Jakester

I really fancy (for no good reason!) having something like this in a rack behind me: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/5929558943747217

I would agree, except the one I had was really inaccurate and struggled to pick up bass notes. I’ve just got a Swiff mini tuner which I run from the tuner output of my preamp - works really well for just double checking intonation.

So I am a moron. I recently acquired a BassBone and, realising that it needs a pretty hefty 15v 400mA supply, and my current pedalboard PSU wasn't going to cut it, bought a CIOKs SOL, which had enough outputs and the options to deal with all the pedals I have. Spent ages carefully setting it up on my pedalboard, checked the jumpers, double checked them, triple checked them, and once everything looked good, I plugged it all in. To be met with a cloud of acrid smoke coming from the BassBone. Sob. Of course, I knew that it needed a 15v 400mA supply. But I hadn't clocked it needed a CENTRE POSITIVE supply, not a CENTRE NEGATIVE one. So by plugging the latter in, I managed to burn out my new pedal. Or so I thought! Once I'd cleared out the smoke from the room and triple checked I'd disconnected everything, I plugged in the correct Radial PSU and lo and behold, it still worked! Using the correct adaptor on the CIOKs also showed it was all working, so thankfully no damage done to the PSU (phew!). From my very urgent Googling straight afterwards, I gather that *some* pedal manufacturers use a sacrificial diode which stops the rest of the pedal getting knackered if you use the wrong PSU. So, even though I had a faceful of smoke, it seemed it was okay. Nevertheless, I got on to Radial to ask - they said they couldn't give me details of the innards, but to speak to Polar Audio, who are their UK distributor. Unfortunately Polar state that they don't do out of warranty repairs, and recommended two servcing companies - Surrey Amps and the dreaded (to me at least!) Real Electronics. Having had no luck in the past with RE, I did a search for amp repairs, and came across [a repairer, the details of whom I have now deleted owing to subsequent issues] I dropped [person] a line, and he said he'd take a look; his hourly rate/diagnosis fee was much less than Surrey Amps so I gave it a shot. The service was exemplary - not only was I kept informed every step of the way, [person] even sent me a video of the pedal opened up and explaining the damage and what needed to be replaced. I gave the go-ahead, and he also sent me a video afterwards showing everything working. Finally, the repair was turned around and back to me in just over a week, for less than the cost of the SA diagnostic check. He also picked up an issue with a dodgy pot and replaced that too. I can't sing his praises enough. Whilst I could have kept on trying to use it, it wouldn't have had any protection and [person] pointed out the heat had damaged a small resistor too, so who knows if that could have caused other problems in the future. So, I have been saved by my own stupidity once again. [edit - repairer details removed due to subsequent issues] (I haven't wired it all up again yet, but I will not be turning anything on until I'm absolutely sure I have the correct polarity this time!)

Went back, checked with a tester - all fine, plugged in - no problems at all despite using all the same gear. Weird. Definitely no fridges or other heavy equipment nearby either. I mean...

And when you say “damage to sticks”, what do you mean? If he’s knackering sticks on a proper kit in a way he doesn’t on an electric, it suggests to me he’s got an issue with his technique. That said, better he’s knackering sticks at £12 a pop than cymbals at £200 a pop…

Drum shops? But seriously, there’s just the same range of shops for drums as there is bass. G4M, PMT, GAK etc all do drum stuff. There’s specialists like Drummersonly, Graham Russell and Drumshop. Then there’s some great buy and sell groups on Facebook. Take your pick.

Does say it's only for acoustic guitars though - looks like you need the soundhole to draw it on the strings.

Looks like it. Lawrie, if that doesn't do it, if you PM me your email address I'll send them to you.

Do you mean Walking or Expanding? I think I have the former so could send you the mp3s.

