ikay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Emery-Cloth-Polishing-Kit-Micro-Mesh-Sanding-Sheet-MicroMesh-Abrasive-Finishing-/221078302349 I've used this micro-mesh finishing paper set on an ebanol board with good results (1500 to 12000 grit). Ebanol shows every little mark and you need to steadily work your way up through the finer grades to get a polished finish. Wear a face mask as the ebanol dust gets everywhere. The white plastic fret lines on the VMJ ebanol boards can also cause isolated buzzing if their not perfectly flush. Before you tackle finishing the whole board it may be worth checking the 'fret' where you're getting the buzz.

Possibly stupid question - if you put your bass through a convolution reverb with an impulse response from a double bass, will this make your bass sound like a double bass? I'm aware of the Convolution Bass ... http://basschat.co.uk/topic/198742-anyone-after-a-double-bass-sound-have-a-listen-to-this/page__p__1965864 ... which does something similar but requires a specially configured bass as well as offboard convolution processing to achieve the upright sound. What I'm curious about is whether you can get similar results just playing a standard bass through a convolution reverb?

Frequency ranges of the TCM 3P taken from the Noll website specs are: Bass Control +/- 15 dB 40 Hz - 180 Hz Midrange Control +/- 15 dB 250 Hz - 1,5 KHz Treble Control +/- 15 dB 1.8 KHz - 7.8 KHz Kiwi, does this tally with your Noll 3Ps or do yours have custom frequency centres/ranges? When you say the treble could benefit from being broader do you mean the bandwidth of the cut and boost and how about the bass and mid?

Not used a Noll preamp myself but here are a couple of youtube clips of basses with Noll 3-bands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwdPfxsj9sI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNmQirBW90w

There should be a very significant change in tone when cutting or boosting the bass/treble control so something isn't right. First thing I'd do is unscrew the control plate and take a look inside to make sure there are no obvious issues with the wiring to the stacked pot (eg. broken wire, bad solder joint). If you have a multimeter you can check whether the pots are working by testing resistance between the wiper and the end terminals. As you sweep the pot the resistance should change from zero to the nominal value of the pot. If all that checks out OK then maybe a component has failed on the circuit board. In which case you could look at getting a replacement preamp such as the John East J-Retro Deluxe which is a drop in replacement. http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/East_Preamps_J_Retro.html (about halfway down the page) As far as I know Fender don't sell their preamps as replacement parts but they do very occasionally come up on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-American-Deluxe-Jazz-Bass-Preamp-Pickups-/151000368665

Ref back to Mr Foxen's post, I found this: "Roundwound strings are brighter, due to a higher presence of upper-order harmonics, while flatwounds are less bright. This occurs because roundwounds are more flexible than flatwounds.Imagine a string threaded with tightly packed beads. If the beads are spheres, then you'll be able to bend the string relatively freely; if, however, the beads are cubes, then the edges and corners of the cubes will inhibit the bending of the string. This same principle applies to roundwound vs. flatwound strings. When you pluck the string, it begins to vibrate, and as it vibrates, it flexes. Roundwound strings will have greater flex, while flatwounds will have less, because the flat windings inhibit the free vibration of the string. This suppresses the upper harmonics, causing flatwound strings to sound more mellow." Which all rings true

According to Guitar Parts Resource, ferrules for Fender American basses (part no 004-8604-049) are 1/2" external diameter (12.7mm). [url="http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/bass_ferrules.htm"]http://www.guitarpar...ss_ferrules.htm[/url]

This one from Atlansia takes individual pickups per string to a new level - [url="http://www.atlansia.jp/OXFORD.html"]http://www.atlansia.jp/OXFORD.html[/url] [attachment=129547:Atlansia Oxford.JPG]

It's an interesting point but essentially the string sound you hear with your ears is the same sound that is 'heard' by the pickup. Whether it sounds zingy or dull is all to do with the harmonic content being produced by the vibrating string. A new set of rounds for example will have lots of high harmonic content. If you damp these with your hand you will lose some of the higher harmonics. Similarly if you play nearer the bridge or over the neck the harmonic content changes. An old set of rounds will lose some of the high harmonics and sound deader. Flats have less high harmonic content than rounds and so on. When the string wobbles back and forth through the magnetic flux, the signal generated by the pickup is a mix of all the harmonics being generated by the string [u]at the exact position directly over the pickup[/u]. This last bit is crucial. Pickups in different positions will 'hear' a different set of harmonics. If a pickup has more than one coil (eg. wide aperture humbucker) then each coil will hear slightly different harmonics. The different signals generated by each coil will interact and act as a filter with some harmonics being cancelled out and others accentuated. Similarly if the bass has more than one pickup. It's a complex cocktail of harmonic inputs and outputs! This article on how pickups work explains it more clearly than I can - http://www.aqdi.com/pickups.htm

I think you need a 1/16" key for standard US bridge saddles

Thanks Dingus and Mudpup. I prefer the non-X version which seems to be more scarce than the X. BassDirect are only showing one 1025X in stock (no 1025s), but I've contacted Mark and he's checking what's in the pipeline. He's confirmed that they're still current, just in short supply. I'll also check with Chappels, they're a bit less of a treck than Warwick and less dangerous for someone with even moderate GAS to visit than BD!

