rmorris

[quote name='alexclaber' post='497926' date='May 26 2009, 12:42 PM']No, it totally depends on the individual components. Some valve preamps sound amazing and valvey, some sound amazing but not in a valvey way, and some sound mediocre. Just like generalising on tone based on speaker diameter leads you to often incorrect conclusions, so does generalising based on amp topology. Alex[/quote] +1 A valve stage can be pretty much as clean as a transistor / opamp stage if not driven into non-linearity - depending on the design and toplogy - class A ; AB etc. Some real electronic engineering knowledge helps but basically listen carefully and trust your ears - then go for what you like.

[quote name='stevie' post='502249' date='May 31 2009, 01:28 PM']The resistance of 30m of your recommended 6-amp cable is nearly 1 ohm.[/quote] But the OP states that he has a run of [b]10m[/b] + a bit on another chained cable. Someone else mentions 30 Foot - is that what you meant ? The power loss is small in audio terms. What may be more important is a worsening of the ability of the amp to control the speaker especially at low frequencies ('samping effect') so that notes might 'overhang', 'blur' etc. Whether it's an issue really depends on the actual amplifier and speaker combination

[quote name='joshua' post='502296' date='May 31 2009, 02:18 PM']i would shorten my cable but i am not at all confident at soldering back on the speakon connector[/quote] from memory when I used these - you can buy screw terminal types - although it's an extra cost if you have solder types fitted.

[quote name='steve-soar' post='501951' date='May 30 2009, 10:31 PM']I think you've got about 30 foot of excess cable there, which is just getting warm by all your precious watts from your amp.[/quote] there's no point in having more cable length than you think you might need - but always add a bit on - sod's law etc. But as long as you use cable with a decent amount of copper the power loss on the cable will be insignificant. You'll also get a low pass filter ( ie treble loss ) effect from the cable due to the resistance, inductance and capacitance. This depends on the physical characteristics of the cable. But it's unlikely to be significant / audible and almost certainly not for bass or elec guitar. Even if you were running a full bandwidth PA signal out of the into the cabs it's not generally a problem. Just think that PA amplfiers often have to have cables longer than these. As for cable - 2 core mains cable , say 6 Amp guage, generally works fine both electronically and mechanically with Speakon and other connectors.

[quote name='stoo' post='463140' date='Apr 15 2009, 04:34 PM']Ouch - just noticed they've appeared on the [url="http://www.stringsandthings.co.uk"]Strings & Things site[/url] - from £689 for the Ray (or from £749 for the 5 string) and from £639 for the Sterling [url="http://www.stringsandthings.co.uk/sterlingbymusicman_page4.htm"]SB (Sterling)[/url] [url="http://www.stringsandthings.co.uk/sterlingbymusicman_page5.htm"]Ray34 & Ray35[/url] Bit too strongly priced to be anywhere near tempting for me - At that sort of money, I'd be looking at a used EBMM one... though maybe they'll end up selling for a fair bit less than RRP? Bargain![/quote] just looking up some OLP info and found out they are no more. I was going to ask if people thought the necks ( I have an MM2 ) were more prone to movement than average. I noticed mine taking a while to settle after truss rod adjustment. I know this is normal but I noticed it's significantly longer than , say, a Westone Thunder 1 and was wondering how big a factor is that the Westone neck is 3 piece laminate whilst the MM2 is one piece ?

[quote name='mathewsanchez' post='459828' date='Apr 11 2009, 10:04 AM']The other day in a shop I played one of the OLP Levin sig basses (one of the later ones in peach) and to be honest in a side by side comparison with a stingray five there was a small difference in sound but not a lot. The SR5 felt much much nicer to play and was clearly better build quality but the £1000 price difference does make you wonder. EDIT: Although I might add, I would never part with my stingray for anything.[/quote] hi. can you elaborate on the 'much nicer to play' bit. Neck Profile ? Acoustic response ? ergonomics ? Thanks

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on why popular stuff like Deep Impact gets discontinued. Okay - some stuff gets reissued but not very often. I contacted Akai some time ago and was just told there were no plans to reissue. Seems a bit odd as presumably they have all the design and manufacturing information. Component obsolescence ?

