rmorris

Agreed. Prefer cocktail sticks also for their smaller diameter. I'm fairly sure I have some at home just not 100% certain if and where !

Yeah. That's what I do in general. Cocktail stick or matchstick and a bit of wood glue. If serious strength needed leaving it to set for days not hours regardless of what it says on the bottle.

Quick (?) question. If fitting a drop in replacement bridge or ,for that refitting original bridge that has been removed for some reason - do you do any filling on the existing holes to give the screw something to bite into ? For general DIY I would do this but it doesn't seem to be a thing with bridge replacement ?

Does it work okay ? I'm imagining that the others may be in a similar state ?...but you can't see them...

Hi. We have very different ways of setting up these pedals - I've never found much use for the BLEND pedal - but I agree that these are indeed "good stuff". From a circuit point of view the biggest difference seems to be use of different opamps. I forget the detail atm. I have a BDDI and BD121. Build wise the BD121 is a bit odd with it's funny sort of on / off switch. But the plastic body seems sturdy (ABS ?). I haven't investigated whether it's effectively screened against electromagnetic noise. Sonically I think I find it easier to find what I'd term as 'unusable sounds' with the Sansamp BDDI rather than the BDI 121. This does mean I find the BDI a bit more 'user friendly'. Not everyone agrees obviously - the Sansamp YouTube posts use some tones that I would avoid. But I've never been a fan of the "Pencil through Speaker Cone" tone. Apart from that the BDI 121 doesn't offer Phantom Power operation so not so universally useful. And , of course, you can use both of these in Bypass - still providing a low impedance output to the mixer without any 'colour' or eq.

Good Question. I've emailed to ask. Definitely not a budget option but the OP seemed to be willing took at £100s at least. The requirements seems fairly basic and I'd say the Orchid stuff sounds fine. As it happens I have the Studiospares box and I wouldn't see a problem with it. I guess it comes down to how bothered about noise levels and absolute fidelity or 'Colour' and whether the EQ characteristics suits what you want. Ultimately I'd advocate DIY building your own - but I am an electronics design engineer with a background in pro audio though now working in a different field.

Is the noise from the fan itself or from its mounting ? back Panel etc ? If it's from the panel resonating then it might be possible to use compliant mountings / rubber 'worms' etc rather than screws etc. Basically decoupling the fan from it's support. As used to produce 'Quiet PCs' and similar.

Not really a problem to get Neutrik product though . CPC (and doubtless less expensive than Maplin) : https://cpc.farnell.com/neutrik/nys229/1-4-jack-panel-socket-mono/dp/AV09109

I suggest to put the kit bass together first then see what needs doing. If it's not much then it might be better value to get a professional - or someone listed here - to take a look. Otherwise you could end up paying a three figure sum that would more than cover a pro fret level / setup...

wrt Soldering - Weller and Pace are 'big names' in industrial use although several others too including eg RS own brand stuff. example: https://cpc.farnell.com/weller/ws-81-uk/soldering-station-95w-230v-uk/dp/SD02383

tbh conductive adhesive is best avoided unless no other option. The stuff you buy - I haven't seen it for a while - for reparing rear screen heaters on cars etc is a bit of a nightmare in terms of success. Basically it 'goes off' and becomes not very conductive. I used to work at Penny & Giles (pro audio faders etc) and it was used on the faders as you can't solder to conductive plastic ink. But it was made in house before the production shift and used within a few hours. If you really don't want to solder but do want to DIY then imo you'd be better off with copper tape with a conductive adhesive backing. Best to solder though.

Agreed. But I'd say no real need to loosen strings when loosening as the string tension is going in your direction. Unlike when tightening ??? Views of luthiers here most welcome.

It seems to me that the real question is - what materials are safe in contact with Nitro finishes. If you know that and obtain the stuff you could use any hanger you like but replace incompatible materials...? Of course if the suggestions ( String Swing / Hercules) are fine otherwise - design / price / quality then why not go wit them...

