This is how I wire all my basses...in my crooked mind, it makes more sense to me.
And about the scale/B-string debate....to each his own. No need for anyone to get offended.
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Brian Bromberg Carvin Model Part 2
- Thread starter Bryan R. Tyler
- Start date
This is how I wire all my basses...in my crooked mind, it makes more sense to me.
And about the scale/B-string debate....to each his own. No need for anyone to get offended.
MikeBass
Supporting Member
- Nov 4, 2003
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- Endorsing artist- Suhr basses, PedalTrain, GHS, Ultimate Ears
OK.....lower string height because of 35"??
Umm...no. I have 34" scale basses that a butterfly could land on a string and fret a note. Scale length plays no difference in setup.
String excersion will actually be equal or more with 35". Oscillation is oscillation. A less than 1% chance in length is not going to contribute as much as you think. I could alter it more with string gauge thn with scale length.
Right hand for YOU make a difference. But again, change string type and that issue again is changed far more than scale length.
I Ernie Ball Slinkies for example. Hated them. They "felt" as if the had far les tension than the D'Addario's I normally use.
They didn't last a day on my bass they felt so "loose".
Most people don't realize that Leo Fender picked what felt good- 34" as opposed to what was optimal for a bass.
If you believe that 35" makes a significiant difference and impact, then I suggest you try yourself a Dingwall. And when you do, I suggest you bring a towel. They have insane sounding B strings.
My Smiths', Fodera's, Sadowsky's and others were all 34" scale. All could be set with action so low that I'd bet most here couldn't play them.
And all are reknowed for having some of the flatout best B string in the business. Hell, my G&L L5500 has a nutty a$$ awesome sounding B string.
Does 35" scale help? I'm sure it does. But it's not just that number that makes the difference.
Everything you mentioned can be negated on a 35" scale bass or replicated on a 34" scale bass by simple setup and or string change.
Played my B25S for the first time with my band tonight. Sounded great. Very comfortable to play and the B string is awesome.
Just occured to me, I'm heading to San Diego this week and have some time during the day to kill. So I'm gonna go to the Carvin Showroom and finally get a chance to check out a Bromberb bass if they have any in stock.
Just occured to me, I'm heading to San Diego this week and have some time during the day to kill. So I'm gonna go to the Carvin Showroom and finally get a chance to check out a Bromberb bass if they have any in stock.
Call them first and let them know you're coming. Maybe they can get a few things ready for you to play if they have a few days. I'm just sayin....
I just checked and didn't see any 5 string BB models on the In Stock page. Sigh.
That doesn't mean they don't have any in the store. The basses they have in the Hollywood store are not listed in the 'In-stock' section either. I think the retail stores and the factory/website are 2 kinda separate sets of books and inventory. It's a good suggestion to give the San Diego store a call! I'm betting they have at least one there.
Really happy you are enjoying the bass Eggman. I knew it was a great bass. The TI strings are virtually brand new and will sound much better as they break in just a bit so keep playing them
and you will be rewarded by the tone gods Peace Joep054
Really happy you are enjoying the bass Eggman. I knew it was a great bass. The TI strings are virtually brand new and will sound much better as they break in just a bit so keep playing them
Thanks - it does sound great - going to sell my SB5000 now I think.
Have had to tweak the neck - came in flat - lots of string buzz. Little here, little there over the weekend and it was playable last night. Might have to get a full set up done. But so far - so great.
I'm not real good at describing tonal differences Kind of like people who can describe all the nuances and flavors in a fine wine, to me the wine tastes good.
The BB seems to provide a more clear/clean tone, very defined, no mud and more output at approximate same settings on the basses. SB is wearing Slinkies and the BB has TIs. Necks feel about the same size. BB weighs a bit less. BB great access to upper frets. SB better places to rest thumb of right hand and a bit more room to slap and pop.
Does that help?
I was able to make some time to get over to the Carvin Factory Showroom for a personal visit last weekend to check out a BB25 and everything else.
All in all, it was a very nice experience. The staff were friendly and welcoming and they gave me the space to check things out. I was able to play and demo anything in the showroom. They only had one BB25. It was Alder Winged, Ebony FB. I'll post pics later.
The controls were in a 4 knob arrangement, two or three of the knobs were stack knobs. I found the controls very confusing other than figuring out which were the bass and treble controls. I was still not sure which was the vol or vol / blend or vol/Vol. Honestly don't know.
The staff got busy with other customers and I was short of time, so I didn't wait to have them clarify what the configuration was. But I found it so frustrating to not be able to turn some knobs and know what they did to dial in sound. Hmmm. It would however be really helpful for the staff to explain the control layout before handing off the bass and walking away. Especially since it's not tremendously intuitive. (just my opinion) No offense intended.
The bass felt heavy to me. But not sure how heavy it actually was. I've been counseled that won't matter much on a strap since the bass balances so well. But it wasn't the Carvin Staff who told me that. (That would be a helpful point for the Carvin Showroom staff to make). But I imagine most BB25's are sold online anyway. So not really a big deal.
The action was superb, and the build quality was exquisite. I could not find anything physically to fault whatsoever. The neck felt WIDE and long to me. My first instinct without gigging it was "this is a BIG neck." I play a 34.5" scale Nordy, so I'm no stranger to longer scaled basses. But again, this critique was made on my knee in the showroom and not on a Strap which is how I play 99% of the time.
