sandy_r

ah but every team needs a progress-chaser (facilitator?)! It was a group effort Hah - I've been in a few communities - one day you're helpfully picking up a cable that's fallen on the floor, and next week you're running the sound desk! Don't even look at a guitar!!!! I'm afraid to be the bearer of bad news: your friend's son chose that bass ...say your farewells to it now! I hope you're enjoying your journey among the lower registers ...and someday, just like me, you'll be walking past a shop window, and there it'll be - the Sinsonido with your name on it 😎

hi Richard good to meet up on here! I've read your article on SoS and admired the teamwork there - and your persistence, seeing the project thro' for what seems like an intensive couple of months Sadly, it appears that these Aria PCB designs leave a LOT to be desired, as I found out when I bought my Sinsonido second-hand about 15 years ago. I searched online and found a good many other people also had PCB issues, none of whom could find quality fixes. I wasn't as patient as you, tho', I just ripped out the PCB and built my own circuit (which I posted to a TB 'Sinsonido Club' thread, shhh, back in 2014 !) There are some very questionable design 'features' of the original circuit, and having read the details unearthed in your SoS thread, I'm glad I just replaced it, rather than repaired The electrolytic caps connected from signal to ground on the guitar output are just bizarre! (I have to question your repairer's comment about these being 0.22uF - the evidence strongly points to these original caps being 22uF - across the output!) Anyway, your 'team' has achieved stirling work in informing the Sinsonido Bass community of info which Aria seems reluctant to provide (smart move there, Aria!), and you ended up with a Sinsonido PCB which has been restored to its full ideosyncratic glory! Thanks for posting your schematics here - I wasn't sure about copying them to this thread, so I just referred to SoS earlier, instead, so people could find with Mr/Ms Google

For some reason all the local bands are 1 person down this weekend - you might have to stand in? 😉

What's your vector, Victor?

...isn't food provided?!? 🤕

...is the Clyde Bank still going?

...just posting this for next week...

Yep, the TAD jack should be ok for your bass 👍 apologies, i missed some detail in your earlier post - you had already tried a stereo to mono connection ...but the 47 ohm 'mixer' may be more gentle on the bass IC, so that will be good to try next week have a good weekend! oops, i forgot - my Sinsonido is fretless (but i was playing a sort of non-fretless riff in the recordings)

Ok, yep, i understand your backup plan (and good forward thinking, cause i've always just assumed that my electrets will be ok throughout many gigs). The Lace looks good and gets some good reviews ...there are some much less expensive mag pickups in wooden covers which also look cool, but the ones i've seen so far are for round-hole acoustic guitars, so can only be taped (double-sided) to a bass, without some woodwork Ah, interesting you should mention trying stereo leads - i was just thinking earlier exactly the same thing about the difference in PCB operation between phones and guitar. Yes - you've found another issue with their design: phones work exactly as expected, but if you use a mono guitar lead then you are losing 1/2 the audio from the bridge (in your case, you lose the more bass-side mic !) I don't think that shorting one channel of the PCB stereo output will cause a problem for the IC - its designed to work with speakers and a range of headphone impedances (it already has a series 10 ohm resistor inline with each output) but i wouldn't choose that approach in my 'designs' More serious, you are losing an important part of the signal from the strings! BTW i'm not sure if you know there are no separate connections for the phones on the output jack - the phones really do just use the same outout wires as the guitar. The separate phone mini jack in some later versions is probably connected in parallel to the stereo outputs to the guitar, but through slightly bigger value resistors My circuit just drives a mono output to guitar amp (the 2 mic signals are mixed by the FET, so it always provides the full o/p from the bridge) - i haven't missed having phones o/p at all (i use a small battery portable amp with stereo in, bass mix, and phones out, about the size of a regular pedal) Do you solder stuff? If so, you could try using a stereo jack plug on the guitar end of a mono lead, and wiring the Tip and Ring together inside that jack plug - this should give you a combined signal from both electrets in the bridge (a slightly 'better' way would be to solder 2x47 ohm resistors, if you have some, one resistor to Tip, the other to Ring, and joined together at the mono signal wire to the amp) Who knows - it might even reduce the muddy, cranked signal?!? Sheesh, i'd never realised this problem on the original circuit before you asked questions about the phones - you'd make a great detective! ok - i think that's all the brain work i can manage for now (but feel free to discuss or ask some more) a bientot

...never mind the rapidly disappearing HS2 - the Romans are still searching for their 9th Legion, MIA (Missing in Aberdeen!)

hi Alain, sorry to hear that you have noise/muddy signal problems with your Sinsonido. I agree it is a great bass - for gigs, practice, and transporting. So it is definitely worth fixing the problems/issues I think that a lot of its good sound is because it uses acoustic pickups in the bridge, rather than the usual mag pickups, so it would be a shame to lose the original sound - but adding extra pickup(s) can give you more choice of sound First, about jack sockets, yes, I think that Thomann link is ok for a replacement jack. The Sinsonido needs a stereo output (1 shield + 2 signal pins) plus it also needs 2 pins to switch the battery (so these 2 can be separate from shield and signal pins) That Thomann jack is sold a replacement for Fender guitars with a stereo o/p + battery switching - other shops sell a similar jack but 2x...15x the price! I agree that Aria should not have combined the headphone output with the bass output - but I understand that they wanted to combine the battery switching into just 1 jack Adding a separate (mini) jack for phones would not be a very complex change to the circuit, but it might need an extra mini toggle switch for the battery if a similar switching stereo mini jack is not used. Small headphone amplifiers are much more easy to find now, so I think Aria would not use this design again if they were making this guitar today ok, i'll end this answer now and then see if I can comment on your other points later (and other BCers may answer also)

...does it have cutouts for pointy bits?!?

salut Aalin yes, that is correct - I completely removed the original PCB, including 2 potentiometers, and replaced with my circuit (shown above) + 2 new potentiometers. The 2 electret microphone sensors in the bridge, and the switched jack socket are also still the original parts. My new PCB fits the original cavity ok, however, I had to slightly increase the diameter of the holes for the new potentiometers because the original ones were smaller than usual control size. You can see in the earlier photo that my new controls still fit ok in the side recess of the guitar Do you have a Sinsonido bass? If so, fretless, or fretted? ...and any problems with the PCB?

