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Everything posted by SamIAm
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Using guitar necks for sub short scale bass
SamIAm replied to SamIAm's topic in Repairs and Technical
Cool! I've not seen the Retrovibe Necks before ... brilliant! Bodywise I'm toying with the concept of 3D printing a body. Google brings up a few inspiring designs ... And an instagram video of it being played And if a total disaster I can revert to a wooden body or perhaps have a wooden/metal body "core" to affix the neck/pickups/bridge and then 3D print the body shape; woodworking is not a skill I have but I'm a dab hand at 3D design -
A timely revival! To date I've been using a Roland Microbass Cube, which runs off 6 rechargeable AAs for a few hours. But Somewhere in the package delivery systems an Ashdown Ant and an Stonefield Mighty Mini. Add in an HX Stomp and a prototype home built Midi pedal ... at present the only thing that is not dependent on the mains is the Midi pedal (Internal Lithium Battery). The band is a ukulele group and we sometimes do gigs outdoors ... and I've just started researching how to drive my system from a portable rechargeable source. It turns out that many modern rechargeable power banks (the ones that support quick charging) can be "told" by whatever they are plugged into what voltage/current to provide, the range is quite amazing! I imagine this would nicely drive your micro head setup. I'm hoping that I can get it to drive my setup (Tho I'll have to do some mods to the Ant as it has an internal mains transformer) I've yet to find an off the shelf widget that sends the "Give me more power" command to the battery bank, but if I do I'll share it here. The specs I've read means a self-build is not too challenging and should have a price point of just a few quid.
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Using guitar necks for sub short scale bass
SamIAm replied to SamIAm's topic in Repairs and Technical
Good thinking. I play bass in a ukulele band (Used to play a UBASS but intonation problems were enough to push me to an electric bass) and I want my bass to be as physically short as possible. My MCR-1 fits in OK, but if I go headless I could increase my scale length and still have a bass that does not appear out of place amongst the ukes (Tho of course headless will look ... unusual). -
Using guitar necks for sub short scale bass
SamIAm replied to SamIAm's topic in Repairs and Technical
Indeed ... I'm struggling to find strings with my current MCR-1 (24.6 inch scale length). If I go DIY I am likely to go for headless tuners, the ball end to go into the tuner and then the "free" end to go throu the headstock clamp (using a hex screw or pair of them) ... with this approach I presume that I could clamp down at the head end on the fully wound part of the string without any problems ... -
A lovely bit of kit, but I've never utilised it to the lofty heights I'd aimed for; I've a less sophisticated USB audio interface that does what I actually need and my GAS requires funding ... hence this sale. It is in perfect operating condition, some slight cosmetic marks (See pix) from the usual stacking/moving of gear on the desk. I run it with Mac OS but gather it works under Windows also. Key Features (From Focusrite) Two High quality, Award winning Focusrite Preamps High quality 24bit/96kHz USB Interface With 110dB A/D Dynamic Range 18input, 6output Audio Interface with ADAT Optical, S/PDIF & MIDI Two HiZ Instrument Inputs Ultra low latency Scarlett MixControl DSP Mixer/Router (Provides an 18 x 6 DSP mixer with excellent routing flexibility, intuitive one‐click configurations, and lower than 1.4ms latency.) Dedicated Headphone Bus With Front panel Level Control LED Analogue Input Metering Front & Real Panels 1 - Channels 1 and 2 with combo XLR input sockets for mic / line / instrument 2 - Channels 1 and 2 gain controls 3,5 - Channels 1 and 2 instrument LEDs 4 - Phantom power switch with LED for mic inputs 1-2 6 - Channels 1 to 8 signal and overload LEDs 7 Power LED - lit when the unit receives power from the external power supply unit 8 - USB (Active) LED - lit when the unit connects to the USB driver 9 - LKD (Locked) LED - lit when the unit locks to its internal clock, or to an external clock source 10 - Monitor level control 11 - Headphone level control and output 1⁄4 ” jack 1 - 2 x RCA S/PDIF input and output sockets 2 - 1 x 2.0mm DC