Kiwi's Shuker Headless MIDI 6

[Dood]

Oh yeah! .. I think David 'King Bass' offered the installation. errrr.. actually.. now I'm not sure!

[BigRedX]

Bass Surgery instruments had [url="http://www.thepriors.idps.co.uk/projects/bassurgery_tuner/tuner.html"]this tuner[/url] built into the necks

[Kiwi]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='101787' date='Dec 9 2007, 05:04 PM']Bass Surgery instruments had [url="http://www.thepriors.idps.co.uk/projects/bassurgery_tuner/tuner.html"]this tuner[/url] built into the necks[/quote]
Thats quite nifty. I hope he's not going to charge Bass Surgery prices for it, if its available separately...

[OldGit]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='101698' date='Dec 9 2007, 01:04 PM']The one thing I thought of yesterday which I've yet to ask Jon about is an onboard tuner.[/quote]

Why?
Adds weight , complexity, batteries, something hard to fix or replace when it goes wrong ...
Nah mate, don't bother.

[skelf]

[url="http://www.wittman-spins.com/tuners.html"]Tuner link[/url]


This might be of interst.
Alan

Edited December 9, 2007 by skelf

[Kiwi]

thanks Alan, that was the one I was trying to remember. I'll see what Jon says about the extra faff and battery issues.

[Dood]

Will you be using drop tuning? I wonder if the tuners are chromatic and whether they can handle Eb tuning etc?

[Kiwi]

[quote name='dood' post='102091' date='Dec 10 2007, 12:12 PM']Will you be using drop tuning? I wonder if the tuners are chromatic and whether they can handle Eb tuning etc?[/quote]
They don't look to be chromatic but they do appear to make them for 6 string bass.

[BigRedX]

Neither model appears to have facility to handle non-standard tunings. So if you need full chromatic tuning you might have to look elsewhere...

On the question of power, the MIDI pickup cable supplies +7V and -7V on pins 12 and 13 acording to [url="http://home.epix.net/~joelc/rmc.html"]this page[/url] so you might be able to tap something off that.

[elros]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='102126' date='Dec 10 2007, 03:21 PM']Neither model appears to have facility to handle non-standard tunings. So if you need full chromatic tuning you might have to look elsewhere...

On the question of power, the MIDI pickup cable supplies +7V and -7V on pins 12 and 13 acording to [url="http://home.epix.net/~joelc/rmc.html"]this page[/url] so you might be able to tap something off that.[/quote]

The GK standard does provide +-7VDC yes.
But if you're already hooked up to a device like the Roland GR-20 or the Axon, you might as well use the tuner thats built into that.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='elros' post='102133' date='Dec 10 2007, 01:39 PM']The GK standard does provide +-7VDC yes.
But if you're already hooked up to a device like the Roland GR-20 or the Axon, you might as well use the tuner thats built into that.[/quote]
So the Axon AX100 has an onboard tuner? I haven't bought an AX100 yet. While there were loads of them second hand on Ebay around 6 months ago (before I'd confirmed this build) the second hand market seems to have dried up in the last 3 months. I'd rather not buy new unless there's no other choice by the time the bass is ready to test.

[Dood]

Both my guitarists have Axon controllers.. I'm not sure what model they have.. I'll have to find out. But both give Axxon the thumbs up!

[Kiwi]

[quote name='dood' post='102177' date='Dec 10 2007, 03:02 PM']Both my guitarists have Axon controllers.. I'm not sure what model they have.. I'll have to find out. But both give Axxon the thumbs up![/quote]
cheers Dan, I've heard mostly good things about them and apparently there's nothing to match them for a 6 string bass. The low B string is reputedly very tricky to track because of the processing time but the neural net in the Axon does a pretty good job.

[DanOwens]

The default screen on my AX100 is a tuner. Very handy for tuning at the beginning of gigs, but its not really an issue seeing as how I've set the box up not to send pitch bend messages, therefore the pitches are rounded to the nearest note. This means I rarely need to tune (of course, I do!!!).

The Axon box is annoying me a bit at the mo tho. Sometimes it ignores my A string and decides its some sort of midi reset, messing up my synth patches and causing me to reboot EVERYTHING (FCB, Axon, Roland pickup, Supernova). A blag in gigs unless you've got a synth player you can glare at who instinctively knows its bound to go haywire at some point, and has a suitable patch already lined up to cover you.

TBH my MIDI set us is an overall blag at the mo ... I wish I was a kit player in this band (bizarre that that's the easiest compared to my midi/audio rig, the vibraphone and the racks of synths).

Dan

[Kiwi]

[quote name='TheBrokenDoor' post='104553' date='Dec 15 2007, 12:00 AM']The default screen on my AX100 is a tuner. Very handy for tuning at the beginning of gigs, but its not really an issue seeing as how I've set the box up not to send pitch bend messages, therefore the pitches are rounded to the nearest note. This means I rarely need to tune (of course, I do!!!).

