Finbar

Hey!

Wondering if anyone smarter than me might have any ideas on this one. 

I have a Fender Mark Hoppus sig bass which is my 'project' bass. Nothing really major, but it's got a lot of hardware upgrades and I've also had a new pickup fitted to it. 

I took the bass to a local tech to have the body routed and pickup installed, and I'm pretty happy with the end result. I've had it this way for a while - maybe a year or so? But I noticed at a recent practice that one (and only one) of the pole pieces makes a noise when you touch it with your finger (it's a consistent G, for anyone wondering! :D). A bit like the sound when you touch the jack on your instrument cable while your amp is on. I assume that it's been doing this all along, but I just don't touch the pole pieces very often. 

Is there anything that might cause this? As far as I'm aware (and I'm rubbish with electronics), there isn't much to wire up incorrectly for a pickup - I imagine it would either work or not work, so that makes me wonder if it could be a faulty pickup?

If it matters, it's a Bill Lawrence/Wilde J45 pickup, installed in parallel with the original Seymour Duncan pickups which I think are Quarter Pounders. Everything is passive, and there is no tone control on the Mark Hoppus bass - both pickups go straight to the output via a volume pot. There really isn't much to go wrong I don't think.

Any thoughts are very welcome - I'd love to get to the bottom of it. 

Chris

Edit - I have seen some threads indicating that this could be due to the pole pieces not being grounded and that this can be remedied with some work on the underside of the pickup, but the Wilde pickups are epoxied on the bottom, so that's a no-go

I am very tempted to give this a go. Having a (relatively cheap) neat little project with something to show at the end of it sounds good to me. I'm looking at getting into a semi-permanent practice room with my band now that we're getting into a post-covid world, and I would really like to have a cab to leave there!

For me, the main obstacle is that I'm a total cack-handed beginner to all of this stuff. And I mean a total beginner. I'm also not interested in frequency response graphs, tuning my ports etc. Just be nice to have something that works. I've read through the thread and I'm still feeling like there are things I don't understand - I've never read or implemented a wiring diagram in my life, for instance, even if it is the simplest solder free diagram! Even understanding exactly the right components I need is a little hard for me. While I get the gist of it, I think it'll take some trial and error on my part

I think it's likely that there are more people in the same situation as me, so if I do end up going for this, I'll probably try and put together an "Explain it like I'm 5" style shopping list with links and everything as part of the diary. Would that be helpful?

6 hours ago, thodrik said:

Drop C is an awkward tuning due to the difference in string tensions between the strings. Most off the shelf string packs, even ones 'designed' for downtuning are generally designed for tuning all the strings down by the same amount, rather than tuning the low string a whole step lower than the other strings. That is the reason I didn't like the DR DDT 115-55 strings for Drop C, the high strings were way too tight and the low string were way too floppy. 

This has been exactly my experience with them. Which is a shame, as I do like them as strings in terms of feel and tone. 

Going to explore the Newtone option I think, as well as the D'addario set you mentioned. I've found it difficult to find these gems for some reason (and I think my Googling skills are dece!), so thankyou everyone

I was just looking at those when you commented, actually! 

Never bought from them before, are they slow at delivering? Your first comment seems to indicate that!

Collective drop-tuned bassists of Basschat, help me out. 

I have a bass (34" scale P/J) that I have in drop D tuning, and I've been really struggling to find good strings. Looking for recommendations! 

The low C always seems too floppy, but buying 5 string sets and binning the E to get a 125ish gauge C means that the rest of the strings are too light.

I've been buying the DR DDT 55-115s (the ones with the spider on the front!), and I generally like the sound and feel of them, it's just the tension on the low string that's rough. Amazing at D, but floppy and loses intonation at C.

So any suggestions on sets which are built for Drop C?

Very specific question!

I've just bought two M5s off pilotbicycles, and I'll be putting one in front of my amp and one in my FX loop. I used to use an M9 many moons ago, so I know most of the ins and outs of the unit. 

However, I'm wondering if it's possible to use one expression pedal to control parameters on both units? When I was using the M9, I could control up to 3 effects with one expression pedal which was pretty gnarly, but with it split across two units, I don't want a second expression pedal on my board if I can avoid it. There's no requirement for TRS cables with the Line 6 stuff,  it just needs a mono signal. So if there was a passive splitter between the pedal and the two units, I assume this might just work? 

Not using expression pedals wouldn't be a dealbreaker, but does anyone have two M units and an expression pedal and could test it out? Or just a sensible reason for why it would or wouldn't work?

