61
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62
Bill's Shop: Projects, Mods & Repairs / Tapping Into the Mud (Mudbucker Dissection)
« on: July 16, 2008, 10:29:48 AM »
As I recall, the question of adding coil-tap and series/parallel switching to a mudbucker has been raised before... but has anyone here actually attempted it yet? I guess what I'm curious about is if the new sound options would justify the effort. Speculation is welcome here. I'm leaning towards the opinion that it probably would yield some useful/different/interesting sounds, especially for recording.
I have a mongrel '69 EB-0 with a filled (partial?!) pbass pickup route, body refin, and non-original wiring. I'm considering doing the deed on this bass. If I did this, I would probably use two push/pull pots - vol w/coil-tap switch, and tone w/series-parallel switch. That would preserve the stock appearence and controls, and add the switching capability.
I won't say that splitting the mudbucker coils that are currently hardwired in series is trivial, but it does look feasible (I pulled the pickup and took a look last night). There is just enough slack on the coil wires that would enable me to make the cuts, solder on the additional leads, and cover/insulate the unions with a small piece of heat shrink tubing. It could be reverted back, albeit with evidence of tampering - but I'm not worried about that.
Any thoughts, experiences, or opinions are welcome!
I have a mongrel '69 EB-0 with a filled (partial?!) pbass pickup route, body refin, and non-original wiring. I'm considering doing the deed on this bass. If I did this, I would probably use two push/pull pots - vol w/coil-tap switch, and tone w/series-parallel switch. That would preserve the stock appearence and controls, and add the switching capability.
I won't say that splitting the mudbucker coils that are currently hardwired in series is trivial, but it does look feasible (I pulled the pickup and took a look last night). There is just enough slack on the coil wires that would enable me to make the cuts, solder on the additional leads, and cover/insulate the unions with a small piece of heat shrink tubing. It could be reverted back, albeit with evidence of tampering - but I'm not worried about that.
Any thoughts, experiences, or opinions are welcome!
63
Other Bass Brands / BC Rich Eagle F/S
« on: July 13, 2008, 01:05:16 PM »
I'd love to get one of these someday. I played one in a shop years ago, and it left a lasting impression. This is my favorite body style of theirs from that era.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=451381
Like everything else, they've gotten awfully expensive over the years!
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=451381
Like everything else, they've gotten awfully expensive over the years!
64
Other Bass Brands / Couple Bruce Johnson Scrolls on the 'Bay
« on: June 22, 2008, 10:43:58 AM »
These have been up a couple days, but in case you didn't notice...
Early AUB-2 scroll bass:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260254129503&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=016
There was a link in the auction to a neat writeup about that bass. I had never seen that page before, but it explains the complicated-looking pickup array and jack arrangement that I had always wondered about. It actually doesn't seen complicated at all now - he uses one coil from a SD Quarter Pounder in each of those four casings, and arranges them like a bass with two P pickups.
Sounds like he had planned to offer other configs that would just drop in place of those if you ever wanted to change them, and with the "full width" P coils, it makes it easy to reorient the P pickups, moving the treble coil closer to the neck or bridge, etc...
Two of the three jacks are wired direct (not thru the controls) to each pickup, and the third jack provides the standard output w/vol and tone controls.
The other bass is a '67 ASB-1 Devil Bass, restored by Bruce Johnson:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=220247236296&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=012
Some killer pics in that auction!
Early AUB-2 scroll bass:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260254129503&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=016
There was a link in the auction to a neat writeup about that bass. I had never seen that page before, but it explains the complicated-looking pickup array and jack arrangement that I had always wondered about. It actually doesn't seen complicated at all now - he uses one coil from a SD Quarter Pounder in each of those four casings, and arranges them like a bass with two P pickups.
Sounds like he had planned to offer other configs that would just drop in place of those if you ever wanted to change them, and with the "full width" P coils, it makes it easy to reorient the P pickups, moving the treble coil closer to the neck or bridge, etc...
