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Everything posted by Al Nico
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Hello. 14 year is a long time. I can only manage about an hour and a half maximum.
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@Jean-Luc Pickguard Your track is a shimmering wonder. The percussive elements are fantastic. I like the production all round. Nice stereo and mix. It made me smile and I felt pretty calm afterwards.
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@MoonBassAlpha Track goes together well, moves through and keeps interesting. Good sounds too. Bass came out well. I like the mid drive sound, it's live sounding and has even weight low and high. It's original too. Nice work. @upside downer Good mix. The slury synth bass riff makes my head go funny, in a good way, and so does the arrangement and phrasing. It has good drive and evolves as it goes with some subtle surprises. I enjoyed it.
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Great. Thank you everyone. I was worried about gauge, now I'm also worried if I'll chose the right, gauge, tension, winding type, texture, core shape, material, coating, brand, and probably price? Are flat wounds even legal on a Spector?
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Finding the great all-round 'one bass does it all' setup is proving difficult As I understand it, flats tend to have thicker cores than round wound, because there is more space to fill inside the coil? This would give them more tension. Does that sound right? Experimenting looks expensive. How did you find out they were the strings that worked best?
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Hi. When the cable you spent considerable time and money on lets you down much earlier than you'd expect, or feel it's failure is unproportionate considering the cost, even if postage was free. Rather than burn energy writing to the manufacturers to provide productive feedback, restore the situation by fitting the elasticated clip tie to the instrument. In addition to helping cables last longer, the elastication can prevent whiplash when other showbiz stakeholders become entangled. Patent applied for 2025.
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Hi. I finally got the battery into my Vernier and measured the strings on both guitars. They are the same. The Spector definitely feel under less tension. Then I heard a reasonable explanation. I hadn't considered that the core wires could be different thicknesses, and that's the part under tension. The lower tension ones are more sensitive, good for widdling, but have to hold my breath to keep things even. The high tension ones sound strong, but can only bend notes mid way up the strings. Horses for courses and all that. Which ones to settle for. Probably thick cores, because they help to even the bumps.
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That's the one with the crackly jack socket?
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I'll see your 'strap locks' and raise you a 'pick pocket'.
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I put up with it for a long time in the 80's. Then one day, on the counter of a music shop in Leeds city centre, there was a sweet jar with hand written label "strap locks". It was full of these curious looking things. Have been using the same pair ever since. I recently took them apart and cleaned them for the first time as they were getting stiff. They must be 40 years old. How wonderful.
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Welcome and embrace the many boisterous allures from audience members struck by your sudden celebrity status. As always, preparation is the key. Put a security lock on your phone, don't take your wallet, just keys, cash and condoms, cigs and lighter if needed.
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@lurksalot Intense. I wasn't sure at first, but the sound is good so kept going. I did get drawn in. The intensity starts to lower and then picks us a bit harder. The drums are done well. They have a live energy about them, that must have taken a lot of fiddling. The performance is unique and holds it's own style. It left me feeling like I'd experienced something. Lots of points awarded for that alone.
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A really good sound going on there. Really good sound. I listened all the way through and enjoyed it. I had it full volume and it was not rough on the ears at all, and sounds huge.
Great stuff. Bass guitar worth noting on here too. Solid sound, and unique. Angry, but clear and thumpy. I like it.
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Review and feedback for the Spector. Morning. Now that I've had a good look around this used Chinese made Spector, I'll share my review. I didn't spend much so it's not bias. First thing is the shape. It has the convex curve on the body and it fits beautifully, and hangs in balance and weighs little. The holes routed for the pickup need to be about 3-4mm deeper so as not to trap the wire and have more adjustment. Nice looking finish. The neck is once piece, thin, twangy, very comfortable and nicely finished, but feels a bit flimsy and delicate. It has taken a lot of fettling with the truss rod and some gentle persuasion across my knee to get it in shape and playable. Now it is, it's not holding me back. The tuners are fine - I reckon tuners often get the blame when the strings are pinched in the nut slots. Nice hefty bridge. The electrics sound clear. At the right pickup height, they have depth and power. I don't think the instrument is good enough to be a serious gigging instrument, but it is a lightweight, easy playing instrument that looks great, especially with the stick-on inlays. I'm planning to start my bass career at a pub jam night. It will be perfect for that. Everyone can have a play, no worries. I think it will be a hit.
