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CuteCube² Guitar - Play-in System for String Instruments
- Thread starter bassfunkman
- Start date
Although to give the OP the benefit if the doubt, I do remember reading in Bass Player mag many years ago that somebody up here in the Bay Area invented a little room that had 100s' of thousands of watts coming from special transducers hitting new bass and guitar bodies and speeding up the ageing process of the wood. After the "treatment" he swore it made the instrument sound like it was very old and well played. Jim
I have my doubts about how much difference the vibration thing (from either playing or cutecubing) makes on a solid body instrument. But I'm interested to hear the results.
Two things though, strike me as magical thinking:
1) An instrument gets broken in by playing, then "unbreaks in " if you don't play it for a while. If that were true, vintage instruments that hadn't been played in a few years wouldn't sound any different from new instruments.
2) A "broken in" instrument allows you to play faster/smoother/whatever. How exactly does this work?
I think 90% of this is adapting to an instrument and learning how to play it. The instrument isn't changing, you are.
Two things though, strike me as magical thinking:
1) An instrument gets broken in by playing, then "unbreaks in " if you don't play it for a while. If that were true, vintage instruments that hadn't been played in a few years wouldn't sound any different from new instruments.
2) A "broken in" instrument allows you to play faster/smoother/whatever. How exactly does this work?
I think 90% of this is adapting to an instrument and learning how to play it. The instrument isn't changing, you are.
Yes I don't really understand the concept of a "stiff" bass. Does the wood soften and become pliable?
OK, I do believe that a vintage instrument will have some properties
that a new one won't.
It's hard to put your finger on just what goes on,
as no two pieces of wood are the same to begin with.
I think that over time there is a degree of drying, shrinking and settling
that changes the structure of the wood.
Exactly how it is changed over time can be influenced by how and how much
it gets played.
Vibrations will aid in that elusive settling in process.
However, since all that takes decades to get done,
I don't see this as making much of a difference.
Maybe some, but not enough to be worth it.
So, show me.
that a new one won't.
It's hard to put your finger on just what goes on,
as no two pieces of wood are the same to begin with.
I think that over time there is a degree of drying, shrinking and settling
that changes the structure of the wood.
Exactly how it is changed over time can be influenced by how and how much
it gets played.
Vibrations will aid in that elusive settling in process.
However, since all that takes decades to get done,
I don't see this as making much of a difference.
Maybe some, but not enough to be worth it.
So, show me.
HERE WE GO!
Recorded straight into Apogee DUET with MonsterCable Studio Pro1000
The CuteCube treatment has just begun. I'm using WOW Gospel compilations.
I'll let it run for max. a week and record the same lines again.
This is exiting
Recorded straight into Apogee DUET with MonsterCable Studio Pro1000
The CuteCube treatment has just begun. I'm using WOW Gospel compilations.
I'll let it run for max. a week and record the same lines again.
This is exiting
DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
Guys this really works . I once sat on a tubular shaped speaker and played some bee gees music overnight while I slept. The next day I was able to sing much higher notes than before. I would post a comparison but its a pain in the rear to do.
I guess it might make it sound nicer, but I don't see how this thing will help you to play faster and cleaner. That's up to your technique
Nope, zero chance for any damage. The connection between the CuteCube and the bass is rubber, slightly sticky so it doesn't travel, very clever design.
Best results when you lay the bass on the floor, in the case the case vibrates too and effects the results. I put two little hard foam pieces on the floor, chop sticks for separation and then the bass on top.
A 2GB SD-card is included, you load your music on the SD and put it into the slot of the cube, it plays in endless repeat. Also a rechargeable battery is built in so you can use it on the road. Volume is set on "20", bass/treble to +/-0 by default...I had the best results with those default settings. A remote control is also included. Top notch high end tech this little puppy
If you don't have the technique, you can't play fast. It's not a holy grail. It just makes the instrument super responsive, so if you play fast you get more phrasing with less physical energy. The bass delivers the same response over the whole fretboard, no regions where it might be weaker so you have to pluck harder to get the same tone/level and get stuck.
Posting a before and after sample is useless. people who believe in the process (like the OP) will hear a difference, and people who do not will not. People on the fence may or not be swayed, depending on any number of factors. Human hearing is not objective. The brain interperets vibrating air based on a number of factors including how you are feeling. people who buy $100 guitar cables will hear a difference, or at least their brain will assure them that they do.
Only a double blind test with a signifigant sample size (i.e. Lots of people ) will let you know with any certainty if some process "improves" the sound of something. people who swear they hear a difference and can tell if something is better or not typically have a stake in the outcome (emotional, saving face, $, etc) and/or know very little about brain science.
Please realize before posting any angry replies that nowhere have I stated this device does not work. I am merely pointing out that a couple of before and after files will not provide the answer.
Only a double blind test with a signifigant sample size (i.e. Lots of people ) will let you know with any certainty if some process "improves" the sound of something. people who swear they hear a difference and can tell if something is better or not typically have a stake in the outcome (emotional, saving face, $, etc) and/or know very little about brain science.
Please realize before posting any angry replies that nowhere have I stated this device does not work. I am merely pointing out that a couple of before and after files will not provide the answer.
The only piece of gear your girlfriend will be interested in...
Bryan R. Tyler
TalkBass: Usurping My Practice Time Since 2002
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- May 3, 2002
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I get your point. Trust me the result is going to be shocking
Not to anyone who knows about actual testing. It doesn't matter if the sound clips sound vastly different or similar- the testing method itself is so massively flawed it can't provide any evidence in either direction at all. The most you will be able to acquire from this is anecdotal evidence, which you could surmise without even playing the bass before or after.
What if it sounds like an oboe or a vuvuzela??? I would find that quite shocking.