I'm interested in trying one of these (ideally the version without the pickguard and control plate) but stocks seem to be generally pretty scarce and a few sites (such as Thomann) are saying no longer available.. Are they still part of the current product range or about to be discontinued does anyone know?

I believe it needs an 8mm hex wrench like this - [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Guitar-Truss-Rod-Wrench-Luthier-Tool-for-Gibson-PRS-etc-8mm-/120986001082"]http://www.ebay.co.u...m-/120986001082[/url]

OK, the rotary switch positions are as follows: 1. fully counter-clockwise - flat 2. middle position - slap contour (EQ01). This has a fixed level of cut/scoop at the selected frequency. Use the adjustment wheel to select the frequency. 3. fully clockwise - mid boost/cut (EQ02). Use the adjustment wheel to select the frequency. Use the trim pot to adjust the required amount of boost (or cut). Default settings for the EQ01 and EQ02 frequencies are with the wheel marker in the middle. This gives a good sound to my ears but play around to find the settings that work best for you.

This thread on TalkBass provides more info on the pickup wiring (see last post at bottom of page). - http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f38/yamaha-trb-original-pups-glock-3-band-pre-855014/ What do you mean when you say 'what does the boost on the original preamp do'? The original preamp has bass cut/boost, treble cut/boost and a three position switch which selects a mid boost (this can be preset within the control cavity), a slap countour (again adjustable within the cavity) and a flat setting. If you remove the control plate on the back of the bass there should be instructions printed inside indicating how to adjust these preset sounds.

[quote name='fendurt' timestamp='1361531970' post='1986988'] doeas any of you know that de pickups are dual-coil. does that mean I can install a switch and split the coil? [/quote] TRB soapbar pickups are dual coil but configured as a single coil plus a phantom coil (to eliminate the hum). You can't split the coil as in a regular humbucker.

Good to hear you got that sorted. What did they say the problem was and do you know what they did to get rid of the dead spot and get it playing so much better?

Never heard back so probably best to be wary of this one

I'll message the seller and see what they've got to say.

This ad on Gumtree .... http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/1987-tobias-basic-5-string-fretless-bass-natural/1009687154 ... uses the exact same picture as this ad on Music Zoo (NY, USA) http://www.themusiczoo.com/product/17521/1987-Tobias-Basic-5-String-Fretless-Bass-Natural---Used/ Does anyone here know whether the Gumtree ad is a scam or a genuine sale?

As far as I can see there isn't one - http://store.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=6

I asked them a couple more questions, replies below: Q. Does the piezo bridge produce an audio signal that can be amplified and used like a regular piezo bass? I realise that the convolution process is what makes it sound like a double bass but I wondered whether it also had a natural sound of its own (ie. without having to go through the external software). [b]A. The bass can be amplified like a normal piezobass. But you need phantom power to do so. A mixing table usually has that option. But you need the ASIO card with laptop and software to get the double bass sound like the sample. The bass itself has a very lownoise preamp. And you can mix the fingerboard sound with the piezo bridge sound. The fingerboard has a piezo too. Important for doublebass sounds. That's why the fingerboard is longer then usual on our bass. The bass has 2 volume potmeters. 1 for the bridge, one for the fingerboard.[/b] Q. Is all of the convolution signal processing done externally or are there also onboard electronics? [b]A. All signal processing is done external.[/b] Q. Does it use regular bass strings? [b]A. Flatwound strings or rope cords can be delivered. The rope cords are real double bass strings. When roundwounds are used you'll get a sound not like a double bass.[/b]

I emailed Convolution Basses for more info. Their instruments are mainly built to order and cost from 1,100 Euros up. The bass uses the principle of 'convolution' and recorded 'impulse responses' from a real double bass. This impulse response is then applied to the natural sound coming from the piezo bass to create the sound that you hear. The processing is done externally to the bass using a laptop and software. This extract from the wikipedia entry on convolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convolution) says it better: "In electronic music convolution is the imposition of a spectral or rhythmic structure on a sound. Often this envelope or structure is taken from another sound. The convolution of two signals is the filtering of one through the other."