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Jisch:
Your idea of having onboard effects is a good one. Having the effect so much closer to the pickup(s) will result in a more pronounced effect.
You may already know about this bass, but if not, google "Electra MPC Outlaw x610 bass." It was made in the 70's in Japan, and came with onboard modules (phaser, flanger, distortion, etc.) that you could swap out via a panel in the back of the bass body. It ran on a 9-volt battery. Chris Squire played one in Tempus Fugit and Cinema. He said having the flanger effect so close to the pickups helped alot, as opposed to the signal running through a cord that's 10 feet long from the bass to the effect.
I know you are looking to run power from an external source. I hope that works out for you. But if you decide to run onboard power from a 9-volt battery (or a pair of them for 18 volts), I recommend going with lithium batteries. They last much longer than regular alkaline batteries. For example, the lithium 9-volt batteries I have in my smoke detectors in my home last 10 years as compared to the typical 6 months with alkalines. The lithium 9-volt batteries are exactly the same size as alkalines, and have exactly the same two snap on connectors.
Good luck with your project!
Your idea of having onboard effects is a good one. Having the effect so much closer to the pickup(s) will result in a more pronounced effect.
You may already know about this bass, but if not, google "Electra MPC Outlaw x610 bass." It was made in the 70's in Japan, and came with onboard modules (phaser, flanger, distortion, etc.) that you could swap out via a panel in the back of the bass body. It ran on a 9-volt battery. Chris Squire played one in Tempus Fugit and Cinema. He said having the flanger effect so close to the pickups helped alot, as opposed to the signal running through a cord that's 10 feet long from the bass to the effect.
I know you are looking to run power from an external source. I hope that works out for you. But if you decide to run onboard power from a 9-volt battery (or a pair of them for 18 volts), I recommend going with lithium batteries. They last much longer than regular alkaline batteries. For example, the lithium 9-volt batteries I have in my smoke detectors in my home last 10 years as compared to the typical 6 months with alkalines. The lithium 9-volt batteries are exactly the same size as alkalines, and have exactly the same two snap on connectors.
Good luck with your project!
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Electra did this ... it did not sell well
Electra Guitars - Wikipedia
Here is Chris Squire using an Electra bass here
Electra Guitars - Wikipedia
Here is Chris Squire using an Electra bass here
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Jisch:
Your idea of having onboard effects is a good one. Having the effect so much closer to the pickup(s) will result in a more pronounced effect.
You may already know about this bass, but if not, google "Electra MPC Outlaw x610 bass." It was made in the 70's in Japan, and came with onboard modules (phaser, flanger, distortion, etc.) that you could swap out via a panel in the back of the bass body. It ran on a 9-volt battery. Chris Squire played one in Tempus Fugit and Cinema. He said having the flanger effect so close to the pickups helped alot, as opposed to the signal running through a cord that's 10 feet long from the bass to the effect.
I know you are looking to run power from an external source. I hope that works out for you. But if you decide to run onboard power from a 9-volt battery (or a pair of them for 18 volts), I recommend going with lithium batteries. They last much longer than regular alkaline batteries. For example, the lithium 9-volt batteries I have in my smoke detectors in my home last 10 years as compared to the typical 6 months with alkalines. The lithium 9-volt batteries are exactly the same size as alkalines, and have exactly the same two snap on connectors.
Good luck with your project!
Also, if battery life is the main concern, you could run two 9v batteries and run them in parallel to the effect(same voltage but 2x the amperage). The only downsides I could see to this is that if one went bad, it would probably take out the other, and you'd have to buy twice the batteries.
You should still be able to run them in series to the preamp if you wanted 18v for it, but the wiring might get a little confusing/tight.
If money is no object, buy an amp such as an EBS with phantom power. Then all you need is a stereo cord.
D
Deleted member 165050
Guest
Check out Mansons Guitars in Exeter here in the UK... they have been making guitars with embedded effects for years for Matt Bellamy from Muse and now have a signature range. The Kaoss Pad is a little better integrated than with most makers.
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this is exactly what I am planning on doing with my stumpy bass, except I'm using a Donner octave pedal, I don't have the money or guts to tear into a EHX Pog. I think the Wing basses use onboard 9v batteries, I just hate to think of ripping through batteries like that. The draw on a Pog (or Donner octave) is about 10x the amount the preamp draws.
Jisch:
I recommend going with lithium batteries. They last much longer than regular alkaline batteries. For example, the lithium 9-volt batteries I have in my smoke detectors in my home last 10 years as compared to the typical 6 months with alkalines. The lithium 9-volt batteries are exactly the same size as alkalines, and have exactly the same two snap on connectors.
Looking at some math, lithium 9v batteries can supply 750maH of power. Donner doesn't seem to publish current draw for their pedal (I can and will measure it), but the Boss OC3 draws 50mAH, I suspect the Donner draws less since it's not polyphonic, but that's a good starting point. My stumpy has an onboard preamp, and I think they draw around 10mAH, so at 60mAH I should get around 12 hours of play time out of a battery. I guess that's not too bad, but I'd much rather have something rechargeable or external. That might be a good place to start though, just to get it going faster.
