mcnach

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1349460979' post='1826710'] Hmm, it does sound like he dropped the ball in this case. Have you tried the send and return jacks to confirm whether the distortion is coming from the power amp? Your description (distortion/noise blended with the signal at constant level, more audible during quieter playing) sounds a classic description of crossover distortion in the power amp. If I had a transistor amp making this noise, I'd start by checking the power transistors and their bias voltages. [/quote] Not yet. This was something that only occurred to me today on my way back from retrieving the amp. I will definitely try to bypass the preamp that way and see whether the buzz is still there. However, I would not know what to do beyond that. If I still get buzz, I would conclude it's the power amp. But no idea what to do next. If the buzz goes, I'd conclude it's the preamp... in which case I'd still not know what to do but I could bypass it permanently using another preamp in a box. I was on my way to become an engineer, specialising in electronics, inspired by Tom Scholz and my neighbour -who built a whole hifi system for himself- but then I discovered genetics... so I know nothing. And I am not from Barcelona.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1349460065' post='1826692'] Jose..... as a scientist your kind of methodical logical approach isn't followed by everyone.... can you not open it up yourself to have a look? it can't be that technical inside [/quote] ok, there is science and there is science my approach was just that: logical. Just attempting to isolate the source of the problem. The source is the amplifier itself. I went through it all with him the second time I met him, and he agreed with everything But that's as far as I go... then it's time for somebody who knows his electronics and is familiar with amplifiers to dissect it further. Not me. I opened it, of course. I open up anything even if I have no clue what I'm looking at! [1] BUt there is nothing like an obvious loose connection, or any signs of damage... I can't trouble shoot an amplifier. I may try to dissect whether the issue is the preamp or the power amp section... if they are modular... But really, this is not my field of expertise. [1] my dad had a mortar shell (empty) when I was little, from his military days. I was about 8 when I took it apart. I was not sure whether it was live or not, but I had seen movies where they deactivated bombs from the German bombers by unscrewing the tip etc etc and I figured it would be interesting to see whether these were anything like them. I was pretty nervous

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1349459374' post='1826681'] I've known Dennis for over 10 years and his roster of clients can't be argued with; but he is still human. I've only known him once over the years to miss something on an amp of mine but would still regard him as a brilliant amp tech. With my valve amp he missed an incredibly hard to see clipped wire which had been done by a previous tech (Slade's Charlie) to kill the normal channel on the amp - why you'd do that I have no idea but that's what it was. This too was only spotted by using an instrument through the amp rather that meters so I take your point. He was more than happy to rectify it gratis. I've referred many people to him as a first port of call - and to be honest you're the first I've heard of to be disappointed. That's not to say I'm not believing you in any way; I'm just saying in my work too I try to achieve perfection, sometimes - but not often - I miss the mark. [/quote] I had heard very good things about him too, that's why I decided to approach him. He seemed nice enough the first two times I saw him, and the second one, when I did all the swapping amp/speaker etc with him I really warmed up to him. I have no doubt he knows a thing or seventeen about amplifiers, that much is un-arguable. I accept that he, like anyone else, can make the wrong call at times. I can accept that he cannot find the fault in my amp as well. This particular amp is not exactly high end and I gather it's heavy on circuit boards and chips... I can understand it if he told me that it's just not practical to trouble shoot it... in fact it was an answer I was assuming would be coming quite quickly. But the way he went about my amp with me was quite disappointing. I don't know what's wrong, obviously But I know it's not the speaker. That is pretty clear, and first I told him about it, later I showed him and he agreed with everything I had established until then. But then, after a few weeks (he was away at one point, then I was away) it's like all that was forgotten and he convinced himself that the speaker was to blame... When I point that out to him (and I am normally a polite person, but I am especially polite with people who have the ability to help me so I was in no way showing disrespect or anything) he dismissed it all, and I felt he was being rather condescending. It was not a pleasant experience. I can accept I'm the unlucky one. I am not upset about his not fixing the amp. But I felt he was being dismissive, and that's what I did not like. Despite it all, I asked him how much I owed him for his time, and he did not want any money, to his credit. Only the initial £35 I gave him the first time. I was working on the assumption that he'd try, and I'd pay for his time regardless of the outcome. Anyway. That was my experience.

