Kiwi

Personally, I really like the necks on the Tobias basses that I've tried. The string spacing is quite narrow but, regardless of aesthetics, everything feels in place. I've never played one of the US made basses, only the Korean made versions. I wouldn't mind having a test drive on one of the authentic jobbies to see what the bass response is like because the pickups and pre in the korean versions were a little lacking. Good luck in selling, this is one of those basses I've always been curious about but not had a lot of exposure to.

you're welcome to have a plonk on mine if you're ever in the vicinity.

Anyone who goes custom is at severe risk of sounding like themselves... ...Derek Smalls. It would be a John Entwhistle bass in the shape of a wing of some kind. But a stupid wing, at that. Harrier jump jet? Penguin?

[quote name='BeLow' post='415861' date='Feb 20 2009, 11:07 PM']It does not exactly fit in with the original plan very well but I have sort of fancied a BBE unit for a while, has anyone had a go with one of these preamps as I don't want to buy it cold but may not have an option?[/quote] OBBM used one for quite a while.

Thanks chaps:) The MIDI side still has a way to go because of this string contact issue with the piezo saddles. I don't think I can really set the bass up properly in regard to sensitivity until then. Jon is going to continue messing about with two spare piezo saddles he has until he's worked out how best to modify them (or he's at least clear on what Graphtec need to do). I even ended up popping the top off the E string last night as I was grappling with a contact issue...might go hunting for PSD design strings this week perhaps...

I think its possible to go for at least three different characters on a fretless. One is the bright singing tone on Pedullas, there's a double bass type sound you get from Ashborys, Godins etc and the final is a warm woody tone typical of Wals, Smiths and others. Each have different design characteristics depending on what you're aiming for. Personally I love the Pedulla sound but I also like the Godin fretlesses I've tried too (couldn't justify one with my playing though).

[quote name='BOD2' post='417999' date='Feb 23 2009, 11:04 PM']The cheapest solution is to attach a 4-way (or 6-way) mains board inside the rack, then plug all the rack units into this. Cut the mains cables short to cut down on clutter. Then you only have one mains cable (from the mains board) coming out of the rack.[/quote] This solution lasts only for as long as the next upgrade...

[quote name='mathewsanchez' post='417556' date='Feb 23 2009, 04:07 PM']Once again I have to say that it stunning. Any idea roughly what it would cost to get an identical 4 or 5 string built without the midi and piezo stuff? I'm really starting to want a shuker myself and would probably sell up [i]most[/i] of my stuff for quality over quantity.[/quote] I'd suggest talking to Jon about it, he's already had requests from a couple of others about similar projects and he's unlikely to take as long doing theirs as he took doing mine, I suspect. The wood was scored off Ebay, for a low price (I think about £20 but it was sopping wet and took 4 years to dry out sufficiently for sawing as well as costing me about £60 in postage because it was so heavy.) Golchen, the functions of the knobs are [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=8263&view=findpost&p=405899"]here[/url].

I had a pair too, bought them off another basschatter as a trial but my V8 struggled with two. Did ok with one though but the V8 is rated at 400w so that would tie in with Acme's claim about minimum power. I also tried a Burman head and it made 100w sound like 30w...nice sounding cabs but in my experience you're better off with a lot of power behind 'em.

blimey Al, you're on a roll now and an originals band! I forsee some interesting music festivals in your future, perhaps?

LOL ok, I'll have to see what I can sort out this evening by way of samples but the bass is still settling down so I'm not sure how indicative the samples will be. At the moment the sound of the bass is developing and its sort of a cross between a Fodera in the highs, a jazz bass with the scooped mids and a Spector in the lows.

[quote name='YouMa' post='417107' date='Feb 23 2009, 02:17 AM']Who makes the midi controlers are they built into the pickups?[/quote] A company called Graphtec made the piezo pickups and two of the three preamps. One is a buffer preamp for the piezo, another is a filter/mixing preamp which sends the signal from the buffer preamp to the 13 pin socket. The third preamp is Jon's own eq. The signal then goes to an Axon AX100 pitch to MIDI convertor which senses the pitch and converts the signal to MIDI before passing it on to whatever MIDI devices are attached.

If any of you aren't yet fed up with seeing photos of it in the build diary, Jon sent me the shots he's planning to use on the Shuker website. Remember where you saw them first [attachment=20786:thebestpic.jpg] [attachment=20758:DSC_1229.jpg][attachment=20759:DSC_1230.jpg][attachment=20760:DSC_1231.jpg] [attachment=20761:DSC_1233.jpg][attachment=20764:DSC_1236.jpg][attachment=20765:DSC_1237.jpg] [attachment=20767:DSC_1238.jpg][attachment=20768:DSC_1239.jpg][attachment=20769:DSC_1240.jpg] [attachment=20771:DSC_1241.jpg][attachment=20772:DSC_1242.jpg][attachment=20778:DSC_1250.jpg] [attachment=20773:DSC_1247.jpg][attachment=20774:DSC_1248.jpg][attachment=20775:DSC_1249.jpg] [attachment=20778:DSC_1250.jpg][attachment=20779:DSC_1251.jpg][attachment=20781:DSC_1255.jpg] [attachment=20787:DSC_1258.jpg][attachment=20783:DSC_1259.jpg][attachment=20784:DSC_1260.jpg] [attachment=20763:DSC_1235.jpg]

Jon's just sent me some of the pics he's going to use on the website. They really put mine to shame [attachment=20735:thebestpic.jpg] Here's one, the rest are going in the gear porn section.

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.

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.

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 name='mathewsanchez' post='415278' date='Feb 20 2009, 01:37 PM']Here's my GAS contribution: Ok, i'm wierd, I like art deco and I like fancy woods. Not sure if they sound any good but after all it's just GAS.[/quote] Oh blimey, you too? We need to talk some time...

Its a good commercial move, the biggest market retail sector is the beginners market.