PaulKing

Tra la laa. Skipping forward through the tulips.

Yup this gap, and that front face of the block which was detached from the front. Also explains the angled end pin. Exactly as I deduced must be the case. You can all laugh at me when I'm head in hands with an expired bass and a top that wont glue back on straight... Or you can applaud as I proudly play it back to life! (fingers crossed)

In for a penny etc. Annoying creaking noise, source identified, trip to luthier, frightening estimate for diagnosis and repair, DIY aesthetic engaged. DB friends over the pond advise and encourage. What could go wrong? Its just wood and glue. And a £2k vintage collectors bass... Tools out, nerve held. Top off. Cat impressed. A little bit of splintering. Oops. Chance to clean up the inside, label was almost invisible under 80 years of grime. 1114 = 1937 The problem. Bottom block partially detached from ribs (and from front, removed). Bass bar reinforced (precautionary) with hot-hide-soaked calico. Hot hide liberally applied. Ribs heated and clamped. Broom handle is strut holding rib 'garland' open to avoid creep. Homemade spool clamps ready to go. 20 of them for under £30! (cf £180 at Allparts...) I like a challenge. The advice and encouragement I'm getting from caring pros has been amazing, essential and comforting. Wish me luck ... top refit next weekend probably. I want to leave that block clamped for a good week, with occasional heating to coax the ribs back into line. CAVEAT: IF YOU CAN AFFORD A LUTHIER, JUST PAY THEM!

There ain't nothin new... Hoppy Jones, the Ink Spots

Ooh I know that experience. Ramirez these are all such helpful comments. Room acoustics is tough, I have a small box room as my studio, no sound treatment, and ... hang on let me count: 2 double basses, 3 acoustic guitars, 6 hollow body basses, 3 solid basses and a Jaguar all hanging on the wall within a few feet of the mics. Not exactly ideal. 😁 Foam under all their strings is about the only damping. Sometimes I clip a quilt up against the door behind the mics

Prompted by @Duckyincarnate and @Beedster and @Ramirez over in another thread, who can share experiences with mic placement and mic choice for recording? I've settled on a set-up that seems to work for me, though I still use some processing in the DAW. 2 mics and a piezo. A shitty old sE condenser at bridge height, about 12" from bridge, straight in front. Its nothing special but just seems to cope with the bass well. A nice AKG P420 just above right hand height, about 12" from fingerboard, pointing down towards hand. Underwood piezo thru Schatten Min-Pre. Then I use a wee bit of EQ and maybe some AO 'Re-Life' (it's magic!) and SD 'Fresh Air' plug-in to soften the mids and add presence. Sometimes have to phase shift one of them. I bought a lovely GAP R1 ribbon specifically for bass, but I never got quite so nice a tone as with the combo above. Might try it again though, now I've settle on positions. I went through so many alternative positions and distances, watched all the videos, Herve Jeanne's StringMatrix especially. What works for you?

I used gunstock oil recently. I really like the finish. It HAS darkened the colour a bit, but in a good way (it looks more vintaged). I'm happy.

This is sufficiently interesting to warrant its own post. There's probably been one before, but I'm gonna raise the issue again, without hi-jacking this thread.

Hey I found this on TalkBass. Amazing.

Really good intel Pete, thanks so much for this. Lodged in memory... I think the Whirlwind EQ is pretty transparent when switched off, but that's probably just an ignorant presumption. (Edit ... nope, it claims true bypass switching, and constant Q EQing ... perhaps I'm safe there) I checked, LMII loop certainly is Line level. I better watch out for clipping there then. Why do I still feel like an amateur after 30years playing live music... always so much good stuff to learn.

Genius. Yep I just figured the same as I finished typing my ramble. Cheers!

I believe ya mate! Perseverance pays off: At the weekend I set up at home to try things out cos it didn't make sense. I had a hunch it may be a weird compatibility thing with the Whirlwind EQ pedal. So here's my genius solution! I normally run my pedals in a chain before the amp: Wireless receiver - EQ - tuner - amp. It's convenient and reliable, means I can plug same set-up into any amp that's on stage with one cable. So, I plugged NuX straight into amp and... fine - indistinguishable from Line6, as you'd expect. So how about I stick the EQ and tuner on the FX loop? BOOM. In fact, just connecting the FX loop (even with EQ off) made the output noticeably fuller and louder. (Why is that? - had same effect when Line6 plugged into amp too) (**Edit - just looked it up, Markbass uses parallel FX loop, so adds FX loop signal to dry signal... well I never) Anyway that seemed to fix it, at least in home setting. So: NuX straight into amp. EQ and Tuner on FX loop. I do lose the tuner's auto-mute which is a shame. (Just had a thought ... I should try tuner inbetween receiver and amp. Yeh!) And I may need to improvise with house amps if they don't have FX loops. Thankyou for listening...

Brief update for future ref. 1) I found the cause of the rattle! The replacement unit had same issue - it's the power switch on the unit. Doh. I put a piece of tape over it to stop it buzzing. Minor design fault. 2) Tested at gig this week. Plugged receiver into whirlwind EQ pedal, exactly same as usual set up with Line6. Hmm... inconclusive. I couldn't dial in my normal tone. Overall level seemed lower. I think I detected the time lag more than Line6 (but not sure of that), and the tone seemed oddly coloured, boxy and resonant/unfocussed. I persisted through first set, probably overcompensated by turning up vol too much. Band commented .. so I switched back to Line6 for rest of night. Immediate improvement. Hmm, disappointing. 3) I ran spectrum test in DAW. Underwood via Cable vs Cable/Preamp vs Line6 wireless vs NU-X wireless vs JOYO wireless, all into Focusrite 2i2 interface. All looked and sounded perfect with the NU-X ... indistinguishable from Line6. As expected, from worst to best: Cable - very weak, low level, thin sound JOYO - barely improved from cable Line6 & NU-X - identical full, bass-rich, high-volume. Basically same tone as preamp, slightly lower level. Cable/Preamp - best tone of all ... perhaps exaggerated by internal gain on preamp. So in conclusion, I want to try the NU-X in a couple different settings, because I love the convenience of it. Can't figure why I struggled with it at gig. Maybe something incompatible going in to EQ pedal? But cant think what...

Nice one thanks - yep, expect that's the deal. I saw the exact same issue in a YouTube review of another brand. Just a bit of stray solder inside or a fingernail or something. Shame I was gonna use it tomorrow night at a memorial concert where I have 5min changeovers twice in an evening, sharing amp with bass guitarists. At least its a MarkBass so I'll know what I'm doing with it. I'll play safe with a lead and Schatten MiniPre for super simple super fast changeover.

Hey up @Paddy Morris- quick comparison here: Does the transmitter unit on your NUX rattle when you shake it? Just got mine 30mins ago, plugged it in and there's a fatal buzz around C. Turns out there's something rattling inside the transmitter unit, which resonates loud enough that the bass picks it up and transmits as audio signal. So that's no use at all. Sending straight back for a replacement and hoping its just a one-off fault, rather than design fault! (Incidentally, as expected, sound appears to be a million times better than Joyo direct into Piezo - though nerdy spectrum analysis will have to wait).