Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

[cornfarmer]

Gibson was doing some weird wild stuff in the '70s. The phase/series/parallel stuff in the Ripper and L6-S, etc. and the Grabbers - one with the sliding pickup, the other with 3 pickups, the frickin' RD with the 2x4 neck and weird Moog preamp. Hubba hubba.

 

[gfen]

Maybe not the heaviest of heavy, but before it was called "grunge" it would've just been hard rock or even metal to my parents, and the bassist for Nirvaner was a Ripper user.

 

[kleinenenten]

Sounds like youve maybe got a ground loop between your pedals and your amp? Do you have your pedals plugged into the same power circuit as the amp? If you plug the pedals into the flourescent light circuit instead of the same circuit as your amp is thr noise still there?

I’m thinking something like that. Keep rearranging my board to clean up excessive and strange cable layouts. Might have it figured out now... of course I’ve thought that in the past.

They are plugged into the same power source, as they are both plugged into a power strip which is itself plugged/unplugged when necessary. I may have to try the light circuit. What will that tell me? Should the noise persist or go away?

 

[Jolagh]

I’m thinking something like that. Keep rearranging my board to clean up excessive and strange cable layouts. Might have it figured out now... of course I’ve thought that in the past.

They are plugged into the same power source, as they are both plugged into a power strip which is itself plugged/unplugged when necessary. I may have to try the light circuit. What will that tell me? Should the noise persist or go away?

Im no electrical engineer, but my assumption is that by moving them to different circuits/outlets it would seperate their grounds thus removing the potential ground loop. So if it was caused by a ground loop the noise would go away, or atleast thats my hypothesis.

 

[kleinenenten]

Im no electrical engineer, but my assumption is that by moving them to different circuits/outlets it would seperate their grounds thus removing the potential ground loop. So if it was caused by a ground loop the noise would go away, or atleast thats my hypothesis.

But don’t fluorescent lights also cause interference? Wouldn’t it be possible I’d get the same thing, but from a different source, and only end up muddying the waters?

 

[Novarocker]

But don’t fluorescent lights also cause interference? Wouldn’t it be possible I’d get the same thing, but from a different source, and only end up muddying the waters?

I could easily be wrong, but I think fluorescent lights cause issues pertaining to pickups. I think that's one of the sources for intensified 60cycle hum besides electrical wiring itself.

 

[C_nut]

Gibson was doing some weird wild stuff in the '70s. The phase/series/parallel stuff in the Ripper and L6-S, etc. and the Grabbers - one with the sliding pickup, the other with 3 pickups, the frickin' RD with the 2x4 neck and weird Moog preamp. Hubba hubba.

Weird is cool. Fender keeps producing the same two basses every year

Still not sure about the Ripper tho. I play with two guitarists and I don't really want to sound like a third guitar.

 

[TSmith92]

I think ron from bongripper did for awhile and the bassist from primitive man did. Not sure about anyone else right off the top of my heqd

The bassist from Primitive man uses a Lace drop n' gain guitar pickup instead of stock Ripper pickups so he probably isn't a good example of ripper tones unless you are feeling saucy.

 

[StayLow]

Same here. I've always regarded Ripper as one of the most metal basses there are, but I can't really think of any bands. Primitive Man's bass tone is gnarly tho, oh man. And Ron is Ron. Can't beat his tone.

The thing is with these bands that they play with extreme distortion and you can't really hear the fundamentals of the bass. Shuman did sound great in QOTSA but they are really not that metal. Would love to hear how a Ripper sounds in a more traditional metal song.

How is the low end on the Ripper, Thombo? I've heard people bashing them about being thin. Haters.

Patrick Hunter posted a great Ripper demo on YouTube just this week.

 

[Jolagh]

I could easily be wrong, but I think fluorescent lights cause issues pertaining to pickups. I think that's one of the sources for intensified 60cycle hum besides electrical wiring itself.

Could be right, earlier he said if he moved his whole rig to that outlet the hum stopped so im just going on that info to think it would probably be fine. It could be that his power strip he has his board and amp plugged into has a bad ground. Im just throwing out ideas of things to try.

 

[Novarocker]

Same here, electronics are completely new to me, besides using them haha.

 

[kleinenenten]

Could be right, earlier he said if he moved his whole rig to that outlet the hum stopped so im just going on that info to think it would probably be fine. It could be that his power strip he has his board and amp plugged into has a bad ground. Im just throwing out ideas of things to try.

Power strip checked out good when I checked the ground. I moved my computer to the light circuit, not my rig.

 

[br1qbat]

Weird is cool. Fender keeps producing the same two basses every year

And sadly, when they try something different, like the dimension, the Fender fanboys turn their noses up. They are damned if they do, damned if they don't.

 

[socialleper]

And sadly, when they try something different, like the dimension, the Fender fanboys turn their noses up. They are damned if they do, damned if they don't.

Based on TB, you would think that Leo Fender was a genius and all other basses not designed by him are inherently flawed.
I have my issues with the two basic designs, but my real beef with Fender is that it and its fan boys are stuck in the swirling vortex of nostalgia. If Fender wants to make nothing but 60 year old designs, fine, whatever. But do they all have to be so plain or nauseating? I had to wait 30 years to find a Fender that I found interesting. I popped my Fender cherry on a Noir special edition P bass. And it is fine. Some light didn't turn on or the heavens open up. It is MIM so there are some minor QC\setup flaws, but at the end of the day a P is a P is a P. I posted a listening test here on TB and it was an even split to ID it from a Peavey Forum or a BC Rick ST with the P pickup soloed. It also wasn't the "favorite" sounding of the three.