[quote name='stevie' post='485457' date='May 11 2009, 11:47 PM']Can't say I've noticed NiMH rechargeables weakening as they age, and I use quite a few. However, it is true as you say that they 'self-discharge' over a period of between 3 and 6 months. You should therefore top them up just before you use them and remember that you will need to fully recharge them in 6 months at the latest whether you use them or not. There is no point in using them in things like clocks (or basses for that matter), where an alkaline normally lasts for years. Having said that, alkalines usually last a year in some of my meters, but I have a habit of forgetting to switch them off. That's where rechargeables really come into their own.[/quote] Maybe it's the application I'm thinking of - a battery operated radio which takes 3xAA. Various Brands - all seem to last a shorter time in there than they did when new. Not that I've written the figures down.

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='486587' date='May 13 2009, 06:52 AM']Yes no problem if its not too big/complex (like anything over 40 components and 3 IC's I deem too complex) The etching gear is not expensive if you go the non-uv route, you can use a laser printer to print onto the blue press'n'peel paper which is heat-transferred to the pcb blank then etched in the normal way with ferric chloride. What put me off for a long time was it is a faff getting all the stuff when you only want to do 1 or 2 stompbox circuits, so I tried with Veroboard a few times but had little success. Once you have the gear its not too much trouble rattling off a few small boards. They make the circuits so much easier to put together and guarantee a far greater chance of success. I'm going to charge a measly £2.50 per board if its a stompbox-size one plus a flat rate £1 for p&p. Send me the pcb image and I'll have a look for you.[/quote] Hi How would you be looking to receive pcb images ? 1:1 plot / Gerber / ODB++ etc...

[quote name='umph' post='483839' date='May 9 2009, 03:58 PM']it doesn't cost a grand to design and make a good simple buffer ;<[/quote] +1 sticking with having normal 'high Z' pickups with a buffer internal to the bass (rather than lo Z EMG type pickups ) - an active buffer/driver circuit has the simple but important advantage of improving the electrical interface in terms of impedance matching / line driving which has advantages wrt frequency balance and noise pickup. Your pickups sound the same except they are not loaded by the cable capacitance ( = treble roll off ). It's essentially taking the 'use a short lead' approach as far as you can. And even allowing for manufacturer / retail mark up a good buffer circuit isn't an expensive item. Everything else after the buffer can go anywhere in the chain - bass / fx board / amp etc. - and it sounds the same. Just a case of where you want it. You may want/need an eq box in addition to the eq etc on your amp / desk but soundwise it won't matter if it's in the bass itself or not. Practically, electronics in the bass is more likely to be battery powered so the more in there the shorter the battery life (all other things being equal )

[quote name='alexclaber' post='485615' date='May 12 2009, 08:16 AM']Conventional NiMH rechargeables self-discharge far too quickly to be a good idea in basses. However the newer 'Hybrio' ones that are fully charged when new are very good and have almost zero self-discharge (about 10%/yr) - I gather they are now available in a PP3 size. I've been using the AAs for a while and am very impressed. Alex[/quote] right. thanks for the info'. I haven't seen those around - are they generally available ? Sound useful in lots of applications.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='485386' date='May 11 2009, 09:23 PM'] I've owned a lot of Stingray's and gig regularly and maybe have had to change a duracell battery maybe [b]once a year[/b] or longer a lot of the time. Do you keep your bass plugged in all the time?[/quote] yes - I don't know about Stingray but generally an alkaline PP3 should last months at least. I would have to say that NiMH rechargeables do tend to drop their voltage / power more rapidly than alkalines and more so as they get older. It depends on lots of things though - pattern of use / temperature etc. and is a whole topic in its own right. btw they also tend to lose charge more quickly when 'in the drawer' so don't bank on those ones that you charged up the other week still being okay. Various brands tested but I can't see big differences between them. Views welcome. I use mains power unless it's not feasible ( or phantom for BDDI going into desk ). Takes away the 'left it plugged in' scenario.

[quote name='JPAC' post='485239' date='May 11 2009, 05:30 PM']Do rechargeables distort the output?[/quote] no - although when the voltage drops too low the circuit will distort or stop working same as with any battery.

