Nuts, Cables, and Random Observations about Fret Tools

I was a bit tired and tired of basses today, but a package came in the mail from Redco. I thought I had lost my trusted cheapy Mogami instrument cable, but it ended up being at the studio. . . but, I had already ordered parts to replace it. . . 75 feet of Canare L-4E6S Quad mic cable.

I read on the talkbass.com web forum that if you wanted to get super-duper trick, you could use the twisted pair XLR cables and connect the shield to the instrument end of the cable and not at the amp end. . . essentially, you extend the control cavity shielding all the way down the length of the cable. . .so I thought I'd give it a go.

Basses for Newbies - Pickup Shootout

Ever since we ran into the unfortunate "SX Effect" distortion problem in the stock SX pickups, I've been on a quest to locate a suitable replacement pickup for the basses for newbies builds.  While it could be argued that the stock pickups work just fine for a beginner, one of my design goals is to deliver a bass capable of holding up to all types of situations a working musician may encounter.  A real working tool that can be a long-term bass and not require upgrade (at least on the basis of playability or sonics). . . well, ever. 

Basses for Newbies - Bass #6

Let's get #6 started. . . back to SX's . I've been doing a lot of jazz basses lately, so I figured I'd try something different with a P/J.

This bass was the one that's started this whole basses for newbies ordeal. It's been sitting in the studio making its way onto various projects that come through. I leveled the frets already, but think I need to take another look at the level job and probably cut more fall-off. Hopefully this one will be straight forward and fast. Mainly, this bass makes noise so I will try to shield and re-wire. . . and throw in neck inserts. I was debating the series/parallel switch on a P/J, but I think I'll put that in as well just for kicks and giggles. . . see what "super phat" mode sounds like.

Thinking about trying out a GFS p-bass pickup on the neck position and see if the shielding alleviates the hum issues on the stock bridge position SX pickup because the "SX effect" only seems to happen on the neck pickup. If it still hums, I'll have to look into a split coil bridge pup.

Basses for Newbies - Bass #5 (part 2)

This is the continuation of the Bass #5 build.

We start out this installment with new electronics being installed.

Basses for Newbies - How to Install Copper Shielding Foil

It seems like there are a lot of folks out there with questions about how to shield the control cavity and pickup routes. I figured I'd take some more in-process photos on this one and see if it's helpful. This may very well not be the best or cleanest way to do this, but it is "one" way that works for me.

Let's start with the hardest part. . . the pickup cavity. I start from the bottom of the route and work my way up, so the first step is to make our bottom piece. I measure a piece of 50mm foil to the length of the pickup with an extra ~1/4" on top and bottom.

Basses for Newbies - Bass #5

So, curiosity killed the cat, and this cat was very curious indeed this weekend.

#5. . . something's a little different about this guy. I ended up picking up 2 "Mexican Standard" jazz basses this weekend locally. I backed out of the deal I previously almost got into from the classifieds here on TB. At any rate, #5 is a 9.56 lb. dark burgundy metallic copy and set me back $235.00 . . . the other one (black) set me back $300. Both is great condition.

Basses for Newbies - The "SX Effect"

After playing the stock SX pickups for a while, we discovered a serious sonic defect.  While these pickups have a unique sound that is punchy with a nice mid-forward growl. . .super fun to play by the way. . . when pushed past a certain threshold during aggressive playing, the pickups distort severely.  For lack of a better term, we started calling this the "SX Effect".  This clipping is very abrupt popping sound as the pickup spikes.  It sounds very similar to digital clipping when an A/D converter is driven too hard.  In the studio, the instrument sometimes really needs to be feathered to stay just under the level where the "SX Effect" rears its ugly head.  Some players would probably never push the pickup to distortion, but if a player is unaware of its existence and finds himself in the middle of a recording session, the engineer may spend hours trying to chase down the clipping because all meters and indeed the input signals would be showing very normal levels.

While I was unhappy it would drive the cost of the instruments up . . . perhaps quite significantly, I deemed the stock SX pickups unsuitable for the mission which is to deliver an instrument capable of going the distance (an entire lifetime) and stay with a student from beginner all the way through professional use.  A few players I know are lucky enough to still have that first instrument, and I wanted to put an instrument into the student's hands that could still be a go-to gigging or studio weapon of choice well into a playing career.  After all, there is always ample use for a nice 4 string jazz or p-bass in the studio.  Sonically and ergonomically, it needs to be able to run with the big boys.

The search for a replacement pickup lead me to a conversation with Carey Nordstrand of Nordstrand Pickups, Inc.  through and introduction from a friend who was developing his electric guitar designs.   Nordstrand is a premium brand, and there was much debate about whether the pedigree and cost of these meticulously spec'd pickups is too high for newbies.  They are after all manufactured in the US on state of the art CNC winding machines with the finest materials and processes.  In my mind, there was only one way to find out and that was to test them and discover with my own fingers and ears if there is some magic left in pickup development that has not been successfully translated to off-shore manufacturing.

