Paddymick

Yeah I'm hoping it's something 'simple' like that. I'll try powering the Fishman via a PSU and hope that helps. No funny noises last night with the p bass, so hopefully it's not the amp. The spare will accompany me for a few more gigs yet though...

... apart from me. Morning all. Played my monthly DB gig last night and was plagued with intermittent distortion problems and volume drops. Used my usual signal path DB > K&K Bass Max > Fishman Pro Plat > Aguilar TH500 > Aguilar DB112 As soon as it started the guitarist said 'dead battery' so I swapped out the 9v in the Fishman and that sorted it temporarily. Repeated the process in the 2nd set and that did the trick for a bit too. But the problem kept coming back. After the gig I quickly tried a guitar through my rig and there were no issues. Set everthing up at home this morning and can't replicate the fault. Even added my p bass to the mix. So. Any ideas? I'm thinking I'll get a dedicated PSU for the Fishman snd keep an eye on gain structures. But beyond that I can't work out where the fault is. If anyone thinks it's relevant it was an irish/roots gig so the bass it there for percussion as much as anything else for a lot of the set. It was getting played hard. I'm hoping it's not the amp as it's my main amp for electric gigs too. Taking a spare with me tonight. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated! Paddy

+1 for using an A/B switch. EB runs in via my SansAmp and DB via a Fishman ProPlat. I use the pre's to balance out the levels. Amp eq is flat or thereabouts depending on the stage/room. Keep meaning to try the DB/Fishman in via the fx loop, but haven't got round to it yet...

Played at the Galtres Festival in Helmsley. Dep job with a young indie band - I'm lucky they didn't make me stand at the back with a bag on my head... Usual comedy with on stage sound and the rig provided. Some very old Peavey beast that looked like fun if I had a few hours to spare... built in fuzz channel?? In typical Tap fasion we were on after the community dance troupe, but it was a good gig with a decent crowd. Plus it was nice to talk to all my mates who were there and had been playing over the weekend. It made a nice change from wedding gigs too...

Cheers Artisan - I'm gigging that night too (electric) - but I'll keep an eye out and try to catch you soon - what's yr band called?

Cheers for the advice guys. I'm off to burn myself on the soldering iron!

Morning all. I am resurrecting an old P-Bass copy. When plugged in it buzzes like crazy and the tone pot doesn't sound like it's working. I've opened it up and the capacitor attached to the tone pot isn't attached to anything at the other end. I've looked at a lot of wiring diagrams it appears to be 50/50 whether the cap should be attached the body of the tone pot or linked to the volume pot. Any ideas which is right? The cap is marked 1H 104K I know this might not solve the issue, but I thought it was best to start with the thing that's obviously bust. Or should I just get a new wiring kit and have done with it?

@thisnameistaken: I'll give you a shout when I've something local. @artisan: where and when? I'll try and get over.

If you are still trying to decide if you have a duff Bass Max, I use one and I'm York-based. I've got a couple of weeks with no DB gigs so you're welcome to borrow it. I've got it paired with a pro-plat and, as one poster's already put it, it's not the sound I want, but it's one I know. I find I have an issue with the relative volume of the strings i.e. the A is often much louder than the other strings, but that's just as likely to be more p*ss-poor technique and eq'ing ability... However, I do find it far better than the BP100 I had - that just sounded really weedy by comparison.

FWIW Lloyd at MOR is very good. He's a mate nowadays, but I've been going to him on and off for years even before I got to know him. He worked with Steve when MOR was up Micklegate and he tech'd for a few big names in the 90's.

I'm another one in the little/or none camp. If you are being paid to do a job you should have the decency to do it to the best of your ability, and for me that means sober. I remember depping for a mate's wedding band about 5 years ago and they all started chopping out lines in the dressing room! Not only did it seem more than a little sad to be doing coke in the dingy backroom of some workies - it was someones wedding day. It just felt really rude and arrogant to treat their day like that. Needless to say the gig was a bit of a thrashy w%%%fest. I'm still mates with the guy. But I don't dep for him anymore.

Shaker, That's exactly it! Thanks for the info. I'm glad I have the luxury of saving a bit to get it sorted properly. I don't do a lot of work with the db, but what I do get is usually sessions and it doesn't look too smart when you're taking a pair of pliers to it as soon as it's out of the case... Yep. BassMax and ProPlat is a great combo. I did have the bp100 but it sounded like someone hurting a goose... still working on the right amp setup tho...

Good idea! I should really have thought of that in the first instance. However, after nearly breaking my neck/wrist/bass I haven't been able to get a picture of inside the bass. Think I'm probably best taking it to a luthier and asking their opinion.

Evening all, Long story short - the block that the endpin goes through inside my cheap laminate db has now got a small splinter out of it which means the string tension is pulling the pin to one side and making it a b@@ger to slide in and out. I can still play the thing - after a fashion - but does anyone know if this is something that can be readily fixed, or if it's going to be economical on a cheap bass? More to the point - whilst I might be ok to soldier on with it as is, am I doing more harm to the instrument? Sorry for all the questions - I've played electric bass for 20+ years, but the upright world is very new to me. I throw myself on the collective wisdom of BC. Cheers Paddy

Cheers Nick.