Two of the three jacks are wired direct (not thru the controls) to each pickup, and the third jack provides the standard output w/vol and tone controls.
The other bass is a '67 ASB-1 Devil Bass, restored by Bruce Johnson:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=220247236296&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=012
Some killer pics in that auction!
65
Gibson Basses / Some Friday Afternoon Stoner Rock (With EB-2 Content)
« on: June 20, 2008, 11:41:33 AM »
I can get into Sabbath and newer bands like Om, Fu Manchu, Sasquatch - but I somehow missed out on Spirit Caravan...
...and there was Gibson bass content!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1jU7eikLZ4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXg1qeDZisw&feature=related
Love that doomsday cloud cast by Dave Shermann's EB-2. No substitute for that mud!
...and there was Gibson bass content!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1jU7eikLZ4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXg1qeDZisw&feature=related
Love that doomsday cloud cast by Dave Shermann's EB-2. No substitute for that mud!
66
Bass Amps & Effects / Hit it, Maestro!
« on: June 19, 2008, 07:21:25 PM »
A couple months ago, I picked up a Maestro W-2 “Sound System for Woodwinds” from the late-sixties/early-seventies. This was an early multi-effect processor intended to be used with an included microphone to make saxophones and clarinets sound far out and groovy. It’s basically a fuzz-box and octaver with an elaborate spread of “organ stop” inspired switches to impose various filter settings that shape the characteristics of the sound. There’s also a built-in tremolo, but that part does not seem to be functional on my specimen (plan to dig into that when I have time).
The aesthetic of the unit is such that it would feel right at home atop granny’s Lowrey organ – pastel blue and yellow switches adorned with names like “Oboe D’Amore”, “English Horn”, “Contra”, and “Fuzz Tone” (which does sound a lot like the pedal of the same name). The input is 1/8” presumably for the mic (which has gone AWOL on my unit), and to use it with bass, you need to bump up the signal a bit with a preamp.
It does pretty much what you’d expect, given the type of effects that are involved. All the sounds are buzzy, with varying EQ and octave settings depending on how the switches are set. It looks like it does a lot, but you’ll exhaust the tonal options in about ten minutes. Still – if you’re looking for an old fuzz box, this gives you more versatility than most.
I’ve had this one sitting here for about two months now, and haven’t had time to do anything with it - but I finally got around to recording something with it:
The melody line was created by running my Alembic Distillate thru the Maestro. There are four parts layered, each with different settings, and one with additional processing from a Sola Sound Wah pedal. I also used the Maestro to crunch a portion of the drum track in the middle section of the song.
For the bass part, I played the Gibson Triumph. Still has the dead flats on it, but I thought they fit the part well here. It was recorded direct thru an Alembic F2-B preamp, and there’s a bit in the middle where I used an Ashdown envelope follower on it. There’s also some Oberheim and Moog synths, and a Gibson SG Std. in there.
The aesthetic of the unit is such that it would feel right at home atop granny’s Lowrey organ – pastel blue and yellow switches adorned with names like “Oboe D’Amore”, “English Horn”, “Contra”, and “Fuzz Tone” (which does sound a lot like the pedal of the same name). The input is 1/8” presumably for the mic (which has gone AWOL on my unit), and to use it with bass, you need to bump up the signal a bit with a preamp.
It does pretty much what you’d expect, given the type of effects that are involved. All the sounds are buzzy, with varying EQ and octave settings depending on how the switches are set. It looks like it does a lot, but you’ll exhaust the tonal options in about ten minutes. Still – if you’re looking for an old fuzz box, this gives you more versatility than most.
I’ve had this one sitting here for about two months now, and haven’t had time to do anything with it - but I finally got around to recording something with it:
The melody line was created by running my Alembic Distillate thru the Maestro. There are four parts layered, each with different settings, and one with additional processing from a Sola Sound Wah pedal. I also used the Maestro to crunch a portion of the drum track in the middle section of the song.
