Thanks. It doesn't say anything about what kind of pad is built in. 10db? 20db? Any idea?
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Double Bass Full Circle: hot amp killer?
- Thread starter MingusAmongUs
- Start date
Thanks. It doesn't say anything about what kind of pad is built in. 10db? 20db? Any idea?
Chris,
Here's a link to the page, that shows all the cables. All it says is "Padded Cable for Realist". I do know that Gordon Littler of Headway, didn't even know about the cable, until they told him about it. If he had, I would have never modified my Headway EDB-1. So, who knows? I could certainly write a note to Sam Findlay that posted that response to the Realist failure thread several years ago, or, come to think of it Ted Moniack at St. Louis strings actually used to work for David Gage. That info may also be in the Headway EDB-1 thread that Piro Patten started when the Headway was first released.
Ric
Thanks guys for all the good info. I have options at least. Have to figure out how to see whether I have a bad pickup...
Indeed! I would expect at least a large handful of people who fit this description -- or at least a handful of people who can say, "oh yeah, this is a known issue. Don't use those two together."
Even Rick at AI didn't ask any question about this or seem to suggest it's something he's come across.
Does anyone have a schematic, or know what is used in the FC output jack to filter and attenuate the signal? I don't want to use the string-mounted jack and would like to modify my attached pre-amp. I tried to unscrew the jack to take a look, but it's not easily done.
Vic,
The Full Circle jack will not come apart (as far as I know), I have tried that. It's a proprietary device, to get a useable signal from the Full Circle. You could contact Fishman service, and get the skinny. I've had very good responses from them, they are very helpful. I'm in total agreement with you in regards to the string mounted jack, as it's a PITA and tends to pull of the strings. You could get a plastic pipe clamp and use it to mount the FC like a Realist.
Ric
I've got a FC and am happy with it. With that said, it's my opinion that the way to pad a piezo pickup is with a capacitor in parallel with the pickup. If the capacitor is equal to the capacitance of the pickup, then it reduces the signal by 6 dB. So unless you know the capacitance of the pickup, it's a bit of a guessing game, but something in the ballpark of 0.01 microfarads might do the job. Radio Shack has a polymer film capacitor with this value.
My favorite method of mounting output jacks is to wrap the jack in a couple layers of bike innertube rubber, and attach to the tailpiece with one of those velcro cable straps.
My favorite method of mounting output jacks is to wrap the jack in a couple layers of bike innertube rubber, and attach to the tailpiece with one of those velcro cable straps.
I'm guessing you've never plugged the FC directly in to a Series 4 Coda huh?
So, I like the idea (and low cost) of honking a $1.59 capacitor into the chain, but the million dollar question is: how? Seems like we could probably find the capacitance of the pickup in some documentation somewhere, or by contacting Fishman, no?
I'm afraid not. The amps that I've personally used have all been EA and GK models.
I just remembered that my new DMM has a capacitance function. So I tested all of the pickups at my immediate disposal. My meter has a resolution of 1 nF, so all of the readings are no better than plus or minus 1 nF.
Underwood = 2 nF
K&K Bass Max = 26 nF
Upton Revolution Solo (original series) = 24 nF
Note: nF = nanoFarad, uF = microFarad = 1000 nF
The Full Circle is 2 nF directly off the RCA jack, and 4 - 5 nF with the RCA to 1/4" adapter, which probably has some capacitance in it. So I would guess that somewhere around 0.0047 uF (i.e. 4.7 nF) poly film would be worth a try. I'd get the lowest possible voltage rating, so it will be the smallest. If you get two, then you've got some choices by wiring the caps in series or parallel, or just one by itself.
It can go anywhere in your input signal chain. An easy place might be to unscrew the cap off the plug of a signal cable and just put it inside the plug. For testing, you could just glom it on with a clothespin.
Thanks Francis. This is EXACTLY the information I was looking for. I have an Fishman pre attached to my tailpiece. I'm going to open it up and place the capacitor inside on the input jack. And I'll do the same when I get my new Series 3 HPF-pre!
So I never did manage to do anything about this, and it's still an issue. I wonder if anyone else might have since had this problem and found a tried and true solution?
... or if perhaps any "new sh-- has come to light?"
... or if perhaps any "new sh-- has come to light?"
Hey,
I know this is from a while back, but here's what I found about my FC popping. (Using FC and AI Coda+ BTW)
About a year ago, I decided to move to a FC after my Realist began to fade. I did a test on FC threads up/down, after an intensive setup/recording A/B-ing period, I took my bass on a gig and there was popping (only at high volume).
Frustrated, I figured I must have a gap between the leg and FC face, checked everything good, next gig same thing. Trying different amps, pre's, cables, etc, I isolated the problem to the pickup.
Examining the FC I noticed the assembly screws were at different tensions. I gently adjusted the screws with equal pressure to all 4 (not before I opened it to peek inside
). Reinstalled, no popping since. I never checked with Fishman on this issue, so YMMV. I believe my issue stemmed from too much play in the pickup.
Interesting. I checked mine and it seems to be torqued to death at all 4 joints. Couldn't make any of them budge by hand, except for the topmost/frontmost piece, which I fiddled with and put back together as best I could. No change.Hey,
I know this is from a while back, but here's what I found about my FC popping. (Using FC and AI Coda+ BTW)
About a year ago, I decided to move to a FC after my Realist began to fade. I did a test on FC threads up/down, after an intensive setup/recording A/B-ing period, I took my bass on a gig and there was popping (only at high volume).
Frustrated, I figured I must have a gap between the leg and FC face, checked everything good, next gig same thing. Trying different amps, pre's, cables, etc, I isolated the problem to the pickup.
Examining the FC I noticed the assembly screws were at different tensions. I gently adjusted the screws with equal pressure to all 4 (not before I opened it to peek inside
As an experiment, I ran a 1/4 TRS cable through a pedal tuner which claims "true bypass", with a TRS->XLR cable into the AI, and found that there was tremendous signal loss. This actually removed the distortion problem, but at the expense of almost all of my signal. So that won't work. BTW, the same was true after removing the pedal from the chain and just plugging the adapter cable straight from the bass to the amp. But I still question whether the pedal itself is causing an impedance mismatch. It's a Korg Pitchblack, and claims an input impedance of 1 MΩ when engaged. The adapter cable was fairly cheap, but labeled as balanced TRS -> balanced XLR, so I would have expected no loss or transformation there. I'm more mystified than ever.
I had the same problem with two FCs. 1st one was a very early model & had a broken wire in the white cable where it goes into the rca-jack. got it replaced on warranty. they changed this after a while as they put a small tubing on the cable at that spot.
2nd on (on different bass) had the popping, but white cable was ok. was also exchanged on warranty. the dealer later told me there was a problem with one of the piezos inside. funny thing is: i never noticed the problem when i played through my GK combo. pooping only when using my AI clarus 2. the latter seems to be much more sensible in the input stage...
never had a problem with the FCs that replaced the defect ones - they are working great now for more than 3 years.
2nd on (on different bass) had the popping, but white cable was ok. was also exchanged on warranty. the dealer later told me there was a problem with one of the piezos inside. funny thing is: i never noticed the problem when i played through my GK combo. pooping only when using my AI clarus 2. the latter seems to be much more sensible in the input stage...
never had a problem with the FCs that replaced the defect ones - they are working great now for more than 3 years.
