Musicman Big Al Club

[bongomania]

Is anyone else besides me having problems with going through certain effects with the Big Al? It might have something to do with the impedance, I'm not sure, but I've tried different cables and there are only a few effects that keep the signal going. My dunlop bass wah pedal is one of them.

If your BA has a passive mode, then impedance could be an issue in that mode, resulting in loss of highs. In active mode impedance is not going to be a factor; except that many vintage-style fuzzes sound too harsh when used with active basses.

Aside from that, with active basses the only question is whether the signal level is too high from the bass, causing unwanted distortion in the pedals.

 

[Mrfstop]

Recently have been doing some crazzzzzy things.
Been letting go of some of my killer basses on a mission to get into a new brand.
Sadly let go of one of my 2 Big Al sss4 basses.....sold my Cabernet Pearl.
BUT, thankfully had the sense to hang onto one in the mayhem and madness.
Kept this Pearl White and maple Al.
Took her out and played her for an hour or so yesterday, gotta say .........
Man these things kick A&^%$#^&**!!!

 

[Smallequestrian]

Is anyone else besides me having problems with going through certain effects with the Big Al? It might have something to do with the impedance, I'm not sure, but I've tried different cables and there are only a few effects that keep the signal going. My dunlop bass wah pedal is one of them.

I am a heavy effects user and the Big Al is my main bass, no problem active or passive.

 

[Thornton Davis]

I don't have any problems when I use my Multi Effects unit when playing my Big Al 5-H in either active or passive modes.

TD

 

[Holdsg]

I'm back, this time with Scarlet O'hara, thanks to MrFstop:

Can I have an amen?

 

[Mrfstop]

I'm back, this time with Scarlet O'hara, thanks to MrFstop:

Can I have an amen?

AMEN Brotha!!
Killer Big AL...( lookit that fretboard!!!)
I musta had serious rocks in my head to let that go?
But at least it went to a super cool TB bud!
AND at least I still have the pearl white one with the matching HS

Played it today...man I DO love these Big Al basses.
Enjoy her my friend, know ya will!

 

[mfbolton]

Anyone have much experience with fretless Big Al?

 

[Melvin7822]

Anyone have much experience with fretless Big Al?

I haven't seen any Big Al SSS fretless basses around, but bassmonkeee has a Big Al 5H fretless that he seems to enjoy.

I'd be curious to know more of his thoughts about it too, but for right now I'm enjoying my Bongo 5 Hp fretless.

 

[Melvin7822]

Seeing that our humble club is still few in number, I figured I'd post an update. Since I enjoy my Big Al so much, I decided to order another one as a 5-string for the corporate band I work for. So I'll be expecting a Big Al 5 SSS in tangerine pearl with matching headstock, maple fingerboard, and black pickguard in May.

 

[Holdsg]

cool beans Melvin

 

[nurnay]

Is that a lacquer finished neck and can I get one in a four?...Edumacate me.

Yes, and maybe. Mine is a BFR model, so only a certain amount were made, but I have seen 4 string versions out there.

 

[nurnay]

It is a polyester finished neck. EBMM doesn't use lacquer.

Oops! I stand corrected.

 

[Melvin7822]

Hello my fellow Big Al club members. I was wondering if any of you would be willing to help me with a minor issue I'm having. I seem to be getting a small amount of hum when the bass is in active mode and it increases as I increase the lo mid or the bass. It seems to be a shielding issue at the hum increases or decreases as I change directions. I could not hear the hum in passive mode.

Is anyone willing to confirm that their bass is dead quiet active mode? All buttons up seems the most noticeable. I'm just curious as this is my only Music Man that is not dead quiet.

 

[Thornton Davis]

Is anyone willing to confirm that their bass is dead quiet active mode? All buttons up seems the most noticeable. I'm just curious as this is my only Music Man that is not dead quiet.

Mine's dead quiet in active mode, but it's a H p/u confirg.

Single coil p/u's are naturally noisy and when in the active mode i'm not surprised that you can hear them.

TD

 

[Musicman20]

I'll check mine again, but as they are in fact stacked single coils:

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They should be silent. Try their Customer Service asap.

 

[Razzmatazz]

I have a SSS and there's a slight hum when the preamp is on. That's expected with single coil I guess. Less noisy than my Fender Jazz though.

 

[Melvin7822]

I'll check mine again, but as they are in fact stacked single coils:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

They should be silent. Try their Customer Service asap.

Yeah, I had sent it in before and they said it was dead quiet. And yet, I still have hum. Now if they would just admit that the stacking of the single coils doesn't completely eliminate the hum, then I'll accept it.

 

[Smallequestrian]

Yeah, I had sent it in before and they said it was dead quiet. And yet, I still have hum. Now if they would just admit that the stacking of the single coils doesn't completely eliminate the hum, then I'll accept it.

Have you ruled out a specific issue with your signal chain? My Big Al is dead quiet in active mode. In my apartment my Lakland with single coils is noisy when I have the pickups unevenly balanced, but my Big Al in Active is silent. At my practice space, the single coil hum of the Lakland is noticeably less. So I know my setup at home has something causing more noise than normal, but the Big Al doesn't seem effected.

I've also played about a dozen or so Big Al's over the last couple of years and haven't noticed any noise.

 

[Melvin7822]

Have you ruled out a specific issue with your signal chain? My Big Al is dead quiet in active mode. In my apartment my Lakland with single coils is noisy when I have the pickups unevenly balanced, but my Big Al in Active is silent. At my practice space, the single coil hum of the Lakland is noticeably less. So I know my setup at home has something causing more noise than normal, but the Big Al doesn't seem effected.

I've also played about a dozen or so Big Al's over the last couple of years and haven't noticed any noise.

My basis for comparison is that my other basses are dead silent but my Big Al is not. More often than not, my Big Al picks up hum in various locations.

 

[moebass]

I love my big Al. Am I the only one who wants one of these with a sting ray neck.That would be the Bees Knees! That should be an option. Just as you can get a ray with the slo option(sterling/big al)neck.