lemmywinks

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1392911306' post='2374097'] Thanks, Steve. Presumably the 'R' model is a precursor to the 'L', then? Though [size=4]I see that neither cab features on Jorg's website any more. [/size][size=4]What I do know so far from just playing it at home is that it's pumping out a lot of SPL for such a small box...[/size] [/quote] Yeah the R has normal ceramic magnet drivers, it's still quite light and I can lift it with one hand. Tbh it only seems to have gotten heavier since I bought a featherlight mini cab for rehearsals and home use. It's all relative I suppose!

Still using my old 1212r, it's a huge sounding cab. I eq the excess mids out on my LMII and boost the bass a little (never past 1 o'clock), wind in the tweeter just a tad and it's spot on, have never really wanted for anything else apart from an EAD212. Would someday like to A/B it with the neo L version as although the cab sounds as good as the day I bought it 6 years ago it doess seem to have gotten heavier! Congrats on yours though, that's a great price for some quality kit.

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1392907553' post='2374030'] In the 70s no one cared less about a bass made in 1960 and most musicians if they could afford it would have bought a brand new shiny 1970s one. All those vintage basses and guitars were left for the poorer musicians and the roadworn ones were placed at the back of the shop or refinished so they could sell them. Where did this mania of 'old is gold' come from? [/quote] +1 Tbh I find the fixation on particular periods of music and the instruments associated with them incredibly boring, I like a nice Jazz bass but the obsession with "vintage" Fender styles is a little weird to me. There's tons of cool basses out there in all different shapes and sizes yet if you have a knackered old plank with a fag burn on the headstock that looks like it's had a tub of paint stripper thrown at it and dropped down a flight of stairs then you get immediate kudos. Still, makes all those unfashionable 80s and 90s basses a little cheaper for everyone else!

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1392857272' post='2373677'] The whole 'old Fenders sound better' thing was more of a reaction to the takeover of the business by CBS than anything else - big corporations just weren't cool. I can remember people stating that '70's strats are sh*t', but 40 years on and people are raving over those same strats. Interestingly, it seems that the majority of people who can 'hear the difference' between an aged Fender and a new one are those who have just spent £14K on an old one... difference or self justification? Not an easy one to answer without p*ss*ng people off. [/quote] That's basically it. It would be interesting to do a similar test to this only with a current MIA Fender and a vintage one, just swapping out the electronics: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/scrap-lumber-bass-vs-alder-bass-can-you-tell-difference-743932/ I think the results would be very telling. Mind you then all the guys who get chubbys over vintage basses would say it isn't a fair test as part of the unique tone is in the 50+ year old lumps of solder..... I also wonder how many of the owners of vintage Fenders who extol their virtues are actually playing fakes. Placebos are indeed funny things!

The detail work is great but I think the back looks way too plain, looks like he's also used a cheapy neck off a VIntage or Aria or something.Still looks cool though, not sure I'd cough up £1.4k for it mind. The pickup placement puzzled me too, I quite like a MM about 2cm from the bridge but that looks almost touching. Wouldn't mind hearing it though.

I don't mind the headstocks, although they make it look like a cash in on the old Japanese ones which I don't like as the later IGBs are good basses in their own right, I really like the more modern styling. It's just that horrible faded red colour - eurgh! There's also a more tasteful dark blue one on there as of today too, offers around £90 so still a good price. Could get a brace of early Korean Integras for not much over a ton!

Dunno if this has been mentioned but I was reminded of this build when I spotted this bass on eBay: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-guitarCustom-Hand-built-Horned-Hell-by-Robin-Jupp-of-Deadlight-Designs-/301101191864"]http://www.ebay.co.u...s-/301101191864[/url] Time to cash in Rich!

Spotted this: http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/aria-pro-ii-bass-action-needs-some-attention-good-strings/1048870220#photo-content Looks like a nice cheapy, think this is an early 90s Korean Aria (may be wrong) so should be a good bass for £50 and would have scored it myself it it weren't for the colour (I hate red basses).

