SamIAm

Not cheap ... but looks just the ticket, thank you!!! Now to find 5 individual piezo pickups S'manth

Thanks folks, the H2N seems just the ticket and I've found a few good deals on eBay in my budget range. Many thanks! S'manth x

I'm a member of a 7 piece ukulele band. At rehearsal we have 6 ukes gathered in a circle (usually) with none plugged in, non mic-ed vocals as well as my bass going through an amp. We often play a piece that sounds fab but then fire up ... an iPhone to re-record it for later rehersal. I'd like to record the whole session so we can just edit the bits we liked for later listening. I would appreciate experience/adice on a decent (but not expensive) omni-directional mic I can use to just record the whole 2 hours and later edit with my DAW. Easily portable and setup a must. It will run into a Scarlet into a Macbook. S'manth x

Fettle?

Can anyone advise how they work? S'manth x

The factors that go into a pickup seem legion. Wire gauge Number of winds Scatter vs neatly sided by side Tension? Magnets used Any advice for a 5 string bass pickup? (Buy one is not desirable, I want to to make my own for the deep satisfaction it will being)

The simple beauty of that single bridge is lovely, it would really make her so elegantly uncluttered!. Mu Kala UBASS solid body has something similar. with a a single piezo strip under the nut. But I struggled twofold with it 1) For some strings it was less sensitive, often I could get no sound from my G string. I never went the route of dividing the saddle like some have 2) Intonation was awful and unadjustable, maybe it was my lack of playing skill as I've heard amazing sounds from a Kala, perhaps as Flo will be fretless 2.0 I can just adjust by careful finger placement. I do however have a hankering to have 5 separate signals so I can build some sort of pitch to midi unit, which I gather is better addressed with each string being routed individually. Why do many/most electric guitars/basses have individual string intonation adjustments? S'manth x

Just received a GSS 06B400 from @DanOwens (Ex @Hellzero I believe). I was desperate for a battery powered amp and this is perfect. Sound is fantastic, heavy (Especially for this 60 year old woman) but hey, thats what it takes to get such a great sound I gather. Condition: Pristine! I think kid gloves were worn whenever touching this rig. Communications: Top notch. Packaging: A dozen eggs could not have arrived in more perfect condition. Speed: Just a few days. Value: I'm a happy lass! A big 11/10 for Dan, a top notch BCer, would have no hesitation in dealing with him again! Thanks Dan! S'manth x

The problem (as I see it) is that each saddle will require it's own piezo pickup with the associated cost and wiring complexity ... is there a better way? S'manth

Just half an hour ago on my laptop (Well I did modify an existing one) ... what needs updating (apart from obviously the bass cab!)? S'manth x

The EMG MMCS and Tone control I'm currently using thrive on 18v ... not sure I can fit 4 PP3s in the case. I cannot remember where but I saw a really cool single flashing LED that sped up (I think) when the battery voltage was starting to approach a too low level, I'd love one like that!

After really enjoying building Twiggy I'm enbarking on a second build (Boy is this compulsive!). Twiggy was a prototype made from a 2x4, she is lovely ... but a few things came up. Hey body has developed a crack. I was too ... enthusiastic ... carving the neck leaving me without adequate room to safely install a truss rod and my neck relief seems to increase weekly, tuning is a nightmare! I did not have enough room to house the electronics. I've decided I want an EndurNeck™ .strandberg* style neck, By pure luck, Twiggy's is close but not quite right, albeit very comfortable ... careful use of a CAD design will assist me here. Pine is not unattractive, but I'm going for Maple this time, both for appearance and stability. I found my multiscale approach was suboptimal. Lessons learned I can build a bass, she plays well and sounds nice (I've rotosound tru bas strings and they are gorgeous) it's been quiet a buzz the number of folks who come up after the gig to enquire what sort of bass she is. Plan 5 times, cut/carve once (or even 0.2 times and repeat) I can get a good sound tension from a 30 B0 STRING. Multiscale is hard, I don't like to look at the front of the fingerboard and I find it hard to figure the fret positions from just my side markings, esp for the treble side strings. Not using a trussrod -> too much relief so action is too high for comfortable playing. Similar to Twiggy 5 string fretless. Single piece construction Short scale of about 730mm Minimal overall length Changes for Flo Through documentation so I can remember everything for the next build lol Template based neck shape with adequate space for a truss rod. Loosely based on the Milled single aluminium string anchor at the head end. Finer threads on the tuners to allow for better tuning control, I mill mill the whole things and cut/die my own thread. Adequate width/depth in the body section to allow for embedding of electronics. Nice brass insert side fret markers, tho I am considering glow in the dark for dim environments. Battery state indicator. Some shape to bottom (or fold down support) to facilitate seated playing. I love the .strandberg cutouts bu fear the weight, perhaps some cavities/cutouts will keep the weight down. Self mad pickup. (No idea how just yet) Addition of piezo pickups (No idea how just yet) LED based side fret markers. I spoke to David Dyk of luthiersupplies.co.uk, (Thanks to @3below & @Andyjr1515 for pointing him out) what a delightful fellow! Their production centre is only 25miles from here and I was kindly invited to view the facility and even select some wood! So in the next week or so will begin the tale of Flo! S'manth x

