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lemmywinks

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Posts posted by lemmywinks

    Piezo bass bridges - worth it?

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    [quote name='fatback' post='724999' date='Jan 26 2010, 12:04 PM']Neat little box.

    I've already got an outboard Sadowsky that could control the final tone of the bass, Would that do?

    I guess I'd still need some kind of blend pot? Th bass only has tone and vol.

    Interesting thread.[/quote]


    I'm no expert and would appreciate verification, but i thought the buffer preamp would come before the volume/blend pot, so the impedance matches the mag pickups before it goes to the output jack?

    Like i said, i'm just assuming that and not basing it on any technical knowledge whatsoever!

    You could always look at a stacked pot if you don't want to drill any more holes in the bass/pickguard. That's what i'm doing, also takes up less space in the cavity

    Piezo bass bridges - worth it?

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    [quote name='fatback' post='724885' date='Jan 26 2010, 10:04 AM']Will an outboard preamp do the biz for a piezo? I wouldn't want to rout out my passive bass, but the mod sounds mighty attractive.

    Also, do you have to have an extra tone control for the piezo?

    fatback[/quote]

    Here's one i was looking at, can be mounted in a small box:
    [url="http://www.scotthelmke.com/Mint-box-buffer.html"]http://www.scotthelmke.com/Mint-box-buffer.html[/url]

    The one i linked to before is also small and can be made into an outboard unit.

    Correct me if i'm wrong but i thought the puropse of the buffer is to match the impedance of the mag pickups, so i guess you'd need a seperate output fitting to the bass and some way of blending the two signals?

    And no i don't think you need a tone control, i'm having one fitted because i can remember my old acoustic bass having a piezo that had quite harsh, overbearing treble and this needed to be rolled off. I'd rather have the option than not, at least until i've heard what the bass sounds like

    Piezo bass bridges - worth it?

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted · Edited by lemmywinks

    I'm having one of those eBay bridges fitted to my fretless Jazz, it's just gone in to my tech today. I think this is the preamp design he's putting in the bass:

    [url="http://www.till.com/articles/GuitarPreamp/index.html"]http://www.till.com/articles/GuitarPreamp/index.html[/url]


    If you want one a bit cheaper v8bass was selling his, think he's overseas though so don't know what the final cost would be.
    I'm having mine wired to a vol/tone so i can roll off the treble if needed, hopefully i can get a nice acoustic-type sound out of it. A few people on the threads said it was double bass-esque which is what i'm hoping for

    There's a few threads regarding piezo bridges, have a quick search and there's some useful information from people who have retro-fitted one.
    If the bass hasn't got a spacious control cavity you'll need to rout one to make room for the battery, pre and extra pot(s). It'll also need a channel drilling and a little recess making for the piezo cable. Mine used to be active so that's not an issue for me


    When it's all done i'll let you know the results if you're interested? My tech is really busy at the moment so might not be too soon though


    Ta
    Steve

    Lightweight and cheap combos?

    in Amps and Cabs

    Posted

    My housemate's old Kickback 15 kicked out a lot of low end, not too heavy either

    Have you thought about a 2nd hand Superfly/Little Giant and a 2x10 cab?

    I use a Superfly and a 1x12 4ohm cab for quiet practice/rehearsal and it does the trick, the cab was £50 and the heads go for £100 used.


    Soundslive have an ex-display LG1000 at £219:
    [url="http://www.soundsliveshop.com/p/Ashdown_Little_Giant_1000,_Ex-Display/ASH-EX-LTG1000"]http://www.soundsliveshop.com/p/Ashdown_Li.../ASH-EX-LTG1000[/url]

    There's also an Ashdown mini-rig on here at £125:
    [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=74307"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=74307[/url]

    Bit of a strange one...

    in Repairs and Technical

    Posted

    He cam eround the other day and was actually really reasonable, arranging to go round his and investigate the problem when i have time.

    I got the mains conditioner so i'll see if that works. He said that the problem went away for a while but since i've been using the Superfly it's worse. It definitely happened with the Hartke combo though

    I think he's going to have a word with the landlord as he knows him quite well (the landlord used to live in our house), he also said that before the house was rented out the landlord had it rewired by a local firm

    Incidentally the socket i plug the amp into is right next to a TV ariel socket. None of the ariels in our house work apart from the front room one so could that have something to do with it?

