sandy_r

hi David, i've compared your Sinso audio with Alain's and mine - to me, it sounds very similar to the audio range which Alain gets on his Sinso (which in turn is similar to some other guitars of his - all recorded direct, no treble-cut). i can see on the waveform that your signal contains a good fundamental and some higher harmonics, so it appears that your Sinso is generating signals from both electrets ok For some reason (possibly to do with pickup adjustment?) the waveform from my Sinso includes a higher proportion of 2nd harmonic and less higher ones, so its unfiltered sound is more 'bassy'. i have noticed that the pickup on my Sinso pushes quite firmly into the strings (may be visible in my earlier photo), so it's possible that my pickup has more 'muting' action than yours and Alain's i'll wait for Alain to get an opportunity to compare and comment on your audio clip, and then we can discuss any further action

thanks for the update, David The Aria Sinsonido 'manual' is a single page, which appears to be intended to cover both the guitar and bass - it shows the position of the DC socket but gives no info about its purpose, or its polarity (just voltage & current rating) - and no label on the bass, helpfully! Unfortunately I don't have any experience of your Sinsonido version, which has a DC socket and with the controls on top (hence my request for photos of the electronics), so i can't help you confirm the polarity, unless i'm able to check a newer PCB A quick listen on 'phones to your audio clip sounds encouraging - i'll compare it with the clips Alain and i have shared (as will Alain, i'm sure), and Alain may reply here, too We know that on the earlier version PCB the signal from one of the two electrets gets lost by using a regular mono guitar lead, but Aria appear to have improved the newer version which you have (replacing age-sensitive capacitors), so it may be that they also improved the other 'features' such as the lost signal, and non-standard circuit design If you think that your PCB is still fully functional wrt its DC power input, then there seems little point in going to the lengths of removing and swapping boards for testing Still no reply from the US wrt my request for any setup/adjustment info for the electrets/pickup, but i believe that there can be a significant delay I'll get back later, with any further comments re. the audio many thanks

i forgot to say hi, when i barged in, how rude! Greetings Badger, get stuck in

...Snorkie only needs to use Killer Tones! 😉

The thread, from which you copied that photo with the gain trimmer circled, gives the same advice you're receiving here The only way to increase passive output from your pickups is to raise their height closer to the strings Passive means 'no added electronic enhancement' to the signal - it's entirely what you get with just pickups, control pots and wires. There's no problem adjusting the gain trimmer in the active circuit - that's what it's for. i sincerely doubt that it affects the passive volume - it certainly can't add gain to the passive wiring As others have suggested, the best approach if you want perceived 'increase' of the relative volume of the passive output, is to reduce the active gain (using that trimmer) and just increase your amp gain accordingly HTH

For anyone in a similar situation (only have a potentiometer which is a higher value than required) but who has a fixed resistor of a similar value, you can approximate the actual required resistance curve by connecting the fixed resistor in parallel with the appropriate 2 lugs of the pot. With a 470k ohm fixed resistor connected across these 2 lugs, a 500k pot. will give a good approximation of a 250k pot., with a max. variance of approx 15% around halfway: (where 'R' = 470k ohm) A similar method can be used to approximate an audio taper using a linear potentiometer

blimey Limey - that wouldn't be an old photo of you (on keys?) in a band from skooldays, would it? Just reminds me of mine - all jackets, ties ...and hair! +1 for going and trying out some basses/ gear can i also recommend starting with a decent (so maybe 'used') pedal-type preamp to give you a flagship type sound, listening on headphones and being able to Aux In MP3s/CDs/Youtube Amps/cabs/combo could come a bit later? Cheers and welcome!

Here's the same info from my earlier diagram (3-Pole 4-Way Switch diagram for a MM type pickup), in schematic form The Switch has 3 sections, A, B & C, each with 4 connecting lugs A1, A2, A3, A4; B1, B2, B3... etc Neck Coil + connects to A (and also to V&T), Neck Coil - to B, Bridge Coil + to C, Bridge Coil - to Ground (also to B1&B3) The connection info for which you asked is shown above/earlier (same info, 2 formats) It's over to you now, to get the right wires in the right positions, as per the info given, and ensure good soldered connections 👍 All the best

John Mayall introduced me to so much good music - and musicians - after i started getting into playing bass as a teenager, decades ago Blues from Laurel Canyon just summed up the vibes of that time for me then i loved the idea that he made and played his own electric guitar (sadly lost in a fire); that inspired me, all those years ago, to persist in making my own bass - the fact that i still have it now, in working condition, is a tribute to the inspiration of Mr Mayall Happy Birthday John!

How are you confirming that you have no dry joints or a hidden short between lugs? Are you using an ohm-meter/DVM/Continuity tester? If so, you can confirm a switch start lug either with that tester, checking for continuity from its central lug (one of the three), or visually by looking into the switch wafer mechanism to see which lug gets the switch 'wiper' when fully clockwise/anti-cw BTW As an aside, it looks like your Tone control isn't wired as standard - you have all 3 lugs connected, if you want the regular tone operation then the green ground wire (with its cap wire left connected to it) should be removed from that 3rd (Right-hand) tone lug. Maybe you want it that way? (The diagram below has pots with enclosing cases, which are grounded, but your bass uses different style, so ground just uses the wire)

