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Obrienp

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Everything posted by Obrienp

  1. Obrienp
    As was said before, Rotosound short scale strings seem to have intonation issues. I gave up on the set I had and won’t buy them again. Strangely I haven’t had the same problem with their standard scale strings.
  2. Obrienp
    Thanks, it is beautiful but possibly a bit marmite: some bassists are horrified if an instrument does not look like a mid-60s Fender Precision. I like it because it looks different and actually the shape is a combination of form and function. It is incredibly comfortable to play both standing and sitting. That lower horn may look radical but it exactly fits the contour of your thigh when sitting. Plus it is light for a full scale 5 string. It did raise a few eyebrows when I took it to a local blues jam😀. By the way. I am no great shakes as a bassist and have had imposter syndrome ever since buying this but my partner contributed to the cost as a Christmas present a few years ago. Fortunately, she is not upset that I now need to sell it because of the arthritis in my hand. I have never got anywhere near using its potential as an instrument but then I don’t feel too bad about it: this sort of money would be bargain basement for a classical musician. You might be able to get a decent bow for a cello for what this bass cost new.
  3. Obrienp
    I reseated the Sonicore yesterday. The bottom of the saddle was absolutely straight and the base of the slot appeared completely even. The piezo looked fine: lying flat with no bumps, or kinks. Unfortunately reseating it made absolutely no difference to the string balance. Without loads of compression the top and bottom strings are almost inaudible. I can’t imagine the the preamp is the problem: surely it must be OK, as this is sold as an OEM bass system. It is very high gain though. The one thing I did notice was that the saddle was a very loose fit in the slot but in my experience that is more likely to cause a rattle, rather than uneven pressure on the piezo. Next stop is going to be the Artec pickup and perhaps a new saddle with a tighter fit in the slot (either bone or Tusq). I’ll do this when I fit the K&K Pure transducers. I might also fit tape wounds to calm some of the overtones that are coming off the bronze strings. It shouldn’t really be necessary to do all this with a new bass and it’s a shame because it is a well made instrument and sounds great acoustically. I have to say I really miss my Ibanez SRH500 Aerium but they don’t come in short scale. It sounded great plugged in, didn’t feedback, was nice and light and it didn’t have a huge body.
  4. Obrienp
    Thanks for that tip: soldering a female socket to the original wire would be easier than removing the board and soldering onto it. I am always nervous soldering onto a board using modern lead free solder: too easy to overheat the components. However, reseating the Sonitone is obviously the first thing to try, along with fitting the K&K, as I have bought it now. Yes, that’s another option I guess. The sound hole on the Guild is quite small but I think the Fishman Neo would fit. I fitted a Rare Earth Blend in a Martin 015, which was even smaller, so it must be possible. I am assuming the Neo has a bar magnet, rather than individual pole pieces, so string alignment wouldn’t be an issue. I would have to remove the Sonitone sound hole preamp and controls though, as they are situated where the Neo would attach, so it really would mean junking the total system, rather than reusing components.
  5. Obrienp
    Thanks for that I bought one: at that price, why not. Did you use it with an existing preamp, or did you buy an Artec unit? The reason I ask is that the OEM Sonicore piezo in my Guild is hardwired to the board of the sound hole mounted volume and tone controls. It looks like the Artec pickup has a mini jack. I imagine it is fairly straightforward to remove that and work out which wire goes where on the board but I wondered what your experience was. Would I better to buy the Artec preamp and replace the Sonicore unit?
  6. Obrienp
    I don’t have the pro, just the bog standard 200 watt unit. The fan come on almost immediately and while not the noisiest, I am aware of it even in band rehearsals but I am right next to it most of the time.
  7. Obrienp
    Hmm. Nice idea but at the moment we are saving our cash for a much postponed long trip home down under. Relatives to see and all that. However, I’ll give you a shout, if a trip to Northern France/Belgium were to happen.