    Can anyone advise on and make me a simple buffer preamp?

    in Repairs and Technical

    Posted

    I've finally got all the parts to overhaul my fretless, the final stage is swapping the pickups and fitting the piezo bridge. This is being done by my tech (really my old mate's dad but he's ace with stuff like that)

    I need a buffer preamp making, something small and simple with a volume control and preferably a tone, to be powered off a single 9v battery as i'm changing the mag pickups back to passive

    The ones i've been looking at are these:

    [url="http://www.scotthelmke.com/Mint-box-buffer.html"]http://www.scotthelmke.com/Mint-box-buffer.html[/url]

    [url="http://www.till.com/articles/GuitarPreamp/index.html"]http://www.till.com/articles/GuitarPreamp/index.html[/url]

    [url="http://www.cafewalter.com/cafewalter/fetpre/index.htm"]http://www.cafewalter.com/cafewalter/fetpre/index.htm[/url]


    Do these look alright? I'm leaning towards the last one


    Also i'd like some advice on control layouts, i want a vol/vol/tone for the mag pickup and a vol/tone for the piezo, maybe with a series parallel switch on the mag pickups too

    Can you get a stacked vol/tone pot so i can keep the piezo controls down to one pot?


    Cheers folks!
    Steve

    would this work???

    in Amps and Cabs

    Posted · Edited by lemmywinks

    I'd consider a different amp. To get any amount of power out of the Superfly you'll need 2 cabs*, 4 or 8 ohm.

    I run mine with one 4ohm cab and it's quiet compared to a similarly rated amp, really only loud enough for home practice or maybe with a quiet drummer

    They're also known to have quite a few issues, the cheap ones that a lot of people bought for £199 at the end of the production run were plagued with overheating issues, faulty PCB, cutting out and mine also had a faulty speakon connection.
    Mine has been fine since i took it out of the casing (it looks like a Little Giant with a different graphic eq) but i still wouldn't trust it at a gig. Does sound quite nice though.


    The Schroeder would be much better partnered with a LMII or similar.


    * EDIT: Just remembered Ashdown did a cab with 2 speakon connectors to utilise the full 500w

    Jazz Scratchplate (white) and Pickups, bridge

    in Accessories & Other Musically Related Items For Sale

    Posted · Edited by lemmywinks

    The pickguard is white, 10 hole and came off my Aria. I replaced it with a generic one so should fit most Jazzes - £7 posted


    I also have a set of Jazz pickups (black covers), unknown origin. Bought these off Kev a while ago and didn't use them. Someone thought they might be MIM because of the wire colours.
    £8 posted

    Also have a bent tin bridge, 5 holes at the back, on on each front corner - £3.50 posted


    I'll soon have a set of Hohner JJ pro pickups for sale too, complete with eq and pots/switch/LED/battery clip all prewired - RESERVED

    Also a couple of cheap bridges and some cheap tuners (F-style)

    COMPLETED!

    in Completed Items

    Posted · Edited by lemmywinks

    I got this when i bought my Xbox360, the original owner made the mistake of tilting the console on it's side whilst the disc was spinning and it scratched.
    He said it wasn't working and besides he had bought a replacement for it which i now have.

    I tried this in the Xbox today and it works, i'm not sure if it'll start crashing later in the game or if it's fine as i don't really play my Xbox.
    Blockbuster video will put it through their cleaning machine for about £6 - £7 and it should be fine if it is broken

    Has all the maps, manual and case.

    Best of all it's free!

    New Warwicks...!

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    I guess if you look at the work that goes into the higher end Warwicks the cost makes a bit more sense, after all a Fender is basically a bolted together slab bodied instrument with a forearm and belly schamfer, selling for nearly a grand. Warwicks have all the nice curves and rounded edges.
    Mind you Warwicks are mostly machined now aren't they?

    I think the Infinity deserves to be pretty pricey, it can't be easy to build what with the cavities and f-holes

    I remember a thread a while ago where a BCer took the scratchplate off his MIA Jazz to reveal a clumsy pickup rout which went all the way through to the control cavity. I think that's more shocking on a £900+ instrument than anything Warwick have ever done. Whatever they cost they're extremely well made basses and i doubt any corner-cutting like that happens

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