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Double Bass Palatino Megathread part II

#201
Hey Palatinos,

What's the matter with my new Palatino? I bought it online and it needed repair. It's got a good new bridge and planned fingerboard. The lower strings play great and have great sustain. The problem is in the last octave way up high on the g string. The tone is just dead. Its like a thunk instead of a nice bwow. Its not the pickup and I don't think its the strings. I moved them both over from my doublebass which sounds great. I can hear the problem with no amplification at all. I think its acoustical physics. Something is keeping it from resonating up there.

Any ideas?
 
#204
Out of the box, a Palatino can sound like junk. However, by now we all know that an EUB is not so much a bass, but strings on a board. They don't get their tone as much from the body as they do the set up and the pickup.

Now that I have replaced all the crappy Chinese parts; Bridge, Electronics, Fingerboard, Strings (not to mention set up), I have absolutely great tone on the E, A and D strings.

I'm just interested to know if other folks have experienced a problem like this.
 
#205
I'm getting a VE-500 next week (free!!) and am slowly going through both of these mega threads but wanted to ask some questions I may or may not find answers to. I want to get as much of an acoustic sound as possible and will use this on gigs that I mostly play electric bass on. Will I be fine running through my Peavey Tour 450 with Carvin 410, or should I use a different rig for the best sound? I'd rather not pack two different rigs but can if it would be best. Also, is anyone tuning BEAD and are there any problems doing that? I know I'll do some of the mods I've seen in this thread to get the best sound I can.
 
#206
I don't know the specs of the Peavey Tour 450, but you may want to get a small preamp to act as a buffering device between the EUB's pickup and your amp.
Something with at least 1 megohm input impedance.
Otherwise, *if* the amp's input impedance is low (as is usual with BG stuff, which is designed for magnetic pickups), the piezo pickup gets loaded and you get a very thin, nasal tone with no lows.
 
#210
unbridled said:
Cool, thanks! I'll have to keep my eyes open for a K & K, but I'll use the Baggs for now.

Any thoughts on BEAD tuning?
Click to expand...

I have a K&K Preamp 97 for sale here, by the way:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=608305

About the special tuning:
Why do you want to tune that way?
I wouldn't mind getting a low B if I had a 5 stringer, but not with just 4 strings.
(in fact, if I had a 5 stringer, I'd be more likely using a high C)
 
#211
I just like the extended range and have always thought that bass sounds better when I keep it in the basement. When I play bass guitar, I enjoy 5ers, but, it doesn't matter. I might just experiment.

That's a great deal on the preamp. Lemme get the bass first and experiment a bit.
 
#213
It Came today in a custom hard case:
4290480273_9bca5686a0_m.png

4291220664_6647d34e80_m.png

4290805661_f96e2bdcf9_m.jpg


The case seems sturdy enough. Looks like it took a beating on the way here. There was also some weed whacker strings in the case. Doubt I'll use them.

I set the bridge back up and tuned it up and it sounds good! He said they aren't the stock strings, but couldn't remember what they are. I'll probably do the innertube trick tomorrow and see how it sounds, although I kind of like it now.
 
#214
Boy, my fingers are sore today! :bawl: I thought I was tough from playing EB and guitar all these years, but, after playing the Pal for several hours last night, I realize I'm not as tough as I thought I was!:eek:

Oh well, pain is temporary. Gonna do it all over again today and every day until I can play it in my sleep. ;)

I was surprised that I was able to fake it enough that I almost sound like I know what I'm doing. I've only spent a tiny amount of time on the UB before now. Probably like 20 minutes at a time four or five times over the last 10 years. I might put some cheater markers on the side of the neck until I learn it a bit more, but I'm also thinking that if I don't, and just get to know it without the lines, I might be better off in the end. What do you all think?
 
#215
Hey all!

I just picked up a used VE-500 at a very good price that will serve as my transportable upright for rehearsals into NYC with the idea that I'll haul out my old Kay M1 for shows. It won't serve as my #1 daily player as I'm mostly an electric bass guitar player anyways and for the odd show I need an upright, I'll opt for the Kay. For the price, I'm pretty satisfied with it and for the role it will have. I have no delusions that my $250 Palatino is anything like a $3000 EUB in terms of sound and playability but I still like it.

