itu

Something is not connected properly. Crackles and pops tend to do with DC or ground issues. Nothing hinders you to replace the whole preamp with another. Noll, Glockenklang, East, bartolini, Darkglass... they all work with those pickups.

With two ports it is easier to put them to a smaller front panel along with the driver. A bigger one needs more space. Simple as that. If people think that some design principle is better than another, I suggest them to do some blind tests. If the listener sees the equipment, they give funny comments on system's performance. One of the best tests was a speaker test that had just one pair of speakers. This pair was dressed with three different coloured fabrics, one at a time: white, brown and black. With brown cloth the sound of the pair was told to be somewhat muddy (no wonder), with white the speakers had a bit too clean, nearly metallic sound, and with black the sound was articulated. Same music, same pair, different colour. And you were thinking that music is not visual? There is no such thing as The Superior Design. Otherwise everybody would use that and that only. Ever seen such a design? Me neither. Another thing is that PA (i.e. bass) amplification is everything but linear/flat. The frequency response is not that important and that is why there are very different sounds coming from different systems.

If you take an example from hifi, you know that you can go really low with good design of the box, the cross over and the elements. But there are three things that go hand in hand. Let us start with basics. A speaker may be efficient. A speaker may go really low. A speaker may be small. After these three, the speaker may also have a flat frequency response. First of all, a very efficient speaker has very limited frequency response. PA (read: bass) systems tend not to be very flat. But they are efficient! If a speaker needs to go down low, there are these two other parameters that affect the overall performance: the volume of the box and the efficiency. So you can go really low with the same box (volume kept as is) if you just sacrifice efficiency. And vice versa, you can get good lows at high SPL but you need to make the box far bigger. This is plain physics. Hifi guys know, that flat response equals lots of equalizing (through cross over) of the system, which means that the efficiency is sacrificed. And because of size (or design or...) issues, hifi speakers tend to be pretty small and the efficiency is even worse. PA speaker may have the efficiency at a level of 1 - 2 % whereas a hifi speaker at around 0.01 - 0.1 %, which is 10 - 200 times less. One side note: If you think about this modern FRFR jargon, I have to be a bit sceptical. Full frequency AND flat response equals hifi and that is not efficient at all. It requires quite some more power than ordinary PA systems. If a basic modern bass amp has 500 W, who sells these amps with huge power reserve (kilowatts!) and who has those real FRFR speaker systems? How much would they cost and are they really needed - a magnetic pick-up bass has a limited frequency response, too.

Although the power is split to two cabs 33/66 %, the amount of sound (SPL) is not so simple. If you know the sensitivity of the cabs, you can have a more accurate guess of the volume you get from each other. Very, very often this SPL (the actual dBs) is put aside and people look only at power (W). Wattage may give you an idea of loudness but is not exactly telling you anything about perceived loudness.

If someone is interested in tilt eq (like in Quad hifi equipment) or their other pedals, I would suggest to make your move now. They have DIY stuff, too. http://vfepedals.com/

Looks interesting. And messes my plans, because of TWO posssible choices instead of just one: Has anyone tried this Meridian Funk-u-lator? http://www.meridianguitars.com/effects/

Did you try a guitar, sorry, a bass cable into the FX loop? (DC) Snaps tend to have something to do with grounding or connection issues. Last page has a block diagram: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/52d881e0e4b093afad1a2ae2/t/54a30e8ae4b0d05e1a9b7120/1419972234034/mb800-manual.pdf I would try every connection and a switch at a time to try to limit the problem to some block if possible.

