warwickhunt Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Nice to see someone trying something different, a 'wiper' pup on the vViper bass. Not my cup of tea but daring to be different. [url="http://www.spaltbasses.com/vViperhome.html"]http://www.spaltbasses.com/vViperhome.html[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 That's really... clever. But i'd rather just have a bass with 2 pickups . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted February 20, 2008 Author Share Posted February 20, 2008 [quote name='Machines' post='143821' date='Feb 20 2008, 04:42 PM']That's really... clever. But i'd rather just have a bass with 2 pickups .[/quote] What about a Stingray with that pup on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hit&Run Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 "The pickup can be 'wiped' through an infinite number of positions.." Hardly infinite! It would be interesting to hear how this bass sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 [quote name='Hit&Run' post='143877' date='Feb 20 2008, 05:58 PM']"The pickup can be 'wiped' through an infinite number of positions.." Hardly infinite! It would be interesting to hear how this bass sounds.[/quote] Strictly speaking it is infinite - there is no limit to the smallest movement possible to attain a new position. Sure it won't be noticeable but it is a fair claim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merton Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 [quote name='Machines' post='143880' date='Feb 20 2008, 06:06 PM']Strictly speaking it is infinite - there is no limit to the smallest movement possible to attain a new position. Sure it won't be noticeable but it is a fair claim.[/quote] Being a pedant, that's not infinite. There are still maximum and minimum positions, therefore a finite number of in between positions, even if you're saying a 1 micron movement means a new position! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machines Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 [quote name='Merton' post='143883' date='Feb 20 2008, 06:11 PM']Being a pedant, that's not infinite. There are still maximum and minimum positions, therefore a finite number of in between positions, even if you're saying a 1 micron movement means a new position! [/quote] But then you go smaller than a micron . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJA Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 trouble with having a wiper on your bass, at gigs you'll get annoying blokes coming up and offering to adjust it for you- no matter how much you tell them not to- and then expecting a tip... 'get me coat.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Lol yeah a man will cover you in suds and start giving you a clean! Could get mildly annoying. I like innovation with pickup placements, but can't help thinking that if I had one of these I would find a position I like and that would be that. Maybe it is a good idea for a pickup company to demonstrate their pickups in different positions - but as a final product I wouldn't move it very often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 But most on-board adjustments are like that. I have the very wonderful ACG filter pre-amp fitted to my Pedulla Buzz, and the only knobs that get adjusted mid gig are the volume and pickup balance, the other 6 might as well be on trim pots. In recording I'd fiddle about with them, but live it's set with two very different sounds on each pickup and the pan is used to blend between them. More on topic what you really need for a fully adustable pickup system is a cross between this and the Norton mainframe system where the pickup can be slid along the string length and then pivoted about the centre point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Very true! I do pretty much the same thing with my U retro. I guess I use it to adjust for room acoustics and the like rather than to fetch new sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjohn Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 (edited) [quote name='Machines' post='143886' date='Feb 20 2008, 06:16 PM']But then you go smaller than a micron .[/quote] My girlfriend was funny last night when I was testing her patience by watching the Stephen Hawking programme. "so if the nucleus of an atom is the width of a human hair, the electron is 2 miles away? how can an atom be the width of a human hair? How can it be 2 miles when they're so small?" Edited March 4, 2008 by bigjohn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Burpster Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 I have met some girlies wirh fabulous scientific brians..... However, most just havent got a clue.......! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnylager Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 (edited) THREADJACK ALERT - my missus thought white noise is so called because it comes from white goods such as the washing machine & tumble dryer - no word of a lie. Back to the thread though - how about "infinitely variable between 2 points"? And it looks a bit pants. Edited March 4, 2008 by johnnylager Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Its a solution looking for a problem that makes an otherwise fairly nice-looking bass into something vaguely comical in appearance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilmour Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 I don't think the idea of a moving pickup is particulary innovative - It's been done before, just not as a wiper. As far as I'm concerned the Lightwave systems are by far and away the most innovative thing in pickup design for years. Does look kinda nice though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Remembers... The Westone "Rail" Bass The early (possibly first after Jack Cassady's [i]Alembicised[/i] Starfire?) Alembic) having brass rails set into the top for the pair of pick-ups to be slid along until the desired placement was achieved. There's a ROM driven, electrically powered modern equivalent around, too. Rare. Expensive. Ugly. But it just might work. You set the pick-ups using the motors, "save" the positions to memory, and recall them at will. Leo Fender's G&L "Breadboard Bass" certainly shows the value of such ideas during the development process. It's a flat, rectangular lump of Alder, set low relative to a G&L bridge and L2000 (I think) Maple/Maple neck. It wears strings, and bears many pock-marks from where pick-ups of various kinds have been screwed or [i]nailed[/i](!) into place to experiment with pick-up positons. Overall, I'm sure most of us would find a preferred setting, and just stick to that, though! On the Vviper Bass, I presume the pick-up (Bartolini?) has blades for a polepiece/s, or string to pick-up mis-alignment would result in poor or no output. +1 to the comment on the Lightwave system And I do wonder how well the Variax system would take to being put in a top quality bass. Or moved off-board altogether and used to enhance a piezo-equipped bass with a dedicated output for it? Get thee to Big Red X's "Weird and Wonderful Basses" thread on the Bass p0rn section for some other oddities... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgraham Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 I'm with Ped on this one, great idea, I think it looks MUCH better than any other sliding pickup design, but it would be set and forget after a day or two of fiddling. Thinking about it, it may be advantageous to use that in conjunction with fanned frets, that way the effect would be more similar to that of the sliding pickup design. Thinking about people who use ramps and whatnot, the Line6 variax (in all it's simulated glory) allows you to 'slide' a pickup to achieve 'any' sound you want. That's a pretty nifty feature whilst still being able to have a ramp in your favourite place, if you like the sounds of course. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Burpster Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 The more I look at it the more I think its just a gimmick..... Will it change the face of bass playing as we know it.... I think not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 [quote name='The Burpster' post='151224' date='Mar 4 2008, 06:35 PM']I have met some girlies wirh fabulous scientific brians..... However, most just havent got a clue.......! [/quote] You mean most of the ones you have met..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 [quote name='bigjohn' post='151209' date='Mar 4 2008, 06:13 PM']My girlfriend was funny last night when I was testing her patience by watching the Stephen Hawking programme. "so if the nucleus of an atom is the width of a human hair, the electron is 2 miles away? how can an atom be the width of a human hair? How can it be 2 miles when they're so small?" [/quote] Your girlfriend is Father Dougal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allighatt0r Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Didn't Gibson have this sort of idea back when they brought out the Grabber? Boy would i love one of those. Or a Ripper............... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 I think it would be rather fun, with the addition of a windscreen wiper motor. Sort of pickup equivalent of the Leslie speaker. I can imagine Fender bringing out the Precision version of the Grabber. "Take our revolutionary moveable pickup. Slide it towards the neck for a deep dull thud. Slide it towards the bridge for a bright high dull thud. Or slide it anywhere between for any sound you want, as long as it's a dull thud." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allighatt0r Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 [quote name='tauzero' post='151782' date='Mar 5 2008, 03:08 PM']"Or slide it anywhere between for any sound you want, as long as it's a dull thud."[/quote] I'm still sitting here laughing at this as i type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 There are some players around that should only be permitted a dull thud bass ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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