sandy_r

Kind words - thanks! From a distance it looks sort of basslike, and I was very very fortunate that it turned out to be playable (not that I knew what to expect!) hah, scale? ...you mean the strings aren't stretchy?!? Dayyum! The E string overwind only just passes the nut, so I guess it's close to 34"? [Edit] - Oops, somehow missed some of your questions - will read & reply below [Edit 2] - my mistake - scale is approx 30" not 34!

...not sure about photo (pixel) sizing...

hmmm, ok, but i would prefer all sniggering, and tut-tutting at 'broken laws of bassbuilding', to be done quietly in another thread well-hidden from my view -deal? [Edit: ...i have to reduce the pixel size down to something more socially acceptable... coffee break!...]

Ah well, having seen some of the amazing builds by BCers, I'm a little reluctant to share the laughable attempts of a teenager, many decades ago, who'd never held or even seen a real bass up close This is an example of my naivety then: I blagged some money off my parents to buy some bass strings (cheapest available); I went to Bell's Music (Tolworth?), said I wanted some bass strings, the salesperson put some on the counter.. Me: "but I haven't told you how long they need to be, yet" SP: "It's ok, they'll fit all basses" Me: "Oh - do they stretch, then?" The guitar sounds er, old, like me. Actually it sounds better now I've treated it to a Luthier-installed fretless board, to replace the length of Ramin Kitchen trim I originally used to make the fretboard I'll wire my pickup directly to the jack, as a first step towards trying the Casady mod, and record a short clip with flat EQ and see if I can share that here Cheers

It's starting to get a wee bit nippy round the Trossachs, for that!

Ah, that's because he's a Superhero!

I hate to be the one to spill the er, ...beans, but they don't wear a thong beneath the kilt (allegedly)

Yes, I've played gigs like that, myself: "Free Admission ...£5 to leave"

Yeah but only if you accept responsibility for removing all the wrappers first

hi Mike please count me in - i will pay anyway, even if care duties conflict at the last moment many thanks for all the prep and arrangements by you and Mrs Scrumpy s.

Damn!!!

Cool! Looks like it ought to have strobing runway lights across the diagonals. Will you be bringing it to the SWBB?

Joking aside, @fleabag, if you really want to try this, the best way might be just to have: - one PP3 to 2.1mm inline socket adaptor cable connected securely to the guitar (maybe exiting from under a controls or battery backplate?), with only an inch or so of external cable (to minimise 'snagging' when disconnected); you'll need to easily connect/disconnect when picking up/putting down the guitar - one USB 5 to 9V converter & cable to 2.1mm plug (centre positive); - have someone safely swap the polarity of the PP3 cable - this might be you, if handy with soldering; or a friend with electronics skills - I would also be happy to do the resoldering for you; the parts are around £1 i think, and cheap to post, so I could buy it (I probably even have the parts already), mod it, and send it on. Up to you (no bother to me, I'm retired, plenty of free time - but don't tell Mrs R that!) [An active guitar can also be 'Phantom-powered' down the instrument cable, like a mic. from a mixer; this would require an electronics mod in the bass and an additional psu/signal splitter box between guitar and pedals/amp - but i get that you want to try the 'pocket-power' setup, so why not?]

yeahbut yeahbut... 1 powerbank = approx 50,000 PP3s! you could add Blackpool Illuminations to yer fretboard and still have power left over to keep yer chips warm! jus' sayin'

Stepping back from the converter/ cable issue for a moment... Isn't it rather overkill to use a power bank to power an onboard pre? (as in - why not just use a PP3 with 2 PP3 to 2.1 adaptor cables 1 xMale, 1xFemale)? or are you going to sneak a 10W Class D amp onboard and plug straight into a bass cab?!? Concerned minds wish to know 😯

Re. Ped's link:- ...found this on the SparkFun site re the polarity: "All SparkFun products use a negative 5.5mm sleeve and a positive 2.1mm pin" ie. centre positive

...spoilsport! 😉

Bear in mind that your PP3 connector has to 'look like' a battery as far as the onboard circuit is concerned, so you want your smaller 'complete' circle stud to be +ve and the larger split stud to be -ve - in other words, you will be inverting the polarity advertised for that PP3 adaptor cable ! (just to complicate matters!) If you go for the 5 to 9V USB to DC 2.1 barrel jack converter with a centre positive, you would need a PP3 to 2.1 inline socket with centre negative, if such exists (otherwise insert a polarity changer between the 2 cables as tauzero mentions above)

Hi yes, the Ad blurb doesn't mention it but the photo shows that it's centre positive (Red probe to centre, Black to outer, meter reads +9V) HTH

hi Raffaele - Rhythm and Tone? Cool ! welcome

Wow - what a find! 55 years after I made a DIY bass, as a teenager, including winding copper wire on some small Alnico rod magnets for a pickup, I may finally be able to do something meaningful with the controls! I think my pickup is around 200 ohms. I've always just used plenty of input gain to bring the signal up to regular levels I'll have to experiment with the control values shown here for the Casady pickup

[not needed on journey]

You may have been looking at the circuit at the top of the PDF doc, as it opens? The circuit @Geek99 mentioned was No. 1.1.171, well down the document

Just throwing in an idea from left-field here: some battery-operated electronics (incl. tuners) have timers to power-off the function if not operated for a certain time, to save battery. IF (yes, it's a big if!) a fault develops in the function switching logic, or power-switching components, then I guess this reported behaviour (random cut-out) could be one possible fault-mode Unplugging/re-plugging the jack will power-cycle the electronics, and therefore, in effect, provide a 'reboot', as mentioned in prev posts

Aye - hence the para: "Using lower values for the resistors (eg 50K or 25K) can reduce the general loss of signal level but will start to give more loading/interaction between the 2 Vol controls again - it's worth trying this to check the result"