warning: a bit of a rant coming. So I have this Hartke A100, a 100W combo with a 15" speaker... Nothing special, but pretty nice sounding. Nice deep sound at low volumes, and it can get pretty loud so it's suitable for rehearsals. Now, mine developed a buzzing sound. It's not really noticeable at moderate/loud volume, but it is noticeable when playing quietly at home. It sounds like I had an overdrive pedal with the blend knob set almost fully clean, but letting a bit of distortion through. So I did the following: 1) I disconnected the internal speaker, and plugged the combo's amp into an external cabinet (actual two different ones). It still buzzed. 2) I connected a separate bass head to the internal speaker. I did not buzz. From that I concluded that the buzz was not mechanical, that the speaker and cab is just fine, and that the problem lies within the amplifier. I took the combo to someone that I had heard good things about, not far from where I live, about 20 miles away. I explained the situation, and he kept the amp. Two days later: "the transformer was loose", and something else, and he thinks maybe what I was hearing was some static because of components being loose. I express surprise, pay him £35, and take away the amp. Of course, I plugged it in and nothing had changed. Ok, I blame myself for not having shown the man the buzz I was talking about. My results from swapping amp and cabs above did not seem compatible with his verdict, which shows maybe he did not pay much attention to what I said. I get back in touch, and I take it back to him. This time I make sure he hears the buzz. He jokes "oh, we play rock and roll here, loud! I guess I missed that buzz but I hear it now, yes!". Fine. I also demonstrate the effects of swapping amp/cab, and he agrees that it has to be in the amp itself. Several weeks later he tells me that he "rebuilt the power supply" as he could see something there on his oscilloscope and that it was ok, but that he tried the speaker on its own attached to his signal generator and it buzzed. He concluded it was the speaker and proceeded to give me quotes for new speakers. I said no, the speaker was fine. We agreed I would come round and collect the amp then. I collected it today. He was adamant it was just the speaker, it needs a new speaker. I did not appreciate his condescending tone. I reminded him that he heard, with me, how a separate amp connected to the speaker did not buzz. I reminded him that the amp alone connected to a separate cab produced the buzz... so clearly it was not my speaker. He did not comment. I can accept it if he cannot find the solution, and I would pay for his time anyway. But he ignored everything I said and even what I showed him, in person. He just went on about what his oscilloscope shows... when it's something you can hear (which makes me question whether he knows how to use the oscilloscope) and having a dismissive condescending demeanor. I got home and tried the amp. Exactly as it was when I first approached him, well over a month ago. What a waste of time. There's nothing wrong with admitting defeat. It happens. But I have no respect for someone who does not listen to the customer's indications, and shows no logical thinking. He'd have charged me for replacing the speaker... and I'd be here a week from now, with the very same situation I have now, nothing fixed, and less money in my pocket. Seriously, don't take your amps to this man.

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1349101500' post='1821785'] My understanding of the OP is that the whole bass is detuned a semitone so that would be 4 new detuners. I think I'd rather just take a second bass as a backup that could be detuned in advance. In fact come to think of it I'm sure I've done gigs where I did precisely that. [/quote] re-reading the OP... you may be right! In which case... I agree, 4 Hipshots will work, but it seems a bit over the top. I´d just detune on the spot or bring a second bass if I need it for more than one song.

[quote name='thepurpleblob' timestamp='1349093645' post='1821604'] It must be just me then.... I have one on my Stingray and always found it a bit rubbish. It's fiddly to tune in the first place and even more fiddly to keep in tune. On a sweaty night when you need to retune reasonably often the 'D' goes out as well as the E (that is relatively, tuning the E doesn't bring it back quite right). Step on your floor tuner and twist the E tuner until it says D. Save yourself 45 quid (or more)... [/quote] I´ve had them on a couple of OLPs, on my MM SUB, on the MM Stingray, couple of Jazzes, a Warwick Corvette... All trouble free. I did have one that seemed a bit "stickier" than the others... all it needed was a tiny amount of lubricant. I constantly change between E and D on my 4th string playing in the RATM band, and the Hipshot works well and reliably. I suspect you just need a bit of lubricant. Well, by you I meant your Hipshot

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1349095596' post='1821651'] Damn, no Bartolinis for me outbid in the last seconds :-( [/quote] Yup. I got them! They looked interesting... so I bid. nah, only joking, of course! frustrating when you think you have a good chance and then... it goes in the last minute (probably literally!) Keep your eyes open, lots of different interesting pickups come and go on eBay.