Basses for Newbies - Thoughts on Bass #4

This one sounded special to me when I played it out of the box. Highly subjective, but sometimes an instrument just speaks to you. This one had richness, resonance, and complexity in the acoustic sound that I liked. The SX's that I've handled range from just above 8 lbs. to just over 10 lbs. which is quite the range with most falling between 9 and 10 lbs. This one measures on the extreme low end and the body is really a featherweight for alder.

The neck pocket is the most often screwed up areas in an SX. There is no reason with CNC machining that they can't make the neck pockets consistent and the screw holes precisely align so that necks are truly interchangeable, but I have yet to see one align on an SX. Also, I'd estimate that only 1 out of every 5 SX's don't need to be shimmed because the neck pocket is un-molested. This is only critical if you're trying to get nice, low action. Otherwise, you'd never know or care. It's just a roll of the dice as far as neck pockets. Threaded inserts mitigate the effects of the problem to a large extent I think, but still, mechanically, it's best to not have a shim.

I've tried to keep things economical on these builds and refrain from replacing anything on these basses without reason. The tuners, bridges, and nuts have remained even though there are better options out there because they do the job (as well as any vintage bridge). The pups are falling short and holding the instrument back. I'd like for these instruments to be capable of serious work, and I think they can stand up to that kind of scrutiny. If replacement is necessary. .. might as well do it right.

At the end of the day, these are still cheap SX's and will never be able to measure up to a premium bass in terms of fit and finish, but they CAN be made to handle and sound phenomenal. The tape doesn't lie and I think there is still unexploited potential in these basses. I'd like to hear what an SX sounds like with good mics onboard. Right now, the dynamic range of the instrument is getting cut off by the "SX effect".

Basses for Newbies - Bass #4 (shielding and controls)

I picked up some copper shielding foil on Ebay direct from Hong Kong. The interesting part about is, while I paid about double what I would have paid to buy it at Stewmac, I got 30 meters of the 18mm and 50mm width tape while stewmac would have only given me 6 meters of 55mm and 19mm width. That's 2x the price for 5x more material. Since the last batch from Stewmac lasted me about 5 basses, this one should last me darn near forever if I finish it at all.

Basses for Newbies - plugging a neck

An SX  P/J neck arrived in the mail the other day and after inspection, I thought it would be good to pair it with #4. 3 of the 4 screw holes did not line up, so I started plugging the holes with some 1/4" maple plugs I cut on a borrowed drill press. First, I had to drill out the existing holes.

Basses for Newbies - Bass #1 finds a home

#1 arrives at it's new home at Nueva School's junior high music program. . . the kids are gonna flip.

Basses for Newbies - Thoughts on Pickups

The "SX effect" we discovered in testing has been bugging me. That is, everything sound beautiful under a certain threshold. . . then, dig in a little too hard, and the bass distorts. All 3 instruments exhibit this trait. It was particularly evident when tracking the slap lines on Fantastic Voyage. You really had to feather the bass and tread lightly.

So far, this is the only critical deficiency I've found on the batch. I am thinking about standardizing on Nordstrand NJ4 and NP4 pickups for the rest of the builds.

I've ordered 2 sets to test. Still on the prowl for something more affordable, but I figure I can keep the leads long, the pups will not lose much value just by themselves since they are a well-known item.

(audio clips) Basses for Newbies - Bass 1-3 Studio Testing

Not much progress lately on the 2nd batch of basses. I'm waiting for some parts to come in the mail. I ran out of copper shielding foil so I bought some directly from Hong Kong via Ebay. Quality looks good. I don't need the conductive adhesive because I solder the joints. . . plus, the conductive adhesive on the Stewmac stuff has measurably less conductivity than the soldered joint.

I went into the studio last night and recorded some VERY nice test samples of all 3 basses in different genres utilizing some different control/pickup settings on the bass. I will need to mix those down and post, but for now (jasaman on the bass):

Basses for Newbies - Bass #3 field report

 This just came in from Jasaman who has #3:

"I'm amazed at how much I'm digging this bass and it's been fun playing it for the last two days. I took it on a gig last night I and thought I would post a couple of clips for you all to hear. The quality is not very good but I plan to record other gigs with this bass and I'll try to give you a better idea on how this bass sounds in a live situation. It's amazing how many different sounds I can get out of this passive bass. I kept discovering great sounds all night. It was often hard to settle on something! I ended up keeping the pickups in series which gave the bass an incredible P-bass tone. It was soooooo fat! The thing plays incredibly well and sounds great through the entire range of the neck. It's been a blast discovering what these basses can do with Chunger. You da man!"

http://files.me.com/jasaman/wan7kq.mp3
http://files.me.com/jasaman/9z84vn.mp3

Basses for Newbies - Bass #4 arrives

Santa, the guy that drives around in the brown truck came yesterday and dropped this off.

