TheRev

[quote name='yorkshiremike' timestamp='1489535537' post='3257809'] I'll also try taping some bass guitar pickups on just to see if the strings work well with mag pickups. I believe they might be nylon core with a steel wrapping. [/quote] You'll most likely need steel core strings to use a magnetic pickup as there's not enough metal mass in the wrap to generate a useable current.

I've used sandpaper on super silvers and Presto Nylons to improve bow grip - it certainly improves grip but not tone... I have Spiro weichs and innovation braided on my basses. Both can be played arco or pizz but the Spiros are much better for pizz and the Braided better for arco. I actually quite like the Braided for pizz as well, they have quite a nice old school dark tone. IMHO, for pizz the braided E and A are the best sounding E and A of the whole Innovation range.

[quote name='Ajoten' timestamp='1489408349' post='3256613'] Have to say I was somewhat taken aback at the price of strings. Only "cheap" ones are of an Alice brand which no doubt the old DB lags will try and steer me clear of. [/quote] Now you listen here young man....... ;-) I'd say use whatever works best for you - if that happens to be a £50 set off Ebay then happy days! However... There's a reason that lots of people use Thomastik Spirocores or Evah Pirazzi - they're very playable and they sound good and they last. In the grand scheme of things, a set of Innovation braided are cheap (by double bass string standards) and if you like them, there's no reason for you to buy another set of strings for the rest of your playing life - they will last that long. Check out the DB 'for sale' forum - the old DB lags are always selling off sets that they bought but didn't like or their bass didn't like. You can save 50% off the cost of a new set if you're patient enough to wait for the right set to come up.

Innovation Silver slaps do not work well with a bow. The synthetic wrap (nylon??) is too slippery for the bow to grip the string and get it vibrating. Even if you can get the string moving, it sounds pretty nasty... Innovation Braided are the best (Innovation) choice for arco, followed by the Honeys. Both will be higher tension than the Silver Slaps so you'll probably fnd slapping the Honeys (oo-err...) a bit of a challenge.

[quote name='yorkshiremike' timestamp='1489317212' post='3255927'] Reverend, Thank you for your suggestion. The shadow pickup has a battery volume and a tone contr4ol on it. I thought it might be active, I'll try using the bass eq box as I believe that has a pre amp in it. [/quote] What model Shadow pickup do you have? The RB rockabilly pro system comes with a 2 channel preamp with a subsonic filter and a low cut control. Both those controls are designed to help prevent feedback.

The Roland microcube is a great little home use amp. Lots of useful amp models, on board effects, basic drum machine, aux input for CD or MP3 player and a headphone output.

Are you using a pre-amp between your pickup and the amp input? Piezo pickups like the Shadow will work straight into the amp input, but the impedance mis match between the amp input (typically 0.5-1MOhm) and the impedance that the pickup works best with (~10MOhm) can result in a thin sound, which you then try to boost with some bass eq, which then makes you more prone to feedback. More importantly, many preamps come with a high pass filter control - I find this essential in reducing the subsonic frequencies which are usually the main culprit in causing feedback.

Definitely try stuffing some foam/pillow/soft toy between the fingerboard and body and tailpiece and body. It'll kill off the bass resonance which is what carries through the house when it's quiet.

Have you checked out Gill Yaron? A few years ago he built a replica of a '61 Jazz bass, even building the capacitors himself as the original spec caps weren't made any more. Anyway, it sounds and looks amazing and is reassuringly expensive. https://youtu.be/QwYoi9G67DU

[quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1489154307' post='3254789'] Good timing, I was thinking about building something similar (to balance wing and clicky piezo pickups) and had asked in DIY Effects for designs. £300 is more than I'd want to spend on this (my bass and pickup combined are probaby worth less than £300 !) and I'd want it to fit onto the bass so I can use a single-channel wireless rather than 2 cables. Schatten Mini Pre 2 [url="https://www.thomann.de/gb/schatten_design_mini_pre_2_acoustic_preamp.htm"]https://www.thomann....stic_preamp.htm[/url] is designed to do this, and can cope with Piezo or Magnetic pickups. I think you could do this with an LS-2 in A+B mode, you'd need a jack plug in the input to switch it on. The input impedance of the LS-2 is listed as 1 Mhz which is OK for piezo pickups. But once again too unwieldy to fix to the bass. [/quote] Yarp - The Sachatten came up in my searches and I think it's the simplest useable solution available. I'd rather not have any extra pre-amping going on as I'd still be using my Fishman for its DI, HPF and tuner/mute functions, but maybe it's not possible to have the high impedance input without some sort of op-amp or whatever being involved? Does having two preamps in a row (three if you count the amp head input) matter? If the gain is kept just high enough for a clean signal, does it matter how many preamps are involved? I have no idea.... I've been told that the bloke behind SFX will do custom designs/builds so I might give him a shout to see what's possible, but I can't imagine he'll be able to produce something bespoke for less than the cost of that Schatten unit. I'll probably give the Schatten a whirl - right after I've dealt with some recurring feedback problems.......