Mmmm...Have you considered a Slatwall solution ? It's along the same lines as the picture but widely available via shopfitting supplies. Although it can be hard to get it in wide strips - normally 2.4m x 1.2 or 8' x 4' sheets and shipping expensive if not local pickup. I got some a few years ago locally but that outlet no longer in existence. As it happens I could use something like you show now but will likely improvise as I have spare instrument holders. If it's not clear i have basses angled on long reach arms and that gives room for a couple behind on short arms plus other accessories plus a shelf (in my case for film SLRs). Basically half a sheet there width cut to suit and mounted on wooden batons and similar in other alcove.

Yeah - cheers AndyTravis - not thinking about that sort of investment - pretty much a 'backroom warrior' these days but interested in what pickups I can get in a compatible size. E string in particular seems to lack 'authority' - whilst I find on other basses it's the opposite if anything and a slightly lighter touch suffices (obvs there's compressor options as well).

And, of course, the more you do - possibly for your musician friends and bandmates (not necessarily the same thing 🙂 ) - the better you get whilst taking less time. But you will imo need to invest in a good temp controlled soldering station (not a fixed 25W Antex for me) - esp as should now be using lead free solder and don't skip on the sundries - cleaning sponge / mesh / desolder 'gun' and desloder wick etc. Plus heatshrink and heat gun.

So...I have a nice Hohner B2A 'Cricket Bat'. Well set up (Bass gallery) but I've always thought that the pickups were something of a weak point esp on the bottom End / E string compared to my various other basses. Don't 'speak' as well whether run passively or thru the on-board pre-amp. I believe that the stock pickups are EMG 'Hi-Z' Select types. So thinking about replacements. I can see that there may be various EMG options ( I haven't checked the dimensions in detail tbh) but they are on the £££ side so I thought I'd ask if anyone here as replaced with other types / brands / manufacturers ?

Ahh - Okay. was a couple or more years ago that I got some HiCon connectors from him. Thanks for the heads up, Anyway cable advice remains same- Go for quality but just don't get sucked into "audio magick hyperbole" ! Keep Safe

It's not really that complicated: Electronically you want low capacitance cable with a semiconducting layer to reduce noise produced by handling/movement (more important for passive basses). And good screening - braid is probably best but not very flexible although some studio orientated cables use it as flexibility is likely to be less important than in a live situation (depending on the player obvs:-)) Braid over a foil screen is best in general but I've never seen that in a cable with the semiconducting layer. Practically spirally lapped shields are effective and give flexibility and double lapped shield (Reussen shield) with the spirals in opposite directions give better screening albeit with a slight reduction in flexibility. Mechanically you want conductors thick enough that they aren't fragile so won't break. For connectors - the Neutrik style cable collett strain relief is the best (other manufacturers may have equivalent) as it separates the strain relief function from electrical connectivity and basically doesn't rely on bending a bit of metal to grip a cable but not so tight as to break it ! And then an outer jacket good enough to withstand the working environment . Practically something like Klotz Instrument cable and Neutrik Connectors. Also Sommer / Canare / Van Damme come to mind for cable. OBBM seems to be the best source round these parts. I've found him very helpful previously.

Indeed. Whilst no fan of Monster and their business practices - the comparison here is meaningless unless you somehow have a long flexible and electrically screened coathanger...but then it wouldn't be a coathanger would it ?

I've never seen mention of this on here but it's from a UK pro-audio 'Giant' Raindirk DI Option to go in via active circuit (Higher Z) or passive into the transformer. Discussed this with Cyril Jones some years ago and he mentioned that most bass users preferred the passive option.

What do you want to solder - wires to potentiometer solder tabs and bodies / through hole components / SMT components / all of the above ?

Yes. Or just take out the tone control completely and increase the pot value as suggested. Or to be more radical bypass the volume altogether and make sure the input of your amp or DI etc is high ie 1M0 or above.

and a lot more time ??? filing f.ay, 0.105" string I think they are more of a guitar thing tbh.

Good Point 🙂