But there are so many more variables involved than simply "it's a piece of wood". Colour, form factor, electronics, brand (and that can of worms!), association (or otherwise) with noted players, even- shock horror - the actual sound. That's like saying "a car is just metal on four wheels" or "a house is just a load of bricks". And if that all works for you, perfect. But just as your particular needs for cars, housing etc might not work for anyone else, similarly their own instrument choices based on their own needs might be different to yours. Or, to put your statement another way - just because your own basses which are perfect for you cost peanuts, that doesn't mean it'll work for anyone else. If that were the case, we'd all be playing Precisions. Oh. What's that? We all are? 😉

It's not that it suffers problems - I daresay it's probably no more or less than any other brand. It's that it's impossible to get MB stuff repaired by anyone other than their approved repairer - who, in my own experience, were not very good. Obviously I can't generalise based solely on my own experience, but it does make it incredibly frustrating as an owner and certainly disinclines me to buying any more of their stuff. Indeed, when I had other issues recently (subsequently attributable to the venue, not the amp) I was entirely prepared to flog all my MB stuff off at a loss as I'd lost faith in it all. Similarly if I do have any other problems in future I'm not going to bother to try and get it repaired, I'll just go for a different brand entirely.

Sadly, yes. And, IME that means they can charge what they like. I sent my CMD121 head away for intermittent volume problems, got charged £170 with no real resolution, only for the problem to recur. I ended up sacking that head off and buying a second hand LM3 to put in instead. The economics of MB repairs mean it works about practically the same.

I think the only thing (having done something similar a few years back and with family further down that way) is that the travel expectations are sometimes greater - I’ve been asked a couple of times whether I wanted to be part of a band (not a dep) 1+hr’s drive away, which is way too much for me, but doesn’t seem to bother too many people.

Not entirely sure that's correct. As to the level point, I don't know whether they're higher or not than the Auxes - I wouldn't have thought so, so a headphone amp might be required. As to the 3 Aux point, Aux3 is also the FX send/return - so from my recollection you have the Aux 1 and 2 which can be used for monitors, and Aux 3 for either monitor or FX send. So if you're not using FX, you could use it to drive another monitor, but if you are using FX, you'd be cutting off the signal to the internal FX return. I think you are right you can use Grp1 and Grp2 as separate outputs though, provided they're not routed to the master outs.

Or, if you’re using it at home, why not just use the master outs into your monitors? Mine have XLR ins but if yours don’t, you could get an XLR to jack cable easily?

Looking at it, could you not just run the Grp1/Grp2 outputs and make sure the channels are selected to 1-2 as well as Mtr?

Unless you bought via the internet, in which case you can return it without any excuse.

Unfortunately I think so - the aux outs are generally mono on these IIRC. Surprised you can't finagle or bodge a mono to double mono (i.e. same into both phones) for headphones though. I know I keep going on about it, and I know it's a LOT more expensive, but the QSC TM16 has two stereo headphone level auxes as well as 8 mono - if you want/need a lot of stereo auxes, that's a good way to do it.

In a primary school? I think that's a good way to have an unwanted visit from Mr Plod!

Does anyone have any recommendations for the smallest, but still decent, tuner? I currently use an older TC Polytune which works fine, but takes up a lot of space on my PB. I'm considering rejigging things and getting something half the size of the PT would be good. I've looked at the PT mini and Korg Pitchblack mini, and they look like they'd do the job, but I wondered if there was anything smaller? It could be 'always on' so footswitch not necessarily needed (as the preamp pedal I have has a footswitch mute and dedicated tuner out. The Korg Pitchblack XS and the Boss Tu3S look like contenders but I haven't seen them in the flesh so it's difficult to judge. Plus there's the plethora of mini tuners on Amazon/eBay - are any of them any good? Finally, I've tried the Pedaltrain SST and it was awful. Really struggled with bass frequencies so I got shot of it. I would prefer a board-based tuner as I swap instruments a lot - I do have some clip-ons but they're not always as convenient as a pedal.

Well, we're back there at the end of the month so will check again and see. If it does it again in that location in the hall, I may need to invest in a VERY long extension to reach the sockets over the other side of the hall!