  8. Obrienp
    That’s interesting: both points. I’ll start by reseating the saddle but if that doesn’t improve the string balance, I’ll try the Artec, I am sure it is cheaper than the Headway. I ordered the K&K anyway and it arrived today. Looks a little fiddly to fit but I have only heard good things about it, so it might be worth the hassle. Fortunately the Guild has a separate jack socket for its OEM pickup, so I can bore out the end pin and put the K&K socket in there. If I can sort out the under saddle piezo, I will have 2 separate signals to blend.
  9. Obrienp
    I’ll second that. Interested to know if it is any good.
  10. Obrienp
    I would be interested to know what you settled on in the end and how it worked. I have recently bought a Guild B240 fretless and I really don’t like the Sonicore piezo system that is in it. String balance is really bad. Amplified it has to be heavily compressed to even this out. It is also very prone to feedback. I am going to put a K&K Pure transducer pickup (2 transducers actually) in it but as it already has the bridge drilled for a piezo and has a battery box in the side, I thought I might fit a better under saddle system as well. It is really difficult to find purpose made acoustic bass under saddle systems in this country. Headway seems to be the only pickups available in this bracket. They have the HE5 mentioned above (about a third of the cost of the Guild) and the cheaper Snake pickups. Anyway, it would be great to hear about what you chose and how it is working. Other experiences gratefully received as well. I am going to be using mine with a band when we do “unplugged” gigs, so it will be quite loud and feedback could be an issue.
  11. Obrienp
    Wish I lived closer to Bristol.
  12. Obrienp
    I never tried Reverb but thanks for the tip. I will investigate. Wow, a fifth of retail sounds like cutting your throat! GLWTS!
  13. Obrienp
    You are not kidding: somebody offered me less than £400 for it on fleaBay! Of course I want to sell a nigh on immaculate £1,400 bass for less than a third of the price new…..Not!
  14. Obrienp
    Hi Y'All, Sorry, never got round to doing the glowing valve money shot but it has sold.
  15. Obrienp
    Due to arthritis in my left hand I have been selling off my long scale basses and getting shorties. I recently bought a Guild B-240 EF fretless from Thomann as a replacement for my Ibanez Aerium (SRH500). The B-240 has a Guild branded version of the Fishman Sonicore under saddle piezo pickup system. I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as the Ibanez AeroSilk system in the Aerium but the string response of the Sonicore is quite uneven. The A & D strings are much louder than the E & G strings plugged in. The A & D strings are very prone to feedback as well. The string response acoustically is fine, so it must be down to the pickup system. The Sonicore seems to be one of the few dedicated piezo systems for acoustic bass and it is used in quite a few instruments in the B-240’s price bracket. I was wondering whether any of you folks have experience of it, or just generally have experience of under saddle piezos in acoustic basses? Does this sound like the pickup in the Guild is faulty, or is this par for the course with these systems? I have raised the issue with Thomann, along with the fact that the nut and bridge saddle are cut too low. The bass is basically fine apart from the setup and the amplified string balance, which might be a characteristic of the Sonicore. Should I be insisting Thomann replace the guitar? My inclination is to get them to send me a replacement nut and bridge saddle, and get my local luthier to set it up properly but I don’t want to do that, if the pickup system is faulty. Any experience/ advice gratefully received!
  16. Obrienp
    I hadn't thought of that. Good point.
  17. Obrienp
    Hi, Thank you for your enquiry. Yes it is available. I also have it posted on eBay now, so you could make me an offer through there (to short circuit the auction) and get all the buyer protection. It also means that I won't have to cancel the auction. However, if you would prefer to do it direct that suits me as well. I wouldn't get charged fees that way. The eBay link is : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185259041962. Kind regards, Pat
  18. Obrienp
    The string issue has already been answered, ditto hanging it on the wall. I have the 4 string version, so this might not apply to the multi scale but I find myself looking at the neck more often. I think it might be to do with the length of the neck and headstock in my peripheral vision. If I don’t keep checking, occasionally I end up fretting one or two frets higher than I meant to. I am probably not helping myself by playing a regular short scale bass with one band and the headless with another. The other thing you have to watch out for is the string clamps working loose but this might be because I am careful not to over tighten them in the first place. I have visions of stripping the thread by over tightening: you can put a lot of torque on them with an Allen key.
