Double Bass The DEFINITIVE Palatino EUB Modification Thread

[bassfacer22]

Ha well it's funny nobody knows..

I guess I can attempt to get ahold of palatino but it seems near impossible to get a reply even from the makers

I need to know because I'm going to end up selling this..

 

[Bander]

Great thread, and thanks to all who contributed. I just purchased a used one locally, like new, after wanting one for years. I read thru all the mods and then spent a lot of time just playing mine before doing anything else. I added a Baggs DI which drastically moved the tone closer to an upright especially on the A and E strings. I spent time adjusting the tone controls on my amp and on the bass, switching back and forth with my upright. I added a tiny amount of reverb, which seems to emulate the echo or sympathetic sound of an upright. Finally, I added the "tone filter" mod, which most here use patches of rubber innertube material. Instead of rubber, I used 1/16" cork. I put a solid piece of cork under the piezo strip, with a slot for the wire, and another small piece of cork under the treble side foot on top of the piezo. I left the block of cloth-covered foam under the bridge, that I assume was there to prevent the after-length from ringing. I've got some Helicore Hybids to put on, but frankly, its pretty darn convincing right now! Proof is always in the pudding, so I'll get some feedback at a combo practice next week.

 

[GKon]

I added a tiny amount of reverb, which seems to emulate the echo or sympathetic sound of an upright.

I left the block of cloth-covered foam under the bridge, that I assume was there to prevent the after-length from ringing.

I like the cork idea and the reverb. Smart.

What foam under the bridge are you talking about?

 

[carl h.]

I gave cork some thought, but it is much stiffer and figured the softness of the rubber is the benefit, rather than bulk filler.

 

[GKon]

I gave cork some thought, but it is much stiffer and figured the softness of the rubber is the benefit, rather than bulk filler.

I also use rubber but like the idea of cork as a possible alternative.
I have a thin sheet of cork that is quite flexible but definitely stiffer than rubber.

 

[carl h.]

I play WW instruments and repair my own so I have a good selection of sheet cork in different thicknesses on hand. I tried cork on a different piezo instrument last year before reading about inner tubes here and it was promising, but the inner tube rubber seems to be getting better results. There is also a thing called tech cork which is different than natural cork, plus there is automotive grade "cork" gasket material which has a rubber component added to it.

I have an assortment of tubes on hand from racing bicycle thin ones through to puncture resistant mountain bike and automotive/agricultural inner tubes, but no blown out ones on hand til I ran across one on a ride. Being aware of the variety of tubes gave me pause as to which thickness might be optimal in this application, but being cheap I wasn't about to cut up a new tube just to find out. I'm assuming the tube I found on the side of the road is the standard walmart variety and nothing too exotic. It seems to do the job so I won't be experimenting with other thicknesses until the materials present themselves and I have the time to mess around.

 

[GKon]

I play WW instruments and repair my own so I have a good selection of sheet cork in different thicknesses on hand. I tried cork on a different piezo instrument last year before reading about inner tubes here and it was promising, but the inner tube rubber seems to be getting better results. There is also a thing called tech cork which is different than natural cork, plus there is automotive grade "cork" gasket material which has a rubber component added to it.

I have an assortment of tubes on hand from racing bicycle thin ones through to puncture resistant mountain bike and automotive/agricultural inner tubes, but no blown out ones on hand til I ran across one on a ride. Being aware of the variety of tubes gave me pause as to which thickness might be optimal in this application, but being cheap I wasn't about to cut up a new tube just to find out. I'm assuming the tube I found on the side of the road is the standard walmart variety and nothing too exotic. It seems to do the job so I won't be experimenting with other thicknesses until the materials present themselves and I have the time to mess around.

Thanks for the details regarding different types of cork and your experience with them. I didn't know there were so many different types.
The type I have would then be classified as automotive, as it was a sheet meant for making gaskets.

I, too, had to find a punctured inner tube, as I didn't want to cut up a good one

 

[bassfacer22]

I have a Palatino and a Eminence bass..

if you guys want to hear the difference between them it's huge.. I can put up a video..

the price was pretty huge too though.. ha..

but I have no use for my palatino anymore.. and the other EUB can remove it's neck for traveling..

I'm only saying this because of the pain I went through trying to get the Palatino to just be ok.. come on guys? cork and rubber under the bridge just to make this thing ok??

 

[carl h.]

I have a Palatino and a Eminence bass..

if you guys want to hear the difference between them it's huge.. I can put up a video..

the price was pretty huge too though.. ha..

but I have no use for my palatino anymore.. and the other EUB can remove it's neck for traveling..

I'm only saying this because of the pain I went through trying to get the Palatino to just be ok.. come on guys? cork and rubber under the bridge just to make this thing ok??

Everything needs a setup to get the best out of it. It just happens that TB did the R&D to optimize the setup on the Pal/HB.

None of the EUBs are decent substitutes for a good upright, and Taco Bell isn't Mexican. Doesn't mean they don't have their place. The mods I did made this into a giggable instrument and a one off, for the moment.

I work in a music store setting up instruments. The company rep came to do a showcase and brought their top of the line gear a few years back - it turns out I had known him for years and he had just started with that company since we last visited. A week before the showcase a shipment of their student level stuff came in for our rental service. I played their "good stuff" and then had them try the ones I had setup. The ones I setup outplayed the stuff they had brought and cost significantly less, and the rep privately agreed that they played better than their expensive demo stock.

A properly setup better instrument will be better, but don't count out a decent inexpensive instrument. Do not underestimate the importance of a good setup, it can trump your expectations if done well.

