EM-1 brake-in?

cabin dweller · #1 12-20-2004, 04:53 PM

I was wondering if anybody has tried pumping bass from a speaker cab (at there new bass) to help open it up? There's a music store in LaCrosse Wi, that does it to there high buck guitars, would it work on a bassfiddle?

Marcus Johnson · #2 12-20-2004, 07:13 PM

Just play it, homes. Play it a lot, and then play it some more, Lots more fun that way. Get a bow and blow that Wisconsin permafrost right outta that bass.

BassGreaser · #3 12-20-2004, 07:51 PM

i think i read somewhere that Lemur Music does that to their basses

Steve Killingsworth · #4 12-20-2004, 08:38 PM

The whole concept has been discussed here several times. You might try searching the archives in the setup and repair forum. As I recall, virtually all our luthiers and more experienced folk agreed that the speaker thing does not cause enough vibration to actually benefit the bass.

However, Bob Branstetter used something else that he firmly believed would help. It involved a device that actually attached to the bass and directly applied vibration to the body. Not everyone agreed with this, but those threads make some interesting reading.

What MJ said is one bit of wisdom that no one disagrees with--play the crap out of the thing, especially with a bow. This really helped my ES-9 liven up. One other thing that will really benefit you is to replace the coathanger wire on the tailpiece. I ordered the stainless steel cable kit from Lemur for about $12 and the difference in sound was remarkable.

tplyons · #5 12-24-2004, 11:33 PM

Bag it, throw it in the back of an El Camino and drive around New Jersey roads.

Opened mine right up tonally

BASSnSAX · #6 12-24-2004, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

Just play it, homes. Play it a lot, and then play it some more, Lots more fun that way. Get a bow and blow that Wisconsin permafrost right outta that bass.

Permafrost, my frozen bottom! It doesn't get quite that cold here, but still, rather cold...about -12° F last night, not counting wind chill...

Marcus Johnson · #7 12-25-2004, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BASSnSAX

Permafrost, my frozen bottom! It doesn't get quite that cold here, but still, rather cold...about -12° F last night, not counting wind chill...

Can't fool me bro, I was born in Rhinelander. Why d'ya think I live in Maui?

BASSnSAX · #8 12-26-2004, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

Can't fool me bro, I was born in Rhinelander. Why d'ya think I live in Maui?

That was a good call on your part! It's too damn cold here, but the people are great, so I don't mind. The only part I hate is that everyone drives like poo when it snows...

Marcus Johnson · #9 12-26-2004, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BASSnSAX

That was a good call on your part! It's too damn cold here, but the people are great, so I don't mind. The only part I hate is that everyone drives like poo when it snows...

Agreed... the people back there are fine folks indeed.

The key to driving in the winter is to drink lots of beer for courage, go really fast, and never touch the brakes, ever. Of course, that was when I was a kid, not sure how I'd handle a Wisconsin winter now...probably just take the snowmobile

Back on subject, sort of...this link, showing an attempt at artificially exciting a musical instrument http://www.ukuleles.com/Technology/HulaGirlShaker.html comes from uke builder David "Kawika" Hurd's great website. He's something of a techhead and has written a new book called "Left Brain Lutherie" that looks like it might be interesting.