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Supro Huntington Club

#162
Joe Nerve said:
In response to a bunch of posts I was going to quote but didn't :)....

I have that E string issue, and I do find it annoying, though not too hard to adjust to. I took @gregbackstrom 's suggestions, and they helped some, but there's still an issue.
Click to expand...
Hi Joe -
Did you try the strings I recommended too, or just the witness point? For me, the strings were the primary fix. The rest of the stuff is just normal setup.
 
#166
gregbackstrom said:
They're Ken Smith short-scale stainless-steel round wounds, gauged 44/63/84/106. I think GHS makes these -- they have an identical set.
BTW, the strings are actually medium-scale.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I used to LOVE Ken Smith strings. Used them my first 5 years of playing, then drifted away for no good reason. Just ordered a set, and I'm excited about it :).

If I like em I might switch back.

And if you or anyone knows any links where I can get them at a better price than at juststrings, lease let me know. I just paid $7 for shipping, which was unexpected, and un cool, IMO.
 
#172
Hey there Supro guys -

Having some back/hip trouble - 10+ lb Stingray sure wasn't helping things.

I picked up a Supro Huntington II - Mahogany. Very nice piece all around - sure not a Ray but does enough for the material I play these days - mostly straight ahead jazz at fairly low volume: Solid bottom with good fundamental notes, controls work well, nice looking, plays well, looks quite good. Came with flats which work well on it.

But this thread is not about that bass - it's about the piezo circuit in there.
Yikes - it's a horror. :eek: When I switch it in, even with the volume all the way down on it, it sounds like I'm going through an old transistor or like a compression pedal all the way up with no bass end at all - terrible thin brittle sound that I can't really get rid of no matter what else I do with the controls - best is just to mask it somewhat.

I think maybe I've got a defective bass. Can somebody confirm or deny that?
 
#173
CereBassum said:
Hey there Supro guys -

Having some back/hip trouble - 10+ lb Stingray sure wasn't helping things.

I picked up a Supro Huntington II - Mahogany. Very nice piece all around - sure not a Ray but does enough for the material I play these days - mostly straight ahead jazz at fairly low volume: Solid bottom with good fundamental notes, controls work well, nice looking, plays well, looks quite good. Came with flats which work well on it.

But this thread is not about that bass - it's about the piezo circuit in there.
Yikes - it's a horror. :eek: When I switch it in, even with the volume all the way down on it, it sounds like I'm going through an old transistor or like a compression pedal all the way up with no bass end at all - terrible thin brittle sound that I can't really get rid of no matter what else I do with the controls - best is just to mask it somewhat.

I think maybe I've got a defective bass. Can somebody confirm or deny that?
Click to expand...
For the piezo circuit to sound good, you must have at least one or more of the other pickup volumes set fairly high. The piezo in this is not really designed to be played on it's own.
 
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#174
erhovey said:
Ok... so there's lots of things to like about these basses, here's my only dislikes so far.

1. Not a fan of the turning ratio on the tuning keys/machine heads. Not sure what the exact ratio is, but they're way too touchy. Would love to see a higher ratio on these.

2. Also not a fan of the taper on the volume pots. Not linear at all. Turn them down and the drop-off at about 8 makes these volume knobs little more than a glorified on/off switch. In fact they bugged me so much that after having the bass for only about 2 weeks, I opened it up and replaced the 3 Alpha 1M ohm pots with some Bournes 500k linear taper pots. I'm very pleased with the improved ability to blend the level of the pickups now.

Would love to hear others feelings about these things too!
Click to expand...

I'm have the same issue regarding the volume on my Huntington I (purchased today at Guitar Center, Brea, Ca for $450+tax used. Slight blemish on the back of the headstock) I called Supro and they were aware of my concern. The rep stated that they use those 'audio pots' because they work best with piezo bridges....so they're on all of them. No clue why. What's weird is it worked fine in the store plugged into a Fender Rumble 500. Got home and plugged it into my Ampeg SVT Micro and couldn't get much volume until I rolled it up to 50%.
 