  19. Obrienp
    Probably way too late for you but there is the Amp Guy in Norwich. Find him on the web here http://www.ampguy.co.uk. He serviced my Ashdown Little Stubby all valve amp in November and as far as I can tell did a good job.
  20. Obrienp
    After thought: This company on eBay does Bronco pickguards in all sorts of finishes and custom configurations. They did one for me cut for a precision pickup set. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Squier-Bronco-Bass-Pickguard-Scratchplate-many-colours-/114628915838?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0
  21. Obrienp
    I did a lot of mods to a Bronco, which I sold recently. I did start a thread about machine heads and then discovered some drop ins. To quote the thread: I don’t know whether these are any better than the originals, or whether you can order from Spain without huge Brexit related customs hassles. If you just have a dodgy machine head that needs replacing and want to stick with a drop in; I have the original tuners for my Bronco, which you can have for nothing but the price of postage. Message me if you want them. Edit: forgot about the bridge. It depends whether you want to stay with the Bronco string spacing , look and mount holes. I wasn’t bothered about sticking with the look. I found a replacement, high mass bridge with 18mm spacing (0.5 MM more than standard), 4 saddles and roughly the same mount holes on eBay for very little but it came from China. The standard adjustment screws didn’t provide enough movement to get the intonation correct on strings 3 and 4, so I had to source shorter screws. To be honest, it was a lot of hassle and I wish I had just gone for a standard Fender style 4 saddle bridge with different mount holes and 19mm spacing. Yes a bit of hassle getting it aligned but the OEM bridge wasn’t aligned on the centre line anyway. Broncos are built at a price. Just get one with a big enough baseplate to cover the original mounting holes. If retaining the original string spacing is important to you, Babicz and Schaller do bridges with adjustable string spacing but they are going to cost 70-80% of what you paid for the Bronco in the first place. You will never recover that outlay. I probably spent around £280 on buying and modding the Bronco and sold it for £120. Lesson learnt as far as I am concerned.
  22. Obrienp
    I sold a TC Electronic BH550 to jimmybass04 just before new year (2022). It was a real pleasure doing business with Jimmy, especially as there were real issues with my carrier, Parcel Force. Essentially, they lost it for a while and it didn’t get delivered until 12 days after I dropped it off at the Post Office. Jimmy was very patient, especially as I had his money for the whole period: he had paid super promptly by bank transfer, as soon as we had agreed the deal. I have no hesitation in recommending Jimmy as a great person to do business with.
  23. Obrienp
    Curiosity killed the cat. I just gave it a try tuned down two whole tones: not as bad I thought it would be. This was with my custom bass with D’Addario 45-105 nickel round wounds. I wouldn’t say it was as bad as floppy but there was a lot of string rattle. Obviously, with the reduced tension, the neck went convex, so for a long term tuning option you would need to loosen the truss rod. The action would probably need to go up and not just at the bridge: I think the nut would need to be raised and the intonation adjusted. Tone wise it was boomy and a bit rubber band like but I didn’t find it too bad from a fretting accuracy point of view. I was able to avoid bending the strings but it needed a light touch with the plucking hand. I am not sure I could manage it live: I tend to dig in through nerves/excitement. To summarise: it is probably doable with some set up work but I couldn’t live with the tone you get. It might be better with higher tension strings.
  24. Obrienp
    Well it’s always worth a try. I don’t think it will do your bass any harm. I am tempted to give it a go now just to see/hear what happens.
  25. Obrienp
    I take it we are talking 4 string here? One band I play in tunes down a semitone to help the singers. One of my short scales handles that fine and I think it could go down the full tone without becoming unplayable but I don’t have the action set very low. I think dropping the 4th string to C would be too much, unless you have the action super high. The strings are just going to be flapping about and even with really high action it is going to be difficult to get the intonation right with so little tension. It would be really difficult to fret accurately without bending the string sideways. I guess it might be possible if somebody manufactures a high tension set of short scale strings but I haven’t heard of any. You watch: somebody will post that they tune down two whole steps all the time and it is no problem😀.
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