power inlet socket 3 - 2 x DIN5 MIDI sockets 4 - 1 x USB 2.0 socket 5 - 1 x Optical input socket for ADAT inputs 1-8 6 - 2 x TRS jack sockets for monitor outputs 1 and 2 * 7 - 6 x TRS jack sockets line inputs 3 to 8 * * Either 1/4 inch TRS (balanced) or TS (unbalanced) jack connectors can be used. Pix Included 1 x Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 USB 2.0 Audio Interface 1 x USB Cable 1 x Power Supply 1 x Scarlett MixControl mixing software (Download from Focusrite web site) 1 x Ableton Live 11 Lite Licence 1 x Operating manual (As PDF) The 18i6 originally came with Focusrite’s Scarlett suite of EQ, compression, reverb and gating plug‐ins, to bring a touch of class to your mixes. Also included was a host of royalty‐free loops and samples and a full‐ fledged soft‐synth. I no longer have the disc and have not had any joy downloading them (Though I didn't really try as I never needed them). Delivery within UK included. Need more info? PM me -
RS Components have the Bourn Pots listed above with more reasonable shipping: Bourns 500kΩ Rotary Potentiometer 2-Gang Panel Mount, PDB182-GTRB1-504MN https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/potentiometers/7703071 £2.48 each Bourns 250kΩ Rotary Potentiometer 2-Gang Panel Mount, PDB182-GTRB1-254MN https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/potentiometers/7703062 £2.84 each Next day shipping £5 or free for orders over £30.
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I'm investigating building a sub-short scale (24 - 28 inch) 4 string bass, it would be my first build. I'd like to use a pre-built neck and wondered about the experience of others in this approach, good, bad, didn't proceed. Details of your build and photos would be much appreciated. S'manth x
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I've seen some headless tuners on Amazon, I'm interested to find out any experience (good/bad) that you may have had with them. They are branded as Alincov, but I cannot find any significant references on google. They both appear to use a ball head recess in the tuner with a hex screw fixing on the headstock. Style One Style Two
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I bought a set of tuners from Chris. They are exactly as described and were very well packed. Communications was amazing and the whole thing from me spotting them on Thursday afternoon to receiving them this morning could not have gone more smoothly. The lovely Chris even took the time to reconfigure them into a 2+2 for me. I was especially delighted that the main shaft hole and wee hole for the tiny screw at the back were the right size and position so it was an easy task to swap them in I would have no hesitation in dealing with him again.
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Just bought an EMG BQS Control from Andrew ... what a pleasure. Excellent communications, blindingly fast delivery (very well packed) and as described. Now to try to squeeze it into my titchy bass lol Thanks Andrew. S'manth x
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Just bought an HX stomp from Steve ... delighted with it. Transaction could not have gone more smoothly. It was exactly as described and packed very very well. Agreed sale Monday morning ... package arrived less than 24h later!! Lovely chap ... 10/10.
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I sold my Yamaha Tenor sax on eBay about 4 months ago ... worked well, I got a good price and the buyer was very happy. S'manth
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I've just upgraded the pickups in my P bass. The old ones used foam pads, the replacements had springs. I've never installed pickups like this, but from experience with similar things I knew they were going to be trouble ... so I turned to google on the basis that I cannot have been the first person to experience this. Reading a few sites I stumbled across a total gem ... and wanted to share it. A pair of alligator clips! Before positioning the pickup, pop in a screw, slide the spring in place, compress the spring and then place the alligator clip onto the screw to hold the spring in place ... repeat for the other side. I actually then attached a pull wire to each clip (as the space around the pickups left no room to get in to remove the clips). Tighten the screws enough to hold and pull away the clips ... job done. S'manth x Credit: Original Post where I discovered this technique.
