funkle

Morning all. Just wanted to post an apology for less activity. Turns out the gastroenteritis I thought I had was actually a form of colitis. Bit of a rough summer with a few trips to hospital, tests, etc etc. However I’m coming back to life again and will shoot some video and post some updates. I’ve had a while to live with the bass as it is and it’s been useful.

Whoa. £5k is ambitious. I’m doubtful of that getting achieved. The colour is…not for me, either.

How did you work out how far the numbers had to go round to match the limits of how far the pots can turn? Do different pots have different rotational travel distances?

Just sold a Hipshot D Tuner to Kenny, very straightforward transaction with easy communications and quick payment. Thanks again Kenny!

Another brief aside. I'll repeat myself. The way the Wal pickups set their pickup heights is very intelligent. I would, if I were doing this all again, now choose the Wal pickup casing/mounting over the MM shape. The MM shape is cooler, but I can achieve a much wider range of pickup heights more easily using the Wal design than the MM shape/present mounting method. Live and learn!

Ok, I am wrong again. The Wal does not behave differently. Just tested out more detail on pickup heights using the Wal Mk1. It behaves exactly the same to my ears and under the scope as Chris' pickups in terms of my findings above re: frequency response and volume. I varied the height from 10mm away from the underside of a fretted string right down to 2mm away. Output changes significantly with height but the frequency response to my ears and under the frequency analyser, once level-matched, is the same. I don't get this; Wal themselves say in their materials that higher pickup heights make their pickups sound darker, but I cannot hear it or see it under the scope, so...This also contradicts my experiences earlier in the thread with lower pickup height improving tone on a Wal. I'm not sure what to make of this either. I definitely heard the change...hmm. I'll now focus more on just getting more comparisons of the latest version of the Wal-ish recorded alongside the Wal.

Ok, I have recovered enough to do some more testing with pickup heights, and have surprised myself with the conclusions. With this present set of pickups wired in parallel, when setting the polepiece anywhere from 5.5mm to within 1mm of the fretted string underside, I see no meaningful difference in frequency content. Volume changes significantly, but treble response does not. My ears have been fooling me; I thought they were darker at higher polepiece heights. My issue with my right thumb creating false harmonics is not significantly different at different pickup heights, it's just that they are more audible when the pickups are closer to the string (from the output jump). If I level match recordings done with polepieces set at 5.5mm and at 1mm they have the same amount of 'technique noise'. Proved myself wrong on a few counts. I guess it's why it's good to sit down and record/use a frequency analyser rather than my first subjective impressions. My take away for Chris' pickups (the MC4 SPSC versions I have presently) is that I can safely put them as close to the strings as I'd like. I guess other people's mileage may vary but that's what I've found. I'll need to try and do the same experiment with the Wal. My hypothesis from previous experiences is that it will behave differently.

Ah, thanks. Didn’t realise the underline was a link.

Nice. where'd you get them?