 

[bassboysam]

Based on TB, you would think that Leo Fender was a genius and all other basses not designed by him are inherently flawed.
I have my issues with the two basic designs, but my real beef with Fender is that it and its fan boys are stuck in the swirling vortex of nostalgia. If Fender wants to make nothing but 60 year old designs, fine, whatever. But do they all have to be so plain or nauseating? I had to wait 30 years to find a Fender that I found interesting. I popped my Fender cherry on a Noir special edition P bass. And it is fine. Some light didn't turn on or the heavens open up. It is MIM so there are some minor QC\setup flaws, but at the end of the day a P is a P is a P. I posted a listening test here on TB and it was an even split to ID it from a Peavey Forum or a BC Rick ST with the P pickup soloed. It also wasn't the "favorite" sounding of the three.

if the P did not have a tort guard then that does not count

 

[themarshall]

Based on TB, you would think that Leo Fender was a genius and all other basses not designed by him are inherently flawed.
I have my issues with the two basic designs, but my real beef with Fender is that it and its fan boys are stuck in the swirling vortex of nostalgia. If Fender wants to make nothing but 60 year old designs, fine, whatever. But do they all have to be so plain or nauseating? I had to wait 30 years to find a Fender that I found interesting. I popped my Fender cherry on a Noir special edition P bass. And it is fine. Some light didn't turn on or the heavens open up. It is MIM so there are some minor QC\setup flaws, but at the end of the day a P is a P is a P. I posted a listening test here on TB and it was an even split to ID it from a Peavey Forum or a BC Rick ST with the P pickup soloed. It also wasn't the "favorite" sounding of the three.

I think that as a culture, we here in the USA are in a deep "iconic" phase. Nostalgia and revisionist history have things like jean jackets, chuck taylors and P basses more ubiquitous than they ever were. My point is, it's not just in the bass world.

 

[gfen]

I dunno, I don't see a problem with Fender producing what the people want. They want Jazz and Precision basses. Period. Hell, is anyone really making anything different? 75% of the world's basses are either P, J, or P/J.

Every so often they mix it up, and do a run, but they never fare well.

The only thing I wish they'd mix it up with are some new colour runs every so often, even if they jsut do a couple different colours a year at a time, dump them, move on and return back to it a few years later.

Ultimately, though, Fender makes what people want. I got mine, it's even got a tort pickguard.

IN other news, today I learned that the original Beefcake the Mighty from GWAR is a regular posting member here. That's pretty fresh.

 

[br1qbat]

Based on TB, you would think that Leo Fender was a genius and all other basses not designed by him are inherently flawed.
I have my issues with the two basic designs, but my real beef with Fender is that it and its fan boys are stuck in the swirling vortex of nostalgia. If Fender wants to make nothing but 60 year old designs, fine, whatever. But do they all have to be so plain or nauseating? I had to wait 30 years to find a Fender that I found interesting. I popped my Fender cherry on a Noir special edition P bass. And it is fine. Some light didn't turn on or the heavens open up. It is MIM so there are some minor QC\setup flaws, but at the end of the day a P is a P is a P. I posted a listening test here on TB and it was an even split to ID it from a Peavey Forum or a BC Rick ST with the P pickup soloed. It also wasn't the "favorite" sounding of the three.

I remember! Sadly the rest of TB doesn't.

My main axe is a Fender Jazz. I've tended towards Fenders only because they are readily availavle and there's upgrades/replacements to literally everything on a P or a Jazz. And I tend to like passive and simple controls.

But there's no magic in a Fender vs a Ibby vs a whatever.

Bassists at least aren't as tied to ancient designs and aesthetics as most non metal guitarists are. That is a whole other level. But, yes there is a strong retro vibe going on lately. Funny we are lamenting it here, as how many doomsters are in the bellbottoms, long hair, tube amps aplenty camp?

 

[br1qbat]

I dunno, I don't see a problem with Fender producing what the people want. They want Jazz and Precision basses. Period. Hell, is anyone really making anything different? 75% of the world's basses are either P, J, or P/J.

Every so often they mix it up, and do a run, but they never fare well.

The only thing I wish they'd mix it up with are some new colour runs every so often, even if they jsut do a couple different colours a year at a time, dump them, move on and return back to it a few years later.

Ultimately, though, Fender makes what people want. I got mine, it's even got a tort pickguard.

IN other news, today I learned that the original Beefcake the Mighty from GWAR is a regular posting member here. That's pretty fresh.

Yeah mine's sunburst/tort.

Never heard thst about ol beefcake. Very cool.

 

[hardtop]

I'm all for new and different. I've tried a lot of things; pickups, preamps, configurations, body shapes, "tone woods", and I gotta tell you, I'm happy with a simple P-bass (or P pickup). Not nostalgic, it just works for me and I find it versatile enough. Maybe that's where a lot of the loyalty comes from? In my case its not unwillingness to change, or accept that something is better than Leo's creation, it's just that I cant find anything I like more. (I don't actually play a Fender P, but I have several basses based on the P and/or J)