Thanks, yep, ok with a 2nd jack, as long as it is completely and only in parallel with the panel one Extra Ground wire shouldn't affect switch, could just cause hum/noise issues (Ground wiring should preferably be a 'star' connection from 1 point, usually the jack shield lug, out to the different parts, eg, pickup/switch, VT, bridge, etc - but 1 single ground wire from pickup to Sw to V to T to jack is ok too) No sound from fully-clockwise playing position would be the Parallel connection, yet you're getting signal on all other 3 positions (Both coils in Series, Neck coil only, Bridge coil only) - so signal must be reaching the switch from both coils... The problem relates to the No. 1 positions (as per the numbering shown in the diagram) - so check all No. 1 lugs for dry joints (especially any multiple wires on same lug) and also for possible slivers of solder shorting between lugs

Yes, it looks like you've moved the ground wire (and added its link) to the correct lug now, as per the diagram It's difficult to be absolutely sure about every connection from your photos, given that the wires are obscuring connections from certain angles When you say 'not getting furthest clockwise', do you mean clockwise when looking at the wiring side of the switch, or when looking from outside at the panel, from the control knob side? EDIT: You appear to have added an extra connection to Ground, from the switch - you have a black to the Jack Ground lug, which is good - but you've also connected the Switch Ground back to the Tone control, so your ground wiring has a loop , instead of separate ground wires to switch and V/T (or 1 single Ground wire, Sw-> T -> V -> Jack) Also, the Orange and Green wires carrying the signal from Vol to Jack are taken off to something else as well - do you have a 2nd jack socket, or something?

...yeah but.... Premature Eject-ulation?

No it looks they only provide adjustment for the Fet biassing, not offset 😞 It can be tuned to minimise crossover distortion, but your symptoms are hum, not distortion? you have replaced it back in approx same position Another thing you could check (if not done already) is the quality of connection on the FX Send/Receive loop sockets, and the parallel cable connectors going to the PCB (clean any oxidation) which can sometimes cause hum and noise

The DC offset at the speaker output seems too high - but is it a cause or a symptom? If you are confident (and competent! ☺), you could look at the schematic, slightly earlier in the output stage - there is likely to be a preset trimmer (maybe a few 100 ohm?) which gives adjustment of the DC offset. Photo the existing rotation position of that trimmer before adjusting it (with power off!) in 1 direction slightly. Re-apply power and see if DC offset has improved or worsened. Repeat adjustment relative to result just found and see if DC offset can be reduced much nearer 0mV If DC offset can't be improved much from 40 mV, replace preset position as per your photo of it

...it's the sound of millions of bass-/guitar- ists around the world, gasping in disbelief at such wanton vandalism! 😉

i have 6 basses:- i built my 1st bass at age 16ish - still have it, still works. Keeper; i bought/rescued an abused Hagstrom Viking semi (my teen dream machine), whilst at college. Had it refinished. Keeper; After a brief diversion with a headless, fretted 'stick', i sensibly traded it for a fretless Yamaha which became my gigging workhorse for a couple of decades, then upgraded to a BBN4 fretless. Keeper; Bought an old fretted Warwick Streamer, 'cause I thought i'd need a fretted bass in the Blues/Rock pub band which i'd started - never used it ...because… Saw a fretted Aria travel bass which amazingly had my name on it - became my goto bass for my band and for depping. Had it converted to fretless when my band became defunked (!). Started using it as an EUB on a stand, with more acoustic type lineups now. Keeper; Added a uBass for its portability, great sound, and acoustic-friendly nature. Keeper; So, across a 55 year journey of bassing, i can see that all my Keeper basses have some mystical elements of individuality, both in terms of looks - and utility ...bye, bye Warwick! 😥

Sorry to hear of your health issues, not the same here but i can empathise with the sitting/standing restrictions as i can no longer stand for long with a heavy bass, preferring to sit if the situation permits I can recommend trying out some alternative basses: travel basses and Uke basses - you can get some regular-scale travel basses which are very light and still comfortable to play whilst sitting, and uBasses give an amazing bass sound for what seems like 0kg! ...isn't Christmas coming soon?!? 😉 All the best

Snap! same condition, noticed it a couple of years ago - mirror image of the nodule on your hand on my right. No obvious restriction of movement yet, but i notice that my right hand is slightly curved inwards now, when at rest Also had a weird thing happen after a low-key (not B!) gig, where i was playing sitting down (as i might at song-learning practices) - i was sitting with one leg over the other knee, 'tapping' my foot to the rhythm of the songs. At the end of the gig when i stood up, i found it difficult to walk - my foot just flapped - no tendon control. It lasted a few days then cleared up, never to be experienced again. What was that all about?!?

OK - difficult to see exactly every connection, but mostly looks good ...just 1 issue: your Green (Ground)/ Black p/u connection is on the wrong lug (and it should also have a connection to the next-but-one lug along). Have a look at the diagram - your Gnd should be at, say, 10 o'clock, not 11 - and it should also be connected to, say, 8 o'clock Nearly there!

Thanks, that's helpful - i'll look at these close ups now...

Thanks - could you post another photo looking at the controls from the Mug side of the table, please? Try to get the camera to focus on the rotary switch (to try and distinguish the wiring from an additional angle) Also, can you confirm the wire colours coming from your pickup, please - the photo appears to show (R to L) Red, Black, Blue ...and... Red?/Orange? Which wire is which on the 2 windings of the humbucker (ie +/-, or Start/End) Cheers

yep, his Walrus was definitely better than his Turkey! 😉