[quote name='TPJ' timestamp='1489144585' post='3254692'] Would a Boss LS2 work? [/quote] Hmm - probably not, unless one of the inputs is high impedance. I have a little passive two channel mixer, but the impedance mismatch between the piezo and the magnetic pickups make it unuseable [quote name='mart3442' timestamp='1489142115' post='3254663'] [b]Hi Dave, you need a dedicated twin channel preamp, I ues a Raven labs PMB2 Preamp/di. (Discontinued). Theres actually one up for sale on Fleabay for £200 at the minute, I paid £300 for mine used ten years ago! That has three blendable inputs. Failing that, pretty sure Seymour Duncan do a similiar preamp called a D-Tar or Solstice..... Good luck[/b] [/quote] I've seen the Raven labs stuff, then looked at the price and then closed my browser..... Thing is, I already have three preamps and was hoping to find something (i.e cheaper...) that would just mix without preamping. Having done some more reading, I suspect that you're right - it's a two channel double bass pre or nothing. I used to have a Headway EDB-1 which would have done the job, but I sold it on because it had too many knobs [quote name='henrywillard' timestamp='1489151762' post='3254772'] Hi Dave, I use a Radial Engineering PZ-Pre - The thing is unbelievable! [url="http://www.tonebone.com/pzpre.php"]http://www.tonebone.com/pzpre.php[/url] Built like it's bomb proof, does an incredible job, you can either blend or switch between two pickups/instruments in a foot stomp, there's a dedicated separate channel for a pedal tuner (I use a Boss TU-3), and there's of course a mute stomp switch too which is really handy. I rarely use the Boost switch, but it's there if need be. They're around £300.00 brand new. Would recommend them to anyone. [/quote] Lots of love over on Talk Bass for these, but it's too big and expensive for my tastes. As I said above, I was hoping for something small and cheap that I could mount behind my tail piece and then run into my Plat Pro. What I really want is a two channel version of the Fishman Plat Pro analogue....

Oooh - I'd just [u]love[/u] to do a 2 hour gig with that pointy upper bout sticking into me guts.

My first bass was a Jedson. My second was a Marlin Slammer. Both were significantly better than the 'Axe' brand stuff that was advertised in the back of Kerrang! magazine. The Marlin was ok really, not as good as Harley Benton or J&D today, but not awful. Peavey on the other hand were great in the 70s and 80s - I'd happily play a Peavey Foundation today.

[quote name='artisan' timestamp='1487850857' post='3243490'] keep your eyes on the for sale section for a very nice Duke Bass appearing soon. [/quote] Nnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg!!!! idontneedanotherbass Idontneedanotherbass idontneedanotherbass Idontneedanotherbass idontneedanotherbass Idontneedanotherbass idontneedanotherbass Idontneedanotherbass Has he gone yet? Can I come out?

Gig-free weekend! I'm in.... Can bring a double bass, Eminence EUB, Musicman Sterling, Euphonic Audio Doubler and BigE MAS45 cab plus a handful of preamps for people who like that sort of thing.

When I use it, I have my FDeck mounted on the tailpiece with Dual-lock tape (bit like velcro but more holding power). My regular pre amp is my Fishman Plat Pro EQ, which sits on the stage next to my left foot, connected by a 6ft lead.

Im sure I've read somewhere that you should have the shortest possible length of cable between your pickup and preamp - something to do with the resistance of a long cable affecting impedance?? I suppose it's up to your ears really, if it sounds the same after 15ft of cable as it does after 1ft of cable then the job's a good'un.

For that kind of money you should look at the Thomann t-bone Ovid CC100. You'll need to buy a clip to mount it on your bass, which will add £15 to your budget, but by all accounts it's a very good mic for £40.

It looks like the peg box is coming off?

Does anyone blend a magnetic and piezo pickup for live amplification? What do you use to mix/blend the signals? Are there any problems with the different impedance from each pickup? Ta Dave

What's a '2 string enthuiast'? It sounds like a euphemism....

That's a good price for a SLB 200. I'm local to the seller so if you want someone to check it out, just say the word. Dave

January's been busy, February and March are quiet, but that's deliberate as we need to work on new songs and get in the studio. April through to end of September is already fully booked bar a handful of Fridays. We have a couple of headline gigs in 300 -400 capacity venues and a whole bunch of new beer/cider & music festivals to play, including one in France. This week I've taken a booking for January 2018, plus two enquiries for 2019. Going to be a very busy year but that's how we like it.