Due to most pubs having an extra hour (or more) of serving time landlords usually ask us to do 9:30 - 10:15 and then 11pm - 12am. Suits us fine, punters seem to stay until the end and the bar is always busy right up until closing time. One recent gig we played we asked the landlord what time he closed and when he wanted us to finish, his reply was "when I feel like it and as late as you want". Seems ok to me, plenty of time for a few jars and a bit of socialising (not that bass players should be doing that last one mind).

A less well dressed version sold for a snip recently: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/aria-pro-2-bass-guitar-/350995653524?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item51b8f8a394&nma=true&si=l5Znottrv8vvdyygOQi4mlaxbLQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

The only bit that confused me was she mentioned the hot wire from the pickup as being grey (which it is), then said connect the capacitor from the 9v feed onto a white wire. I assume she actually means the grey one coming from the pickup. Still not sure what the actual pickup assembly is in one of these, some people say it's a piezo but Soloette say it's a dual mic. Suppose they should know as it's their pickup! Tbh I just really want this bass to be up and running as it's a great little thing.

Also if I was wiring this as in mono rather than stereo would I need different a value resistor and capacitor? Am I right in thinking she means wire the resistor to draw power from the 9v + and then connect this to the hot wire of the pickup, then solder a capacitor to this connection and wire that to the input?

Just had an email from the very helpful Soloette (who Aria licensed the design of the bass and pickup from) and she said the following: [i]"[font="Arial"][size="2"]I apologize for the delayed response. We don't think this preamp will work as is since it doesn't have power going to the pickup. P[/size][/font][font="Arial"][size="2"]ower has to come to the pickup from the 9v battery. You can use 10k resistors from the 9v positive side of the battery to each microphone in the pickup. The gray wires are coming from the microphones in the pickup. Unsolder the white wire from the preamp first. Now that's it's sticking up, you will add the 10k resistor coming from the 9v+. Then add to the same junction a .01uF capacitor leading back to the input of the preamp. T[/size][/font][font="Arial"][size="2"]his will power the microphones. Do you understand? Let me know if you need more details or take this email to a tech for help. "[/size][/font][/i] So the pickup actually needs powering directly before hitting the preamp? Like I said I'm rather clueless with stuff like this so if anyone could explain it in kiddy terms that would be great. Gotta say Soloette have been very helpful while I've been trying to sort this, I messaged them a while ago and they were really god even though they didn't make the bass. Class company I think.

A Markbass with the Compressore, a tuner and a mute switch would get a sale from me straight away.

In fact I have a small mixer I don't use any more as I replaced with an even smaller USB powered one, I got it given to me off here (cheers ahpook!) so I can send it to you for the cost of postage if you like. One of these: It has the power supply and a cloth bag, you'll need a cable to plug your mp3 or whatever in.

Just get a small mixer. Also has the advantage of being a mixer too so you can use it for other stuff. If you want to use your PC then software like Guitar Rig might be of use.

Dunno about the photo on the site, maybe they just knocked something up to show what it looked like? The parts I received match the description. IC has LM358N written on it and 6F008030, the parts list just says LM358.

R1 (the top one in the picture) is 1k, the other three are 100k. The three identical 100k ones were taped together in the kit to seperate them from the 1k one. In the component markings section R1 is labelled as brown, black, red and R2 to R4 are labelled brown, black , yellow. The instructions are actually really clear and easy to follow, I just don't understand why it doesn't work!

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1391826578' post='2361853'] Ah. In which case, two things that I'd double check as a matter of course would be: 1) Did you put the capacitors (C1 and C2) in the right places - you said one of them was different to the picture? 2) Did you fit the electrolytic capacitors (C3 and C4) the right way round? [/quote] The ceramic capacitor which is different to the picture is actually listed in the manual and described in the component marking section. C1 is supposed to be a 1u polyester capacitor, C2 is supposed to be a 100n ceramic capacitor with 104 written on it. The two electrolytic capacitors are in the correct places and are the right way around, the -ve side is markd out on the board. Here's a pic: Excuse the screw terminals, I wanted to fit someafter I first discovered it didn't work so I wasn't soldering to the board all the time but couldn't find any 2 way ones with a 4mm pitch so I had to improvise. There is electrical tape around them and nothing is touching, I'm getting some proper ones next week so these are only temporary.

[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.....