...headphones recommended... Tone: flat (no cut) FET-Vmid-Tflat-PBPflat.mp3 Tone: max treble cut FET-Vmid-bass-PBPflat.mp3 Tone: max bass cut FET-Vmid-Ttreble-PBPflat.mp3 my Sinsonido with DIY replacement onboard preamp (JFET buffer amplifier, 2 original sensor i/p, Vol to mid), recorded via Palmer Pocket Bass preamp, EQ flat, no effects, direct into Samsung Tablet. Groundwound strings, plucked with side of index finger Excuse hurried recording and wayward playing!

hi Fletch (?) I'd be happy to help out if I can - I have a couple of questions: - are you looking for a repair of the existing Sinsonido PCB, or a copy of my own replacement circuit (FET vol/tone pre using both sensors, mono, no phones)?; - what's your approx timescale? I could make a copy of my own circuit, test it on my Sinsonido and send it out (all just at cost - simple circuit, light weight); I can't undertake to repair a Sinsonido PCB - but I believe there is a thread either on TB or S*und*nS*und where someone has managed to replace the duff part(s) and get the PCB operational again (repairer also posted the schematic) I am actively sourcing & building a rack-based preamp for myself at present - it's likely to keep me occupied into the long dark tea-time of the Solstice, but I may well welcome a break, if I make good progress If it is my circuit you'd like built, and my availability is an issue, I'd be happy for you to get a tech-skilled friend to just use my circuit and build it instead let me know what you decide The video from Charlie Chandler's FB sounds good - string noise suggests roundwound strings, which seems unusual on fretless. After I get my first Bass Bash out of the way, this weekend, I'll try to upload a short audio clip of my Sinsonido here, for comparison Cheers

+1 with Rexel Marador - i think the sanded/grain top vs laquered sides looks v cool

...for completeness... if the amp powers on (and stays on as needed!), after you've replaced the main fuse with the plate-rated item, then it's likely that the amp is healthy - manufacturers use Slo Blo type fuses (of the required rating) to enable the amp to cope with 'Inrush Current' to the PSU. This is a one-off power surge which occurs when the power supply caps first start charging up to operating voltage and is fairly instantaneous, hence a relatively slow-acting fuse won't respond, whilst a permanent fault will endure and blow the fuse So why did the original fuse blow? - old/incorrect fuse finally expired; - actual/marginal fault condition developing (would need further checking) hth

Unfortunately this is a 'how long is a piece of string' type question Blowing a 3 or 4 amp Slo Blo fuse (originally?) is a reasonably robust short-circuit (ie the fuse blew before, say, a sliver of solder evaporated) If you feel confident doing so, you could open the case and try and inspect the components and underside of circuit board and report back any signs of carbon, heat effects, bulging electrolytic caps, etc. This should give some idea of the failure mode and possibly influence decisions for professional repair/retirement of amp Otherwise just take it to a reputable repair tech and get an estimate

hi i managed to get a good pub band together by advertising/responding to band-contact sites, meeting for a jam and weeding out unsuitable choices it took about 18 months Since the band dispersed, i've joined another musician-meet site and i include a handful of shortish (1 minute) video and audio clips from the bands with which i was playing - covering different music styles After several years experience of meeting completely unsuitable candidates (and i'm sure an equal no. people have justifiably thought that of me, too !), i reckon the best way to get an idea of someone's character, and musical abilities, is to frequent good quality open-mic and jam events, where you can sense a helpful and supportive community feel (rather than the 'look-at-me-im-gods-gift' attitude which occurs in some places) Keep looking - but ga canny!

Not necessarily, it seems! ...but @eubassix can confirm that they've used the same rating&type of fuse shown on their amp rearplate

no worries, was hoping i could help out. do customs charge for a gift of part-used material (wood)? 😨

ah ok - i guessed it was a test! 😉 Actually, i've just remembered that i have some Black Walnut veneer left over from renovating a vintage radio - i've finished the renovation and now have a couple of feet of 10" wide veneer - you're very welcome to have some if you think you could use it to cover the blue circled gap area (and maybe veneer the whole headstock, covering any unexpected holes?) The veneer is very light in weight, so it would be very cheap for me to send, if you wanted (I have no further use for it, so free to you). It has a thermoplastic glue backing, so it would need to be fixed with a hot iron (as in clothes, not soldering!), so may not be a suitable method for the results that you want i'm attaching a photo clip from the veneered radio surface

Ahh Oops - just noticed - i think you have the tuners mounted the wrong way round? the pegs (not the handles) should be nearest the nut

Hey there Mr Bacco, we're expecting good things here, after your previous success! Just an idea for your gap filling: if you're confident with the use of a chisel, and you have a sharp one available, it's just possible that you could shave a veneer of wood from the bottom of the pickup cavity - then after almost filling the blue circled gap with spare wood & filler, you could use the veneer for the surface, maybe even make an 'invisible mend'? Doesn't need to be perfect, but the more you can fill of that surface area, with the same colour&grain, the more it will disguise the old 'slot' as i say, just an idea - of course, you will have your own plans and that is fine 🙂

did you replace the blown fuse with a 250V 3A Slo Blo fuse?