A Kitten Ate My Pickup

[jmlee]

OK, so my wife decided that it would be a good idea for us to foster cats for the local cat rescue group. I was reluctant since we already had three cats of our own and (in my view at least) needed more cats around like a hole in the head. Next thing you know we had a mommy cat and four kittens (not hers, it's a long story). Three kittens get adopted and we're down to two cats: the mommy and a complete idiot of a kitten that we named Froot Loop.

Meantime, I'd been rehearsing for a show with my upright and having a bitch of a time with feedback. Did a little prowling around TalkBass and found the idea of stuffing some foam between the tailpiece and the top of the bass. Great idea! I get the bass out of its case to try this out and decide to leave the foam in over night to see if it relaxed in there. I put the bass down on its side on the floor and went up to bed. Next day at suppertime I pack up the bass and head off to rehearsal. So I'm setting up and I plug it in. Nuttin. Everything's good and when I unplug the cable and touch it there's a satisfying buzz. Then I look down... The cable between my Full Circle pickup and the jack has been shredded in the middle. There's two frazzled ends with lots and lots of tiny toothmarks.

So now I have a Full Circle pickup with about two inches of very fine cable that I *might* be able to solder to the remaining cable once I excise the damaged segment. But it won't leave near as much good cable as I'd like. I've written Fishman to see what can be done re: replacing the cable. But that means taking the bridge off the bass and I'm out of business until it gets back. Or I have to get another transducer.

Either way, that's one expensive kitten!

Advice? And don't tell me to drown the cat...I've already thought about it but its adoptive mother came and picked it up tonight. Good luck to her!

[Steve Swan]

I think that I know in what part of the kitty you can put the 1/4" plug.

[fdeck]

I remembered seeing printing on the cable of my Full Circle. The cable is Belden 83265. Here's a data sheet:

www.belden.com/techdatas/english/83265.pdf

It's not microscopic by any means. But the teflon insulation is going to be challenging to work with.

I suggest looking with a magnifying glass and flashlight, to see exactly what is going wrong. Some close up pics with a decent digital camera in macro mode might help with figuring out a solution. If the conductors are intact but shorted together, you might be able to tease them back apart with a sewing needle.

Don't go near your bass with a soldering iron unless you protect the surface of the bass.

[NicholasF]

This is why a backup pickup is a must have...

If the cat decides it wants to gnaw on the corners of your bass you have this option:http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catgut
Nice new all gut strings

I'm just kidding, your doing a real nice thing fostering the cats, even though it ate up your pickup. Think of it like a kid accedently eating a coin, there's really nothing you can do about it, it'll be fine but it hopefully learned its lesson. Id bet that pickup isn't that good tasting. Sorry to hear about it, hope you can get a new pickup soon...btw it is a good excuse to upgrade to a realist

[jmlee]

Originally Posted by fdeck

I remembered seeing printing on the cable of my Full Circle. The cable is Belden 83265. Here's a data sheet:

www.belden.com/techdatas/english/83265.pdf

It's not microscopic by any means. But the teflon insulation is going to be challenging to work with.

I suggest looking with a magnifying glass and flashlight, to see exactly what is going wrong. Some close up pics with a decent digital camera in macro mode might help with figuring out a solution. If the conductors are intact but shorted together, you might be able to tease them back apart with a sewing needle.

Don't go near your bass with a soldering iron unless you protect the surface of the bass.

Yeah, I hear you on all that. I'm an engineering professor in my day job, so dealing with cables is something I'm pretty well used to. The bass is at my lab right now and I'll use the magnifiers and other gear we have to take a look before I do anything. Teflon shielding is a pain the way it smears when you try to strip it--and I've got to make sure to not strain the cable entry to the transducer with the short remainder I have to work with.

Frankly, given how much was chewed, I'm hoping Fishman will come to the rescue--although I don't want to be without my upright for long.

[jmlee]

Here's the culprit....cute little SOB.

[Andrew McGregor]

"Q: A cat's brain is the size of a walnut. How is it possible that it can contain so much evil?"

"A: Obviously, evil is highly compressible."

But how can you feel bad about what something that cute did?

[robinunit]

Meraw

[abaguer]

I feel your pain. We have five cats (our vet sees my wife coming and always has a rescue ready) and the newest addition has been hiding my cholesterol medication. I'm on my 3rd refill and have only ingested 2 pills. He seems to find them wherever they are and takes to his secret (really secret) place. His name is Hobbes.

[Epitaph04]

Originally Posted by Andrew McGregor

"Q: A cat's brain is the size of a walnut. How is it possible that it can contain so much evil?"

"A: Obviously, evil is highly compressible."

But how can you feel bad about what something that cute did?

Are you kidding me? If I was the OP that thing would have been in the trash can hours ago...and I love animals.



Okay yeah I wouldn't have done that...but still.

[Nev375]

Originally Posted by jmlee

Here's the culprit....cute little SOB.

Yeah, you can see it in the eyes of that one. It's a subtle look of crazy that they get that they share with serial killers. Those are the cats that will get under your feet when you are walking and try to trip you and kill you. They sit on your chest when you are sleeping and stare at you just waiting to freak you out when you wake up. They shred your furniture and the carpet on bass cabs and chew things. If you are lucky they are not one of the ones who refuse to use the litter box -on purpose.

The good cats are the ones who kinda look stoned in the eyes. They still think about doing the crazy stuff, but they lack motivation to do anything but eat, sleep and breathe 90% of the time. The eating thing is important to them and they are smart enough to realize and accept their owner as a necessary goodness in the world.

[jmlee]

Spliced the cable today and the transducer is back online. Cable's pretty short but manageable. It's amazing how much of the cable was damaged. My Full Circle was one of the older ones that were glued together and Fishman confirmed that they couldn't replace the cable. *Really* needed a magnifier to complete the repair. The inner conductor was tiny.

What's worse, the fostered kitten Frooty was adopted by new parents who are now returning her because she wasn't cuddly enough. Everything is staying in its case from now on!

[Sandi861]

They returned it after less than 3 days?!?! That's absurd!! Of course it's not cuddly with them yet - it was thrown into a new environment with new people. What would you expect?? I hate stupid people! Too bad I wasn't closer - I'd adopt the little bugger!!

[plainman]

You ought to be able to get some good growl now.

[NicholasF]

Originally Posted by jmlee

What's worse, the fostered kitten Frooty was adopted by new parents who are now returning her because she wasn't cuddly enough. Everything is staying in its case from now on!

See this is what you get for giving them a recit

[BBox Bass]

I'm not surprised the cat was brought back; people can be really impatient and/or stupid with animals. A few years ago, my guitar tech found a gorgeous half-starving Siamese/tabby mix while he was out riding his bike. He gave it to at least 3 or 4 people who brought it back within a few _hours_ with complaints like "The cat doesn't get along with my other pets."

I finally took a turn, and took the advice given to me by a colleague who has something like 30 cats in his huge Victorian home. I put the cat in a room by himself for a few days so he could get used to me and play the "swat the other cats under the door" game. Then I let him out under supervision and while there was some hissing at first, everyone adjusted. Five years later, I still have him. He's the sweetest and most mellow cat I've ever owned. At the moment, he's parked on a pillow watching me type.

Originally Posted by Sandi861

They returned it after less than 3 days?!?! That's absurd!! Of course it's not cuddly with them yet - it was thrown into a new environment with new people. What would you expect?? I hate stupid people! Too bad I wasn't closer - I'd adopt the little bugger!!

[AClark]

You should watch the movie "marley and me."