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Stagg!!!!


mikeh
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Thanks for posting those pics of your DB "rig" ubassman
I've got a Stagg, and I think it's great
I may well have a bash at making something along the lines or your rig
Although, I think I'm getting used to playing it sitting down

Marc

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Still loving my stagg but struggling with the 'quiet' E string. I suspect that this is partly caused by the foam I inserted under the bridge feet to reduce unwanted handling noise, but when installing this, I also noticed that the bridge was a very tight fit in the body. Do you think 'easing' the bridge to reduce the tightness will improve the E string volume? I've tried adjusting the trim pots on the circuit board but this just increased the background noise when set too high and still didn't improve the E string volume by comparison to the the A, D & G. I'm also thinking of carving a new bridge out of some offcuts of swamp ash I have around from a body build. Any thoughts on whether this would be a good or bad idea?

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[quote name='JPJ' timestamp='1377899447' post='2193526']
Still loving my stagg but struggling with the 'quiet' E string. I'm also thinking of carving a new bridge out of some offcuts of swamp ash I have around from a body build. Any thoughts on whether this would be a good or bad idea?
[/quote] I carved a new bridge and it made a big difference in the sound. For the price and what you get with a Stagg you get a lot of value for money but the bridge isn't made of the finest material and its probably the most important thing in terms of the sound transmission to the piezo wires. I had a really dull A and E when I first got my Stagg and they balanced up once I got my new bridge in. So , definitely worth considering.

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1377189817' post='2184605']
I have a hole from my endpin! Don't look at ubassmans picture, he has been tinkering ;)
[/quote]
:D ....I had a great time with my Stagg on hols and unscrewed the neck from the body to make it as compact as possible. The normal bag lost about 450mm in length so I folded it back on itself . I took it into the airplane with me and put it in the overhead luggage compartment. I had to do a bit of blagging at the check-in desk to argue that it was like taking a pram on board and that I would at the last minute hand it over to someone to put in the hold but no-one checked and I walked straight onto the plane with it ! :yarr:

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Got my Stagg in all its sleek black weird-looking glory. Probably stick with the stock bridge for now, so just the hiss to sort out, the nut to replace, bridge to flip and sort something with the rests and we're sorted. Quite enjoying the challenge of playing right handed again for now though!

Edited by AndyBass
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I haven't posted here for a while, but I thought I'd give you an update. I have now had my blue [url="http://www.shopzilla.co.uk/rd?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thomann.de%2Fpartner_redirect.html%3Fpartner_id%3D25293%26page%3Dthoiw2_stagg_edb_34_mbk_prodinfo.html&mid=115085&cat_id=13779&prod_id=948966032&pos=0&rf=af1&b_id=17&bamt=162c6b386698cc86&ppr=1e1b78044f7959c4&oid=948966032&country_code=GB&atom=10981&bid_type=0&af_assettype_id=12&af_creative_id=8&af_id=11444"]Stagg EDB[/url] for four years, and while I don't gig with it very often, it is one of may favourite instruments. Last year I had the electronics looked at by a local luthier who screened the control compartment and replaced the 1/4" output jack. I have put a piece of foam under the strings where they enter the tailpiece to dampen the resonance, and have also lowered the bridge.

I often use the bass when I'm jamming with my 14-year-old elder son Thomas, who is a talented blues and folk guitarist, and I occasionally play it along with a Squier P-Bass Special when I dep with a [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Blues-Brothers-Augmented-Reality/dp/B007KITSW6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1351201327&sr=8-3"]Blues Brothers[/url] tribute band. My intonation has greatly improved, and my right-hand technique is more "correct" than it was, although I still occasionally find myself playing with my fingertips to play faster!. I no longer use the Stagg's metal brace; it just doesn't feel right to me, and I actually prefer the feel of the bass without it. Sadly the bow I bought got broken, and I haven't found a need to replace it yet.

Anyway, here is a recording I made recently of a song I wrote called "Genie". Along with the Stagg, I play Wurlitzer electric piano, organ and synth brass, as well as singing, rhythm programming, production and editing.

[url="http://soundcloud.com/simon-beck-3/genie"]http://soundcloud.co...on-beck-3/genie[/url]

Enjoy!

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  • 3 months later...

[quote name='JPJ' timestamp='1377899447' post='2193526']
I also noticed that the bridge was a very tight fit in the body. Do you think 'easing' the bridge to reduce the tightness will improve the E string volume?
[/quote]

Yes, most definitely. It's all about pressure on to those piezo elements. The more the better, but too much and they choke... probably why early bridges had the channel cut into the foot.

If the bridge is resting on the body then there is less force directly on the piezo. It shouldn't be wobbly inside the socket, but it shouldn't be so tight it is being partially suspended over the piezo element. Also, check the upper bridge is free to slide up and down on the metal threaded adjuster posts. Any resistance here also means you're not getting the full available pressure being transmitted through the bridge to the piezo. Again, not too slack, but not too sticky either. The bridge should be free to move when you adjust the thumbwheels by a quarter turn.

The density of the wood grain of the stock bridge isn't fantastic, so the less of the jelly wood the vibrations have to travel through, the better the sound will be. Applying simple physics principles means that if your metal threaded poles are not screwed all the way down into the lower portion of the bridge, then the vibrations are not reaching the foot of the lower bridge as efficiently as they might. The upper bridge rests on the thumbwheels and this is the start point of travel of those vibrations down to the piezo element. If they then go through the metal threaded posts and into the body of the lower bridge, you are introducing a resistance path for the vibrations. If they are screwed all the way down to the bottom of the foot (but not so tight they poke through) then the path only has a small part of the less-dense wood to go through before reaching the piezo.

