The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: Basvarken on January 09, 2018, 01:09:59 AM
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Here's one on Ebay.
(with a hefty price tag)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/182983631490?clk_rvr_id=1411659394820&rmvSB=true
(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/cqwAAOSwjlBaQwqI/s-l1600.jpg)
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I don't need one fortunately, but if I did I'd probably pay that price. Considering what some of the generic onboard preamps cost I don't think that RD board is too expensive. That said I would expect a very narrow market for the seller though.
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Now what if I built a mahogany RD Artist? ... :popcorn:
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I bought a NOS board a while back, it seems to me that it was way cheaper than this one at the time. But this one also has the wiring harness. That's huge! Also, is there any difference in the boards for a bass or a standard guitar? I seem to remember a different number on the board designating what it was for.......?????
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Guitar and bass did have differing PCB's, iirc...
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Yes, it would be strange if they did'nt differ. You'd want different roll off points for the eq between guitar and bass.
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Yes, the guitar board is actually considerably smaller.
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Now what if I built a mahogany RD Artist? ..
I was thinking the same thing maybe there is still something left in me - a vision.
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Excuse my ignorance here but is the Moog circuitry on an RD more about, 'Oh, mine has a Moog circuit!' or what the circuit actually gives?
I've just watched a short RD bass video on You Tube posted by the Chicago Music Exchange (and while I'm really no fan of sunbursts, that sunburst is pretty lush)...look, while the video is pretty brief and there's this comment about Bob Moog being visionary, I don't really know that in a real terms the circuit (in today's terms) provides that much other than a bit of cut and boost (that would be lost once everyone cranks things up) and a frankly hideous backplate on the reverse of the body.
I suppose another observation, look at the size of that circuit-board. Jeepers, you could probably make the same now at the size of a postage stamp.
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Agreed!
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I'm also with you in that respect. The cut/boost eq just do what any of those 2 band preamps do. The "normal" setting is the meat and potato-setting that I use 95% of the time I play the RD. The compression/expansion and brightmodes are more for freaking out IMO. Gives you the feeling you have that secret little weapon engaged with the flick of a switch.
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/09/79/d1/0979d16a7a813919e5e2cb44d9fbe26e.jpg)
And of course the development over the past 40 years has provided us with smaller electronic devices. Just look at the smartphones. A megaload of functions in a tiny package. The RD with its huge Moog-board is a cool and for its time pioneering artefact (but nobody else caught on though ;D ) kind of like any old odd car design.
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Best move I made with mine was extraction... :vader:
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I wonder if the two-band preamp in the RD was inspired by the Stingray which came out the year before? Stingray was '76 and RD was '77?
Was that the first bass with a two-band fixed-frequency boost/cut EQ?
Alembic came earlier, but I think all their EQs were based on sweepable filters ... ironically, a lowpass filter with variable frequency and Q, more similar to typical analog synths.
I wonder why Moog didn't go that route for the RD. I love that Alembic filter, though I've only actually used the fixed-Q variant that they sold with their replacement Fender pickup sets. It can do a lot of things that a two-band can't (and vice-versa of course).
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I am guilty on committing heresy when my moog died, but i like the way it sounds.
(http://i.imgur.com/mK6K6C5.jpg) (https://imgur.com/mK6K6C5)
Crappy picture but they are TV Jones Thunderblades. No mods to the pickguard so it can be converted back if I ever get the board fixed.
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If you have an RD you want to restore, then you want the board, even if a modern two-band preamp would do the trick. Or an external preamp pedal, for that matter. it's no different from wanting any other vintage part.
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If you have an RD you want to restore, then you want the board, even if a modern two-band preamp would do the trick. Or an external preamp pedal, for that matter. it's no different from wanting any other vintage part.
If I even had an RD to restore, I doubt I'd reinstall that (original) monstrosity inside it; if I wanted all the bells and whistles to work, I think I'd speak to John East or something. Thankfully, I've never been hit with the restoration bug.
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The compressor really bloody works. The expansion I'm a bit more meh about. The bright mode does give it a different voice, accentuates some high mids - it's not all about treble. I think it does something interesting to the sound that while I'm quite sure it can be achieved by other means nowadays, it has to be remembered as a product of its time.
I like it and I think an RD which has had a Moogectomy is the poorer for it. But I would say that, because I have one, I guess.
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There's a pedal for everything today. OTOH I do understand why people want to keep theirs original or restore theirs, so long as it doesn't get into ridiculous territory like guys paying $50 for a rusty pickguard screw from the same year.
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I like it and I think an RD which has had a Moogectomy is the poorer for it. But I would say that, because I have one, I guess.
I guess mine is the most extreme example of a Moogectomy out there and having had both I know what I love most... :mrgreen:
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The compression/expansion and brightmodes are more for freaking out IMO.
Bridge pup + expansion + chords + dirt pedal + big ass amp = thhe rythmn guitard starts to feel the existential threat.
That's my most of the time setting with the RD (or, to be fair, neck, normal mode, bass up, treble down, mudbucker simulation sort of thing for cleaner more melodic bits). Granted don't use the RD as my main weapon. The dude from Metz does, and on the records it certainly sounds like he uses bright mode sometimes. FX mode is hard because it could be pedals. RDs have a bit of a cult following with the heavier musics and (I guess I don't know what sort of stuff you do) I expect part of that is the non-normal modes (and the look).
... anyway, I was thinking the chordy rhythm bit I did on one song we recorded (used the Triumph on everything) wasn't sounding right; now thinking I should retrack it with the RD and how the bloody hell it didn't occur to me to switch (That's what happens when you wear to many hats in the studio, I suppose).