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Thank you for the explanation. My Epiphone LP is in bits so can't try it. It was used on bridge pickup, full volume & tone. I never got to know the controls. Good job really, I might think it's broken too I'd sussed the circuits are all joined and wasn't entirely convinced of my fix. Since no one else has fixed physics to work properly either, I'm going to call it a learning success. The final process that the electrics got was a fix to the dodgy jack socket, then squeeze and reform the shape of the wires and caps so they sit nice, and put the cover back on. It sounds a lot better now without the jack socket spinning about intermittently shorting. I've heard both tones working but need to update my test method and expected outcomes before I validate their function. I'll do that when I'm tired of playing it.
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OK. When the LP switch is in the centre position, both hot signals from the pickups are connected to the output. Do the LP tones still work independently with both pickups connected?
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Now I'm confused. My Les Paul is passive and has independent volume and tone per pickup. What am I missing?
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I'm now qualified as a passive pickup circuit inspector. From what I learned today by trial and error, I am able to identify that the person who wired the Spector made the same mistake I did in the design room. The Pickups are wired to the volume pots, so the tones effect both pickups. I'm going to start by wiring it up with the pots and listen how it works with the tones independent. I based the tone switch idea on their strangely limited performance, now under review.
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Should give a mention to the software developers. DIY Layout Design is donation ware and is really good. Just drag and drop the parts. Start with a pickup, connect it to a jack socket, then test the circuit. Keep adding and testing. Download link Release DIY Layout Creator v5.5.0 ยท bancika/diy-layout-creator ยท GitHub https://github.com/bancika/diy-layout-creator/releases/tag/v5.5.0
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I may have solved the issue. By putting the tone circuits before the blend pot keeps them operating per pickup, I think. I decided I need a way to mute the instrument. In the end, a master volume pot it the most useful, and graceful way to do that.
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Thank you. Seems the design is not right, unsurprisingly. I looked at the circuit analysis. I'm new to this software but perhaps the report for one tone switch on, and one off is maybe showing both pickups being pulled through the cap. Switch configuration: [Bridge Tone SW.ON2:KILL switch.ON1:Neck Tone SW.ON1] โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ C2 โโโ R2 โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ โ โโ Dual blend pot - Vol.1-2 โโโ Bridge Pickup.North<- โโค โ โ โโโโ Dual blend pot - Vol.1-2 โโโ Neck Pickup.North<- โโโคโ โ โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ Dual blend pot - Vol.2-3 โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโค โ โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ Dual blend pot - Vol.2-3 โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ 'Dual blend pot - Vol' potentiometer acts as a volume control for 'Bridge Pickup' 'Dual blend pot - Vol' potentiometer acts as a volume control for 'Neck Pickup' 'Neck Pickup' and 'Bridge Pickup' pickups engaged, wired in parallel All pickup coils are wired in-phase This configuration is NOT hum-cancelling. Ok. So I need to work out how to make them work independently. Learning is fun, for a while, then I'll ask for help.
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I've been working on a wiring diagram for my latest idea. There is some method behind the madness: In everyday use I run with both pickups, tone and volumes full. To get more middle, turn the neck pickup down a bit, less middle, turn the bridge pickup down a bit. If I use a pick, I may turn the tone down on one of the pickups if I don't need all the click. I haven't got a taping kill switch, and really ought to have one. So here's the circuit I came up with. The two pots represent a logarithmic MN taper pot that is built as one pot to make a centre notched pickup blend control. Easy to turn one pickup down a bit. Then there are two tone switches. Quick selecting pre-set low pass. Then a tapping kill switch (Break signal switch-Normally Closed, Press = mute) That will be fun. The circuit analyser says it's all in phase and won't be hum cancelling. It may be because the pickups are single coil in the model. A bit more research there needed. I intend to replicate the existing low pass filter spec. They have a subtle effect, just enough to take the growl out. No need to experiment, someone has already done that it seems. I'd be interested to hear any comments or suggestions/improvements. Edit: I've already had an idea. Looking for switches, the nice ones are the classic 3 way Les Paul type. I could upgrade the 2 way tone switches to 3 way and have a second pre-set tone with a lower dark shelf. Might be overkill?
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@Lord Sausage Huge musical composition. Keeps turning up new and interesting melodies and ideas all the way through. Some stunning playing in there too.