan 39, Wedgehorn 10 etc to the Luton area during that week, and would anyone in that area like to recommend a venue where we could meet?