To this subforum at least! :mrgreen: I kinda snuck back in, but I don't think Hobbits would go for that - or maybe that would be more in the tradition of Bilbo?
The hobbit in question is my 1970-or-so Les Paul Triumph - put GHS Precision Flats on when I got it worked on a couple of years before the pandemic, have an idea to put a set of Pyramid flats I ended up with on, but better do some recordings first!
Moog is in preparation for Drone Day 2025 - this Saturday! Gotta get back into the groove of my synths!
Very nice. I say leave the GHS on, they sound fine.
Loving it.
Lovely. And welcome back Harry!
That bass sounds great, as does your playing! I agree with Dave. Leave those strings on.
That's a thing of beauty, both visually and sonically. The tone has some starfire vibes so I get why you'd want to give pyramids a try. Either way, purple silks look good on that bass and I think pyramids are purple silks too. Thanks for sharing.
Nice one Harry!
Sounds great, no need for a strich change.
Very nice, keep the strings. :)
Thanks everyone! Memorial Day Weekend is one of my busiest of the year work-wise (though I get actual Memorial Day off, which is nice), so I forgot I posted! ;D Also forgot to post this, which was actually what I was thinking of posting originally:
Andy Fraser was one of my favorite bassists as a teen. I had the second album, Fire & Water, Live!, and Heartbreaker (Tetsu Yamauchi was another fave). Never managed to get an EB-3, but it's fun scale-wise appropriate with the Les Paul.
And I don't disagree re: the strings - I think these are great, and do like the purple color. Before I think I had La Bellas with red silks. I got the Pyramids because someone said they would fit on a Starfire, but they do not fit my Guild M-85. One upshot is that I ordered the medium scale set direct from Pyramid and got to correspond with Max Junger - he sent some cool stuff like stickers and a history of Pyramid strings booklet. I'm going to record more with it - other Free bass covers I want to do, and a drone piece inspired by the recent Drone Day and a possible place on a compilation album...
I posted another Free/Andy Fraser bass cover:
In the Ride On Pony one, I had it on the bridge pickup but it was still putting out tons of bass (not tons of sobs)! This time I used a Trickfish Signal Filter using the hi-pass to cut some of the super lows, so I used the neck pickup this time.
Today I had business in San Francisco and stopped by Amoeba Records. Picked up the 2002 expanded release of the Free Live! album - I had it on vinyl as a teen in Tokyo in the '80s, didn't know until recently about the added tracks - 7 in total - listened to some of the original album and some of the additional tracks - sounds great! I think I still prefer the studio versions, but it's fun listening to live recordings of them too.
Sounds great my friend! I'm really impressed by this bass.
https://www.trickfishamps.com/shop/signal-filter/
Never heard of this one before. Can it clean up a mudbucker?
Great playing Harry. Those Andy Fraser bass parts are always fun to play.
In my opinion you don't need a Trickfish to tame the low end of this bass.
The Les Paul Bass has plenty of options from itself. It has a Bass potentiometer that you can dial all the way to 0. Plus if you use both pickups you can dial it out of phase.
Quote from: Basvarken on May 31, 2025, 04:50:47 AMIn my opinion you don't need a Trickfish to tame the low end of this bass.
The Les Paul Bass has plenty of options from itself. It has a Bass potentiometer that you can dial all the way to 0. Plus if you use both pickups you can dial it out of phase.
But can it clear up a mudbucker?
Quote from: ilan on May 31, 2025, 03:07:08 AMSounds great my friend! I'm really impressed by this bass.
https://www.trickfishamps.com/shop/signal-filter/
Never heard of this one before. Can it clean up a mudbucker?
Unfortunately, I don't have a mudbucker-equipped bass these days, so I can't test it. One potential issue with the Trickfish pedal is that other than the cutoff frequency, everything else is preset and not adjustable. A cheaper alternative to experiment with might be one of the Broughton audio pedals (further down this page: https://www.broughtonaudio.com)
Quote from: Basvarken on May 31, 2025, 04:50:47 AMGreat playing Harry. Those Andy Fraser bass parts are always fun to play.
In my opinion you don't need a Trickfish to tame the low end of this bass.
The Les Paul Bass has plenty of options from itself. It has a Bass potentiometer that you can dial all the way to 0. Plus if you use both pickups you can dial it out of phase.