Howdy all You know me to be in general a big fan of @stevie's work, and he kindly sent me the newest addition to the LFSys FRFR stable, the 1x 10" Monza cab, to try out. (https://www.lfsys.co.uk/bassguitarproducts) I'll start with some pics of it next to my LFSys 'Silverstone' 1x12" - actually the very first Basschat Mk3 FRFR 1x12", but with updated crossover and horn a la the SIlverstone cab from the LFSys range. Pardon the wear; it's been out and about plenty. In short, it's a peach of a cabinet which I think can be the first 10" with a real claim to compete with a loud drummer. It is good for pub/club gigs; it handled rehearsals well with a loud drummer in a small enclosed space. I tested it out for a week or so in a few settings with my Berg Mk1 B Amp. I'll try to summarise the main points for me. Every instrument I played through it sounded very natural, like playing through studio monitors. It has a solid but non-boomy bottom end and utterly clear midrange/treble. It sounds the same as my Silverstone in the mids and highs (same horn/compression driver explains this), though the Silverstone has a bigger low low end (the Monza has a tailored low end response to prevent boominess at high volume). It can be heard very clearly standing directly in front of it, nearly on top of it, and well off axis. The driver can take a substantial amount of low end EQ, and even outright misuse, if the user happens to be foolish (slapping with big bass boost). It takes a low B well. The finish is top notch and it looks great. The handle is set flush with the to p, so can accommodate any head. 11kg is a good weight for a 1 cab solution. I don't have experience of the Barefaced 110T to compare it to, but I did have a BF 110 without the tweeter. I would say it's louder than the Barefaced 110 and has much clearer high end, unsurprisingly. Although it's heavier - 11kg vs 7kg. The only other small 10 I've owned which could compare in terms of frequency range was the old Acme 1x10, and this is is much much louder. The main difference I hear between this and the 12" cabs in the LFSys range is that the low end is slightly different for all of them. The Silverstone 12" has the biggest low end, then the Monza 10", and then the Monaco 12" is the tightest (but still good). All of the cabs in the range share the same mid and high end frequency characteristics - totally clear FRFR sound. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between them if you EQ'd the low end similarly, which you can. I don't have any negatives to say about the cabinet. It's a premium product at a premium price, with top end components ands crossover. It is truly boutique. Stevie is going to organise that this unit is sent around to other folks for them to try it out. I'd say fill yer boots, it sounds great!!!

Well, that escalated quickly.... Unfortunately, I won't be seeing Bornleft's posts any more.

I’ve never done it and would prefer you not be the first.

So not much presently. I’ve had gastroenteritis for a week and it’s been a rough ride. I can just about eat one meal a day in the last day or two, which is progress. I’m also trying to sort out an issue with new numbered knobs and getting them to fit the pots properly which I need for proper testing. I’m not one to post intemperately, but the tone and insistency to your posts have been frankly rude on more than a few occasions, which I previously chose to gloss over. That won’t be happening much longer; if you can’t manage to be polite/patient, I am simply going to block you.

Ok, now I’m interested! They fixed the logo….

They are there indeed, and very useful. But I am also alluding to another issue which I haven’t talked about - even with the pickups screwed right down on the prototype body, I was picking up a lot more false harmonics than usual, created by how my right thumb rests on the string. I hear this happen on my other basses, but quieter. It’s a problem of my technique. On the first prototype body, that happening was also a function of how close these powerful magnets were to the strings. I wasn’t getting wolf tones/warbling but I felt like maybe it wasn’t far off. I can now set the pickups further away but boost the output, and have less noise from false harmonics.

Another quick update. I ordered a nice brass shim set which I have now used to get the neck just right, and it is set up beautifully. Nuno fixed my broken volume pot and got me a new blend pot quickly, so the electronics are working again. I’m experimenting a lot with pickup heights now I have a bunch of different screw lengths (necessary as they fit fairly precisely into threaded inserts). I don’t think the present pickups need to be quite so far away from the strings as on a typical Wal - signal drops off too much. However there has to be a major difference in height between the neck and bridge pickups to get the right volume balance; I don’t think I was achieving this before in spite of my best efforts. The pickup routes were just not deep enough. I have a new appreciation of the Wal pickup design. It allows for easy pickup height adjustment without having to change screw lengths and without the risk of accidentally screwing through the rear face of the bass!

All good mate, play what your heart desires!

The Wal recipe is 42.5 AWG (actually metric equivalent) wire, 10,000 winds per coil, C8 ceramic magnets, steel keepers. Not neodymium magnets at all..and the wire is different too. Straight DI sound would be great. (Everyone thinks it’s 42 AWG, but this in fact not right.)

It sounds great. That's a fair bit of processing on there , I would say, though - the SVTR/drive adds a fair bit of colour. I would say you're in the Wal-ish neighbourhood, though. It's interesting as the Herrick pickups have quite a different recipe to a Wal - steel poles & neodymium magnets scatter wound with 42 AWG plain enamel wire. Resistance = 16- 20KOhm. (Or so their website says... it also says you can get other pickups on request.). Can I ask @Tom Stafford, what pickups did you request from Herrick?

Not yet. But I keep iterating closer. And I’ve learned a lot along the way too. So it’s been good.