For the bass part, I played the Gibson Triumph. Still has the dead flats on it, but I thought they fit the part well here. It was recorded direct thru an Alembic F2-B preamp, and there’s a bit in the middle where I used an Ashdown envelope follower on it. There’s also some Oberheim and Moog synths, and a Gibson SG Std. in there.
67
Bill's Shop: Projects, Mods & Repairs / Crack Kills
« on: June 13, 2008, 08:12:09 AM »
I've see this type of crack on a number of basses - recently the Triumph that was up for auction last week, and the Bicentennial bird that is up currently. I can't help but wonder what might cause this - blunt force strike to the front of a headstock? or do things like this just pop up one day due to, I dunno, warpage, overzealous truss rod adjustment, or something?
How would one go about fixing that the right way? or would stabalizing it by injecting glue or epoxy be good enough if you weren't worried so much about the resale value?
How would one go about fixing that the right way? or would stabalizing it by injecting glue or epoxy be good enough if you weren't worried so much about the resale value?
68
The Outpost Cafe / First Came the Gibson/Moog RD...
« on: June 11, 2008, 10:42:37 PM »
...and now the Paul Vo!!!
Paul Vo?
Moog has unveiled their second attempt at revolutionizing the electric guitar. The model, named after its inventor, apparently uses special pickups to apply "coherent power" to the strings (as opposed to incoherent power, which is what I sometimes apply) in order to manipulate their vibration in real time - thus enabling infinite sustain at one end of the spectrum, and staccato muting at the other end. By varying the balance of sustain/mute effects between the two pickups using a foot pedal, the player can invoke various harmonic overtones.
It addition to that, it has a built-in Moog filter, which looks like it might provide similar capability to their Moogerfooger MF-101 filter pedal (resonant lowpass synth-like filter w/envelope follower). Apparently, Zion Guitars is currently handling the lutherie, and Moog may also have plans to engage other builders in the future.
Here's a demo video of the guitar featuring Lou Reed, Vernon Reid, and others:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3SsYQrgcyA&eurl=http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/06/moog-unveils-ba.html
A couple nit-picky comments/observations that I would have are:
- It's styling doesn't doesn't do much for me. Not as striking as the RD - looks more like a run of the mill ESP, or something.
- Its MSRP is $6500
Other than that, it's pretty cool... but the real question at hand is this: can the revolutionary Moog guitar make me want to listen to Vernon Reid??
Paul Vo?
Moog has unveiled their second attempt at revolutionizing the electric guitar. The model, named after its inventor, apparently uses special pickups to apply "coherent power" to the strings (as opposed to incoherent power, which is what I sometimes apply) in order to manipulate their vibration in real time - thus enabling infinite sustain at one end of the spectrum, and staccato muting at the other end. By varying the balance of sustain/mute effects between the two pickups using a foot pedal, the player can invoke various harmonic overtones.
It addition to that, it has a built-in Moog filter, which looks like it might provide similar capability to their Moogerfooger MF-101 filter pedal (resonant lowpass synth-like filter w/envelope follower). Apparently, Zion Guitars is currently handling the lutherie, and Moog may also have plans to engage other builders in the future.
Here's a demo video of the guitar featuring Lou Reed, Vernon Reid, and others:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3SsYQrgcyA&eurl=http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/06/moog-unveils-ba.html
A couple nit-picky comments/observations that I would have are:
- It's styling doesn't doesn't do much for me. Not as striking as the RD - looks more like a run of the mill ESP, or something.
- Its MSRP is $6500
Other than that, it's pretty cool... but the real question at hand is this: can the revolutionary Moog guitar make me want to listen to Vernon Reid??
69
Gibson Basses / Pretty Bird
« on: June 07, 2008, 09:10:27 AM »
Price, unknown issues, etc.. aside - this is just plain good-lookin!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320259180224&indexURL=0&photoDisplayType=2#ebayphotohosting
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320259180224&indexURL=0&photoDisplayType=2#ebayphotohosting
70
Other Bass Brands / Renaissance SCB
« on: May 30, 2008, 04:45:11 PM »
Thanks to that Spellbinder at the Low End, I got to thinking about another (partially) composite bass that always intrigued me - the lucite-bodied Renaissance SCBs:
Has anyone here had (or played) one?