I had this on an Ibanez Strat type electric. The pickups are mounted to the scratchplate so I was able to take the scratchplate / pickup assembly out of the guitar body completely and get the problem and work out what was going on. Seemed to be caused by rubbing where the cratchplate had gone 'shiny' over time / use and also touching the scratchplate and pickup mounting screws. Rudimentary attempt at shielding the rear of the scratchplate with Aluminium foils improved things but not completely. I daresay better shielding would have been an improvement but in the end I got a new scratchplate cut ( shop in Orpington - cuts to template + doe smail order ). That's okay - it seems to be related to wear with plastic scratchplates ? I've now recently noticed a similar problem emerging on an OLP Musicman copy which has a white plastic scratchplate. Most of my guitars are 'non-scratchplate' types so I hadn't come across this issue before the Ibanez. I guess a grounded metal scratchplate would be a solution or a non-plastic eg wooden guard that could carry foil on the rear for shielding purposes.

if you don't have / want straplocks the rubber like washers from , for examples , Grolsch bottles are pretty effective - just push onto the strap buttons on top if the strap ends. and they won't rattle like strap locks can when not held tight by a strap eg playing sitting down.

[quote name='benwhiteuk' post='396242' date='Jan 31 2009, 04:47 PM']Good point. Can you give an example of a pedal with a good buffered active bypass?[/quote] sorry - got distracted from this site for a while by credit crunching redundancy and stuff. right , pedal with active bypass: Well it depends on your criteria - are you talking specifically about distort pedals, Woolly Mammoth etc ? If a pedal has a lowish input impedance then you may well need a true bypass to take it out of the equation completely. But I do think that's getting off the point - the true bypass issue is really about 'tone sucking' , level and frequency response etc rather than noise problems I think. I'm still unclear on what sort of noise tyou're getting and from what pedal - the Digitech ? Like someone else says - I'd try changing or moving the power supply. But I's probably go for a physically larger linear supply ( bigger transformer ) first rather than a switch mode supply. The small transformer is likely to saturate more quickly and induce noise into cables maybe and screening can't help. Moving it away from cables and pickups and any such noise should reduce a lot ( square law ? ) and so it's a good test. Back to 'True Bypass' - this is worth a read if you haven't already:[url="http://www.petecornish.co.uk/case_against_true_bypass.html"]Pete Cornish catb[/url]

[quote name='musicman1' post='429593' date='Mar 9 2009, 05:57 PM']thanks for the advice but thinner wire is ok but is not that great for thickness of tone plus i have already taken orders for 5 of these. just showing 2 people at college. i can tidy up the wiring as this is prototype i didn't worry about this. 155 dollars is cheap but by the time you get it to the uk you are looking at 200 pounds. but it is all things i have to concider[/quote] are the wires we can see single core or screened ? If single core no need to worry about the conductor diameter and shorter lengths will cause less crosstalk ( although in reality that may not be an issue ) . If screened a thinner cable would generally have a bit more capacitance but the ability to have shorter wires since they are more flexible will probably mean that the total capacitance is less I think.

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='433624' date='Mar 13 2009, 01:38 PM']Using a PCB for a true bypass loop seems like too much hard work though... There are no components apart from the switch/jacks/LED, which are all mounted to chassis, so you just wire them up point-to-point.[/quote] well it's a matter of quantity and easae of configuration. PCB is more work and money upfront but then much easier and cheaper to manufacture and configure and test as required. The trick is to know where the breakpoint is where it becomes a better option.

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='433481' date='Mar 13 2009, 12:14 PM']OK. As somebody is intrigued... When you look at the design of a looper, it is effectively a single signal path which is intersected by the same circuit a number of times (e.g. the number of loops). In other words, there is a lot of repetition. So, if you think about it, to keep costs down, improve productivity (e.g. minimise the build time of the circuit) and easy construction, wouldn't it be good if each instance of the same circuit could be made modular and quick and easy to build. It makes sense to PCB it. Each PCB has one loop circuit on it and comprises of two board mounted sockets, a board mounted switch (latched probably) and your status LEDs. Also on the PCB, you have your signal positive and earth connections and your power for your LED. If these were to be done by say terminal connectors, building up a looper box is easy. Just gather the amount of assembled PCBs and attach the jumper cables to each PCB together. Easy... and quick. The advantage of the PCB approach is that they are dead easy and quick to solder up... and it will look a lot more snazzy should anybody look under the hood. Compare and contrast a PCB to the wiring shown by the OP. So... first query - PCBs are expensive right? I just did a quick quote for a 4cmx4cm board at [url="http://www.pcb-value.com/"]http://www.pcb-value.com/[/url] - £119.31 (inc VAT) for 100. Doesn't seem unreasonable to me. Obviously, the more you get, the cheaper it gets.[/quote] yes you can get good quality double sided pth boards at reasonable prices and there are no fine pitch SMT footprints here to worry about. PCB prices vary widely between suppliers - much depending on quantity and how they charge for tooling. Of course you'll need to layout the pcb and generate the data for manufacture - gerbers or similar - or pay someone to do that. Of course