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I play bass in Qukulele ... so much fun! We are a Ukulele covers band with a fair mix of mashing up of two or three songs and a few where we change a few words or most of the lyrics. We also add in harmony to many of our numbers. I joined as a Tenor uke player and transitioned to the bass a couple of years in.
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Thanks @fleabag ... that makes sense regarding the wire positions and it also matches with thicker magnet on treble side ... here goes! S'manth x
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Perhaps a bad choice of words ... changing/upgrading from manufacturer stock pickups. S'manth x
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I'm about to upgrade the stock pickups in my P Bass. They use ceramic magnets, one of them has a magnet that is twice the thickness of the other. I can't see any markings on the pickups indicating which goes where ... Is the pickup with the thicker (The stronger magnetic field I presume) magnet for use under the D&G strings? S'manth x
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Lovely! What scale length is it? S'manth x
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I started out on a UBASS (20.5 inch scale) and now have two short scale, one is 24.5 the other is 28.5. I can swap back and forth between the two shorter ones, but find it difficult when I go to the 28.5 ... I find it is quite a stretch and I can't do what I'm used to in terms of fret spanning with my pinkie.
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I'm in the process of a project modding my P bass including: truss rod adjustment replacing bridge setting action at bridge setting intonation mounting new DIY custom made pick guard DIY build and installation of a passive tone switch (7 settings) DIY build and installation of passive fuzz-iness And I intend to install new pickups and change the tuning machines (if I can find some suitable ones) ... I am even investigating conversion to a headless tuning system, possibly a DIY mechanism. By the end of all this the only original stuff is likely to be the body and the neck. Is this suitable for a build diary? S'manth.
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Hi all! New member here … looking forward to learning and participating in the community. I’m based in Brighton, UK where I work as a critical care nurse for the NHS. For many years I half heartedly tried to learn the guitar (acoustic) but never really got anywhere. About 10 years ago I got my first ukulele and … wow! Great fun to play … joined a jam group, did a few open mics and then joined a ukulele band (Qukulele) playing tenor uke. 4 years back or so I purchased a Kala acoustic-electric bass ukulele (yes, they exist and are rather fun … tho temperamental creatures) and I became “Smanth the bass” in Qukulele. I found that whilst the Lala was loud enough to hear when practicing, with even one or two other ukes playing it was inaudible … so a Roland Micro Cube Bass RX joined the family. About a year later I got a solid body UBASS but then … covid hit the world. My band participation dropped to zero (I had to leave the band due to work pressures) until a few weeks ago when I rejoined. Having loads of fun, but my bass skills are … patchy ... I'm probably best described as an intermediate beginner so I've set out to become better and here I am. One of the biggest issues I have with a UBASS is intonation, the strings are super fat (to get the low notes with its scale length of 20.5 inches) but the bridge position is fixed so one cannot alter string length sadly little that can be done (I’ve tweaked truss rod, saddle height and nut slots to get the lowest playable action to reduce string distortion) ... I tune at the 3rd or 5th fret so the lower frets are OK-ish, but any higher than 7/8 and it can sound nasty! So I recently added a Ibanez GSRM20B Mikro (Scale Length of 28.6 inches) a monster compared to a U-BASS, but it sounds and looks fantastic. I then added a Greg Bennett Corsair MCR-1 Mini (Scale length of 24.5 inches) I’d seen some amazing reviews but when mine arrived it sounded absolutely terrible … crap intonation, loads of hum, and a weird harmonic sound ... I was very disappointed. I spent a few hours adjusting the truss rod, saddle height, pickup height, intonation and it sounded good enough to risk trying a new set of strings and … now it is brill! It will probably be my goto bass for playing with the band (Unless I want a real upright bass sound where the Kala still rules) as it is so wee! S’manth x My collection (I've put a smaller black pickguard, black bridge and black knobs on the MCR-1 since this was taken)