I found the Carvin bass amps equally hard to figure out. Graphic EQ's, countour knobs, presence knobs, passive controls, switches etc. I just plain found it hard to settle in and check out the bass.
Wish my experience was more positive. I'm sure they are wonderful instruments, but I walked away with the conclusion, they are not for everyone. (That is true for any instrument. Just an observation, not an indictment.
I played an SB5000 as well. Liked the neck a little better (for me). But also found the controls and electronics to be less than friendly. It was good, but didn't blow me away. I think it had two Vol controls, but they sure weren't all that linear. Hmmm. I drove off feeling rather non plussed. Maybe even a little disappointed that I wasn't more blown away, maybe even wanting a BB25. Just didn't happen. Nor do I want an SB5000.
Conversely, I went to Bass San Diego, picked up at least 5 basses (including F Basses with 6 Knobs!) and instantly dialed in sounds that I could gig with ...on the fly. Maybe that was because I was using an Epifani cab and GK amps. But that's for another thread.
All in all, it was a very nice experience. The staff were friendly and welcoming and they gave me the space to check things out. I was able to play and demo anything in the showroom. They only had one BB25. It was Alder Winged, Ebony FB. I'll post pics later.
The controls were in a 4 knob arrangement, two or three of the knobs were stack knobs. I found the controls very confusing other than figuring out which were the bass and treble controls. I was still not sure which was the vol or vol / blend or vol/Vol. Honestly don't know.
The staff got busy with other customers and I was short of time, so I didn't wait to have them clarify what the configuration was. But I found it so frustrating to not be able to turn some knobs and know what they did to dial in sound. Hmmm. It would however be really helpful for the staff to explain the control layout before handing off the bass and walking away. Especially since it's not tremendously intuitive. (just my opinion) No offense intended.
The bass felt heavy to me. But not sure how heavy it actually was. I've been counseled that won't matter much on a strap since the bass balances so well. But it wasn't the Carvin Staff who told me that. (That would be a helpful point for the Carvin Showroom staff to make). But I imagine most BB25's are sold online anyway. So not really a big deal.
The action was superb, and the build quality was exquisite. I could not find anything physically to fault whatsoever. The neck felt WIDE and long to me. My first instinct without gigging it was "this is a BIG neck." I play a 34.5" scale Nordy, so I'm no stranger to longer scaled basses. But again, this critique was made on my knee in the showroom and not on a Strap which is how I play 99% of the time.
I found the Carvin bass amps equally hard to figure out. Graphic EQ's, countour knobs, presence knobs, passive controls, switches etc. I just plain found it hard to settle in and check out the bass.
Wish my experience was more positive. I'm sure they are wonderful instruments, but I walked away with the conclusion, they are not for everyone. (That is true for any instrument. Just an observation, not an indictment.
I played an SB5000 as well. Liked the neck a little better (for me). But also found the controls and electronics to be less than friendly. It was good, but didn't blow me away. I think it had two Vol controls, but they sure weren't all that linear. Hmmm. I drove off feeling rather non plussed. Maybe even a little disappointed that I wasn't more blown away, maybe even wanting a BB25. Just didn't happen. Nor do I want an SB5000.
Conversely, I went to Bass San Diego, picked up at least 5 basses (including F Basses with 6 Knobs!) and instantly dialed in sounds that I could gig with ...on the fly. Maybe that was because I was using an Epifani cab and GK amps. But that's for another thread.
It sounds like you had a B25S in the standard alder. The controls are actually pretty common for a 4 knob config. Top 2 knobs are vol and blend, the bottom 2 are stacked T/B and Mid/Sweep.
Most SB's have 2 volumes, a PP/tone/passive and stacked T/B. That's obviously pretty different from many Jazzes.
I agree that the Carvin staff should have made sure you were comfortable with the controls!
There is definitely a bit of a 'getting used to' period with some of these basses, as they are so versatile, tonally. Likewise with some of the amps. Simple is always easier, but alas, it is also often more restrictive.
GRoberts said:
It's cool that you didn't like them. Not every bass is for every person. For the life of me though, I can't understand why you would have trouble telling vol-vol from vol-bal. I mean, all tone related factors aside, if you turn both knobs all the way down and turn them up one at a time, with a vol-vol, either knob will turn the volume up. With vol-bal, only one knob will turn the volume up, and the other knob usually has a detente at about half its rotation. Because of the detente, you can often tell vol-vol from vol-bal without even plugging it in.
Also, most jazz-style basses don't have a very rolloff of their volume knobs. Love it or hate it, this issue is fairly universal.
I just checked out your websites. You have one of the nicest selections of basses I've ever seen from a working musician. Wow. I am envious. Those Nordy's are especially beautiful. It is no wonder you were not blown away by the Carvins.
Thanks man. I've had some great instruments in my career for sure. Here is the Carvin BB25 I was checking out at the Carvin Showroom.
I want to clarify my previous post. What I was trying to say is this. If you couldn't tell vol-vol from vol-bal, something is up. Either you don't know what you are doing, or the Carvin preamp is so different from what you are used to that it is disorienting, or malfunctioning. Your resume indicates that you really know what you are doing, and you've got great taste in gear to boot. So, something must be up with the bass you tried. I've seen vol-vol only work if both knobs are on slightly, so anything is possible. My SB5000 doesn't have a mid control, but I have heard some very subtle mid controls. Maybe that is the case here.
At any rate, I'm sorry - I sounded like a real dill-hole in my earlier post.
At any rate, I'm sorry - I sounded like a real dill-hole in my earlier post.