The Axon box is annoying me a bit at the mo tho. Sometimes it ignores my A string and decides its some sort of midi reset, messing up my synth patches and causing me to reboot EVERYTHING (FCB, Axon, Roland pickup, Supernova). A blag in gigs unless you've got a synth player you can glare at who instinctively knows its bound to go haywire at some point, and has a suitable patch already lined up to cover you.

TBH my MIDI set us is an overall blag at the mo ... I wish I was a kit player in this band (bizarre that that's the easiest compared to my midi/audio rig, the vibraphone and the racks of synths).

Dan[/quote]
Is your Axon a MkI or Mk II? Have you updated it with the latest firmware?

[DanOwens]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='104662' date='Dec 15 2007, 02:49 PM']Is your Axon a MkI or Mk II? Have you updated it with the latest firmware?[/quote]

I don't know, so I guess that's a 'no'. I shall follow it up though.

Ta, la.

Dan

[Kiwi]

[quote name='TheBrokenDoor' post='104806' date='Dec 15 2007, 11:52 PM']I don't know, so I guess that's a 'no'. I shall follow it up though.

Ta, la.

Dan[/quote]
If its blue and red, its a Mk1, if its silver and black then its a Mk2. Mk1's need a replacement ROM, whereas Mk2's can be updated by flashing the firmware. I know there were issues with the Mk2 creating staccato notes which was fixed with a firmware update.

[Kiwi]

Update:
Neck is going to be glued up this week and left to settle over the Christmas period.

Jon reckons the Wittman tuner suggested by Skelf is a great idea and it isn't going to suck much additional power so he can run it off the same battery for the turquoise LED's. We've agreed that the tuner will be located in the side of the top horn too. It's going to be interesting to see how much space is taken up in the chambered body by all this kit!

[Dood]

Hey Steve, moving on nicely then, by the sounds of things? Can't wait to see the first pics of the body and neck!

[Kiwi]

[quote name='dood' post='107676' date='Dec 21 2007, 02:55 PM']Hey Steve, moving on nicely then, by the sounds of things? Can't wait to see the first pics of the body and neck![/quote]
Me too, it'll be really happening then!

[Kiwi]

Another update - some pics of the neck glued up. Its REAL!

I was expecting there to be slightly more wenge but there's nothing wrong with a lot of stiff maple.

[attachment=4618:Neck_1.jpg][attachment=4619:Neck_2.jpg]

[OldGit]

[quote name='BeLow' post='114519' date='Jan 6 2008, 02:22 AM']Wenge is a pig to carve and the finish is prone to sink into it.

One of the necks I built in about 1990/1 had a thick layer of lacquer but after about 7-8 years the finish started to noticeably sink in. Similar thing has happened on my fretted shuker. This is not a huge problem but it may be a good reason to have relatively thin wenge stringers.

I think this is finish dependent as well - my bass used cellulose and Jon used his standrad finish on the basses he built for me.[/quote]

Doesn't the % of wenge make a significant difference to the sound?

[Mike]

Looking great so far Kiwi. Can you expand on cutting wood using a water jet? New to me!

[Sugden]

I would have thought that amount of wenge would only have a small effect on the tone, so much so not many people would hear it?

Waterjet is great well from what I'v been told depends on how good the machine is. I thought the genral idea is that its so quick and powerful that the wood doesn't even get wet apart from splash back. But more importantly ment to give a great edge and very accurate. Arr the wonders of a design lecture when its been going on for 2 hours sleep follows quickly.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='Mike' post='114734' date='Jan 6 2008, 03:16 PM']Looking great so far Kiwi. Can you expand on cutting wood using a water jet? New to me![/quote]
Basically the process involves creating a very high pressure and thin jet of water so powerful that it can cut through most soft materials up 250mm depth or thinner materials like metal and plastics. To paraphrase one website:

* Cuts virtually any sheet material including metallic and non-metallic composites and honeycomb constructions.
* Accommodates highly polished and reflective surfaces.
* Clean and precise cut, free of heat affected zone.
* Eliminates many secondary finishing operations.
* Accurate, even on the most complicated designs.
* Heat and abrasion free cutting means no distortion at the cut edge

There's a PDF [url="http://www.controlwaterjet.co.uk/art/Waterjet%20PDF%20Option%201.pdf"]here[/url]

Latest from Jon on the bass is these shots. Two of the facings glued and sanded. Plus the neck has been routed for the carbon fibre rods and planed to final depth, ready for shaping.
[attachment=5353:Picture_308.jpg][attachment=5354:Picture_309.jpg][attachment=5355:Picture_310.jpg]