Bridgehouse

My signal chain on stage is DI from preamp into FRFR monitor then DI out (passthrough) from there into the PA. Means I have my own monitor all for me that I set volume on independently. Soundman does what he wants with the output then Let me know if you want to pop over to try some stuff out.

Pop down your local chemist and buy a pack of these - you'll soon be back to thinking that the gear will make a difference and the GAS will be back

I've just rewatched that vid.. the strings are off. Hmmmm. It sort of sounds like the ground connection in the actual pickup itself is faulty. The best way would actually be to test continuity using a meter between each point and see where it's failing...

^ Bridge earth. Sounds like the pickup is naturally noisy, and the strings (which act like antennas) are picking up a bit of noise from certain locations - if they aren't properly grounded then it will buzz. Touching stuff to get rid of the buzz means it's not a grounding issue with the electronics as such, but more likely an issue with string grounding. It should go away when you touch the strings in the same way it does when you touch the knobs. Having a bass with piezo saddles, a carbon fibre back plate for the strings, and no metal contact along the whole length I know very bitterly how string grounding can really make a difference to stray buzzing with single coils

Just looked - Southend - I'm Peterborough so it's a bit of a trek but not too bad. Again, you are welcome to come and try some just to see and see how your bass sounds in a preamp into PA type setup.

It was surprisingly pain free as John East's preamps are exceptionally logical, well built and well configured. But I take your point If you were close to me you could pop over and try a range of preamp pedals (I've got half a dozen or so) so you could see what you do/don't like - your bass into a preamp pedal then out into my FRFR monitor (which for all purposes is basically the same as a PA) Let me know if that's of interest.

Haha! Having wired up that Shuker and mucked about with the piezo saddles for best contact with the strings I'm happy to say no matter what you do, I've probably been there Having said that, the Shuker is still probably my fave bass of all time - and I'm totally sold on Piezo and how it can sound on bass. I really like the tones I get out of it and it's been worth every bit of the pain and effort to get it perfect.

Yeah - I'm going through that "investigating options" phase at the moment

Good shout - I forgot about the studiospares on - nice clean tone and the notch is really handy. I have learned the hard way that a piezo pickup really does need a different type of preamp to get the most out of it...

I must admit, I don't get the whole "making one bass sound like another".. I have my own style of playing - it comes through on whatever bass I play. But, I relish the idea of different basses sounding different. I like my P basses with their mid-hump, I like my Shuker with it's blend of piezo and jazz and a through-board that gives it a massive low end sustain, I love my ACG for sounding punchy live, and I love the fact that I have a 51P with a ric-o-like pickup in, specially wound for me which sounds clanky and clangy. With each one, I like trying them through different amps, pedals and modellers - and adjusting it to sound the way I want to sound If everyone else in the band either says nothing, or gives me the odd "nice bass tone" then I know I'm in the right place. The guitarist in our band also plays bass. I know I've hit the spot on one particular song where I play a big fat sustained low G and octave G above. If it's bang on sound wise then he will glance over and give me an "oooooooooh mmmmmmmm" face which means "yeah, that's the stuff...."

Oh dear - no wonder you can't tell the difference in sound between different basses

The cringlewangers require precise timing alignment or your playing will be slightly behind the beat. I use a special cringletimer: which attaches to the gripper splark and lets you manage the timing properly. Careful of cowboys who say they can set these using the guitar version (they are a totally different tool:)

I've not tried the platinum pro, but it would certainly be worth a go - as it's main usage is usually piezo style pickups anyway. I've got piezo saddles in my Shuker Fretless, (as well as a mag under the board). John East did me a preamp for it with a separate piezo pre and then his 4 knob standard EQ. The piezo saddles go through the piezo pre and then on into the main preamp for eq etc. What's interesting is that John's preamp has a treble roll off on it as the main control, to help shape the piezo sound and get rid of some quack - it works a treat. I would imagine the that the platinum pro may do a similar job tbh (just on the floor rather than onboard the bass) a bit like the LR Baggs would do too. Knowing it's a piezo, I'd avoid the valve based preamp pedals, and the ones that have drive on them, and stick to something that's centred around good quality EQ'ing and gain/output control. Ironically, I also think the HX Stomp would do a good job with this bass as well, as my Helix does a cracking job of getting a good sound out of my piezo saddles as well.. I've learned too much about piezo's on bass after having the Shuker - more than anyone should know in one lifetime I reckon

The action was a bit high on one of my basses so I spranged the floggle toggle a bit, adjusted each of the cringlewangers and then reset the flangoplonge. Played beautifully afterwards.

Fingerboard... it's a fingerboard.... 😁

Yep - there we go. You need an onboard preamp to deal with the high impedance output of a piezo pickup and make it usable in most amplification situations. The output from your mouse will be "regular" after the preamp. A nice floor mounted Preamp/DI will let you do some tone changing and tweaking - given it's a piezo I'd go for a nice clean sounding one like the LR Baggs Stadium to get the most out of the piezo sound - you can use it to cut out some of the really high frequency noise you sometimes get with a piezo or add some mids back in, which are often missing in a Piezo as well.

I can hear the other members of my band all saying “WTF are you lot on about?? Lol”

I’m not sure the origin of “it’s all in the fingers” is really related to different instrument sounds. It’s more about the player, and attitude to playing, and deciding what is going to get you to where you want to be. For some, the bass, the amp, the effects etc etc seem to be the be-all and end-all on getting good tone, and getting a sound that they really want. But the reality is that at the end of the day it’s all in practise, good technique and hard work. For me, that’s the spirit of it - buying all the expensive gear and expecting to sound like your bass heroes isn’t going to happen - because their tone is in their fingers - which have had years of practise, hard work, and experience.

What sort of pickups are in the mouse? Is there a Piezo element? If so, that will explain the Preamp as you need something active onboard to change the impedance of the piezo output tonsomething usable by a traditional bass amplifier

*trying really hard not to come across as sarcasm* An on-board Preamp is on board your bass, and an external one is, um, external... No, really - there might be a few extras on the external like compression, drive, DI out etc but they are essentially both doing the same job - taking your passive signal and amping it with active electronics - allowing you to shape the tone with EQ etc.

I’ve met her and she’s my bass hero.

Wasn’t the idea to sling it low to hide ones unwanted teen embarrassment?

And for clarity, “the worst” is:

I thought they were all universities now...?