Vox and Gibson were putting fuzz circuits in basses in the early 1960s.
Then there was the Guitorgan.
Vox even copied that idea and built a Continental organ into one of their guitars.
Then there was the Guitorgan.
Vox even copied that idea and built a Continental organ into one of their guitars.
Since many effects work on 9 OR 18 V (or anything in between) (many are built around op-amps that will happily run on 36-40V, but don't go there unless the maker says you can), one solution to "low rechargeable 9V battery voltage" is set it up as an "18" which will really be more like 16 and a bit.
If looking for "but I have to be able to buy batteries in a pinch" 6, 8 or 12 AA'a will easily give you much more mAh than a 9v and decent rechargeables are easily found. 8 will also ensure more than 9V on NiMHs. Yes, it's a bigger battery box. AAAs are a little bit more capacity than the 9V options and smaller, but they are a stupid cost-wise anywhere you can make space for AA's as they usually cost the same, but are about 1/3 the capacity.
Getting out of "easily go buy some" and thus making your emergency plans more critical, you could adapt a "tool" battery system from whoever makes your lithium cordless drill and get some serious power and fast recharge. Computer laptop batteries are generally harder to adapt and slower to recharge.
Parallel is often a poor choice for battery systems, doubly so for rechargeables. One battery wins, you lose.
If looking for "but I have to be able to buy batteries in a pinch" 6, 8 or 12 AA'a will easily give you much more mAh than a 9v and decent rechargeables are easily found. 8 will also ensure more than 9V on NiMHs. Yes, it's a bigger battery box. AAAs are a little bit more capacity than the 9V options and smaller, but they are a stupid cost-wise anywhere you can make space for AA's as they usually cost the same, but are about 1/3 the capacity.
Getting out of "easily go buy some" and thus making your emergency plans more critical, you could adapt a "tool" battery system from whoever makes your lithium cordless drill and get some serious power and fast recharge. Computer laptop batteries are generally harder to adapt and slower to recharge.
Parallel is often a poor choice for battery systems, doubly so for rechargeables. One battery wins, you lose.
True, I was thinking within the limitations of 9v batteries. I still place my money on RC batteries. I've got a fairly cheap charger that will charge my 5000mah Lipo in like 20 minutes. And with the quick connects you could have two in case of a quick change needed scenario. Mine is 7.2v, but you can get them in like 11v(3 cell Lipo) and up. Each cell is around 3.6v or so, it's been a while since I've really looked at them. And you can get them in darn near any size both capacity and dimensions.
yeah, same for the batteries we use for mountain biking, though as I said, they are mostly 8.4v. I guess the next step here is to wait for my POG to get here so I can tear apart the Donner, then once I see how much room that takes I can figure out what size battery I could fit in there.
Just find this thread.
I wouldn't do this because if the effe is on pefal,you can use it with any bass,if its onboard you can use it only with this bass.
So,straight to the point.
EMG has a power suply with stereo cable to power the active pickups/electronics,so you dont have to have battery onboard.That means,that you can do the same thing for your effe.
Also,EBS have a greate "trick".
Every EBS amp,can power with stereo cable EBS pedals,and the first pedal power the second and goes on.
So if you have EBS amp and only EBS pefalboard,no need for battery or power system.
C'mon,every body knows the phantom power..
I wouldn't do this because if the effe is on pefal,you can use it with any bass,if its onboard you can use it only with this bass.
So,straight to the point.
EMG has a power suply with stereo cable to power the active pickups/electronics,so you dont have to have battery onboard.That means,that you can do the same thing for your effe.
Also,EBS have a greate "trick".
Every EBS amp,can power with stereo cable EBS pedals,and the first pedal power the second and goes on.
So if you have EBS amp and only EBS pefalboard,no need for battery or power system.
C'mon,every body knows the phantom power..
This is for a specific effect, for a specific instrument, an octave drop for a "wing" type bass. The wing bass is tuned up an octave so the effect makes it sound like a regular bass. I wouldn't bother embedding a regular effect pedal, as you say I want those available for any bass I play.
I bought a POG to put in my pedal board, but I will embed the Donner, it's a cheap pedal and does the job well.
I don't have a EBS amp (and just bought a new amp, so I'm not going to buy a new one for this). I can use a TRS 1/4" to power it as I said above, there are a couple of things I need to figure out to make that happen (hence this thread). True phantom power is 48V, I'd have to step that down to work on a pedal built for 9v.
I bought a POG to put in my pedal board, but I will embed the Donner, it's a cheap pedal and does the job well.
I don't have a EBS amp (and just bought a new amp, so I'm not going to buy a new one for this). I can use a TRS 1/4" to power it as I said above, there are a couple of things I need to figure out to make that happen (hence this thread). True phantom power is 48V, I'd have to step that down to work on a pedal built for 9v.
GFS MODboards
Guitar player in my band has one of these in a guitar and liked it. I toyed with the idea in a bass I was working on recently but decided against it only for the reason I had spent more than my wife wanted me to on the build already.
BnB
Guitar player in my band has one of these in a guitar and liked it. I toyed with the idea in a bass I was working on recently but decided against it only for the reason I had spent more than my wife wanted me to on the build already.
BnB
