sirmuppet

Hi all. Looking to buy an amp head from Germany (The Fender Rumble 800HD) and wondered if I just replace the kettle lead would it be fine over here? From what I've read I think so but some people have said there could be an issue but the original poster didn't clarify the amp. Any one know if this specific amp head would be fine or not? Thanks.

7 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

This reminds me of  an old old story...

 

Little old lady gets given a Morris 1000. After a week she takes it back to the dealers complaining of rough running and rubbish fuel economy. Leaves it with them and goes for a haircut. 2 hours later she's back and the mechanic tells her he can't find anything wrong with it. He asks her to demonstrate the problem. She hops in, pulls out the choke out of the dash, and hangs her handbag on it.

As old as I am, I'm not old enough to have owned a car with a choke. Lol. 

If you're suggesting it's something I'm doing then it's possible but it doesn't occur on any other bass that I play or setup. My conclusion is it might be the nut. 

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Do you have the 'new' Pitchblack Custom? If so it's 0.1 cent.

I the pitchblack custom but I've had it for years. Doesn't look any different to the one that's out now, though I'm sure I got mine near release. 1 cent is the accuracy you're right. Is each bar 1 cent though? It seems the amount of bars isn't any more than most tuners. 

I've just tried it quickly with 2 snarks, both different models. They show it more or less fine up to the 2/3 frets where it's about by between 2 and 3 bars on the snark (Sharp). 

3 hours ago, Soledad said:

I'd place a hefty bet it isn't the strings, provided you are finding all 4 are somewhat sharp at say 5 or 7 frets. Uniform wrongness doesn't happen. Also D'Addario are good anyway.

Stumped ! You say in OP you hear the flat/sharp when playing so the high resolution of the tuner isn't presenting the problem. I have found guitar or bass 'techs' are a mixed lot, but a reputed maker / luthier may get inside the issue.

Keep us posted.

Yeah, I heard it at first which is why I initially checked it. I've got a gig tomorrow with a new band. So I'll check what it's out by and let you know. 

4 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

The question that has to be asked is - how flat/sharp?

 

The Westone I have next to me, when tuned so E is in tune open and at 12th fret, but the first fret (F) is a tiny bit  flat (in tune indicator and the one to the left both lit) and the 20th fret (C) is tiny bit sharp. A Squier Jag SS is spot on.

 

That's with a Snark Super Tight.

 

 But you are the second person to report this issue in a few days with a Korg Pitchblack Strobe.

 

"the new Pitchblack Custom has an incredible +/- 0.1 cent accuracy".

 

Bearing in mind that the ear can typically detect errors of around 2 cents, and most tuners are sensitive to 1 cent, what this  really means is that "the new pitchblack custom magnifies any tiny tuning errors making you paranoid".

Interestig that someone else reports that. I'll check how sharp it is. What is each block on a tuner equal to? I mean I can say "x" amount of block but unless we know what each is equal to we won't know how many cents off it is I guess.

15 minutes ago, Soledad said:

I'm intrigued ! Seems nut is good, relief is good, tuning accuracy (open) good, good on 12th. Sharp in lower range, flat above 12th.
I don't think there are many things this could be. I have known strings stretch over time (very small amount but enough to produce intonation issues). The string core doesn't stretch in a uniform way so on some frets it may be a tads flat, others a tads sharp. But the idea all 4 strings are uniformly off says it isn't the strings.
The only other way I could possibly imagine is the actual frets are wrong... surely not, but you've eliminated everything else.
Don't know where you are but I'd probably take it to a good maker/luthier for a check-over. Down my way that would be Martin at Bass Gallery (maker of the excellent Sei).
I'm interested, let us know if and how you resolve this.

I'm up in Scotland. I'll have it checked out again. The strings are new and TBH I don't normally play D'addario. So I may pick up a set of Ernie Balls for when I need to restring, just in case it's the strings. 

8 hours ago, PaulThePlug said:

Neck Relief... fret at 1st and where the neck joins the body... 16th - should be about a credit card-ish gap to the string at 7 and 9 fret wires...

 

Nut Height... fret at 3rd... should be a slight 'tap' to the 1st fret wire...

 

So your numbers look good...

Cool. I'l check those a little latter today.

My neck relief was measured cappoed at the first, held down on the last fret and checked at the 8th. 

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Sorry, I miss-typed.

If the nut is cut high, fretting lower notes means you have to overstretch the strings making the notes sharper the closer you get to the nut. Combined with excessive neck bow this could cause the symptoms you describe.

Yeah, that's how I figured it might go. Do you think the spacing I mentioned on the first fret would suggest a high nut?

1 minute ago, Stub Mandrel said:

If the nut isn't cut deep enough, you stretch the higher strings when fretting them, making them sharp.

It's all strings and the lower notes that are sharp. Anything above the 12th fret is flat. 

