Kiwi Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 Me too, I forgot to mention that we had to drop the XLR output in the end as there wasn't room for it and there wasn't really a lot of justification for it at the end of the day. But to have the bass fully powered off the MIDI cable will be something! I'm going to take one of the Celinder Jazz basses up with me on Saturday for Jon to compare to the jazz basses he's already made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toasted Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 I'm sure he'll learn a lot from the Celinder . Looking forward to photos of your new bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 Bass duly collected today. It all works, much to Jon's relief. After a few tweaks to the gain settings and pick-up coil configuration it was good to go and it's exactly what I ordered. The instrument has Jon's typically robust midrange response and I spent part of this afternoon regailing him with the sound of swooshy synths and string sections - much to his amusement. After being on the Spector for so long, the wider neck (which was based on my Smith 6) is going to take a little getting used to but the pickups sound exactly the way I hoped they would, I'm going to try it through a few amps to see how growly it gets. The piezo pickups sound gorgeous, there's a brightness but also a chewiness to the midrange (think a nylon stringed guitar) which makes solo playing sound really nice. There were a few issues with strings making contact with the saddles properly, they weren't supplied with bass strings in mind it seems. So Jon had to spend some time reprofiling the slots so the string would make better contact. I suspect that this might prove to be a bit of an achilles heel but apart from that its great! With the pitch to midi convertor, there's a fair bit of setting up needed I suspect. There's also quite noticable lag on the B string as well. I'm hoping the Axon AX100 can be set up to recognise the transients better. It was getting dark when I got home, so here are a few taster shots pending better light tomorrow. (Apologies for the goddawful carpet) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathewsanchez Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Wow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassmonster Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 nice, look forward to seeing more pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Gosh! Looks lovely .. Quite like the carpet too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 I was playing just now and noticed Jon's got the piezo and MIDI volumes swapped over...no wonder I was struggling with the layout of the knobs this afternoon! The bass sounds like a piano, no deadspots anywhere and each note sounds HUGE. Its a little like a graphite neck in that respect but with slightly less clatter. Its even a little Fodera-esque in terms of its playability and dryness but with slightly more sparkle. Listening to the piezo in stereo with a spot of chorus and reverb is divine. The bass does feel quite stiff though which I guess is understandable given it probably hasn't had a lot of time with strings on. The eq Jon fitted doesn't have the mid-sweep control because the unit he had wasn't working properly and the mid frequency on the installed pre isn't really centred to take out the lower mids. He also has some smaller control knobs for the piezo and MIDI volume. Its great to be able to flick through MIDI patches using the MIDI program change switch without having to step on something though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4L666 Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Looks so great! Enjoy it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean.Robinson Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Hi congratulations on the Shuker, it looks amazing, ive been very keen on watching this as im having midi in my shuker so its great to hear your opinions out of curiosity how would you rate it overall to the smiths you used to own? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 So you'll have a music stand with the instructions on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamster Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Very nice Steve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Well in Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Very cool Great to hear that everything's sounding and working as it should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Dave Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 20 past 6 last night , CK , when you posted. You must have gunned it home !!! As ever , the quality of that build looks first class , you must be very pleased. Esp like the little Kiwi. I love personal touches like that. Has Mr Shuker got anything better than that ratty old Trace Commando for his clients to try their new aquisitions out yet? It's been 18 months since I saw him and I said , tactfully , that folk coming for a trial of his stock basses are less likely to be impressed hearing the sound through that pretty inadequate practise amp. I take it he's out of Sheffield and into the peaks now - I want him to cast his eye over most of my basses and have a fiddle here and there. I'd like to try and tie him down to 'while you wait' for the couple of hours it's take but reckon it's unlikely. Still - walking country - I could have a couple of days there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peted Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 That looks absolutely stunning. Hopefully I'll get to hear it at a Bass Bash some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eude Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Wow Kiwi, that bass is amazing! Well worth the wait I bet. I really wish you hadn't posted these photos though, I had finally got my headless 6 string GAS out of my system and now it's back with avengeance! Congrats dude - enjoy it! Eude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niceguyhomer Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 As Forest Gump once said...stunning is as stunning does. Yum yum Steve - one of the nicest looking instruments I've seen in a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Stunning looking bass there CK! And one of the nicest looking Shukers I've ever seen. Good luck with the MIDI side of things - I never managed to get my guitar or bass technique clean enough for it to be usable for me. How much lag are you getting on the low B? Is it significantly more noticeable than the other strings? Looking at how the Axon MIDI converter works, the best you can hope for is 1 cycle of the fundamental wavelength which on your lowest note is going to be around 32ms. Does the response time get better as you play higher notes on the string? If not then you still need to play about with the volume and conversion sensitivity settings for the B string. If it does then unfortunately you're up against the laws of physics and you'll need to modify your technique to compensate. I'll be interested in hearing some sound clips of the MIDI side once you're "up to speed" on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Immense, nice one. What next? Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Dr.Dave' post='416522' date='Feb 22 2009, 10:43 AM']Has Mr Shuker got anything better than that ratty old Trace Commando for his clients to try their new aquisitions out yet? It's been 18 months since I saw him and I said , tactfully , that folk coming for a trial of his stock basses are less likely to be impressed hearing the sound through that pretty inadequate practise amp.[/quote] In response to that - last time I was there he had a Neo Mark Bass 210 combo there. I seem to remember him saying it was Rob's though, so it may not live there permanently. That was when I picked up my bass though, when he was still in Sheffield. Edited February 22, 2009 by Finbar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 That looks superb Steve, nice one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted February 22, 2009 Author Share Posted February 22, 2009 Thanks for your comments gents I have sore finger tips from playing around last night trying to set it up with the Axon pitch to MIDI convertor. Jon emailed me today to see how I was getting on. I mentioned the various tweaks and Jon offered a solution to each. The piezo saddles are going to need a bit of a redesign and Jon will be talking with Graphtec directly about that. The preamp mid frequency can be tuned with a little trimpot in the control cavity (although that wiring is a nightmare to look at, I'll have to take a shot of that too). [quote name='Dr.Dave' post='416522' date='Feb 22 2009, 10:43 AM']20 past 6 last night , CK , when you posted. You must have gunned it home !!! As ever , the quality of that build looks first class , you must be very pleased. Esp like the little Kiwi. I love personal touches like that. Has Mr Shuker got anything better than that ratty old Trace Commando for his clients to try their new aquisitions out yet? It's been 18 months since I saw him and I said , tactfully , that folk coming for a trial of his stock basses are less likely to be impressed hearing the sound through that pretty inadequate practise amp. I take it he's out of Sheffield and into the peaks now - I want him to cast his eye over most of my basses and have a fiddle here and there. I'd like to try and tie him down to 'while you wait' for the couple of hours it's take but reckon it's unlikely. Still - walking country - I could have a couple of days there.[/quote] Hi Dave, yes he's in the peaks now in a bigger place with studio space up the top. He seems to be doing really well with a whole lot of his instock basses having sold just recently. He's also got the trace combo in his setting up workshop but uses Rob's Mesa Walkabout combo for demo purposes now. Sheffield is only 2.5 hours from Peterborough and I left Jon's at 3 so made it back with a bit of time to spare [quote name='Sean.Robinson' post='416362' date='Feb 21 2009, 08:42 PM']Hi congratulations on the Shuker, it looks amazing, ive been very keen on watching this as im having midi in my shuker so its great to hear your opinions out of curiosity how would you rate it overall to the smiths you used to own?[/quote] Hard to say right now because the bass hasn't really had much time with strings on, as I mentioned before its a bit like a piano at the moment. Even now I can hear the bass starting to relax a little and a little growl happening. The neck really needs a few months and another set up though. So I'm going to reserve judgement on the character of the instrument until thats happened. It has similar sort of pickup configuration to a Smith bass (humbuckers with parallel coils to cut the mids a little and boost the warmth) so should bear some similarities I hope. The playability is better than my Smith BSR6GN, the weight is less and the shape fits me better. [quote name='BigRedX' post='416565' date='Feb 22 2009, 12:16 PM']How much lag are you getting on the low B? Is it significantly more noticeable than the other strings? Looking at how the Axon MIDI converter works, the best you can hope for is 1 cycle of the fundamental wavelength which on your lowest note is going to be around 32ms. Does the response time get better as you play higher notes on the string? If not then you still need to play about with the volume and conversion sensitivity settings for the B string. If it does then unfortunately you're up against the laws of physics and you'll need to modify your technique to compensate. I'll be interested in hearing some sound clips of the MIDI side once you're "up to speed" on it[/quote] The Axon doesn't need to see 1 cycle for it to calculate the pitch. It just needs to see a portion and its neural net figures the rest, thats why its supposed to be the best on the market. However, the lag on the B string is still quite noticable although I can't really time it unfortunately. For slow tunes it would be OK but for fast tunes it would be difficult. I've adjusted the sensitivity but ended up going back to factory settings. Its always possible to transpose the synth modules so the upper strings play low notes and if all else fails the bass can also be used with Roland's V-bass without any modification. I'll have to give Ped's a go sometime and see what the lag is like. [quote name='GreeneKing' post='416568' date='Feb 22 2009, 12:19 PM']Immense, nice one. What next?[/quote] Jeez, there are about 4 things in the pipeline. He didn't get around to the guitars yet, but the steinberger headless guitar is going to have the same wood although a little less flamy as he's keeping the rest for a matching 6 string fretless which will feature a phenolic fingerboard (and no MIDI system). Rob apparently has finished doing the 3d body shape for my limited range of custom steinberger necked basses (they haven't been forgotten, its just taking a bloody long time to sort the programming out because the CNC machine is only 3 axis and I've asked for Spector type body curves). I'm still waiting for him to sort my strat body out too, I've asked for a grape burst (light green tint in the middle, purple on the outside) which he says he can't stand and hassles me about every time it gets mentioned. OK, so some more pics even though its overcast outside... Two of the control knobs are going to be replaced with smaller versions. This one is of the electronics. Not an awful lot of room in there for much else... and finally, the hair-tossing-action-type shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budget bassist Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 wow, that's a stunner And i wouldn't want to have to wire those controls!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Cool pics, I like the action shot!! Technically there won't be any lag when playing through a Vbass as it is not MIDI. ped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 (edited) Yes the wiring looks like it took some patience to get done I'm loving the Kiwi in MoP too. A very sweet piece of work. Ped do you have the new V Bass yet? If not is it worth the move? Oh and I hope the photo wasn't taken while it was falling off its stand Peter Edited February 22, 2009 by GreeneKing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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