Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

[Novarocker]

Yeah... Having a well stocked lab helps fosho.

A friend gifted me 25 big Hammond boxes, so uh, some of y'all might be unwitting test subjects.

I've noticed a lot of the time when you look for components you can get a bulk mixed lot that contains close to the number of what you want plus a pile of components you may want in the future...all for just a few $$$ more and that's what I've been doing.

Bring it! I would totally love to build my own speaker cabinets and pedals. I currently don't have the time and knowhow...

Same

 

[rutrho]

I've noticed a lot of the time when you look for components you can get a bulk mixed lot that contains close to the number of what you want plus a pile of components you may want in the future...all for just a few $$$ more and that's what I've been doing.

Totally... I have this giant bag of caps I'm slowly working through.

Generally with caps/resistors/etc i'll just get em in lots of 100 or 500. If I do any actual production here with my new surplus of boxes I'll have to prob start ordering some stuff in 1000's, esp 10k resistors and .1uf caps, LOL. I made a huge push a while back to get my storage for my piece parts squared away because after my second synth build, it was getting kinda insane.

I'm at a point now where its pretty easy to just keep adding to the system and not worry about what I have/don't have, though I have a lot of resistors still that are kind of loosely floating around, but they're at least bagged with labels.

I've been trying to not turn it into a small company and stuff but its pretty much at that point where I need to start doing that given the amount of ish I have floating around now. Both my dad and my wife have small businesses and I know how much work that is so I'm hella trying to not go down that path. Sigh.

 

[lizardking837]

Totally... I have this giant bag of caps I'm slowly working through.

Generally with caps/resistors/etc i'll just get em in lots of 100 or 500. If I do any actual production here with my new surplus of boxes I'll have to prob start ordering some stuff in 1000's, esp 10k resistors and .1uf caps, LOL. I made a huge push a while back to get my storage for my piece parts squared away because after my second synth build, it was getting kinda insane.

I'm at a point now where its pretty easy to just keep adding to the system and not worry about what I have/don't have, though I have a lot of resistors still that are kind of loosely floating around, but they're at least bagged with labels.

I've been trying to not turn it into a small company and stuff but its pretty much at that point where I need to start doing that given the amount of ish I have floating around now. Both my dad and my wife have small businesses and I know how much work that is so I'm hella trying to not go down that path. Sigh.

Nothing wrong with a side gig. I've been doing Personal Training full-time with more Personal Training as a side job...it's a grind, but it's really been working for me for the last year and a half.

If you start making pedals, I'd order one for sure. I wouldn't mind a better overdrive, my behringer just leaves something to be desired.

 

[lucas303]

I'm finally trying out chromes after stringing up the 5 string set yesterday. Obviously I haven't had them on for long at all, but I'm initially pretty underwhelmed with the B string in particular. There's not a lot of sustain and it sounds deader than the other strings. Has anyone had a similar issue with chromes? Could this potentially improve over time as they break in?

 

[thetragichero]

i got sick of killing myself working for other people so I've turned my pedal/amp building/repair/buying for cheap and reselling into my main source of income, supplemented by some small it subcontract and handyman work. I've got way less money than i used to but my life is hella fun and peaceful

 

[ConfoundedBridg]

@rutrho Have you ever made any custom mods to your bass? Like made your own pups or done some crazy wiring in your bass?

 

[rutrho]

Once I get scabpickers done, ill be starting on a batch of something similar to it with a lm741 or lm 308 based OD driving the input of a muff type circuit, a more controllable tonestack, some diode switching, switched blend and maaaybe if I can find some transformers that I like, a DI output.
It's a ton of crap I've been kicking around in my head for a few years and I got darn close with scabbys so far, even tho that's in parallel (its fookin brutal in series).

I've been trying to get out of my job for a while but it's complicated and I pmuch make six figs here so it's REALLY hard to replace that income in the Bay Area. I'm still looking at going out to Denver, heh.

 

[rutrho]

@rutrho Have you ever made any custom mods to your bass? Like made your own pups or done some crazy wiring in your bass?

Novarocker has done some cool ish! He's playing with that a lot more than I have. We've kicked some ideas around and some have ended up being pretty cool. I still have a preamp board to send his way once I finish playing with my first article and validating that I even made the damn board right, LOL

For myself I tend to gravitate towards single pup active fretless basses so I haven't done a ton of stuff outside of that. I had to rewire my GWB35 when I got it to clean it up a bit but that one is wired to be series/single/parallel and active/passive plus bass/treble/vol. It's KILLER.

 

[lizardking837]

Once I get scabpickers done, ill be starting on a batch of something similar to it with a lm741 or lm 308 based OD driving the input of a muff type circuit, a more controllable tonestack, some diode switching, switched blend and maaaybe if I can find some transformers that I like, a DI output.
It's a ton of crap I've been kicking around in my head for a few years and I got darn close with scabbys so far, even tho that's in parallel (its fookin brutal in series).

I've been trying to get out of my job for a while but it's complicated and I pmuch make six figs here so it's REALLY hard to replace that income in the Bay Area. I'm still looking at going out to Denver, heh.

Sounds dope, I love my BBM and I think a combo, Big Muff/OD/Preamp/DI would be pretty cool to play around with. And I hear you about cost of living. My GF and i make just under 6 figures combined and are fighting to keep our heads above water outside DC.