You got me! To be honest, I have long been biased against passive tone controls. It's only the past 5 years or so that I started turning down the tone knob on my P-Bass. I think I had a similar bias against the bass knob on the Triumph - will experiment with that! The tone selector switch is another thing to experiment more with - I usually go with position 2 but that is pretty bassy as well.
Quote from: ilan on May 31, 2025, 10:10:28 AMBut can it clear up a mudbucker?
No, but fortunately a Les Paul Bass does not have a Mudbucker.
I wasn't really asking about the Hobbit, but you already knew that...
I'm thinking about putting the mudbucker back in my EB-0L and rewiring the tone control to a high pass filter.
Re:Passive tone controls...every bass I have ever played in my 55 or so years of playing has been played with the passive tone controls wide open. It's always been a struggle to get more mids and highs.
Never have grasped the need for less punch or clarity.
Quote from: patman on June 01, 2025, 06:14:35 AMRe:Passive tone controls...every bass I have ever played in my 55 or so years of playing has been played with the passive tone controls wide open. It's always been a struggle to get more mids and highs.
Never have grasped the need for less punch or clarity.
Have you ever tried a no-load pot? Certainly helps to get the maximum clarity. It basically just bypasses the entire pot when it's dialed to full open.
I will check into this...I always assumed with the volume and tone wide open, that they were essentially bypassed...
Quote from: ilan on May 31, 2025, 03:07:08 AMSounds great my friend! I'm really impressed by this bass.
https://www.trickfishamps.com/shop/signal-filter/
Never heard of this one before. Can it clean up a mudbucker?
Hey Ilan, I might be able to experiment with an EB-O - a guitarist I have worked with before has one, we are going to play tomorrow night, I might be able to borrow his. Will get back to you, it might be a fun video to make.
Mudbucker - A high pass filter is a good idea IMO. There are some filter pedals out there, so you don't have to mod the bass.
Passive tone - I've always kept mine rolled off 2 or 3 notches and adjusted the signal path accordingly. This way, if my strings start going dead or I'm having trouble hearing myself, I can open it up for more clarity. YMMV
Quote from: hieronymous on June 09, 2025, 05:15:28 PMHey Ilan, I might be able to experiment with an EB-O - a guitarist I have worked with before has one, we are going to play tomorrow night, I might be able to borrow his. Will get back to you, it might be a fun video to make.
Are the results in yet?
Quote from: ilan on June 16, 2025, 08:53:11 AMAre the results in yet?
Not yet - they didn't bring it last week, maybe this week? They come up to Oakland once a week, for work and for music - kind of being chill about asking again. Will update in a couple of days.
Sorry about my redundant comment that filter pedals are available. I somehow missed Ilan's link to the Trickfish one. Looks like a good contender!
I would rather mod the tone control. I have no use for it as a treble-cut anyway.
Quote from: ilan on June 16, 2025, 08:53:11 AMAre the results in yet?
The process has begun!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54622056196_d4161287cc_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54622276698_9263241b88_c.jpg)
:popcorn:
So initial report is: I'm not sure this is representative of a typical mudbucker. Or maybe it is! I was kind of surprised to realize it's a long scale (EB-3L) - and maybe not so surprised to realize that the string-to-string balance is pretty terrible - especially the low E string. It's not my bass so I really hesitate to try and put it right.
My biggest realization was that it is nothing like the two mudbucker-only equipped basses that I have played - 1968 EB-2 and 1968 Melody Maker. Those are/were just insane with the low end from the E A & D strings! This one, not so much, which makes sense, with both the positioning closer to the bridge and the wiring with the bridge pickup (though not sure scientifically how that works).
I did some recording - let me know if you want me to continue! Otherwise, I would say to work on the passive circuit a la the Les Paul Triumph. I do appreciate my hi-pass/lo-pass filter pedal though!
I'd love a short recording. A quick iPhone demo is okay. Mudbucker solo'ed and tone wide open, then gradually turn the high-pass filter. Thanks!
Quote from: ilan on July 04, 2025, 06:08:21 AMI'd love a short recording. A quick iPhone demo is okay. Mudbucker solo'ed and tone wide open, then gradually turn the high-pass filter. Thanks!
Finally came up with something - will try and message you.