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1349023111' post='1820781'] what dont you rate about the Bartolinis? ive never owned any as ive never really had a good enough bass to justify buying decent pups for but i think im going to with this one, bare in mind i play in a rock band and never solo haha [/quote] oh, they're good, but my limited experience leads me to think they generally have their own type of sound, rather than the more "traditional" one expected from either a J type, or an MM type... I guess I'm a bit more traditional wanting a Jazz to sound Jazz-like... but Bartolinis are not bad. For the price quoted, it may be worth getting them to try... if not happy, I'm sure you will not have much trouble to sell them on again

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1348935229' post='1819941'] During lesson yesterday, my teach suggested that I de-tune my 4 string by a semitone so I could play MJ's 'Beat It' at a decently low octave (original is in Eb)... Rather than spending my time doing the de-tuning between numbers when gigging, I wondered if Hipshot d-tuners were a good solution, and whether anyone on here used them... and if they would fit on my Warwick Thumb? [url="http://www.basscentre.com/hipshot-d-tuners/HipshotBT10.html"]http://www.basscentr...ipshotBT10.html[/url] Any comments welcome... [/quote] I'm pretty sure I used a GB7 in my Corvette. I think the Thumb uses the same type of tuners.

not a fan of the Bartolinis in general... I'd rather wait for some DiMarzio Model J or Ultra Jazz (different but both nice) or Seymour Duncan SJB-2 or SJB-3, again different but nice. But the covered polepieces look would be pretty cool on that bass too

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1348839519' post='1818958'] Well here it is the last installment, logo arrived this morning and ive got to say im over the moon with it and would recommend the guy who made it wholeheartedly! His ebay name is `bobs_decals` he charges £7.50 for 2 decals and to me its just added the finishing touch to what has turned out totally beyond my expectations! Thanks to everyone for the input and ideas and also the very kind words, heres a few more pics of the now fully finished Funder Jeff Bass! now what can i do next? [/quote] easy: sell me that one and build another

Update: not fixed. Have you had any luck with yours? My amp has been for a month with a guy that I found was highly recommended here, with whom I'm less than happy (I'll probably expand on that later). It's clearly the amp, not the speaker or anything mechanical. The guy has done something (don't know what) which did not fix it, and now he is convinced it's the speaker... despite my having shown him how another amp plugged into the combo produces no buzz whatsoever, he's heard it! He gave me quotes for new speakers, at which point I said to stop right there and I'm taking the amp home. grrrr.

I'm not generally a fan of pearloid... but this bass looks amazing

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1348476361' post='1813905'] I firmly believe in warming up and down afterwards with hand/wrist/finger stretches first, then slowly playing chromatic scales etc above the fourth fret for a couple of minutes. After this, I usually stretch the hands/fingers again, then I am ready to play. [/quote] Agreed. That's pretty much what I do. ESpecially when playing in a cold venue/outdoor... warm up is very important. I achieve that by quiet unplugged practice prior to starting the gig. But that works because I have been playing a while now and I do it regularly. When starting out, a little extra help can be good in the form of non-bass exercises. Geared towards stamina more than strength since -like you correctly pointed out- you don't really need a lot of strength to fret a note.

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1348447493' post='1813812'] Must not be a great workout then! It takes me about 6 minutes I do 4x12 reps of wrist curls, then I do another 4x12 of reverse ones (palms facing down). Doing this 2x a week equates to a total of 24 minutes of isolated wrist/forearm exercises a week and that's plenty! [/quote] It was a great workout with great results in very little time. You train one way or another depending on the objective. I started weight-lifting in my late teens, and I experienced first hand various ways of training. I can bulk up pretty fast if I wanted to, and I can develop strength geared towards sustained exercise or just short bursts... each objective is achieved more easily with a particular way of exercising. With the powerball, I only wanted to make my fingers stop tiring after a few minutes of fast playing. My first band on bass was a metal band and I tried to do with fingers what I could normally do with a plectrum. INcidentally, my forearms have always been my weak point. I never trained them much and sometimes they are y limiting factor when it comes to exercise. I chose the powerball (a climber friend of mine recommended it to me) because... I admit it, I was curious about it, the toy aspect of it and the colours etc but once I tried it I realised it allows you to make very gradual increases and decreases of strength, and the fact you were rotating the wrist seemed to do something that wrist curls etc would not do. As my objective was to improve stamina, I chose to exercise regularly, and moderately. It was a great work out because within a week or so I could notice the difference. This is not to substitute practice on the bass. I still did that. But whilst practice alone only helped me at a certain rate, getting the powerball was like turbocharging my improvement. Unlike most of my weight lifting, I did not do it until my limit and to tire myself out. I did it to sustain a moderate level of exercise, where I feel my forearm muscles work, and get warm, without getting very tired: if I got tired I'd lose dexterity. Ever tried to play guitar right after a weight lifting session? After 3-4 weeks I stopped using the powerball entirely...