Has anyone here had (or played) one?
71
Other Bass Brands / Clarke Spellbinder
« on: May 30, 2008, 01:34:17 PM »
Don't see these everyday - one of the original short-scale, composite Spellbinders:
http://www.thelowend.net/gallery/viewtopic.php?t=3307
One of my first LPs was Time Exposure, which had the silhouette of one on the cover:
Always liked the styling - sort of an Alembic with Gibbie-style bridge and big-honkin Magnum-esque pickup surround.
http://www.thelowend.net/gallery/viewtopic.php?t=3307
One of my first LPs was Time Exposure, which had the silhouette of one on the cover:
Always liked the styling - sort of an Alembic with Gibbie-style bridge and big-honkin Magnum-esque pickup surround.
72
The Bass Zone / Deep, Dark, Recordings From Your Past....
« on: May 30, 2008, 12:18:53 AM »
Every once in a while, I get on a kick where I go through old stuff that I have on tape and rip it (best I can) to digital format. This was some material I found of a band I was in when I was around 19 (around '92). We were nice boys, and loved to play those adult contemporary jams to make the old folks get down. 
Here's the bass that I tortued through most of this era in my life:
Live, I'd run that Aria thru a Fender BXR-400 (still have that too), and 2x15 Peavey Black Widows. I butchered the bass, but it does play well. At the time, I thought the sound of those SDs worked a lot better in this setting than the stock pickups. I remember the Aria pickups being very middly. I'd probably love 'em now!
So... I'm thinking this should be a fun thread! Watcha got? Recordings of that hair-metal band you were in? Flock of Seagulls tribute? Psychedelic polka?
Unleash the fury!
Here's the bass that I tortued through most of this era in my life:
Live, I'd run that Aria thru a Fender BXR-400 (still have that too), and 2x15 Peavey Black Widows. I butchered the bass, but it does play well. At the time, I thought the sound of those SDs worked a lot better in this setting than the stock pickups. I remember the Aria pickups being very middly. I'd probably love 'em now!
So... I'm thinking this should be a fun thread! Watcha got? Recordings of that hair-metal band you were in? Flock of Seagulls tribute? Psychedelic polka?
Unleash the fury!
73
Bill's Shop: Projects, Mods & Repairs / CAD/CAM Wood Fabrication References?
« on: May 19, 2008, 04:29:24 PM »
I have sort of a cottage industry thing going for some "expression" controllers for music synthesizers. To date, I've been building the wooden enclosures out of 1x2x8" birch blocks, with a route/channel down the middle to contain the electronics, a few holes drilled for mounting hardware and wiring, and a buffed-out walnut polyurethane finish. They look like this:
The problem is that I'm not setup as a woodshop, and while it's fun in moderation, I'm not very fast or consistent at the art of manipulating wood. Let's put it this way- If I never touch my router again, I will still have lived a happy and complete life.
I now have a need to build more of these little buggers faster and better - with tighter tolerances in the fit-and-finish of the enclosure. My woodworking skills and equipment are not up to this challenge, and I'd rather focus on the electronics side of things anyway - since that's really what this is all about.
What I'm hoping to do is try and draw up the enclosure design in some sort of CAD application, and send the file to a shop for CAM fabrication of a bunch of these enclosures. Does anyone here have personal experiennces with this kind of stuff? words of wisdom? or better- any references to a shop that is equipped and willing to do this type of work?
Thanks in advance!
The problem is that I'm not setup as a woodshop, and while it's fun in moderation, I'm not very fast or consistent at the art of manipulating wood. Let's put it this way- If I never touch my router again, I will still have lived a happy and complete life.