- I am so sorry: I can put everything together in to a very short message, or I start a book. Hope this helps. - High impedance (hi-Z) Pure passive system is hi-Z, because a passive pick-up/mic has lots of wire in the coil. It is high impedance by nature. That is also the reason to use high Resistor values in the pots (V and T; typically 200 000 - 500 000 ohms). If you have two pickups, they affect each other if they are connected together with wire and/or pots, which also have an effect on the system. Low impedance (lo-Z) A lo-Z system has at least one active part (blend, bass, middle...) somewhere in the signal chain, which is powered by a battery or some external power source (see: Alembics, EBS preamps...) and drives the signal line. Low amount of wire in the pickup equals very, very low output, so true lo-Z pickups (like EMG) NEED a preamp. Not because of the impedance but to amplify the minimal signal level. The biggest thing to understand here is that if you change any part of the hi-Z ("passive") signal chain to lo-Z ("active"), the system becomes lo-Z. Once more: Active equals low impedance (lo-Z). That's all. Everything else can be "passive" or rather "hi-Z": You can use big resistor values for pots, because high resistor values are OK for BOTH active AND passive use. Low resistor values are good for active only. Lo-Z has advantages like cable lines can be longer and the signal does not get disturbed so easily by other signal sources (like radios). But you need the power source (a 9 V battery, anyone?). If you want to have an A/P switch somewhere (in case of died battery), you also need to bypass the active (i.e. battery driven) parts, too. This noll blend pot has the inputs for pickups and after that you can put a volume pot. I think that everything from 25 k to 500 k is OK. From the electronics point of view it is somewhat cumbersome to have the blend as the first pot after pickups. But the layout in the bass body is naturally V - blend - tone control(s). And as said, V and T can be hi-Z or lo-Z, your choice. http://noll-electronic.de/files/a91_mixpot_wiring_diagram.pdf

Remember: One active component in the chain and you are lo-Z = no more passive. Passive system with two mics just has its drawbacks or sounds, depending on one's attitude. There have been trials to modify the instrument's active output to hi-Z with transformers and whatever but let's say that the results vary. Of course, there is a possibility to build step attenuators that work as mentioned. I have used rotary ELMA switches and metal film resistors. The maths is pretty easy to handle - you can make 3 or 6 dB steps or what ever else you want. Then it is just soldering.

My Glockenklang Soul has two inputs and a switchable eq. Whatever my bassic needs are during the gig, I can quickly switch between active/passive or fretted/fretless or electric/double bass.

Blend solutions from oldest to newest: I: V + V and 1 - 2 T pots, passive. Microphones and pots have influence on each other. Hi-Z out. II: Passive blend pot, master volume. The idea is that the two carbons run only to halfway of the 270 degree turn. This way the mic is full on after 135 degrees and the other mic starts to go to -infinity. Hi-Z out. III: Volume and passive blend pot (or V + V) and an active preamp. Mics and pots have influence on each other. Low-Z out. IV: Preamp with two active inputs. Mics go to separate active buffered inputs before blend and volume. This way the mics or other electronics do not affect each other. Low-Z out.

Good quality silicon cable, Neutrik and shrink tube if needed. A cable tie is a must for every single instrument cable. https://shop.velcro.co.uk/collections/velcro-brand-cable-ties Hicon angled plugs and HQ silicon cable between effects.

I stepped few steps away from my monitor and the repair lines disappeared. I would say that she looks good. And an old way of hiding something is to put something flashy just beside it. Special knob(s), maybe?

Just take a look on the other side, too: http://alembic.com/info/fcvault.html

No worries, mate. Remember to play with the grains.

Do you know how violin tuners are fixed after the largest pegs turn loose? Could you do something similar here? Fill the hole (and maybe put a veneer underside for extra support?) with the same wood and glue it to its place. Sand to the same level. No one sees it anymore, if not you. You still have some wood left, don't you?

Sir Bridgehouse: my choice would be unlined. Those fretboards do not look so good with lines and even worse with the dots. And as Mr. Happy Jack said, you can't even see them. Why bother? (But glow in the dark side dots help.) By the way, your fourstringer looks fabulous, just like the fivestringer up there somewhere. My life with a five string bass did not start very well. It took quite a lot of time - probably around six months - but then those "oh dear, instead of C I played G" stopped. It just took time. Now I can change basses because I anchor my fingers (mentally) starting from the highest string, so G. A while ago I tried to play a four string tuned HEAD but this did not work for me. Reading notes and not looking the fretboard just does not happen. Old dog does not even learn old tricks anymore...

Hellzero: And I used to have 3 Alfa 33. Heard once, that this is the car that you can hear rust while driving in rain. Sad but true... I knew that my answer may raise eyebrows. I just pointed out that the ultimate unit is related to its time, too. I do like Clevinger, the Finnish handmade fretless, and both Vigier Passions. And every now and then some others.

