LITTLEWING

Thanks for your help so far chaps, I'll check out that low pass calculator thingy. The main reason I'm looking at modding this cheapy combo is that my recently acquired OLPMM2 was rather 'hi-if' crispy and these speakers accentuated that frequency a bit, but having said that, I've changed the tone pot from a 500k to a 250k to darken things a bit and also replaced the .68 cap with a .1.0 and what a very usable pot is is now!! Fully open has the usual twang but 2/3rds onwards rolled off starts to mellow out and sounds oh so sweet. So, I might just ignore the combo sound and enjoy the new sounding bass. Never bloody happy, me. Lol!!!

Thing is, even with the top two of the 5 EQ's rolled right off, the evidently wide range pair of 8" in there still produce a hi-fi type edge showing up that unavoidable finger/string squeak. It's only an old cheap and nasty 'chuck in the car' Stagg CA100B/210 40 watt (I don't know what 210 means either as it has two eights) with Eminence speakers with no tweeter cones to produce crispy, but I fitted two bass ports in the rear and the low end for quiet praccy is unbelievable. I just wanted to try and get that top end 'dulled' a smidge.

Anybody give me a clue to which value choke I need to simply shave the crispness off my speaker in a cheap praccy 40 watt bass combo? I've contacted a couple of component suppliers but get the same answer 'can't help you, don't know what value you need' etc etc.. ALL I WANT (shhh, sorry) all I want is to simply dull the output a little just like a crossover does to a hi-fi speaker to shave the treble off a bit. Nothing technical, I'm not going to the moon or making a laser guided missile, I'm just looking to take the treble crispness out of the sound.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1496434590' post='3311489'] Well I`ve not got one, but have read much about them (and nothing bad to date), and heard one last week and the tone was incredible, a Fender Rumble. You already use Fender amps, why not check out the Rumble, I was really impressed with the sound. [/quote] Just don't get the old black version with the ridiculous red flashing light thing. I used one with two guitars and a drummer once in a small pub and the thing ran out of puff wound up and sounded like a lorry in a tunnel. Horrid product. I just hope the new silver front version is the one you heard.

[quote name='markorbit' timestamp='1496787630' post='3313909'] I always try and match the radius of the fingerboard. I do this mainly by how it feels so that the same string attack gives the same results on each string. This does mean that the radius slightly lifts with the thicker strings which require a little more room to vibrate. [/quote] This. Totally.

Gotta put Elixirs up there. They might appear initially pricey, but as they stay sweet for bloody ages, you could buy 4 sets of uncoated at a total of around £80 a year and watch them go dull where Elixirs at around £40 stay consistently full of tone. I took some off my Squier VM as spares when they finally lost their sparkle and two years later put them on a project P bass and they STILL ring sweet even now.

[quote name='BassBunny' timestamp='1496616583' post='3312792'] That's exactly what happened when I changed the 0.47 for a 0.1. Haven't a clue regarding a 1.0uf . [/quote] Ah, I actually meant a 0.1. I'm not very scientific, my ears always tell me what's nice and not. Thanks for the reply.

Okay, after actually looking under the control plate, turns out the tone pot is an A500 which is a log taper and attached is a 683J cap which is a .068. What I really want to find out is if I go up to a 1.0 cap, would the darkness start a bit earlier as I turn the tone down so that I can find my preferred sound without turning the tone knob practically all the way down?

I normally sort out my own electrics but never tried out the following, so anyone's advice would be welcome. I have recently acquired a four string OLP MM 2 and now it's had it's frets sorted, plays damn lovely with an unbelievably low slight relief without any buzzes set at 3/32 across the board. The only thing I'd personally like to sort out now is the too crispy hi-fi top end which doesn't really get nice and comfy (for me anyway) until the tone pot is right down to about the last 10%. The pots are all 500k. Don't know what the cap is, it has numbers which is probably equating to a .66 cap. My questions are - 1/ If I swapped the cap for a 1.0 would it start getting 'darker' earlier at say 50% or thereabouts? 2/ Would it be better to leave the existing cap in and swap the pot for a linear taper type which would possibly start getting cotton wooly earlier and smoother? 3/ Swap all the pots for 250's to take the honk down and trial caps from there? Edit : Hmmm. Just watched a YouTube video on log and linear pots. DEFINITELY NOT wanting a linear, way too much of a drastic jump from nothing to bam. Yuk!!

After last night's gig, I think me and the drummer need to get at least a small combo run from the mixer to have at ear height or angled on the floor. The keys (far right) hit the button for a pre-programmed song and by the time we all kicked in, drummer lost the rhythm a smidge and I was trying to keep somewhere in the middle to keep it all kinda sensible. Couldn't wait to get to the end of that number!