I now have a need to build more of these little buggers faster and better - with tighter tolerances in the fit-and-finish of the enclosure. My woodworking skills and equipment are not up to this challenge, and I'd rather focus on the electronics side of things anyway - since that's really what this is all about.
What I'm hoping to do is try and draw up the enclosure design in some sort of CAD application, and send the file to a shop for CAM fabrication of a bunch of these enclosures. Does anyone here have personal experiennces with this kind of stuff? words of wisdom? or better- any references to a shop that is equipped and willing to do this type of work?
Thanks in advance!
74
The Bass Zone / Recording - Great Papers on Setting Levels, Mixdown, Mastering, and DAW Setup
« on: May 13, 2008, 10:46:45 AM »
I built my computer recording setup a little over a year ago. A friend of mine migrated to Mac, and got me setup with his old PC version of Cubase SX (ancient - v 1.0!!), a bunch of VST virtual instruments (most of which I don't use - too much of a "hardware" guy), and a handful of virtual effects.
I had no idea how to use this stuff! The recording software seemed wildly complex! I still fumble around in it to this day, but I'm getting more comfortable with time and practice. I'm just recently learning how to bounce tracks thru external effects, and things of that nature. I'm too ADD to sit down at the onset and digest all of the manuals. I have a tendency to learn the hard way- by doing it first, and asking questions later.
One of the biggest struggles I've had to date is the art of mixdown and mastering. Every song I've done has levels set differently, so when played against each other, some sound "loud", some sound "soft", and they all sound different to me (usually worse) when I hear them for the first time on a different set of speakers or headphones. I mix thru three sets of different headphones, and a set of nearfield monitors - and still don't get it right because I'm fumbling around and don't really know what I'm doing!
I found this set of articles over the weekend, and thought I would share them. I already found several tips that will help me, and hopefully yield more consistent mixes and mastering efforts.
Mixdowns for Beginners
Guide to Mastering for Beginners
Leveling, meters, and many other topics along the way...
These take a while to get thru, but are well worth it! If anyone else has any recommended reading on these subjects, I sure would be interested.
P.S. While these can apply to just recording bass, these papers are more holistic in nature - so please forgive me if this is not the right forum for this subject!
I had no idea how to use this stuff! The recording software seemed wildly complex! I still fumble around in it to this day, but I'm getting more comfortable with time and practice. I'm just recently learning how to bounce tracks thru external effects, and things of that nature. I'm too ADD to sit down at the onset and digest all of the manuals. I have a tendency to learn the hard way- by doing it first, and asking questions later.
One of the biggest struggles I've had to date is the art of mixdown and mastering. Every song I've done has levels set differently, so when played against each other, some sound "loud", some sound "soft", and they all sound different to me (usually worse) when I hear them for the first time on a different set of speakers or headphones. I mix thru three sets of different headphones, and a set of nearfield monitors - and still don't get it right because I'm fumbling around and don't really know what I'm doing!
I found this set of articles over the weekend, and thought I would share them. I already found several tips that will help me, and hopefully yield more consistent mixes and mastering efforts.
Mixdowns for Beginners
Guide to Mastering for Beginners
Leveling, meters, and many other topics along the way...
These take a while to get thru, but are well worth it! If anyone else has any recommended reading on these subjects, I sure would be interested.
P.S. While these can apply to just recording bass, these papers are more holistic in nature - so please forgive me if this is not the right forum for this subject!
75
Bass Amps & Effects / Korg X-911 Analog Guitar Synthesizer (With Demo Recording)
« on: May 08, 2008, 01:48:07 AM »
Did I mention I'm a synth nerd yet today? 
I just picked up a neat little "effect" - a Korg X-911 guitar synth.
These were only built for a short time (~1981), probably didn't sell too well, are pretty scarce as a result, and this one had seen better days!