Lovely question! I want to take a historical perspective on this issue. First of all, bass has not so much to do with violin, NO! It predates from the gamba family. They are fretted or fretless, several strings, can be played with fingers and bow. Their size became bigger, while these bigger bands were founded. Symphony bands, that is. Double bass or contra bass is the big thing that may have frets (yes, there are fretted instruments, there) but the most common are big, fretless boxes with 4 or 5 strings. You can find a double bass with 3 strings or 6. During 20th century we were given lots of electricity and that drove people to create electric stuff - and basses. Paul Tutmarc, Leo Fender et al. did a great job. So if we take a quick look in inventions on electric ones, I would like to point out few specialities or inventions (at their time): Tutmarc's instrument was probably one of the very first commercial trials, although his success among few others was less than modest. So in 1951 Leo F. came out with his Precision. I do remind you, that his instrument was so new, that it took around ten years to build a solid market. Many players still relied on double bass - or its electrified version with an Ampeg mic (amplified peg). So at that time if you wanted to be in the forefront, the best option was a Fender, also because competitors had very similar basses. Another reminder: the Precision was relatively cheap, as the parts were well thought out (i.e. simple and easy to fit together) and could be done in big series. For example Rickenbacker has a through-neck that is far more complicated to produce. Model 4000 had a price tag of U$D 280 which was U$D 60 more than a P. That was nearly 30 % more expensive in 1957! A Volkswagen Beetle cost U$D 1500. So if a brand new Ford Fiasco today costs approx. £ 14 000, this would equal that a Ric would cost around £ 2600 (Thomann: £ 1800) and a P £ 1900. A new Squier P costs under £ 200 and this way the bass is practically available to anyone. During the sweet 60's choices were somewhat limited but you could buy a 6-string bass - maybe it would be called a baritone guitar today. There were semi acoustics, a Thunderbird and a Fender V but still the selection was pretty limited. 1970's changed a lot: rock trios wanted more! And people wanted to be in rock bands. This meant that many players wanted instruments and some of them wanted something different. Dan Armstrong made their plexi glass thing, Alembic started the active era, G. Gould played with graphite. And before the decade turned to furry animals, Stan and Jaco came to town. You should not forget studio aces that wanted more, like Jimmy Johnson who was one of the first bassists that wanted a low B. The eighties were filled with hair. Oh dear! If you needed a special shape to your bass, you probably could find it. Some of those instruments can be seen every now and then but I think that they belong to 80's. Because more was the thing at that time, luthiers produced more of those beautiful wood creations - with more strings. It was time for the 6th string to become a standard. On the other hand, while aluminum and carbon fiber were introduce during the previous decade, the designer Ned Steinberger draw this minimalist L-2. It was ready in the late 70's but manufacturing started in 1981. No head at all! After those 1970's "incredible" innovations and 1980's multi-string creations, there were still things like a working MIDI bass (thanks Steve Chick), acoustic bass guitars, and different scale lengths. So lots of opportunities, far wider selection than ever before. To raise one specific area outside the actual instrument during 21st century is the (relatively) low cost digital music production. New players along with youtube and other world wide wait stuff have given people lots of possibilities to find their own bass sound. May it be a keyboard or a 10-string exotic wood smörgåsbord, a pad or "just an ordinary P". My favorite and best instrument is bass. Simple or exotic, it's my choice. I drive an Alfa 33, 1990. It is black.

Usually I try to set the gain as high as possible without distortion to fill the channel and lessen the noise. If overdriven sound is needed my amp (Soul) can make that happen, too but I use a fuzz or a tube OD for that. Very low preamp and high power amp level is the key to produce excessive noise that I find unnecessary. Active does not equal louder by definition. My active single coils (Benedetti) are not as loud as passive humbuckers (Delano, Q-tuner). But the big difference is the impedance: active is low Z and passive is high Z. This has a lot to do how the first pedal (or in case of just cable, the first amp stage) behaves. And this is the reason why an OD or fuzz has different sound with different electronics. Nowadays I have one pedal board for passive basses and another for active ones. Amptweaker tight bass fuzz for low Z and Spruce effects Old growth fuzz for passive. Other effects that seem to be pretty Z-dependent are compressors. Side-by-side comparison showed so many issues that now I have tce Hypergravity (for low Z), Daring Audio Phat beam and Fairfield Accountor. Especially these passive bass compressors are not transparent but that is something I just happen to like. I try to set (pedal) gains so that the levels are all the same.