silverfoxnik

[quote name='BOD2' post='125344' date='Jan 22 2008, 11:18 AM']Could the pickups actually be wired out of phase with each other ? There should be two wires from each pickup - a "hot" and a "ground". In a passive bass both "ground" wires would be connected together to the ground of the bass (usually one of the pot shells) and the "hot" of each pickup goes to the volume or balance control. If you connect one of the pickups round th worng way (i.e. "hot" to the ground connection and vice versa) then each pickup will sound ok on its own but will sound "out of phase" with each other when played together. Can you trace the ground/hot from the pickups to make sure they're ok ? As long as both pickups have the SAME hot/ground wiring it should be ok. Failing that....say hello to Bernie for me [/quote] Gave that a try last night but it made no difference so I'll say hi to Bernie for you! Pretty confused now so it's over to the expert...

[quote name='Merton' post='125335' date='Jan 22 2008, 11:00 AM']Do you reckon it could come up the M23 and pick me up on route? I'll let you play my Groove the whole way there... [/quote] There's an offer I can't refuse!! Right; so that's Mert, WalMan and me in the Bass Bus and at £55 hire for the day + petrol that's already as cheap as trying to get there by train.. And definitely cheaper than going seperately.. Any other takers?

[quote name='BOD2' post='125344' date='Jan 22 2008, 11:18 AM']Could the pickups actually be wired out of phase with each other ? There should be two wires from each pickup - a "hot" and a "ground". In a passive bass both "ground" wires would be connected together to the ground of the bass (usually one of the pot shells) and the "hot" of each pickup goes to the volume or balance control. If you connect one of the pickups round th worng way (i.e. "hot" to the ground connection and vice versa) then each pickup will sound ok on its own but will sound "out of phase" with each other when played together. Can you trace the ground/hot from the pickups to make sure they're ok ? As long as both pickups have the SAME hot/ground wiring it should be ok. Failing that....say hello to Bernie for me [/quote] Hi BOD2, That's kind of what I've been thinking about today - i.e. swapping round one of the pick up's wires first to see what happens.. And then if that doesn't work, swapping round the other pick up's wires.. I'll give it a try again tonight. At the moment, each pick up has one wire that goes to the EBS pre-amp and the other wire goes to a common ground.. Trouble is, because the colour of the KSD pick up wiring was different to the colour of the Fender pick up's wiring and the EBS wires from the pre-amp are different again, there's no easy fix using colour coding.. Hence my confusion!

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='124318' date='Jan 21 2008, 02:07 AM']It's straightforward. If memory servers me correctly, there are three pins coming out the middle of the epoxy resin on the preamp. Trace the cables back to the the pickups in place. There should be a hot and a common ground. Note what goes where, remove and solder the new ones in. If you are still struggling, give me a shout back and I'll see if I can find my notes on the preamp. PS - there should also be a toggle switch on the preamp to activate the sweepable midrange.[/quote] Cheers for the help guys but I have had two goes at this now and failed for some reason I can't quite fathom (apart from my obvious stupidity). When I looked at what I had done yesterday, I realised I had the pick ups in the wrong place; i.e bridge p/u in the neck position and vice versa! So, tonight I refitted them into their right places, swapped the wiring over accordingly and thought that all would be OK.. But it's still doing this wierd 'out of phase' thing where, when a pick up is solo'd, it sounds great. But when the balance control is in the centre, the sound of both pick ups sounds thin, almost flanged or phased which is bloody odd! As a complete guess, I think it's something to do with a fundamental difference betwen the way KSD pick ups need to be wired into the EBS pre-amp which is completely different to how the Fender pick ups would need to be wired in.. But right now I'm too knackered and p*ssed off to think it through.. And even then I doubt I'd come up with the right answer.. So, it's off to see Bernie at the weekend I think! I'll let you know what happens.. Thanks again. Nik

[quote name='WalMan' post='124325' date='Jan 21 2008, 03:13 AM']Nearly. I was just planning a large sheet for Saturday to keep you in suspense [/quote] Cool!!

[quote name='WalMan' post='124876' date='Jan 21 2008, 06:10 PM']Hopefully I can make this Would probably bring: [list] [*]Markbass CMD121H combo [*]Wal Pro1 (converted to Custom) [*]Whatever else I may have at the time [/list] I could also bring my old 60's Marshall Superbass 100, but have no cab for it (as #2 son uses it as a guitar amp) and would need something to plug it into if so otherwise it's a bit of a heavy beastie to be lugging around[/quote] Great news Ped! And I can make it too... so I'm proposing that any Basschatters down on the 'sarf coast' consider travelling up together and sharing a minibus, which I can hire relatively cheaply..Don't mind sharing the driving either? Geography wise, me and WalMan are in Littlehampton which is 20 miles west of Brighton.. Who's nearby and fancies a Bass Spods Day out to this then?? Bass wise, I think some of us should refrain from saying what we're going to bring because there' still over 2 months of buying/selling time in between But, I'll be bringing the Roscoe Beck V and my Wal for definite.. Nik

[quote name='WalMan' post='124275' date='Jan 20 2008, 11:48 PM']This is just greedy Nik - three threads and counting. [/quote] I didn't know that Nufin to do wiv me tho', Guv! Honest! BTW, have you arrived at G&L central yet?

[quote name='The Burpster' post='123694' date='Jan 20 2008, 10:47 AM']Nik, Its a piece of cake, PM me if you need help.[/quote] Not quite the piece of cake I thought it might be... Pick ups in, much quieter and more even tone across all the strings but when putting the pick up balance control in the centre, the pick ups sound out of phase???? Sorry - forgot to mention that this bass has an EBS pre-amp and the controls are vol/balance/bass/treble. Any thoughts? Nik

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='123663' date='Jan 20 2008, 10:10 AM']Haha.. we had a bit of that in a locals place we played last night. And they always come and tell you when you're in the middle of playing a fast song. "Oh yeah, I've got a hand free, I'll just sort that now for you..."[/quote] +1 Good point Old Git but in this case, the guy may have known the room better than us from hearing bands in there regularly, but he didn't know anything about live sound at all which was obvious from his comments.. And as usual, like most bands do I suspect, we worked around it and got on with it so no harm done. Just a bit irritating..

Thanks for the advice - i will proceed with caution! [quote name='WishICouldWalk' post='123818' date='Jan 20 2008, 02:21 PM']I don't normally use fast fret because I'm not really after a super bright sound and in any case, my fingers seem to get a slight reaction to it. I think due to the DJ not being used much, the strings had a buildup of that slightly sticky dust and the solvent in fast fret got rid of it. Basically, fast fret seems to me to be a solvent that doesn't smell horrible. When changing the pickups, just be really careful when you lift the control plate because I think it's quite easy to break the wire that goes into the preamp - you'll see what I mean - there's a thick wire that goes straight into the circuit and that broke hence the original issue. I'm not sure what Bernie did to fix it. I'm sure it's all fine but dig around with caution. If my memory serves me correctly, either the Fender pickups are a fair bit deeper than the KSD's or it's the other way round - you may have to add or remove foam to get the Fenders to fit properly. RE The date: I don't think she's going anywhere and as you said, man's got to get his priorities straight![/quote]

[quote name='WishICouldWalk' post='123774' date='Jan 20 2008, 01:11 PM']Just did a trade with Nik. My Jazz 5 string for his Lakland DJ5. Nik's a great bloke to deal with from the transactional point of view as well as to just chat about all things bass Keep your eyes peeled for his gear for sale!!![/quote] Cheers Isaac! Enjoy the bass...

[quote name='WishICouldWalk' post='123772' date='Jan 20 2008, 01:04 PM']I'm loving the bass. Possibly the bass to end all basses? I was going to ask whether the strings had 'Thieves of Sustain' written on the packet, but I cleaned them fast fret and after a couple of hours playing they're heaps better. I think this could be the intrument that inspires me to a new level. It's been a pleasure dealing with you, I'll try to get down to one of your gigs soon. [/quote] Glad to hear it's what you hoped for! Does fast fret work then - I always thought it was a bit of a con? I'm going to change the pick ups over in the Jazz later today which will be interesting given my luddite knowledge of all things electric...See you soon and hope you managed to rearrange the date!! Cheers Nik

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='123687' date='Jan 20 2008, 10:43 AM']I've had a go myself Nik, and if you're any good with a soldering iron (I'm hopeless) it's easy. To make sure I connected everything back correctly, I took a photograph for reference and didn't experience any problems.[/quote] That's a good idea Homer, thanks mate! Will definitely do that now that you and Bob suggest it's within my limited capabilities.. Cheers Bob - I expect the scenario will go like this: 9.00pm - Nik takes strings & scratchplate off bass 9.03pm - takes picture as per Homer's suggestion 9.04pm - takes Ken Smith pick ups out 9.08pm - Swears repeatedly and, send PM to The Burpster

Hi Folks Just done a deal with WishICouldWalk for my Lakland DJ5 (or should I say ex-DJ5) and it was a totally trouble free transaction. He's a great guy to deal with...Not only did he throw in a few extras that I didn't expect, but was really punctual and kept in touch at all times which as had been said before on the Forum, makes all the difference when we're buying/selling/trading our precious hard-earned bass gear! I know WishICouldWalk has some gear up for sale at the moment, so if you're interested in it, rest assured that he's a good person to deal with. Thanks for everything Isaac, especially the hilarious text message and enjoy the Lakland Cheers Nik

Hi Folks Having moved my Lakland DJ5 on, I've now got a 1998 USA Fender Jazz 5 to play with and it's surprisingly, a very nice bass! But it's got Ken Smith jazz pick ups in it, like the ones fitted in the KSD range which don't quite match up with the string spacing, particularly where the E & B strings are concerned.. Luckily I have the original pick ups as well and I'd like to refit them because I'm pretty sure they will sound better and be a lot quieter and most importantly, they will match the string spacing exactly. So, does anyone know if there's a thread on here about how to change pick ups over so that even a luddite like me could do the job..Or could anyone offer some simple advice on how to do it? Thanks for the help.. Cheers Nik

We did a gig at a pub in Brighton Marina last night. Great crowd - had them all singing and dancing by the end of the evening so can't complain.. ..But just how scary is it when pub landlords or managers start telling you how to do your sound!!! You want to say something like " P*ss off and go pull some pints and we'll do our F*ing sound, thanks" but you can't, can you.... Typical sh*te acoustics in there as well, but did I start telling him how to rebuild his pub? Good night though...

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='121842' date='Jan 16 2008, 11:47 PM']We played phone tag, so am calling him tomorrow morning.. will let you know then![/quote] Spoke to Bernie today and he confirmed that the EBS circuit can't be changed internally by trimming the pots. shame He said that this circuit is really something that started as a one-off idea but has become pretty popular to the point where, they will be including it as one of the EBS products available on the new GB Guitars website when it launches in a few weeks.

[quote name='WalMan' post='122918' date='Jan 18 2008, 03:38 PM']Do we have to sing Summer Holiday all the way? [/quote] Yes - in the style of Mark King and Marcus Miller!!

[quote name='ped' post='122878' date='Jan 18 2008, 02:24 PM']WOW A BASSCHAT BUS!!! We could do a roadshow and visit all corners of the UK handing out business cards and stickers!![/quote] From small acorns.....

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='122846' date='Jan 18 2008, 01:37 PM']Well organise one then. We had a successful London and South East bash last year even though I missed it [/quote] +1 It's well worth doing.. At the SE Bash last August, I learnt a great deal, had a good laugh and made some good friends too.. plus got to try out loads of great basses and amps. So, I'm definitely going to try to be at the one in Northampton which should be fine provided there's nothing absolutely unmoveable in the family/work diary. Perhaps some of us south coast Basschatters could travel up together?? I can get a bus for £55 per day + petrol that seats 10 people and would still have plenty of room for gear, if anyone's interested.. Nik

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='121814' date='Jan 16 2008, 10:58 PM']What's the score then? What did Bernie say?[/quote] We played phone tag, so am calling him tomorrow morning.. will let you know then!

[quote name='WarPig' post='120095' date='Jan 14 2008, 01:58 PM']The compressor Nick sold me arrived today, not a problem great guy to deal with.[/quote] +1 Nick's a great guy to deal with.. Bought a Rack case from him back in December which never arrived.. After 3 weeks of crap, Parcelfarce as Nick so rightly calls them, finally got their heads out of their arse and admitted the item was lost! Without any hesitation, Nick has fully refunded me whilst he seeks full compensation from PF.. An absolute gent and a scholar! Thanks for the excellent communications throughout Pete and good luck with the claim.. BTW, if you need me to back up anything to help with the claim, only too happy to help. Cheers Nik