Basses for Newbies - Bass #3 sold

I spent a few hours today meeting up with the guy who helped start this whole idea.

We chatted a while and fine tuned the settings on #1 and #3. I think we have them really dialed now down to the minutest of adjustments. He left with #3 and tonight, #3 is in the "wild" at the Madrone Art Bar in San Francisco. . . don't know if I'll be able to clean the greasy funk off of it afterwards

preliminary reports from the field are good (via iphone):

"First set is over and the bass rules. I'll freaking take it. The only thing to consider is the pickups. They may not be ready to hang with the big boys. They break up when really pushed. It feels and sounds incredible. #3 is the one for me! The band loves it too." - Jasaman

Basses for Newbies - Fret Replacement

OK. . .back to the regular programming. . . I found an SX P-bass neck on the classified section of the talkbass.com forum. The idea was to buy one of the remaining SX fretless p-basses and build a newbie-friendly fretted P-bass without violating my self-imposed embargo of the new Ursa series.  I do not like the new look of the Ursa series basses that Kurt at Rondomusic.com is now selling and have stopped buying SX basses until they change back to their more traditional looking headstock shape.

Upon close inspection of the neck, I found that one of the frets had been hammered in WAY too hard and had actually indented the wood and cracked the finish. As a result, the fret sits very low in relation to the other ones, and there was no good way to level that much material off of the entire fretboard.

(First Impressions) Basses for Newbies Bass 1-3

I finished mixing the clips I recorded at my last session, but the sound files didn't come out that good due to operator error. I was monitoring the pre signal instead of post and there may have been some clipping. I'll get better samples recorded in the next few days. But, for now, here are the "somewhat useable" ones. I should have been more careful.

The signal chain for the bass channel is:

Countryman DI -->modded Ampex 351 preamp --> MCI JH-600 console --> AD converter --> Logic Studio

I tried to make it sound nice, but still be "honest". Usually, we've been tracking through a Sadowsky outboard preamp/DI, but I didn't put that in because it colors the sound. . . colors it in a way that I like, but you get a better feel for the natural sound of the bass without it.

Solo tracks are parallel mode on the pickups, tone wide open, volume full up. I don't know what's happening on the jam clip in terms of bass settings, but the signal chain is the same. There is significant bleed however from the drum mics in the room. There is no EQ or compression on the bass (though I should have going in for all that slapping. . . would have avoided that ugly clipping).







I'll get better samples up when I can be in the studio at a time when I can actually focus on what I'm doing. The people itching to buy #2 and #3 are going to be pissed that I want to do more "testing".
The good news is people love the way these basses play. . . the bad news is, the bass teachers and working professionals like them so much that they want to keep them for their own personal use. . . it's really the children that ultimately suffer. If anyone viewing this thread knows a way I can get my hands on more old-headstock 4 string SX P or J basses or if anyone has "outgrown" theirs, please let me know. I will buy them, fix them proper, and put them to good use. Perhaps the children will even benefit :P

(part 9) Basses for Newbies Bass 1-3

I took the 3 basses out "in the wild" for a test tonight at my friend's house where I helped build a recording studio. It was his birthday party, not really a recording session, but because it was his birthday, all of the bass players were there and were ableto play and jam on the bass. I was able to record some sample clips from all the basses, put down bass parts for a couple of songs that are in process in the studio, and get valuable feedback from working players.

In general, the response was very positive. . . maybe a bit too positive as 2 of my friends emphatically want to buy #2 and #3 from me which leaves one for the Nueva School's music program. These are just plain fun basses to play, and while they may not measure up to full blown custom jobbies, they get the job done and done quite well.

The real players appreciate immediately the work that went into these. They knew from the moment started playing up that these were not just your normal $120 budget basses. On tape, the basses sound good. Nice, solid jazz bass tone and the shielding keeps the noise respectably quiet for single coils.

I did not take my camera with me which was a mistake because this thread has been very photo-rich and the studio's a fun place to shoot, but I was dragging a lot of stuff with me as it is, and birthday parties are crowded places, but how 'bout I make up for it with sound clips in the next couple days once I get the samples mixed?

To hear these basses get wrung out in the most critical of settings and make music was a real treat for me after putting in a lot of time and effort. I think the project as a whole is a huge success. All 3 of these basses will find good homes and make lots of music. My only regret is not having purchased more while they were still available.

(Part 8) Basses for Newbies Bass 1-3

Well, not much to report that I haven't done 2x already. #1 went together pretty smoothly after the fret level.

Here the electronics are soldered together. One thing I did not show previously is the little piece of copper foil under the bridge pickup as well as the little sanded area under the bridge where it meets the wire/copper sandwich. My meter was telling me before that I wasn't getting good contact on the bridge and strings, so I did this to improve that situation on all 3 basses.

And finally, all 3 basses are complete.