lemmywinks

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1391822656' post='2361834'] Have you connected the output signal and the battery -ve/board -ve to the right lugs on the jack socket? [/quote] At the moment I have just wired it straight to a mono jack for testing, when/if I get it working I'll put a switch jack in. Everything is going to the correct tabs.

I built it from a kit and yeah there isn't much information on the Maplin site. In the box you get a parts list (with descriptions) and a good diagram along with soldering guides so that part is quite good. Will get some pictures up at tonight hopefully, lighting and 3 year old daughter permitting.

The pickup cable is screened I think, it's very thin cable with a copper wrap, the hot side is attached to a grey cable and the ground is attached to black one, these are wrapped in shrink tube. There are two of these as it's a stereo pickup. I butchered some old instrument cable and used this to connect the output to the 1/4" jack but this made no difference. I'm not getting any actual bass signal at all, just a constant hum which gets louder as I turn the preamp gain up. I also tried wiring the pickup straight to the jack but couldn't hear anything, I should be able to hear something right? Tried it with the original preamp and it worked fine so the pickup is ok.

So yeah, said I'd be back when it doesn't work and here I am! Wired it up and just get a hum which gets louder as I turn the gain knob on the preamp, no signal at all. I desoldered the wires to the board and put little screw terminals in and get the same result.Tried it with just one side of the stereo pickup and both, same result again. Can't see what could have gone wrong on the pre side of things as it's really simple and impossible to get wrong (even for me), similarly the wires are all going where they should and the battery is functional. Any ideas? As an aside does anybody know where I can get 2 way PCB screw terminals with a 3.8mm-4mm pitch? I can only find the 5mm ones and these are too big. Thanks Steve

All gone, enjoy Ghost Rider!

Well I'm only joking, sort of.....

What can I say? I guess I just don't like cheesy, gutless pseudo-metal which is completely lacking in dynamics and features a singer who sounds like Bon Jovi acting hard after a shandy or two. You would think after the first album they would have made enough money to upgrade the Tascam Portastudio too, might have made the other 4 sound a bit better.....

All gone thanks! Bought this as people keep telling me how good Dream Theater are, having listened to it I still think they're completely rubbish so take this off me please! It has the following albums: Images and Words Awake Falling into Infinity Metropolis Pt2 : Scenes from a Memory Train of Thought

Cool thanks guys, expect me to be back when it doesn't work!

How would I wire the switch jack in? With the [b]Battery +[/b] wired to the [b]9v +[/b] on the preamp as usual, then the [b]Battery Gnd[/b] wired to the extra tab on the jack, then the [b]9v Gnd[/b] wired to the Gnd on the jack?

Recently bought one of these to replace the ailing pre in my SInsonido: [url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/mono-preamp-kit-n46fl"]http://www.maplin.co...reamp-kit-n46fl[/url] Have no idea if it's suitable for electric bass or not but it was free shipping day on Maplin and I had some Paypal funds. Sooo.. I'm going to test it by wiring it straight to the stereo pickup (in parallel), I'm ok at building stuff like this (it was very easy to do) as long as the guide is good but I'm a bit thick when it comes to wiring things up, having basically no electrical knowledge. The preamp has 6 contacts - [b]In[/b] (& [b]Gnd[/b]), [b]Out[/b] (& [b]Gnd[/b]), [b]+[/b] (& [b]Gnd[/b]). I'm assuming the piezo wires go into the In & Gnd, the Jack is wired to Out & Gnd and the 9v battery is wired to the + & Gnd? I know this will drain the battery so I will have to fit a switch jack (which arrived today) but I just wanted to test it first before complicating things further. Like I said I don't really know what I'm doing so wanted to check the pre actually works before adding anything else. Any help is appreciated, please explain things in simpleton terms (diagrams in crayon please) as any technical stuff will go right over my head. EDIT: Also one of the white block plastic capacitors was substituted with a brown ceramic one in the kit, I trust this is ok?

How do you date the post Japanese Aria's from the serial number? There's lots of information and catalogue scans with the more collectable ones but not much on the later basses, unless I've been looking in the wrong place!

Yeah I would say stick it up for £100 if you want to sell, the one I bought which looks to be in better condition was on Gumtree (with a nice hard case) for ages at £200 IIRC with no takers, I was the only bidder when it went on eBay and that was a late bid too. From the sounds of things you got a bargain though. Personally I'd keep it!

