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Interesting phantom powered bass

D

Drop1

Mar 28, 2019
1,601
1,796
#1
This thing is neat. I like odd looking basses. I've played it a lot but haven't been able to hear it powered up as GC forsnt have compatible amps. They said something about it being European powered which diesnt make sense to me.
I know their electricity is a different voltage and frequency but Ive never heard anything about phantom power being different.
Anyone have info in this bass?
20190525_114152.jpg
 
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#2
Drop1 said:
They said something about it being European powered which diesnt make sense to me.
Click to expand...

Not just to you. I was born in Europe and spent most of my life there but have never heard of such a thing.

I know their electricity is a different voltage and frequency but Ive never heard anything about phantom power being different.
Click to expand...

You *should* be able to plug it into anything that has an appropriate input and hear it...

Which brand are the pickups? I can't make out the logo on them.

Anyone have info in this bass?
Click to expand...

No clue. But it is an interesting looking piece for sure. My best guess would be a small builder of some kind, but there's a zillion of them on that continent.

Good luck.
 
#6
Passinwind said:
Right, but in their case it's not phantom power, just external power on dedicated extra conductors. My new Marco Bass is like that too.
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I thought it was still just 48v, a la phantom power, but with an external box as most amps don't have phantom power? Could have sworn if you plug into a board with phantom power on the 5 pin it'd work. I very well may be wrong, have never owned one :)
 
#7
Selta said:
I thought it was still just 48v, a la phantom power, but with an external box as most amps don't have phantom power? Could have sworn if you plug into a board with phantom power on the 5 pin it'd work. I very well may be wrong, have never owned one :)
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Nope, it's something like +/- 18 volts on a 5 conductor cable. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
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#9
That thing is beautiful.
Looks like a great price too.
Id buy it right now if I could come up with a good convincing way to explain to my wife why we need that more than we need to fix that brick that fell off the chimney and is sitting on our roof.
 
#10
MVE said:
That thing is beautiful.
Looks like a great price too.
Id buy it right now if I could come up with a good convincing way to explain to my wife why we need that more than we need to fix that brick that fell off the chimney and is sitting on our roof.
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It's been sitting in GC for a while now. Its hardware really needs some attention, maybe even replacement. The gold plating is in bad shape.
 
#11
Just glancing at the picture in the OP, if it were me:

It LOOKS like a typical XLR connector on the rim, and as these seem to be a bespoke handbuilt, it could very well be that the owner who commissioned it wanted wired low-impedance for straight-into-a-board work. Try it with a mic (XLR) cable into a board in GC's PA room (after you've checked the 1 or 2 9v batteries if there is any provision for them) and see if you hear anything. IF that's what it is, you're good. It's rare, but occasionally guys that do a lot of recording will have a bass with XLR outs instead of 1/4".

If you buy it, you could always have it converted back to 1/4", a locking Neutrik 1/4" like you see on BTB Ibanez basses would probably cover the rout for the XLR.

Just a wild guess . . . . . .

Alembics are 'phantom powered' in a sense at 18v (so you can sub in 2 9v's in an emergency), not 48 as we'd see in mics, but essentially serves the same purpose (your bass is powered from 110v house current, so the headroom is stratospheric), though it is a 5-pin cable to accommodate signal and current.
 
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#12
JW56789 said:
Just glancing at the picture in the OP, if it were me:

It LOOKS like a typical XLR connector on the rim, and as these seem to be a bespoke handbuilt, it could very well be that the owner who commissioned it wanted wired low-impedance for straight-into-a-board work. Try it with a mic (XLR) cable into a board in GC's PA room (after you've checked the 1 or 2 9v batteries if there is any provision for them) and see if you hear anything. IF that's what it is, you're good. It's rare, but occasionally guys that do a lot of recording will have a bass with XLR outs instead of 1/4".

If you buy it, you could always have it converted back to 1/4", a locking Neutrik 1/4" like you see on BTB Ibanez basses would probably cover the rout for the XLR.

Just a wild guess . . . . . .

Alembics are 'phantom powered' in a sense at 18v (so you can sub in 2 9v's in an emergency), not 48 as we'd see in mics, but essentially serves the same purpose (your bass is powered from 110v house current, so the headroom is stratospheric), though it is a 5-pin cable to accommodate signal and current.
Click to expand...

See, that was my thoughts. Just use an xlr into a phantom pre and from the pre, switch to standard 1/4". I havent seen any battery compartment so I don't believe it's just an xlr connection. Battery could be in the control cavity I suppose.
 
#15
REV said:
Is there a preamp in the bass that needs power? Are the pickups active? I've seen instruments that use an XLR connector instead of a 1/4" jack.
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This was my thought too. Can't see the control cavity cover to guess if there is a battery in there too. Looks like something is carved into the top, any idea what it says? Can't make it out I'm the picture. It's at GC, go grab it cause you'll have 45 days to open it up, figure it out, and decide if it's worth keeping.
 

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