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Double Bass Just got an Fdeck!!!

K

klem.gote

Jan 18, 2009
259
25
New England
Disclosures
Bass Player
#1
Now, not knowing much about how things work, I'd like to get the most out of it. I just started using a GK MB500 head (which I'm liking so far), mostly into a Wizzy 12. I've read that in some cases it might be better to go in through the Effects channel rather than straight into the head. True in this case? Any other pointers would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!!
 
#5
And I'm assuming I DO want the 10m Ohms, yes?

I'm sorry, I think most people understand these things better than I do. I'll never be mistaken for any kind of engineer, and will probably never really understand what happens between my pickup and my speaker. I apologize if some of my questions aren't the brightest ever posed here. Just trying to glean some kind of rudimentary info that might help me to help my sound. Thanks!!
 
#6
The fdeck will impedance match any piezo pickup but doesn't have EQ (as you know!) so best would be bass>fdeck>main input (not effects send/return cuircuit). That way you get all the benefit of the fdeck (impedance matching, cutting subsonic boominess, controlling feedback with phase switch) and the EQ options of your amp to fine-tune the tone.
 
#7
Okay, remember that the fdeck does not perform impedance matching. See here.

Headroom? Well, more available dynamic range. See here.

Finally, they are infrasonics. "Subsonic" refers to below the speed of sound.

I feel better now. :)
 
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#8
Hi guys, and thanks!! I feel better now too. Now I have a better idea of what to do and how to start using this. I got my GK MB500 just in time to turn it on for a gig on Sat. (and I liked it), but now I'll be able to play around with that a bit and now the Fdeck. Looking forward to it. Thanks again!!

Tom
 
#14
funkythumb said:
I'm trying to order a Series 2 Fdeck. I went to Francis's page. At the bottom there is simply a link that takes you straight to Paypal. Is that it? You just pay for it and it shows up?
Click to expand...

That's how it works! However, I can see that it's pretty puzzling, and I'll take a look at my website to see if I can make it better. The good news is that PayPal actually makes all of this work really smoothly, especially considering that you're dealing with a part time home business.
 
#15
fdeck said:
That's how it works! However, I can see that it's pretty puzzling, and I'll take a look at my website to see if I can make it better. The good news is that PayPal actually makes all of this work really smoothly, especially considering that you're dealing with a part time home business.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the reply Francis! I was just checking to make sure I didn't leave out anything. I ordered one. I had an upright gig tonight at a corporate function where there was no PA and I was asked to bring extra speakers and play louder to fill the entire room with my backline. I put one cab four feet infront of me facing the audience, one 1x12 cab on my side about two feet away with a small 1x10 cab on top of that facing me. I and everyone else could hear me. Tone was good. On ballads with sustained notes, the 'ol feedback goul reared it's ugly head. I was on a raised stage. I didn't have the chance for a sound check. Maybe Ishould have put the cabs on crates to raise them off the ground. Was tough to find the offending frequency with a number of notes triggering the feedback. Any general advice for nipping the feedback by setting things up differently on these loud gigss on small stages?
 
#17
funkythumb said:
Just finished a three hour long shootout with different cabs, amp and pre's for my upright rig. Really enoyed the F deck. The warmest pre of all I tried!
Click to expand...

It's interesting that you find the Fdeck to be the warmest, given that it's completely "unvoiced." It's response is essentially ruler flat. Perhaps the other pre-amps you tried are have response anomalies that make them "colder."
 
#18
Well Les, I guess that's what the 20meg input impedence might be doing. Ed Friedland's video on the Basswitch showed that different input impedence settings affect tone. In this case, I got more bottom :-) as expected. Other units with EQ sections sounded different and were not as warm.
 
#20
funkythumb said:
Well Les, I guess that's what the 20meg input impedence might be doing. Ed Friedland's video on the Basswitch showed that different input impedence settings affect tone. In this case, I got more bottom :-) as expected. Other units with EQ sections sounded different and were not as warm.
Click to expand...

I'm quite sure the Fdeck has a 10 Mohm input impedance. If there was a substantial difference across the pre- amps you tested, then that could certainly explain the differences you heard. That's because they would load the pickup differently. If we're talking about the usual DB pickups, then going above 10 Mohm will not change things much and may have drawbacks.
 

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