This isn't like most of the stomp-box synths (Electro Harmonix Micro, Boss SYB-5, etc..) that are basically octave/fuzz boxes with filters. This one is actually a real analog synthesizer, based on some of the same circuitry used in Korg's venerable MS models. It is designed to track the pitch of an input signal (guitar, bass, mic, another synth, etc...), trigger its internal sounds, and match the pitch of the notes you are playing. It has built in distortion as well, and many of the "synth" functions you would expect - envelope generators (for shaping tone over time), portamento (glide between notes), adjustable touch sensitive dynamics, a resonant low-pass filter (for tonal sweeps and "wahhhhs"), and a couple of oscillators (the sound generators).
That's a lot of "stuff" stuffed into a small package!
This one came to me (relatively) cheap, as it was busted. One of the pots was broken and seized up, it wouldn't trigger properly (due to a bad IC), and an LED was shattered/burned out. I found a schematic online, sorted everything out, and now it works like a champ! I still need to tweak its "intonation" a bit. There are a number of trimpots inside that have influence over this. Adjusting them to track pitch properly seems like more of an art than a science (that's what I was working on in that pic above).
That said, I'm *really* blown away by it's tracking ability! I have a late model Roland guitar synth setup too, and being that this old Korg doesn't even have a dedicated/specialized pickup or anything, it does a *very* respectable job tracking notes.
Even with bass!! (althogh you'll want to stay up kinda high on the 'board for the best results)
I was jamming with it a bit last weekend, and ending up recording a little improv song to demonstrate some of the sounds it can make. All the synth parts in this song were made by the Korg, and "played" using the Alembic Distillate (and SG special on a couple very minor parts). There's some normal bass in the middle, which is also the Distillate. I used a compressor to smash the input signal a bit, to help even out the dynamics so the Korg could do its best job possible with tracking pitch. I ran the Korg into the Space Echo, and then thru the Alembic F2-B preamp. Here are some shots of the setup:
Oh yeah- and the song:
I just picked up a neat little "effect" - a Korg X-911 guitar synth.
These were only built for a short time (~1981), probably didn't sell too well, are pretty scarce as a result, and this one had seen better days!
This isn't like most of the stomp-box synths (Electro Harmonix Micro, Boss SYB-5, etc..) that are basically octave/fuzz boxes with filters. This one is actually a real analog synthesizer, based on some of the same circuitry used in Korg's venerable MS models. It is designed to track the pitch of an input signal (guitar, bass, mic, another synth, etc...), trigger its internal sounds, and match the pitch of the notes you are playing. It has built in distortion as well, and many of the "synth" functions you would expect - envelope generators (for shaping tone over time), portamento (glide between notes), adjustable touch sensitive dynamics, a resonant low-pass filter (for tonal sweeps and "wahhhhs"), and a couple of oscillators (the sound generators).
That's a lot of "stuff" stuffed into a small package!
This one came to me (relatively) cheap, as it was busted. One of the pots was broken and seized up, it wouldn't trigger properly (due to a bad IC), and an LED was shattered/burned out. I found a schematic online, sorted everything out, and now it works like a champ! I still need to tweak its "intonation" a bit. There are a number of trimpots inside that have influence over this. Adjusting them to track pitch properly seems like more of an art than a science (that's what I was working on in that pic above).
That said, I'm *really* blown away by it's tracking ability! I have a late model Roland guitar synth setup too, and being that this old Korg doesn't even have a dedicated/specialized pickup or anything, it does a *very* respectable job tracking notes.
Even with bass!! (althogh you'll want to stay up kinda high on the 'board for the best results)
I was jamming with it a bit last weekend, and ending up recording a little improv song to demonstrate some of the sounds it can make. All the synth parts in this song were made by the Korg, and "played" using the Alembic Distillate (and SG special on a couple very minor parts). There's some normal bass in the middle, which is also the Distillate. I used a compressor to smash the input signal a bit, to help even out the dynamics so the Korg could do its best job possible with tracking pitch. I ran the Korg into the Space Echo, and then thru the Alembic F2-B preamp. Here are some shots of the setup:
Oh yeah- and the song: