Stub Mandrel

I made a £70 Harley Benton kit bass. I upgraded so many things all that's original is the neck. So I bought a Squier neck and used it with the HB parts... So yes, we are all mad...

I posted the following after seeing the Sweet at Northern Kin festival last year: "the Sweet who said they would finish at 8, so they didn't overlap with Jethro Tull, but they got such a huge reception they ended up doing their full set to a huge and rapturous audience, most of who fled towards Tull's big top afterwards. Ian Anderson must have been wondering why he had only half a tentful to start!"

The perception of volume has a subjective element which means there is no completely 'right' answer. The 10dB SPL = doubling of volume is an approximation, but is quite close for most sounds. I remember my shock in the 1980s when I connected my Marshall 1x12 cab to my tiny Maplin one-watt PP3 powered 'micro combo'. It sounded huge, and I repeated the experiment as a demonstration for people many times. Percieved volume is measured in 'phons'. "A phon is a unit of measurement for the loudness of a sound or noise. Phons are based on equal loudness contours and the decibel scale of sound intensity. The threshold of hearing at 1,000 Hz is 0 phons, or 0 decibels. " As you can see, perceived loudness is heavily dependent on frequency. With 200hz sounding loudest at just about all powers. These curves can only be derived by subjective listening tests, but they show how the amount of power needed for a volume change is very different depending on context (frequency and starting volume). Absolute volume is measured in the not universally accepted unit of 'sones'. To quote Wikipedia: "a loudness of 1 sone is equivalent to 40 phons (a 1 kHz tone at 40 dB SPL).[1] The phons scale aligns with dB, not with loudness, so the sone and phon scales are not proportional. Rather, the loudness in sones is, at least very nearly, a power law function of the signal intensity, with an exponent of 0.3.[2][3] With this exponent, each 10 phon increase (or 10 dB at 1 kHz) produces almost exactly a doubling of the almost exactly a doubling of the loudness in sones.[4]" See also the explanation section here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness which isn't very useful... Long and short of it is that it isn't an exact science. Add in the complexity of headroom, room acoustics and other aspects of our amps and where/how we play them the only way to make truly meaningful comparison is to take readings with test signals and an accurate sound meter in proper conditions while accurately measuring amplifier output.

We do. One of my favourite basslines for trying out a new bass.

Having changed the batteries I need to report the ceesyy plastic wood effect covers, are actually wood...

This is the only circumstance where shimming is the right way to go.

I think neck dive is maybe only an issue with some playing techniques? I screwed my back for a month carrying a huge pa cab for my brother's band recently but in 40 years of playing I've never found a bass too heavy to gig. Perhaps I'm lucky or perhaps it's just how I sit the strap on my shoulder - tight in to my neck.

I'm 62 with a totally fsxked ankle among other things... but I get by. I do have a super-lught cab and hybrid amp for 17lbs each though (and a 96lb Trace Elliot combo, but that's on wheels...).

It's awful when a bad vibe or dound screws up a gig, shame you got two in a row

Played the Ex's in Penarth last night, my 'home' gig in many ways. Was expecting a half-empty room due to awful weather, but it was pretty full. It seems our loyal fans plus the local musos had come out, but not the 'casual' punters which meant lots of appreciative listening but little dancing. Awful new lights that just dazzle, hope my forceful feedback can get them toned down a lot. I used my new Sire and had a great sound but felt the PA was just reinforcing the bottom end. Playing with pedals again. The drive on the mojo mojo was set too high and the octaver just made mud, but chorus, compressor and hpf all worked fine. We invited a well respected local singer up for The Hunter which went down well. A less successful song was finishing on Sultans of Swing as Al forgot the words and got a bit lost... but e solos were ok. Lots of positive feedback, including on my playing which was an ego boost! Got sent a video by a friend with apologies for sound quality. I am pleased with the little improvised diddle I managed at the end 😁 WhatsApp Video 2024-09-08 at 18.38.51.mp4

We braved the rain to see James Oliver last night. Loads of his banter, amazing what he gets away with. High point included him going out into the porch while playing. He greeted a smoker who apparently replied "eff off". He also whacked his 56 tele so hard against the mike stand the cable fell out... Had a good chat at the break about what it's like to gig with Norman Watt-Roy. 20240906_223725.mp4 Afterwards the roads were pretty floody...

Poor guy. At least he's had a great gig to remember.

Cripes!

Neither weight nor neck dive has ever caused me an issue. Clearly many bassists are passionate about these things, but I just don't get it.

0.8 to 1mm but you ain't seen me right..?

Some edits after giving it a good workout today. Passive sound is good and yes definitely brighter either than a Jazz or P with new strings. Active, I didn't need the pad on my amp, it's set very close to unity gain in 'neutral'. It didn't supercharge the bottom end with my very balanced stage rig in the way it did on my brother's very scooped Elf + 15 rig. Sound wise I enjoyed it at volume; a caveat, I tend not to have strong preferences but enjoy the differences between basses, rather than seeking a particular sound. Balance was good on an ordinary Fender 50mm strap. Felt like it sat a little lower than a Precision. Intonation is very good, haven't had to adjust. Held tune very well despite being transported in a bag rather than a case. Some things to criticise: Tuners look a bit cheap, but are actually decent. Ditto strap buttons, they have a slightly uneven appearance, as if the chrome is very thick over a poor surface finish. Grained plastic covers behind control and battery cavity look a bit meh. Screwdriver access to battery cavity. Nothing to shed tears over.

Now I'm out of the gear challenge, I've ordered that new pedalboard I've wanted for years...

Thanks. So a brain melting SPL of 120dB is only one acoustic watt! Our amps are so very inefficient!

Summary of how it went: I have changed the order of my pedals. See above, permanently moved HPF. Decided which is the best overdrive and changed its settings. Behringer Valve Screamer clone is way too bright, even with tone right down. Mojo Mojo is darker and a better fit for me. The HM2 pedal (had it since the 80s) is glorious, but completely unsuited to what I need - even Peaches. Tweaked my compressor settings, slightly more attack. Investigated the effect of switching it in and out on hoe the overdrive (and amp) react. Reduced the eq on my amp. Things had crept away from being pretty flat; now I've just boosted bass a bit (Orange Terror). Still not sure about octaver. Joyo XVI. Changed the balance of up, down and dry. Decide it's great for Superstition, but not much else. May use it as a five string surrogate. Decided I was very happy with my chorus setting (Max width, level and delay, minimum speed) - it's an 80's Ibanez Digital Chorus and still works well. Crikey I see they are famed for their warmth and go for about £150! Matched effects to a few songs. Absolutely nailed the bass sound for Crazy Train. Got to know the preamp on my Sire a bit better. Made a bloody racket. Now, why didn't I go in the loft and find my DOD DFX9 or my Melos Mini-Fazer? EDIT: I recorded the whole thing on my GoPro - which rewarded me by telling me the SD card had to be reformated, losing everything...

Two reasons - first is to stop me doing stupid things like putting a 5-string's low-B through the signal chain, second is they seem to disagree a bit, especially the voltage doubler in the HPF. Normally noiseless, if the HPF is before the compressor the very high frequency noise is amplified and the octaver then drops it into an audible hiss. Only there when not playing anything , but enough to be an irritant.

That's pretty much how I got my mojo back. Thanks Planet Rock!

On the other hand, set yourself the challenge of making the original bassline 'disappear'.

Nicely balanced sound, tricky with that many guitarists!

Whoops it's been pointed out that this is a Z3...