Count Bassy

By having two coil slightly apart in the classic humbucker there will be certain high order harmonics that will be out of phase in thetwo coils and thus cancl out, which I imaging would affect the tone to some extent. I.e the fundamental will be in phase in both coils. Rather like having both pickups on in a Jazz (but much less of course).

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1379958561' post='2218774'] He did say small/medium venues though. I think band tend to scimp on P.A's ... and for the few pubs we do, we will just put the tops up... but there are tops and TOPS. You can count the band round here with GOOD P.A's on one hand, tbh...and the vox sounding as good as poss is something to aim for. If I was doing it on the cheap... I'd go for a decent Soundcraft mixer into Martin cabs...with decent power amps, That will cost you about £1500 min if you are very lucky to find them..and isn't likely to be the lightest... Be careful with SH gear that will have had a pasting but can't really take it. If I've heard one band with a blown P.A ..then I heard a fair few. Sorry, soapbox here... but I really don't understanhd bands rehearsing to get it right, and then sound poor ..and it isn't the playing. It is core sounds being poor..... and if you get these right, the sound checks are so much easierf..AND faster. [/quote] I'm not really arguing with you. In principle go for the best PA you can afford (up to a point), but for some bands £5K is out of the question, especially if your just starting up, and you can get away with a lot less if you're careful (as you illustrate yourself). I'm not quite sure what constitutes a 'small' venue, or when that becomes 'medium', but I would say that most pubs (round here at least) would count as small if you're playing in the main bar areas.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1379863338' post='2217506'] Having said that a band is a communial expense, a good P.A can set a band back £5k easily enough ...and various band member can have that tied up in their own kit...so it is not so much who owns it, but who sets it up and who carries it [/quote] Although if you take your time and buy second hand you can get a very reasonable PA for a lot less than that. Depends on what type of gigs you're doing. You don't need a £5K PA for the average pub gig! IMO of course!. And a useful hint I was given was to always set up the mix before you start adding any effects, reverb and stuff (hate reverb myself).

But, as mentioned, a nut problem will put all the bottom end frets out (getting less as you move away from the nut), and the OP only mentions the 3rd fret.

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1379091602' post='2208642'] It still annoys me that the bass player didn't get a solo at the end of the film, whereas everyone else did. [/quote] She was probably too busy chewing gum, by the looks of this video!

Screw a lot of lead weights on to it?

I had this with an acoustic guitar and is was a duff string, so I'd suggest changing strings first., and think again if its still the same. Is the tuning at all the other frets OK?

[quote name='Junkyard Rocket' timestamp='1378502779' post='2201352'] Martin Petersen once told me that its best not to and you shouldn't need to cut strings to length. But what does he know! I bet he's not tried string an ashbory recently. [/quote] I always do, because if you don't then on a 2 + 2 (or similar) head layout you get a stupid amount of string round your G string spigot, which pushes the string to the top or bottom of the spigot, and it just looks horrible. Also, I've read here that if you have too much round the spigot then it won't hold tune so well. I seem to remember reading on a manufacturer's web site somewhere (Fender I think), that you should cut the strings so that they go beyond the spigot by about 3 inches. I'v always done that and it works for me. Of course if you one of these who leaves 6 inches of string flailing in the air then it's not a problem. One problem with cutting them in advance is, of course, that if you have 2+2 and in-line style basses (or string through/not string through bridges) then you can't change your mind as to which bass to put them on.

[quote name='Mr Bassman' timestamp='1378506668' post='2201395'] Just tell her to mind her own business and get back in the kitchen! Ouch!!!!! [/quote] If you hadn't left the chain so long she'd never have got out in the first place.

A serious one: Cut your spare set of strings to length before you put them in the case/gig bag. Saves a lot of time and hassle on the night if an unscheduled string change is required.

AFAICR I've only played one Mexican Fender which is my MIM Urge Mk1. It's a great instrument. Sounds good an plays well. I also have a USA built one. It is a better instrument, but mainly in terms of features (E.g. smaller head stock, enclosed (Better IMO) tuners, extra pick up, passive/active, micro tilt neck etc) rather than fundamental build quality. Neck and fret board on the Mex are great. It cost me half what the US one cost and was worth every penny. Sadly moved onto 5 strings these days so neither gets played much.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1378334370' post='2198969'] Its analogue because the pulses can be any width. And a filter isn't a digital to analogue converter. [/quote] Any width that's a multiple of the controlling DSP clock (might be thinking more in terms of servo amplifiers here), and the filter takes a digital signal (all right, one bit resolution) and generates a true analogue value. Sound like an D to A process to me, if not in the conventional sense. So is a bit in my PC memory, that can be set to 0 or 1 for any length of time, an analogue device? According some definitions here the only thing that's digital on my computer is the sound card, because it has A/D and D/A converters.! Please don't think I'm taking this too seriously by the way. It's just a bit of banter you know. Irrespective of what we call them here's a link to an interesting, not too technical, article on how they work, including some of their short-comings. [url="http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1274757"]http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1274757[/url]