No surprise, mine has a few issues including developing some cracks in the neck that I intend to glue and clamp asap.

IMG_2909.jpg



IMG_2910.jpg

The 2 parallel cracks look more like scratches so I'm not as worried about them as I am the larger one in the first picture.

Questions:

1) Has anyone removed the "ebony" stain from the neck and if so, what did you use? I really don't like that after I play, it looks like I came from changing the oil on my car.

2) Has anyone used Supernils with their Palatino? Reason I ask is that I have a set that I'm not using and I'd prefer not to invest in a set of Helicore Hybrids (or comparable) as I doubt I'll ever be playing arco with this. My Kay sports Innovation Rockabilly strings so I guess you can get a sense of my playing style as my band is alt-country with rockabilly and punk elements.

Link Removed

3) what other cheap but decent strings have people used with success?

4) Like most, I don't love the bridge as it feels very flimsy - apart from badgering the folks at Eminence, are there any other good sources of quality inexpensive bridges that won't need a lot of shaping?

I have a K&K Rockabilly preamp that I'm still experimenting with to try to dial in the best sound but at present, I equally like the sounds of the bass direct since I did the kitchen rubber mat mod.

thanks in advance for all of your help!

Stephen
 
#216
As always, the VE 500 is a shell to start modding from. There have been a bunch of scratch and dent specials on Ebay lately and I have worked on a couple in the last month.

The first picture of your neck looks like a crack waiting for a broken neck to happen. I'd glue that up yesterday. The stock bridges are okay for starters but they are flimsy. I try to get Eminence bridges or make my own from maple turning blanks I get at the local Rockler Lumber store.

I have tried guts, steels, euros, and helicore/thomastik string combos with a bunch of VE500's generally liked the tone with all the various string sets mentioned above. ( The Guts sounded good but they were old and frayed so needed a lot of tuning and I took them off due to that problem.

I will try to get another video up here later this week to show some of the latest mods plus the good old reliable mods.

The mods I recommend based on what's worked for me and other VE 500 fans are listed below:

Strip out the electrronics and use a Rev solo, K and K or other peizo disc or strip pickup into a good preamp like a k and K or LR baggs.

Take off the stock strings and try a good set.

Take off the pole stand on the back of the bass and drill a 3/4 hole into the bottom of the bass body. You can use a Kay/englehart endpin plus aircraft cable or the expensive multistrand cable with the existing wooden part . I can explain that in more detail on a vidoe later. and the balance and stability of the bass will improve.

Sometimes it helps to sand the fingerboard with fine sandpaper and finish off with 0000 steel wool. Use a little tung oil to seal the fingerboard and that should avoid the oil change residue problem.
 
#218
OK, this is a really stupid question, but are these considered 3/4 basses? None of the strings I'm finding actually give measurements. They just list them as 3/4 or 4/4.
 
#219
Long time no see! I doubt any of you remember me, but I've been a member here for a few years, but my bass playing has been on the back burner until recently.

I'm playing bass in a 50's Elvis tribute group. For this project, I just bought a Palatino VE500. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this bass sound as close to the bass on the 50's Sun Records as possible, without buying a full size acoustic? I'm planning on getting new strings as soon as money becomes available. What kind should I get? I use light D'Addarios on my electrics, so I was thinking of going with something similar for the upright. I'm running through a Carvin R600, a 2X10 and 1X15.

I've read every post in parts I-II of this thread, and taken note of everything I think might be advantageous to my position. I plan on at least sticking rubber under the bridge, and muting the tailpiece, while saving for replacements of each.

The main problem is that I've never had any real ear for tone or EQ... especially when it comes to stringed instruments. Any help is much appreciated!
 
#220
Update! I decided on some Weedwacker Pro's. I doubt I'll be playing very much (if any) arco, and the tone is similar to gut, I've heard. I haven't even received the bass yet, but I'm very excited to start experimenting... the next problem I'm going to have to deal with is traveling with it. Time for one of those custom cases!
 

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