[quote name='dood' post='199807' date='May 15 2008, 05:28 PM']Excellent! Thanks guys! Appreciated! - Well. I will hopefully get a design together. As for size, I am hoping the whole thing will drop straight into a stomp box size errr box! However I have a few ideas around some modules I own already, so may even inegrate those into a rack unit. For now, it will be a small PCB! Dan[/quote] Hi. I don't know if this thread still 'live' but in case it is just to say that I could look at doing Schematic Capture / PCB layout for you. I can't fabricate the pcbs myself but have a few sources for that with varying costs / levels of complexity capability. If going DIY on the layout and under ( I think ) 30 components I'd say get a demo version of Orcad. Or get Altium Designer Trial and get it finished in 30 days :-)

[quote name='harryharold' post='409600' date='Feb 14 2009, 06:04 PM']cheers with the comments, ive just got back from the bass gallery and....... well i tried the tonehammer and the BDDI and the tonehammer was far superior (for me that is anyway) as seeing as they were selling both for £179 i got the tone hammer. they also had the mxr DI there for the same price but i didn't bother. what really sold it to me was the switching options and the overdrive settings. i like being able to have all three options of bypassed, through the preamp, with the lovely gainy distortion. it was the drive settings that really won it over for me though, the tonehammer sounds amazing. to be honest the BDDI was probably a little easier to get a good tone out of when clean, probably due to the para eq on the aguilar needed a bit of fiddling with but when driven it was rubbish in comparison. the BDDI sounded all high end when driven and there was no deep throaty growl that the tonehammer had in abundance. really nice bit of kit. heavy, needs 18v, but sounds so damned powerful. bit pricey but got it from an awesome shop who have helped me out so many times and i think that was the first thing i bought from them.[/quote] just to agree that the BDDI is very good as an 'amp simulator' - I know about the mid scoop but that's usually what I'd set an amp to anyway - but not really good as a real 'distort / overdrive' box.

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HH-VS-BASSAMP-100W_W0QQitemZ290291845442QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL?hash=item290291845442&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HH-VS-BASSAMP-100W_W...%3A1|240%3A1318[/url]

[quote name='xgsjx' post='380065' date='Jan 14 2009, 10:39 AM']I'm Considering getting a Gator Pedal Tote Pro with GBus8, thing is the power is - tip & my pedals are + tip. I know there is these [url="http://www.effectpowersupplies.com/21mm-reverse-polarity-adaptor-13-p.asp"]http://www.effectpowersupplies.com/21mm-re...daptor-13-p.asp[/url] Does anybody know if there is cables that go from mini jack to 2.1mm that swap polarity? I could make them but it might cause hum. Other option is the Warwick RB23100, any thoughts? It needs to be big enough to hold 2 moogers, a footswitch, an expression pedal & another pedal or two at a later date. Should I get a powered board or just use the 2 PSUs for the 2 pedals just now & get a board then get a brick later. £100 is my top limit, preferably less. Cheers, G[/quote] simply changing polarity on the plug shouldn't cause hum I think...

[quote]I think the Synth Wah has a buffered bypass doesn’t it? I guess this just highlights to me how advantageous true bypass really is.[/quote] Interesting and practical thread people. But I have to say the whole 'true bypass' thing has become overblown - it all depends how the 'active bypass' is implemented and it can , at times, be a positive advantage in converting the signal into one with low impedance. ( allowing for the fact that some 'fuzz' fx depend on being fed from a high impedance pickup / source ) Essentially my take on it is : hiss ( ie. white / pink noise ) = noise from the electronics - you have a noisy fx pedal / unit hum / buzz : probably due to electrical configuration / ground loops / interference from mains / dimmer lights /crt rfi pickup / demodulation : computer noise etc. ( try putting your guitar / bass pickups near your PC ) ; taxi firm pickup etc . ? In a 'real time' ( ie. live environment ) any noise gate / NS2 etc. is bound to take the very front end off your signal as it must take a finite time to react. Whether that's a problem or not will depend on your playing style of course. On a practical note - it's often possible to reduce the hiss level by a simple low pass fliter on the amp / mixing desk / DAW as appropriate. There' s essentially no signal from a bass above a few kHz. But filters with a higher 'nominal' -3dB frequency wil have amplitude and phase effects down into the bass guitar range so it pays to be critical.