28 minutes ago, Cliff Edge said:

105-45 LaBellas here. When I used the Fender setup guide I couldn’t get it right. 
How I do it now, after checking relief, tune the open string then check at the 12th fret, not the harmonic. Adjust the saddle until both are in tune then check the 12th fret harmonic which should also be in tune. 
String height is a matter of taste so go with what suits you..

I repeat, the instrument will not be in perfect tune at every fret but this method is as close as I get. 

How do you measure the relief on your neck? I know there's a few different ways of doing it. 

10 minutes ago, Cliff Edge said:

My only comments are, a fretted instrument will never be exactly in tune at all frets. 
You don’t say if the problem is with all strings. 
I note the bridge saddles on E and A on the Anniversary seem to be a long way back compared to my own, albeit very much older, Jazz, and your Standard. 

I'd have to check but from memory it's all of them, some more so than others. I could do some measurements to see how much they are out by. 

I did also note that about the saddles. I could move them back and see if it intonates there. That said I'm running 105-45. Would that make a huge difference given the D & G would be thinner? On my P-bass it's more even as you'd expect but on that it's 105-50.

I take it no one has come across this problem themselves then? Another bit of info to add is that I have D'addario 45-105's on the 60th and the stock strings on the standard (Am guessing Fender strings but not colour coded ball ends). 

I just used Catwhisker pickups to custom make a set of Jazz bass ones for me. Extremely helpful and got me exactly the tone I was after. He does rewinds too. I'd certainly send Allan a message and ask him. Pricing is very good too. 

Hi All. I have a question regarding the intonation on m Jazz Bass. I have a 60th anniversary one and it's been setup a few times. By me, then a local store and by me again. It seems the intnation is a little out and I'm really noticing it while practacing along via headphones to some songs. So I've set it up as per Fenders guide. Tuned to Open and also harmonic notes. Then fretted (pressure as per how I would play) on the 12th fret and it's bang on. Used a pitchblack custom stobe tuner to do so. When I check the note closer to the nut, the get sharp. Towards the bridge they're flat. 

I have another standard jazz bass I just got and checked that. This doesn't have that issue. I've taken measurements of both below. 

Relief: I've check under both the E & G strings, cappo on first fret, held down on the last fret and measured between the string and 8th fret. Standard Jazz .60mm / Anniversary .35mm

Action: Checked at the 17th fret, unfretted. Standard 2.75mm on both bass & treble side / Anniversary 3mm oon the bass side and 2.5mm on the treble side.

Height above 1st fret (Measured with a feeler gauge): Standard E=.65mm, A=.65mm, D=.75mm, G=.75mm / Anniversay E=.70mm, A=.70mm, D=.60mm, G=.55mm

The standard is obviously not set to Fender specs and is 9.5" radius while the Anniversay is set to Fender specs albiet with the action a tad higher as I play with a pick and it's 7.25" radius. 

Is there anything here to anyone the would suggest why the anniversary when intonated open and fretted at the 12th would be sharp as it gets to the nut and flat as it gets to the bridge? Pictues of the respective bridges are attached. The one with the gold strip is the anniversary on. Any advice would be great. 

14 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

What is the utility in defeating the Master Vol?

I got a reply from Orange saying to think of it as protection for the backend of my amp. Not sure why having the output 100% is protection. The also used the term sacrificed when taking about the changes. Lol. 

34 minutes ago, agedhorse said:

Have you looked at the owner’s manual to see how it’s supposed to work?

Yeah. It doesn't say. I tried looking for diagrams but all I turned up were the MK1. 

Would there be any reason for making a change like this?

6 hours ago, James Nada said:

Do you need to plug a dummy jack into the effects send to switch the loop on?

No, I'm plugging into m sansamp then it goes direct into the return of the effects loop. It bypasses the preamp. On the Terror 1 the master volume used to work. 

6 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

If you crank up your preamp output does it get LAF? There's your answer.

If I go into the effects return nothing on the front of the amp works. Am sure the master volume still did on the MK1 terror but on the MK2 it makes no difference. Got the fright of my life last night when I plugged it in.

I did read through an old thread I started where someone gave me the idea to originally do this. They suggested the master volume on the MK1 would still work and from memory it did. 

So I have an Orange Terror bass 500 mk2. I plugged a preamp into the return of the effects loop to bypass the Preamp. The master volume no longer works. I used to own a Terror bass Mk1 and was sure the mastr volume still worked when using the effects loop that way. 

Cany anyone confirm if they changed the master volume and how it works on the Mk2?

Thanks.

3 hours ago, NickD said:

I've just returned the Bass Fly Rig 2 to Guitar Guitar, after having it on pre-order since they announced it. I really wanted to be impressed, but wasn't.