#175
Drummerdan said:
I'm have the same issue regarding the volume on my Huntington I (purchased today at Guitar Center, Brea, Ca for $450+tax used. Slight blemish on the back of the headstock) I called Supro and they were aware of my concern. The rep stated that they use those 'audio pots' because they work best with piezo bridges....so they're on all of them. No clue why. What's weird is it worked fine in the store plugged into a Fender Rumble 500. Got home and plugged it into my Ampeg SVT Micro and couldn't get much volume until I rolled it up to 50%.
Click to expand...

Makes a lot of sense cause if you look at the bridge, the piezo pieces are in every saddle including the models that don't have the piezo hooked up. They're not a very expensive part to get and it makes some sense to just use the same pots that work with the piezo Instead of have 2 stocked kind of pots. The fact that it is a 1meg pot put me off more than anything. 250k pots really make the bass sound good to me and depending on the quality of the pot, you can get good turn down
 
#176
_jojo_bass said:
Makes a lot of sense cause if you look at the bridge, the piezo pieces are in every saddle including the models that don't have the piezo hooked up. They're not a very expensive part to get and it makes some sense to just use the same pots that work with the piezo Instead of have 2 stocked kind of pots. The fact that it is a 1meg pot put me off more than anything. 250k pots really make the bass sound good to me and depending on the quality of the pot, you can get good turn down
Click to expand...

Something I'll consider for sure. On another note, I noticed today that the E string sounds rather muted. Not so much in volume but in tone, as if there's a foam pad under the string by the bridge. Kind of has that 70's Motown sound which is fine but I'm not sure if I want it that way always. I even removed some of the string wrap because it was resting on the bridge. What do you think? Is that just a characteristic of a short scale?
 
#177
Fix for Huntington supro bass:
1) Electronics-replace both volume pots with 500k linear pots (B curve), or replace the bridge pickup pot with a 500k linear blend pot (MN). Use CTS pots, Bourns pots have no mechanical resistance and will move if your hand even goes near it. 2) D'Addario tape wound strings ETB92 work well for me. If you play the bass unplugged the E string will be slightly lower in volume so the E side of the pickup will naturally need to be higher than the G string. A reason the E string is way lower in volume maybe that the wrapping of the E string is past bridge saddle. Get a #8, 1/4 inch spacer from the hardware store and this will solve the problem. Any questions I can be reached at [email protected]. Good luck, Bob.
 
#178
Truss rod is a 4mm Allen key. 1) Make sure Allen key is in all the way. 2) Loosen the strings to take tension off the neck. 3) Hold the bass upright with strap button on the floor between your legs. 4) pull back on the headstock towards the back of the bass and adjust the truss rod a 1/4 of a turn. 5) tune up the bass and see how it is. If not adjusted to your liking let it stabilize for a day and try again. Don't force it. If you are trying to tighten it and it feels stuck try and loosen the truss rod first. If it is still stuck take it to a professional. Doing the above steps should prevent you from damaging the truss rod. Good luck, Bob. [email protected]
 
#179
It's funny (strange not haha) that I never noticed the volume drop on the E string that some (many) have mentioned, until a couple of weeks ago. I bought my bass used from CME but it appeared to have been barely played so the strings on it are no doubt the chromes that came on it, which by the way I am a big fan of (right behind TI and Dunlop flatwounds).

I'm wondering if the problem becomes more prevalent as strings lose their brightness with wear, because I definitely didn't detect during the previous 8 months or so. The bass was in my rotation and I've gigged it 3 or 4
times.

I'm going to try different strings. My Darkglass compressor can solve the issue but it's rather a bummer to have to resort to a pedal.
 
#180
MAD DOG said:
If you play the bass unplugged the E string will be slightly lower in volume so the E side of the pickup will naturally need to be higher than the G string. A reason the E string is way lower in volume maybe that the wrapping of the E string is past bridge saddle. Get a #8, 1/4 inch spacer from the hardware store and this will solve the problem. Any questions I can be reached at [email protected]. Good luck, Bob.
Click to expand...

Raising the pickup on the E side has no effect on the problem as it raises the volume of the A string as well as the E. Lowering the G side as I noticed someone suggested above the last time I mentioned this is, well... doing the same thing as its all relative to the overall pickup height.

I'd email you this question but I'm going to guess others might be interested also... could you better explain the 2nd part of what you said, regarding the wrapping on the E string? I don't even know what a 1/4 inch spacer is, much less what you're suggesting I do with it :).
 

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