I'm still lost on this radius gauge thing. You adjust the radius and THEN do the action? Suppose when you've done the radius, your strings are half inch off the neck. You've still got to lower them to get a decent action so why waste time with this tool? Please don't think I'm being funny or argumentative, I just honestly hand on heart can't see the advantage of this gauge when the only true results will come from following the fretboard radius as you set the action for every different guitar?? If there is an invaluable result from using this tool then I've learnt something. Every day's a school day!

These under string radius gauges - isn't it just as easy/accurate to measure from say 12th fret to underside of string from 2.5 mm E, graduating down to 2.0 mm G (or whatever your preference) ultimately following the curve of the board or am I missing something in all these years of successfully doing my own basses???

It's called a 'business card'. All you need. (Hold down first fret and any fret just after where the neck sits in the body, card between string and top of fret about number 9.)

Well, a little tweaking has improved things no end. I had it set at 2mm G to 2.5mm E (holding each string at the last fret) and it had a slight fret buzz at the 12th fret on the E. Dropped down to 3mm G to 3.5mm on the E and the fret problem has basically gone if I don't dig in too hard. The strong magnet poles were dragging the E down and showing up a slightly raised fret at 13 making 12 rattle. May even try 4mm or even 4.5mm and see what transpires. Who knew?

Just picked up a rather nice used OLP 4 string and after a quick set up plays very nicely. What I can't work out is what EBMM say on their site - apparently their string to pickup distance is 4.8mm. Seems a bit far away to me unless that type of pup has a very strong magnetic pull. I've not actually had a bass with this type of pup until now so advice would be appreciated.

I had a Squier VM 5 once, the B string always sounded like a farty wet rubber band with any brand of strings. Moved the heap of cow dung on rather swiftly. Shame, the other strings actually sounded damn good. Put me off 5 stringers for life.

I know this has been up loads of times, but for those who haven't had the pleasure, hit 'isolated bass' on YouTube and just have an ear hole at some of our heroes doing the actual tracks we know and love. It most definitely makes you feel a damn sight better about your own playing with all your own little fumbles and clacking strings. There is obviously some most enjoyable James Jamerson to drool over and some amazing John Entwistle but just to give you a start off, listen to Sir Duke. Not all the notes we all thought!!

[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1494238652' post='3294151'] I would recommend getting a cheap precision/jazz copy. Take it to bits. rebuild it. Mess with the truss rod. Mess with the bridge. Get to know these components and the limitations, if any, on the cheap bass. You may even find you improve a bass and start to experiment with what works for you. Get your hands dirty and if you break something, no biggie. At least you know how far to bend or turn something before it gets dangerous. [/quote] Totally. Only thing I have to say is though IMOHE, if you do follow the average set-up video, only set up on it's back up to the ballpark settings. Do the final action, relief and pups heights with the guitar in it's PLAYING position. Everything changes with gravity and magnet-pulling when it's laying flat.

Bring back The Old Grey Whistle Test. End of story.

Helps if you played ordinary guitar, after that bass is a doddle. Listen to loads of music, attempt to play every style. Play at least 15 mins a day. (Keep this quiet but I take mine in when I have a poo) .....ah....maybe TMI.....

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1491410159' post='3272840'] FM still does bass. DAB loses a lot of the bottom octave due to lousy bandwidth. [/quote]Listen to Radio X on DAB. Nice and bassy!! Damn fine toons too.

In a nutshell, if you slap and pop then they're good for that hi-fi crispness, but if you play ordinary stuff then they're a total pain. They just amplify your finger squeaks and sound like an annoying wasp's nest. You can turn the treble down to lose it but then your bass's character disappears. Higher end equipment can sound great though if you have a spare grand to drop.

So many memories there in the 70's. Pink Floyd, Queen, Rod and The Faces, Rory Gallagher. Loads I can't even recall. Went there once with an engineer pal to collect some lighting cables, went under the stage and through a maze of secret corridors in between the outer wall and auditorium to a small hatch-like door and ducked through into the mixing console balcony under the circle and watched Dr Hook one night. Amazing days.

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1488742967' post='3251477'] Tissue paper in layers with wood glue.. [/quote] Yep. Spot on. (Done that in my time!)

I've just come in from The Guildhall Southampton after watching the great Sum 41 and although the drums sounded awesome and the guitars and vocals stood out very nicely, the poor bass guy might as well have stayed in the dressing room with a cuppa and a newspaper. I could clearly see him playing but all I heard was something like a 10 litre truck revving it's engine for an hour and a half. WHEN OH WHEN in this day and age of modern audio technology are we actually going to hear a proper bass sound reproduced through a p.a system rather than an indistinct low mushy rumble which does nothing but rattle seats and internal organs???? It's like at The Brook and Engine Rooms too. Just a total waste of time, effort and talent. Okay, rant over. No, actually I'm going to rant in bed now. And in the morning at work. So there.