I built Twiggy, a 5 string fretless shortscale from a 2x4. So much fun that I've decided to try again with another ... Flo - A 5 string fretless EBB5 homemade shortscale bass( Diary will be here) and I intend to document as much as I can. I thought woodwork and shaping was beyond me at 60 but it turned out to be so enjoyable and relaxing. I'm blessed to have received much support from BCers and I know have access to a fairly complete woor/metal/electronics workshop so am kicking things up a notch. I've often pondered winding my own pickups and wondered if folks could direct me at any useful resources, offer advice and experience to support me in this undertaking. I've a fair amount of experience in digital electronics but nil in analogue so it seems rather daunting, but the thought of doing so really appeals! S'manth x

Hear you! I'm an NHS critical care nurse. The seemingly random shifts I work play havoc with rehearsals ... for gigs I have to book leave. But playing (albeit badly) does feed my soul ... so I make it work. S'manth x

Just received a HX Effects I bought from @Yan_Huriey. Transaction was so smooth it was unbelievable! A day after paying, he posted the unit and I received it today. Packaging was superb and the unit itself was exactly as described. Would deal with him again without any hesitation ... top class BC'er. S'manth x

I sold my HX Stomp to @Steve Woodcock today. What a delightful fellow! He popped down to Brighton today, was able to play with the Stomp and we chatted ... a lot! Cannot rate too highly how well the whole transaction went. S'manth

That had not even crossed my mind. I shall explore it further, thank you!

@Andyjr1515, those figures gave me hope! Routing the back of the neck I can do with a CNC machine. However, I measured incorrectly! The distal end is indeed 15mm thick, however (either to allow extra space for the mounting screws or simply as I got too enthusiastic with my neck shaping) upon measuring at various points along the neck I've found that the minimum thickness drops to 13mm and runs for 14mm ... and that this is at the thickest section, the profile has a triangular shape and it drops off either side. Having said that, it strikes me that when correcting for too much relief (My situation) the truss rod force acts towards the rear of the neck at the most distal and proximal ends and towards the front of the neck in the middle of the trussrod. I'm thinking that I could either add a bigger section of wood at the distal end of the neck (A bit like the lump found at the end of Strandberg neck) or add a aluminium plate over that end. What length of the neck does a trussrod run? From zero-fret to joint with body? S'manth x

@tauzero, thanks. I'm unclear as to whether the truss cable would need to exert less/same/more tension than the sum of the string tensions (On Twiggy, with TruBass Flatwounds it is under 95kg. Rotosound quote 207.5lbs, but that is for long scale length and Twiggy, being a short scale, will have a lower tension); I'm guessing it will be less. So I'm aiming for a truss cable that will allow up to 100kg of tension (or a pair of 50kg each). Regarding insertion of pipes/carbon fibre supports (Also @3below) the issues I see here is twofold; 1) No adjustability; 2) Upon insertion and whilst glue dries I would need to have the neck at the exact relief I wanted and this might be problematic to do. @Random Guitarist, very interesting perspective. The neck cross section looks like this. The yellow box is 45mm by 15mm. This is the extreme at the zero-nut end, it gets thicker as it approaches the body (abt 60mm by 20mm) ... neither offer a high proportion of the original 2x4 cross section. A 2x4 I see is 38mm by 89mm -> 3382mm^2 My thinnest neck profile is perhaps 75% of 45mm by 15mm -> apx 500mm^2 If the load bearing is directly proportional to cross sectional area than it suggests it can cope with only 150lbs, less than I already have acting on the neck. I wnoder what sort of 'safety factor' is in that 1,000 lbs. S'manth x

Amazing ... I've an aim of building all my own kit (Bass mostly done, effects system progressing nicely) and a cab is on the list, this is inspirational in that respect!