Does anyone know if there's a UK based modder that will do something similar to this?

https://www.jhspedals.com/products/mod-shop/ernie-ball-volume/

I already have the pedal, and I don't feel like shipping it off to America 😛 Never paid too much attention before, but I've started using the volume pedal again after a few years out and there is definitely a noticeable change in the sound as noted in the article. 

Lovely board  What's in the corner next to the Ditto?

It's the M500, not sure if it makes too much of a difference. 

To be fair, I've only used the footswitch at home, it's not been to the practice room yet. I've barely notched the master volume up past zero before it gets loud enough to bother neighbours. I have a feeling if I play with it a bit more at real volumes I'll work the levels out. I didn't buy the amp for its clean sound anyway, so it might just become a glorified Mute switch  

I have not posted in this thread since 2011!  Are any of the old big pedalboard crew still around? I'm thinking TaySte, Cheddatom, Shep etc

I’ve also barely played bass since 2011! 

Decided to move to a teeny tiny board (PT Nano+), but I think it was too small  Definitely feel like I’m missing things, but I've simply run out of room. A lot of this board is taken up with 'boring' stuff, so I might try and move the wireless and the Thumpinator underneath. There isn’t a lot of room under here though!  Currently using a Diago power supply 'off board', but looking to stick a Cioks DC5 under there when I get paid. 

The Catalinbread Hyperpak is a placeholder for... I’m not sure what yet. Might just leave it there. Also may take the DG footswitch off - I find the volume jump when you want to turn the dirt channel on is pretty jarring (plus I like dirt before reverb), so that might just become another grit/gain stage pedal. Not sure yet.

Bought a compressor pedal from Alex - perfect description of item condition and communication throughout. Recommended

I mean I’m not the biggest fan of side switches either, but as the project is for strictly rehousing and not modding, I understand the choice when it comes to the aim of getting the smallest possible form factor. 

I’m not keen on the front switches - I think it eliminates almost all of the space saving from just keeping the slightly larger enclosure. Side seems more reasonable from that point of view

Gone I'm afraid. Literally couldn't afford the space, had to be tipped. Poor thing

PM'd 

Yes, still available!

And I agree ped - this was my first foray away from the 15W practice amp way back in the day because it blew me away in the shop! Be a shame for it to be skipped if it's at all salvageable.

I have had a Roland DB-500 gathering dust (literally) for years now. It hasn't worked for a long time, but it was only cheap when I bought it so was never too worried. 

Not sure what's not working in it, but it's 100% free for collection from Sheffield S2. Might suit someone who is getting into amp repairs and troubleshooting, or just someone who wants spare parts for other projects.

Specs are here if relevant: https://www.roland.com/us/products/db-500/features/

Looks like this:

Quick bump!

Still available. A few people have asked about the poweramp too - I'd bundle them together with the rack case, rack 6-way and rack drawer for £600 if you take the lot all at once  That is verrrry good value!

Dropped to £275, I'm going to Denmark Street next week looking at new heads - give me some spending money

Still for sale!

I agree! This is actually the third one I've owned! Doesn't fit the form factor of my new small rig - if it was in micro-head form I'd be tempted to just hang onto it

Someone buy this pls, the kids need to eat!

...I have no kids, but I do need to eat. Plus it's a sweet pre 

Downsizing my old gigging rig for something I can use in the home and small practice rooms, so I no longer need the flexibility or power of my rack setup. 

I'm looking for £300 for this preamp. Would also trade toward a Darkglass head or one of the small Barefaced cabs. Will also be looking at selling the Powersoft poweramp at some point - if it's something that would interest you in addition to the preamp, I'll have a think about the price for that too. 

I'm in Sheffield for anyone who would like to test and/or collect, but I should be able to ship this one. 

Absolutely no issues with the preamp - condition is good and I think it sounds great (it's very flexible). I would assume that most people checking this preamp out will know what it is, but let me know if you want any more info about it and I will provide

Dood! Hi!  Yes, I think it'll be time for me to move it on again soon - I don't need a power amp that is so beastly! Ha

gorandelac - I'm no expert unfortunately, but the spec sheets for both cabs are here so you can compare them if you'd like (the Big Twin 2 page does have a small paragraph on comparison to the Big Twin T as well):

https://barefacedbass.com/product-range/Big-Twin-2.htm

https://barefacedbass.com/product-range/big-one.htm

There look to be some small differences in dimensions and weight, the crossover and the Gen 3 construction. As far as how it sounds, I've not been able to A/B them! But I'm not just saying this cab is great just because I'm selling it :')

Hope that helps!