 

[rutrho]

Sounds dope, I love my BBM and I think a combo, Big Muff/OD/Preamp/DI would be pretty cool to play around with. And I hear you about cost of living. My GF and i make just under 6 figures combined and are fighting to keep our heads above water outside DC.

yeah. COL is insane out here. We're pretty lucky that we're above water in general but its a constant worry here and with the kiddo in school.

 

[hardtop]

I'm finally trying out chromes after stringing up the 5 string set yesterday. Obviously I haven't had them on for long at all, but I'm initially pretty underwhelmed with the B string in particular. There's not a lot of sustain and it sounds deader than the other strings. Has anyone had a similar issue with chromes? Could this potentially improve over time as they break in?

Generally speaking, chromes will seem dead compared to the brightness of a round wound. Especially thicker strings, which the chromes tend to be. I don't think you'll find the sustain or "life" improving with break-in, quite possibly the opposite, though its been awhile since I played them.
What gauge is your B string? and what scale are you working with? I've found that a slightly lighter B on a longer scale neck will sustain more and be more present. Many 5's are 35" scale and that is certainly the length that I have had the best luck getting the low tuned strings to sustain.

 

[lucas303]

Generally speaking, chromes will seem dead compared to the brightness of a round wound. Especially thicker strings, which the chromes tend to be. I don't think you'll find the sustain or "life" improving with break-in, quite possibly the opposite, though its been awhile since I played them.
What gauge is your B string? and what scale are you working with? I've found that a slightly lighter B on a longer scale neck will sustain more and be more present. Many 5's are 35" scale and that is certainly the length that I have had the best luck getting the low tuned strings to sustain.

It's a 132 string on 35.5" scale. It's not even that it sounds dead compared to rounds, it's more that it sounds deader than the other chromes on the E through G strings (which are progressively shorter scales since this is a multiscale bass).

 

[rutrho]

It's a 132 string on 35.5" scale. It's not even that it sounds dead compared to rounds, it's more that it sounds deader than the other chromes on the E through G strings (which are progressively shorter scales since this is a multiscale bass).

Have you tried playing with pickup height any or the action? How's intonation on it? I found them to be a bit more sensitive to pickup height than rounds on my Pbass annnnnd the lower strings sounded duller than the higher ones. at least to me.

 

[lucas303]

Have you tried playing with pickup height any or the action? How's intonation on it? I found them to be a bit more sensitive to pickup height than rounds on my Pbass annnnnd the lower strings sounded duller than the higher ones. at least to me.

I haven't had time yet, but my plan is to go through adjusting truss rod, action, intonation, and pickup height in the next few days.

 

[br1qbat]

It's a 132 string on 35.5" scale. It's not even that it sounds dead compared to rounds, it's more that it sounds deader than the other chromes on the E through G strings (which are progressively shorter scales since this is a multiscale bass).

Mine seem fine, though mine are old as hell [10+ months]. I use the bottom 4 of a 5 string set on my basses. 34" scale, though tuned up to C standard.

 

[lucas303]

Oh and just for the hell of it, I'll mention that Al has swapped out the pickguard and truss rod cover on his signature bass. He's now got black ones, and the truss rod cover has Rickenbacker written in silver/metallic. The pickguard doesn't have the signature or flag sticker on it.

They played the same set they've been playing all year. I hope they switch it up a bit for 2020, but I'm not optimistic.

 

[hardtop]

Oh and just for the hell of it, I'll mention that Al has swapped out the pickguard and truss rod cover on his signature bass. He's now got black ones, and the truss rod cover has Rickenbacker written in silver/metallic. The pickguard doesn't have the signature or flag sticker on it.

They played the same set they've been playing all year. I hope they switch it up a bit for 2020, but I'm not optimistic.

Are you talking about Om or Sleep. If Sleep, I dont think theyll be changing anything as I beleive they're on indefinite hiatus? do they have any more shows scheduled? I read that after they fulfill the obligations on the books they are hanging it up for the foreseeable future.

If, after your setup and adjustment, you are still feeling that B is dead, try to find a 130. at that scale, a 130 should have good tension and probably ring out a bit better.

 

[lucas303]

Are you talking about Om or Sleep. If Sleep, I dont think theyll be changing anything as I beleive they're on indefinite hiatus? do they have any more shows scheduled? I read that after they fulfill the obligations on the books they are hanging it up for the foreseeable future.

If, after your setup and adjustment, you are still feeling that B is dead, try to find a 130. at that scale, a 130 should have good tension and probably ring out a bit better.

Yeah I was talking about Om, sorry for the confusion. I saw the show in Brooklyn this past weekend.

I'll report back about the B string after I've done the setup. I hope I can get the B sorted because at least so far I'm enjoying the sound of the other strings.

 

[Grahams Groove]

I'll report back about the B string after I've done the setup. I hope I can get the B sorted because at least so far I'm enjoying the sound of the other strings.

I assume you're talking D'Addario Chrome flats?? If so, I definitely dug them more as they broke in a bit, and that's not to say that they were bad out of the box. As expected, the top end will mellow out a bit (as it does on all strings). Then the mids/meatiness really starts to come forward, and mine held on to that for a long time.

 

[bassboysam]

Oh and just for the hell of it, I'll mention that Al has swapped out the pickguard and truss rod cover on his signature bass. He's now got black ones, and the truss rod cover has Rickenbacker written in silver/metallic. The pickguard doesn't have the signature or flag sticker on it.

They played the same set they've been playing all year. I hope they switch it up a bit for 2020, but I'm not optimistic.

this is a band that has played the same 12 songs for 20 years....yeah unlikely.