I do have a Helix LT that is mostly used for recording, but having previously had the first Fly Rig, and moved it on for want of an effects loop (I grabbed a Valeton Dapper to replace it at the time), I figured the V2 would be a great analogue solution.

For some reason I just didn't enjoy it's tones as much as the first version. Being able to switch between gain levels was cool and the Chorus is still great for all its simplicity, but I found the bite switch introduced more hiss than I was comfortable with, as did the compressor. I didn't notice any significant improvement in the octafilter section. I don't think the tracking is particularly good on the octave alone and I wasn't keen on the fuzz tone. The filter part works nicely when used independently though. I know this is not the purpose of that section though, and that the 3 dimensions are meant to work together for synthy sounds, but it didn't do it for me. As a small, portable solution, for all it's budget-ness (if that's a word) I still think the Valeton is a better unit for my purposes. Your needs may be different though, obviously.

So I think that rules it out for me. TBH I'd just switch between the sansamp channels for clean and overdrive along with the chorus for one or 2 songs. The addition of a compressor sounds nice. You sound like you felt the same way about the rig v1 as I did about the BDDI v1. I got the BDDI v2 thinking the mid control would make it amazing but that extra control just made it further away from the sound I loved. 

11 minutes ago, BassAdder27 said:

I’ve ordered the Ampeg SCR-Di to try 

I like the Ampeg tone and also the Scrambler used in a very minor way 

It has a blend control too on the Scrambler 

Pricey unit but hopefully worth it 

If not back it goes !  

Let me know how you get on with it. I'd be interested in your thoughts.

2 hours ago, mybass said:

Maybe try micro mesh…..(hope this pastes up) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333641208471?hash=item4dae90d297:g:JBkAAOSwMmBVwRtd

These sheets can be bought separately or as a ‘set, starting at 1500 ‘grit’. Used for polishing up wood after final sand paper use and before oiling. This 1500 sheet is not sand paper as such so there shouldn’t be any residue problem, unlike steel wool that will break off and small bits will go everywhere if you aren’t careful and gather around the magnetic pickups….strange idea that but I guess the ‘techs’ meant for you to take the strings off.

I say send the strings back to them for an exchange. I did this with D’Addario, on their request, many years ago when they introduced half wounds strings and about the third set I used was ‘dead’ on arrival. I did the usual wash with surgical spirit on a cloth and tons of mini filings came off the strings. They simply hadn’t been washed off at the factory after being ground down.

I was never planning to do it as I really think it's a bad idea. Just had never heard of it and wanted to know what others thought. It seems the vast majoirty think it's a very bad idea. 

Ernie Ball relented and sent me a set of strings. I didn't want cobalts again even though they sound so good. I've used them in the past without any issue, just this set. I may try them again down the road. Have to say though Ernie Ball UK, once they said they'd send a set, had them here the very next day. 

1 hour ago, PaulThePlug said:

^ B1on?

All Sorted then... I have the B1on.

Update the Firmware via the Zoom site... v1.3?... USB to the Squarer older Mini USB (not the newer flater Micro) lead needed...

Download the excelent and free Tone Lib-Zoom software... (they even do an android app for phone and tablet - Micro to Mini lead needed) as The Zoom Guitar Lab software doent work with the old B1on...

Clear a bank or two (or all) of patches...

Build patches with the various effects, up to 5, with various settings - could have a whole bank of drive getting progressively harder and more distorted...

You could go one patch per song, name them and order them according to set list, with a couple of generics DriveChorus, DistDelay, HeavyFuzz etc.

The above may be obviouse, I'm just trying to help... as i have been through a lot of the above after selling a B1Four and getting the older B1on model as i wanted the Marshall Super Bass Amp sim.. ended up costing me more as i had to by the old style leads... I'm sure there in a draw or box somewhere, i dont throw anything out!... 

That'll be the one. Don't really use it much and was bought on a whim a few years back. No idea how it sounds through an amp but in headphones it sounded decent. I'll have a look at updating it, didn't even know you could on that one so that's cool. Might give it a test at next rehearsal and bypass the Terror heads preamp. 

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

What covers are they playing?

I've been in covers bands for decades and have never needed pedals or effects! Presumably you didn't use pedals in your audition. Has the band asked you to use pedals? What makes you so sure you need them now?

They haven't asked. The setup is one guitar, vocals, bass and drums. So it's more to fill out the sound. A couple of track sound better with an overdriven bass. There's stuff like Sweet Child o Mine which I don;t need a chorus for but it would maybe sound better (To me ) with one. There's some funkier and disco ones too so was thining a comp to level things out a bit. 

Again I'm not syaing I'm needing them, just wondered if others did in covers bands and if it's worth forking out for any. I certainly think a Sansamp would be handy do to the fact it saved me from having to cancel a gig when my amp didn't produce any sound at a gig once, so managed ot DI into the PA. 

Totally gutted to hear this. If anyone can do it he can.