Similarly, if anyone is experimenting with making their own upper bridge (the bit the strings sit on) I would have thought that a rounded bottom would give a better vibration transmission than a flat one, since the thumbwheels would have to be dead equal for the bridge to be sat flat ontop of the thumbwheels. If you make the flat with a round bottom instead, then there is no problem with the angle of the bridge where it rests on the thumbwheels.. If anyone has the woodworking skils to try this, I'd be interested to know the difference.

At the very least, a direct copy of the upper and lower bridge in a harder wood will have benefits on vibration transmission regardless, and differing wood grains or types will transmit different tones from the strings.

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  • 1 month later...

Copy of a post moved to here from somewhere over there!

[quote name='Fun-da-mental' timestamp='1392067623' post='2364386']
Hi all
Although I've had my edb for a while now, it's not been out much. I regularly play in pit bands in theatre (usually on electric bass) and on the couple of shows where I took my stagg I was embarrassed by flat battery issues (usually accompanied by a loud tthhhhppp!)
Anyways - had a night spare so thought I'd tackle the issue. Many years ago I completed a btec in electronic design and spent 20 years as an electronics service engineer -however please feel free to pick up from where I left off and let's develop this further.
The current consumption of my standard preamp was 20ma
It's now 3ma
Here's what I did:

1. The first preamp chip is a tl072. Replace with a tl062. Still sounds good to me and no excessive hiss or noise
2. Disconnect the supply rails to the two LM386 power amp chips (pin 6 on each -heat and lift with a pin)
3. Put two cheap red LEDs in series with existing blue led

With the mods the headphone socket will not work - you could introduce a switch to power up the lm386 if that was a problem to you. Personally I always found the headphone jack noisey and never used it.
The series led mean that you get a true battery indicator. As the battery voltage falls from 9v the led stays full brightness until 6v - at which point it goes out. On my unit the preamp still worked right down to 3.2v so you would get plenty of warning.

I have found that the tone at the jack output is unaffected by the modifications.
I hope this is of help to someone.
Cheers all
[/quote]

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  • 4 months later...

Hi all.I've just picked on of these EDB's at a very reasonable price but I'm having a problem in that the E string pops out of it's notch in the bridge with very little force being applied.Is it as simple as just filing the notch down or will that cause mishap and calamity?.

Also,as a electric bass player I'm REALLY struggling with the high action.I'd welcome any input on this from fellow owners.

Many thanks.

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Also, the bridge is really easily lowered on these EUB's
You may also find changing strings helps

My Stagg came with some really inflexible heavy steel strings
Probably fine for bowing....
But I put nylon wrap strings on, and they're much better
You could try some of the Innovation strings too - they tend to have a lower tension

This may help your playing, and be much easier on the right hand
I find Innovation Silver Slaps work well on my other bass.....
Try Daf Lewis's Innovation strings trial on this forum - it's free
and you might find strings that suit you....

Let us know how you get on

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Hi everyone,

I have been reading about the Stagg EUB here and on Talkbass while I was modifying my own two Staggs. I have made a website with all modifications I did in the last few months. Might be of interest to some of you... or not.

See for yourself at [url="http://staggeub.wordpress.com"]www.staggeub.wordpress.com[/url]

Cheers,
Erik

PS: yes, this might be considered spamming, promoting my site in my very first post... but you do not HAVE to click on it ;)

Edited by Erik
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I have tried to look for this information on-line but so far I have not been able to turn anything up.

Can anybody tell me the difference between the standard version and the deluxe, is it worth the extra investment, what do you get?

Has anybody else noticed the price difference between retailers, up to £100 in some case?

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Just the fingerboard. On the standard model it is made from painted (heavy epoxy) maple. Due to it being painted it cannot be easily planed. And it should be planed to get the bass playable without the need for a really high action. The de luxe version has a rosewood fingerboard that can be easily planed. It looks better and feels better. I did not notice a sound difference but both my Staggs had different strings anyhow.

All current models have the beefed up head and screwed in body supports.

In short, I think the rosewood board is well worth the extra money!

Cheers, Erik

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  • 3 weeks later...

I use a bow on my modified Stagg. One of the reasons I modified it in the first place was to be able to bow better. I have also tried bowing a standard Stagg but I did not like that too much. To my taste the strings are too close together (about 21 mm on the bridge instead of 25-27 mm as on a standard DB). The stock strings are not that great too. I also like a larger neckangle. After all my mods my Stagg bows a lot better.

But, it can be done on a stock Stagg too. It also has to do a lot with technique, I am only playing for a year now and my bowing is not that good yet.

Cheers,
Erik

Edited by Erik
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I bought one today! Initial impressions are good!

Few issues though (as always) the rest on the right that leans against your side hurts my hip. I'm not sure if it's because it's in the wrong place or because I'm too boney but it starts hurting after a while.

Also my shoulder really, really aches after about 2mins of playing. Again this could be me being a weakling or because I'm holding my arm too high or what. I've watched the Geoff Chalmers videos with his beginner tips and have adjusted the bass to where he says. In line with the eyebrow while leant against you etc.

I don't know but I will stick at it! It's awesome! :D

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