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1378330502' post='2198877'] OK I think I understand where you are confusing analogue and digital. The control aspect of class D amps are often driven my MOSFETs which act like switches (or indeed by digital controllers), however these components are controlling an analogue waveform and you have to consider the difference between analogue and digital in terms of how they are quantised. The amps are not digital in the sense that they do not deal with discrete voltage levels (steps). [/quote] I refer the honourable gentleman to my previous answer. Except to add that they do deal with discrete voltage levels. Off and on!!! Typed on my trusty analogue computer. [size=4] [/size] [size=4] [/size] Lot of smilies because it's really not that important.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1378332082' post='2198914'] The bit that makes class D not digital is the lack of an analogue to digital conversion step. [/quote] Analogue comes in and is converted to a 2 state (On/Off) signal at the output transistors, albeit PWM. Filtering/smoothing and frequency response of the speaker then converts this PWM signal to an approximation of the original analogue signal. The output of the amplifier as whole is analogue (I've never argued otherwise ). The output devices are working digitally. I guess it comes down to whether you call PWM digital because its on/off, or analogue because ?????.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1378329935' post='2198857'] Hm. At face value, you sound a lot more serious than I was in the post you respond to. Whatever the case may be, I'm not able to have a serious talk about the degree to which certain elements in processes and concepts are this or that - in a language that is not my own. Nor am I willing to on this forum. [/quote] Perhaps I should have stuck a smiley on there! To be honest I'm not really that bothered either, it's all just words, and what they sound like is the important thing. I think the only digital/class D amp I've ever played through is GB shuttle 9 (Not mine) it was only at practice volume and sounded fine to me.

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1378328830' post='2198834'] My desk lamp is digital! I love lamp [/quote] This I agree with as long, as you ignore the 50Hz sine wave !

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1378316285' post='2198567'] The old water analogy. Volts is pressure and amps is volume. You can't have water pressure with no water volume, nor can you have any volume flow with zero pressure. [/quote] I'm talking about the output/switching device, not the load. If you turn a tap off then you get no water flow (current), but the full mains water pressure (voltage) remains in the pipe work behind it. i.e. the full mains water pressure is lost across the tap. If you turn the tap fully on then you get a large water flow, but the pressure loss across the tap is practically zero (depending on the size of the tap and the flow). The pressure loss is now across your sprinkler or whatever (loudspeaker). Either way the energy dissipated in the tap is (ideally) very small.

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1378327176' post='2198791'] Nonsense! It IS an analogue process. Keep your IMOs to yourself, sir. BTW, made me remember how some people would never get that a Compact Disc is an analogue medium (admittedly for digitally encoded info). [/quote] Nonsense! It is a one bit digital process. And a CD is not an analogue medium, any more than a computer hard disk is. It is a digital representation of an analogue signal. I.e. a collection of 1s an 0s, which are combined to represent and approximation to an analogue value.

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1378321499' post='2198660'] Class D amps use pulse width modulation i.e. varying on-off pulse lengths, its still fundamentally (IMO) an analogue process since the pulse widths are "analogous" to the original signal voltage and have a theoretically infinite precision. In order for something to be "digital" it must involve encoding the signal as a number (which necessarily has finite precision). To explain it another way, a class D amp translates an analogue voltage signal to an analogue time domain signal, then back to a much bigger analogue voltage. [/quote] I think we're arguing over semantics here. I agree with what you're saying* and our two views not incompatible. In my view however because the output devices are either on or off I'd still call it digital ([i]albeit with a 1 bit resolution[/i]), as opposed to analogue where the output devices can be any state between on and off. The fact that it's a PWM output, doesn't (IMO) make it any less digital.If a bit in a computer is going on and off at varying intervals that doesn't make it analogue does it? Yes after the various output filters, and frequency response of the speaker, the resulting signal is analogue, but the output devices themselves are still working digitally I.e. they are on or off, like bits in a PC. [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] *Apart from: "In order for something to be "digital" it must involve encoding the signal as a number (which necessarily has finite precision)." I'm not sure on the details of digital amps, but I know that in digital servo drives the actual PWM is generally controlled by a DSP - a digital device.[/font][/color]

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1378293965' post='2198169'] There is much to disagree with in those two paragraphs. [/quote] Go on then.

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1378284729' post='2198005'] The reason that some D Class amps have been less reliable is that manufacturers have been answering requests for gear to not only be lightweight, but also as small as possible too. Therein lies the problem. Taking away all the space from inside the amplifier means in an overload situation the amp components get hotter faster and not being able to cool enough leads to component failure. Which leads to another interesting foible of the small amplifier revolution. In order to keep these high power amps in small boxes cool, smaller faster fans are used. Some have been noted to be a bit more 'obvious' when they kick up to full speed! The only other major reliability issue that i've seen so far is using really cheap far eastern machining - but this isn't limited to just D Class kit. I'm a little reluctant to take 100% opinion from an electronics engineer who calls D Class a 'digital amplifier' [/quote] Well a class D amplifier is digital in that its output devices are either ON or OFF, much like a digital computer. (Same as a switch mode power supply) That's the whole point. When off there is voltage across the output device but no current (hence 0 watts dissipated in the output device). When on there is a high current but (ideally) no volts across the device (hence 0 watts again). Hence the low heat generation.

[quote name='england smith' timestamp='1378056251' post='2195248'] I am a business owner that soptlights different artists. I was given the opportunity to interview Rocco, and I decided that his fans and fellow musicians should ask the questions. My website is www.spajuves.com [/quote] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I think the "Who are you" question was for Rocco Prestia, not for you!![/font][/color]

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1377782028' post='2191719'] Matters of taste aside, I couldn't help feeling it was very loose, considering these are well regarded bass players. Above all else, it ought to be nice and tight! [/quote] It's a jam, not a rehearsed concert. .... and I love the rug.

[quote name='Phil Adams' timestamp='1377859409' post='2192822'] How accurate are modern electronic tuners anyway?? Do they vary?? Do they suffer from hot or cold?? [/quote] I have a Fender pedal tuner, an old Korg AT-12 , and a tuner in my Tascam GTR1. The Marshall and the GTR1 always disagree by a bit (not actually audible, but shows up when you swap tuners).

Struggling to understand this a bit. However good the bass, however tight the tuners, surely the ambient temperature will affect the strings directly? (All my basses stay pretty well in tune when kept at home). I did a physics degree, but I can't be arsed to work out what effect say a 20 Celsius change would have on a steel string.