Well I just bought an almost identical one on eBay for £99: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aria-Pro-ii-Bass-/321308722063?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT&nma=true&si=s4C5YZdCxmd8j1FG7VDc6O8l1OQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc There's another one on there at the moment which comes with a nice case and a bridge upgrade (original bridges are good though): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221366145444?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 That one is missing a black washer from one of the tuners though. One needing a bit of work (and about £10 parts) sold for next to nothing here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aria-Pro-II-2-Bass-Guitar-/141143646715?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item20dcd121fb&nma=true&si=s4C5YZdCxmd8j1FG7VDc6O8l1OQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 Not sure on the actual model number, the more recent IGB equivalent is the IGB40. I'd say the value is about £100 tops unfortunately, the Integra shape isn't popular. I recently picked up an IGB55 in dark stain for £50 and an identical IGB68 was on for a few days at £160 BIN with no takers (seller pulled it as they wanted to keep it). Another IGB55 went for £37 recently too. Very underrated basses though, shame that even the earlier Korean ones like yours don't hold any real value as they're very well made and are a joy to play. I've had a few cheap Arias (not the classic Japanese stuff) and they've all been very impressive.

Well I tried it today via the DI out on my MXR M80 (instead of the jack output) and the result is the same. Either this is defective or these mixers just aren't up to the job, will try it with a synth tomorrow just to make sure. Seems like it'll have to go back.

I also replaced mine for a Neutrik one, so far so good and I'm also using only Neutrik jacks although that's just because I like them. IMO they could do with a small hex bolt in he side so you can apply pressure to the contact from the outside and bend it back, I've seen this type of jack become so loose that the lead just falls out.

Alternatively should I just go for a cheap vattery powered preamp pedal like the Behringer BDi21? It's still more clutter but easier than having to use my old mixer.

Thanks. I thought it would be ok as my old mini mixer was fine with whatever bass I threw at it and that had no dedicated inputs, I did also try it with an Art Tube MP and the result was still the same, will try it with my MXR DI when I get the chance. May just send it back tbh, having to use extra kit to make it work kinda defeats the purpose of having a convenient USB mini mixer.

Anybody use one of these? Just got one of these today to use as a silent practice tool, however when I plug my bass into the dual jack/xlr input on the main channel I am unable to get sufficient volume without harsh distortion. The gain stage is set so it is barely clipping under normal use and the channel, main and headphone volumes aren't high at all. Even when I back off on the bass slider and adjust the input gain it will still distort. I can play mp3s via the other inputs over USB or phono and get decent volume, it still distorts at anything approaching louder volumes but it is usable. I have tried powering it from my netbook's USB port, using a USB mains charger (supplied along with the cable) and have also swapped the cable out but this hasn't cured the issue. So is this a faulty unit or is just an inherent drawback of using something USB powered? I understand these can't be used with certain mics as the mic preamp won't supply enough power but I thought a passive bass would be ok, lots of people use them to record guitar. I'm thinking it's definitely faulty but thought it might be best to see if anyone here had used this mixer before I hear back from Behringer and the seller. Shame really as it's a great little thing, super convenient and just the right amount of features for me. Thanks in advance! Steve

Dean Rhapsody, Godin A5 (probably your best bet), Spector Spectorcore. I think the Godin and the Spector have a piezo so are probably more like what you are looking for. Warwick Infinity and Rick Turner Renaissance are also semi hollow or chambered and come in 5 string variants but will be well over budget. Very nice though!

I think he thought the f hole would contribute to the sound and give it more acoustic qualities I would say the preamp will be the overbearing factor here though and the f hole will probably not factor much in the overall sound, you're the man who knows though Dom as you owned one. The Shine 6er I had was a bit different to this, hopefully the one here has a better pre and pickups.

This one? [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shine-5-string-active-bass-NEW-/161167911022?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item25865b286e&nma=true&si=exVOJi3WqRNnQLXt3YqYdRhlrvQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=p2047675.l2557[/url] It's a Shine SBA 625 I think. RRP was £445 and would obviously sell for a fair bit less, more info here: [url="http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/shine-guitar-electric-bass-five-165870873"]http://www.worthpoin...-five-165870873[/url] Not far from me and has been on my local searches for ages, they went under quite a while ago and have been selling off stock on eBay. This one hasn't shifted though, he may be open to a cheeky offer. There was another one for sale locally too here, probably bought from the same shop (Poulton is just down the road from this seller): [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RARE-SHINE-ACTIVE-6-STRING-BASS-GUITAR-/151043565729?nma=true&si=exVOJi3WqRNnQLXt3YqYdRhlrvQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=p2047675.l2557[/url] That is the 6er which sold for £198 so £299 for the 5 (nice and new though it is) is a bit optimistic.