[quote name='shizznit' timestamp='1348438343' post='1813733'] I had one for Xmas 4yrs ago. I used it for about 5mins for each hand for about 6 months. I didn't notice any significant change, [/quote] i used it 3-4 times everyday for longer than 5min, building up slowly each time and then reducing speed gradually. 5min once a day may just not be enough

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1348418658' post='1813396'] +100. I can never understand why people seem to think that you need strength like "Popeye" to play the bass or guitar. [/quote] in my case it was not strength, but stamina, for fingerstyle. It helped me a lot more than simply just playing. Good warm up too.

[quote name='gapiro' timestamp='1348396645' post='1813032'] My guitarist friend has got one of those powerball things (the gyroscope wrist strengtheners things) He [i]claims [/i] it made a huge difference to his wrist strength and helped him with guitar speed. I'm a bit sceptical (he talks a lot of crap) so I thought i'd ask the BC population of their thoughts (link to the sort of thing I mean: [url="https://www.powerballs.com"]https://www.powerballs.com[/url] ) [/quote] I bought one when I switched to bass and I wanted to practice fingerstyle, as I'd get tired quickly and my fingers would just cramp when trying to play fast. Within a week of powerball use I started to notice an improvement.

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1348334146' post='1812506'] im thinking of getting a scratchplate, do i go for A, Black - always a safe option B, Tort - could look very nice C, Dark grey pearl - could look even better D, Blue marble - Different but could work E, Red marble - Totally out of the question cos it looks like the new man u shirt thoughts please. [/quote] black black blaack... although tortoiseshell could look pretty good if not too red

[quote name='mushers' timestamp='1348251404' post='1811524'] well i was outbid at 30 notes and since i could buy a fault free one with an amp and some random stuff for 90 quid i dont think i shall bid further [/quote] pity...

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1348248644' post='1811476'] How do you lock this thread and throw away the key because Ive got a bad feeling about this............................ Anyone else smell GAS?? A [/quote] not me, not this time... but I'm happy to enjoy GAS by proxy

[quote name='mushers' timestamp='1348245485' post='1811403'] what these B stock instruments require is a full set up and zero fret sand blasting and relisting for a lot more ! do you think the master setter upperer has seen these yet ? could keep him busy for decades yup i bid on one ! wasnt going to risk bidding on 2 if i won both i might end up with a full set of strings and there be no fun in that [/quote] Ha ha I was thinking of that good master tinkerer myself... I wonder! Let us know what you think of the bass, if you end up buying one (or two )

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1348242735' post='1811356'] It was the Jazz 'Precision' that I zoomed in on and it appeared to say Vintage on the headstock. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-new-Precision-BASS-GUITAR-Green-Sunburst-B-STOCK-NO-RESERVE-1-LOT-25-/190726201787?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2c682ae1bb#ht_3270wt_993"]http://www.ebay.co.u...b#ht_3270wt_993[/url] [/quote] erm, no it has the same headstock, which is not like the Vintage ones... and this one clearly says Benson on it

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1348230098' post='1811141'] Vintage brand by the looks of it, although one of the feedbacks said Yamaha. [/quote] VIntage basses have a very different and distinct headstock. Most definitely not a Vintage.

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1348224811' post='1811030'] I've just stuck some nylon tapewounds on my bass, and they've brought to light a grounding issue which was probably already there, but I never noticed it with ordinary strings. The bass has single coil alnico J pickups, the bridge is grounded and the cavities thoroughly screened with copper foil, all of which is grounded too. The problem is, if I touch the polepieces on either pickup when playing (easily done with my playing style), it hums. It's not as loud a hum as if I was touching the live side of a jack, but it's still enough to be irritating. If I don't touch the polepieces, there is no issue with hum, whether I'm touching the bridge or not. As these are typical fender-ish pickups, the polepieces aren't connected to anything, and I've verified this with a multimeter. I've also checked that the strings are grounding OK at the ball ends. I'm presuming that due to the non-conductive surface of the strings I'm not grounded when I play, and I'm acting as an antenna when I touch the polepieces. Rather than coming up with some Heath-Robinson contraption to ground my body, I suspect I'd be better off either grounding the polepieces by running copper tape across the backs of the pickups or covering the poles with something to insulate them (nail varnish?). Any thoughts on which to go for? [/quote] extra hum is a common issue with tapewounds... or rather an issue that tapewounds brings out... if you only have issues touching th epolepieces, I would try to ground them. Depending on the actual pickup design that may not be easy. If you can access the bottom of the polepieces, a simple strip of copper foil, grounded, and you are laughing. Otherwise, nail varnish works very well. I have used the Rimmel 60 secnd one (stop sniggering) which dries very quickly and you can apply a few coats in no time... and that's the problem sorted.