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ikay

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Posts posted by ikay

    buying from the States

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [quote name='muttley' timestamp='1349099270' post='1821749']
    Not all packages get stopped by customs though. The OP was lucky this time.
    [/quote]

    Yes the OP was lucky! In addition to 20% VAT and duty the Royal Mail also add an £8 handling fee for everything that goes through their VAT/duty collection process. I've been nobbled by this on fairly small purchases from the USA a couple of times recently so they are watching out for this sort of thing.

    New Dead Spot

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by ikay

    [quote name='gub' timestamp='1348242660' post='1811354']
    So what causes a dead spot anyway ?
    [/quote]

    In short, it's when the frequency of a fretted note coincides with the anti-node (point of maximum amplitude) of the resonant frequency of the neck at the same point. In your case the resonant frequency of the neck seems to be around C# (or close) and the anti-node of this resonance just happens to be in the same place as the 6th fret (C#) on the G string. If that's double dutch to you (it was to me until I read up on it a few years ago) then this article here does a good job of explaining it - [url="http://www.acoustics.org/press/137th/fleischer.html"]http://www.acoustics.../fleischer.html[/url]

    As 4 strings says above, you will usually feel a strong vibration in the neck when you play a note on a dead spot as most of the energy is sucked into making the neck structure resonate rather than making the string itself vibrate. Another test for a dead spot is to hold the headstock against something really solid like a door post and then play the problem note. When you do this the 'dead' note should ring out full and strong. This is because when you 'couple' the neck to something of much greater mass the resonant frequency changes. As soon ss you move away from the door post you'll feel the neck start vibrating and the note will die again.

    Dead spots aren't unusual and occur on most stringed instruments. Sometimes they're a bit bothersome and sometimes they're so subtle they're hardly noticeable. But they are usually there to some small degree, whatever people with no dead spots may say!

    As others have already mentioned, there are various techniques to help minimise or shift dead spots. What you're essentially trying to do is change the resonant frequency of the neck so the resonant anti-node doesn't coincide with a fretted note of the same frequency. Adding mass to the headstock will lower the resonant frequency and reducing mass (eg. a headless bass) will make it higher. A very stiff neck (eg, graphite) has a higher resonant frequency than a regular wooden neck. Different scale lengths also have different resonances (C# or D is a very common resonance for a 34" scale). Changing strings (different load/tension) or tweaking the trussrod can sometimes make a difference. Sometimes not! It's not a precise science. Every bass is different so it's mostly a case of experimenting to see what works.

    Powered floor monitors

    in Accessories and Misc

    Posted

    [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1348175761' post='1810584']
    Something like these
    [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RCF-ART-Series-322A-Active-Speaker-PAIR-/130767890891?pt=UK_ConElec_SpeakersPASystems_RL&hash=item1e725fa9cb"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item1e725fa9cb[/url]
    [/quote]
    Thanks JTUK, agree with your point about buying quality and this pair of used RCF ART 322-As is definitely worth watching. I'll look into the 310s as well but unfortunately most RCF gear is beyond our budget to buy new.

    Powered floor monitors

    in Accessories and Misc

    Posted

    Thanks Phil, the feedback on the Laney is very useful re poor vocal sound. The Stagepas 300 looks interesting. We're not loud but 8" speakers and 150W a side may be just a bit on the light side. Neat package though, I'll add the 300 and 500 version to my short list.

    Powered floor monitors

    in Accessories and Misc

    Posted

    We're looking for some reasonably priced powered floor monitors. Power rating around 200-300W, and say up to £250 per monitor.

    They're not going to get particularly heavy use but do need to have a decent sound (not cheap and boxy) and be robust and reliable. They'll mainly be used as floor monitors but will occasionally be used as a front of house vocal pa in small pub venues.

    Have so far found these:

    - Alto Tourmax SXM-112A
    - Samson 612M
    - Behringer F1320D

    Would appreciate any input on these - what's good and what to avoid - or other suggestons/recommendations.

    Cheers

    SOLD Overwater Expression semi-acoustic Fretless 5 string

    in Basses For Sale

    Posted

    [quote name='lawriemacmillan' timestamp='1347740833' post='1804603']
    Good question ikay, and thanks for bringing it up. In the close up of the bridge seen in 'photo 2', the tail-piece side is on the left of the bridge design, and the saddle side is on the right. The flat rosewood 'Lollipop Stick' that you can see running top-to-bottom of the centre of the saddle side has sufficient depth to be grooved. These grooves cradle each brass saddle which in turn, cradles each string. The height of each saddle is simply adjusted by a small shim, discreetly placed under each saddle within each groove.
    The cable pickup runs along the length of the 'bed' in which the rosewood 'Lollipop Stick' floats. The height of this from B-G string is also by means of shim. The tension of the strings holds it in place.
    [/quote]

    Thanks Lawrie, that's very neat. Basses with undersaddle transducers often have no adjustability at all and it's nice to see a builder take the care and attention to build in things like this.

    SOLD Overwater Expression semi-acoustic Fretless 5 string

    in Basses For Sale

    Posted

    I'm intrigued by the bridge assembly, can you explain a bit more about how the saddlle unit is constructed? Headway cable transducers (if it's like this - http://www.headwaymusicaudio.com/product_HE4passive_acoustic_pickup.php) usually sit under a flat bottom 'acoustic' saddle but this one seems to have individually adjustable saddles. I'm just curious how this works with a cable pickup! Very unusual and interesting bass.

    Short saddle screws for p bridge?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Allparts - http://www.allparts.uk.com/online-shop/guitar-bass-parts/hardware/screws-and-springs/bridge-screws-and-springs/saddlebridge-height-screws-c-277_1_47_69_71_72.html

    If it's for a Fender USA bass then the saddle screw thread is imperial (UNC 6-32). Standard length is 7/16" but allparts also do 5/16" and 1/4" if you want some a bit shorter.

    If it's for a non-USA Fender or other type of bass chances are it will be metric (probably M3) but you'll need to match the screw size/thread type.

    String noise on E and B

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    This post from TB mentions the same problem - http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f16/new-cobalt-strings-878280/

    "How does the length of the cobalts stack up against their other sets? I'm digging my new EB 5 string slinkys, but had to string the B and E strings through the bridge on my 35" scale 55-02. It would be cool if the Cobalts were an extra 1/2" longer or so, but I'm guessing that's not the case."

    "They are not long enough to go through the body on a Lakland. I love the Cobalts on my Warwick, but for whatever reason they did not sound good at all on my Lakland. I have a 5501 though with Barts/Audere, so yours might sound different."

    Can anyone recommend a unit which

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by ikay

    [quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1346704930' post='1792260']
    Looking for cheap but workable
    [/quote]

    'Cheap' and 'workable' don't go together in the world of midi bass. As BRX says, note recognition and latency is a huge problem for audio/midi conversion at low frequencies. I've tried the Sonuus B2M which is cheap and cheerful but IMO it's not accurate or quick enough to do what you have in mind. The Industrial Radio Midi bass is probably the closest you'll get to a properly workable solution (not that I've tried one - that will have to wait until I win the lottery). It gets round the problem of audio/midi conversion by having a contact matrix beneath the fretboard to determine note values rather than analysing string vibrations. It then uses piezo sensors in the bridge to extract playing dynamics.

    There's one for sale here - [url="http://www.thebassgallery.com/product_details.cfm?ID=1960&type=Bass%20Guitar"]http://www.thebassga...e=Bass%20Guitar[/url]

    But you'll need to up your budget a bit!

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