 

[bassfacer22]

? ok but I'm not saying to never setup your instrument, Of course you setup yours instrument.. but I realized the amount of "setup" that had to be done to solve the Palatino problems was not worth the hassle of just getting an instrument that only needed a small change to setup for the way I wanted..

There are guys trying to dismantle the electronics and trying different rubber and trying to change tailpieces because of ring, the thing is heavy, the end-pin pole is a joke and can strip and doesn't hold well and it's hard to tighten.. the little metal pole to hold on your side / hip is a joke..

I mean really I can go on...

I stopped wasting my time years ago with that thing..

but listen seriously, more power to you if you somehow miraculously got it to feel and sound good..

-Oh I forgot to mention when I bought it for $900+ something I had to contact the company and they had to ship me an entire new bridge because the stock one was such a joke!

I'll try to find those picture to show you if you want..

 

[GKon]

? ok but I'm not saying to never setup your instrument, Of course you setup yours instrument.. but I realized the amount of "setup" that had to be done to solve the Palatino problems was not worth the hassle of just getting an instrument that only needed a small change to setup for the way I wanted..

There are guys trying to dismantle the electronics and trying different rubber and trying to change tailpieces because of ring, the thing is heavy, the end-pin pole is a joke and can strip and doesn't hold well and it's hard to tighten.. the little metal pole to hold on your side / hip is a joke..

Sorry, but I have to mostly disagree with you. Mine needed 2 things to do to it to be happy with it:
1) some rubber under the bridge. Seriously, if doing that bothers you, than I would guess changing strings on a bass, or raising/lowering a p'up for better sound would also bother you.
It's not a necessity to use the rubber, but something that does change the sound to a place where some people prefer it. You don't HAVE to do it.
But if you do, it's free. So big deal.

2) I bent the support bar to work properly. Agreed that it's useless as is. But again, big deal. I spent 350€ on mine new, so doing a couple of tweeks didn't bother me at all.

As for the rest of the mod's people do, that is strictly personal preference. You don't HAVE to:
swap out the electronics,
change the strings,
change the tailpiece,
change the bridge
etc etc etc. All personal preference. The same as when people buy an EB and swap out the bridge, the p'ups, the tuning hardware. To each his own.

I've never had a problem with my bridge, with my endpin, with the electronics.

You say you had problems with yours. That sucks. But you can't discount that others, like me, haven't.

I'm also not saying that you won't find better EUB's out there, but it's not the train wreck some try to make it out to be.

 

[carl h.]

In my mind the biggest fail about the Palatino is the on off switch. It is not done on anything else out there and a better way of doing it has been around for years. Now I understand it is to fire up the headphone amp in the thing, but most gigging musicians have no desire of such a thing on their instrument. If there was a need every electric bass out there would have a jack for a headphone and a power switch on it. Honestly, it might not be such a bad idea for those who can't hear themselves, but the implementation is low budget and not "pro level".

While it is not the best out there, it is solidly mid pack as a tool for a performer when set up, and the value is hard to beat. If I had to bill my setup time to myself the value may not be as great, but I don't have to bill myself. I traded some gear for mine and have around $300 into it including the helicore hybrid strings.What else could I get in this format that is giggable at this price point?

 

[GKon]

In my mind the biggest fail about the Palatino is the on off switch. It is not done on anything else out there and a better way of doing it has been around for years. Now I understand it is to fire up the headphone amp in the thing, but most gigging musicians have no desire of such a thing on their instrument. If there was a need every electric bass out there would have a jack for a headphone and a power switch on it. Honestly, it might not be such a bad idea for those who can't hear themselves, but the implementation is low budget and not "pro level".

While it is not the best out there, it is solidly mid pack as a tool for a performer when set up, and the value is hard to beat. If I had to bill my setup time to myself the value may not be as great, but I don't have to bill myself. I traded some gear for mine and have around $300 into it including the helicore hybrid strings.What else could I get in this format that is giggable at this price point?

On mine, the on/off switch powers the pre-amp, so I have to turn it on even to play through an amplifier, and not just for the headphones.

I've spent a total of roughly .05 cents on mine in materials (rubber) and another 30 minutes tops installing the rubber trying out different
locations till I found what works for me (under the piezzo and under the treble side foot), and bending the support bar.

In my opinion, WELL worth the money, time and effort to have, what I consider, a great EUB that more than fulfills my needs.

 

[carl h.]

On mine, the on/off switch powers the pre-amp, so I have to turn it on even to play through an amplifier, and not just for the headphones.

This is the way it is on all of them. The only reason for the switch is to power the headphone out jack when a cable is not plugged in to the output jack. A standard active bass wiring system would only power the headphone with a plug in the jack, so the switch was needed.

It could have been implemented far better. I couldn't bring myself to trust a cheap switch like that on a gig. It was very inexpensive and simple to remove the switch and add to the functionality with a different pre and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[bassfacer22]

Hey, Whatever justifies yourself trying to continue using the Palatino is fine..

Don't lie to yourself though, the Palatino was an attempt at something.. I don't know what.. but something..

It was a failure.. It's heavy, terribly built with no thought out construction and structure, sounds is just an Electric bass, as that is all it is literally is, just standing up.. and has an absolute horrid stock bridge, I don't know why they even made those bridges.. the Tailpiece has the most horrid ring if you don't change it out or completely dampen it with something, the batteries.. the poles, the cheap tuning pegs, the god knows whatever thin rubbery strings that come on it, the pickup is.. eh.. what's the point, you fixed it all right?

Look, I'm glad you think it's good and for whatever reason it works for you ok. good. If you know someone who wants one (uh.. to modify I mean since you can't just use it normally) I will sell them mine.. I even have a good shipping box to send it in..

You can buy a nice Electric Bass which sounds the same if not better than the Palatino for 350 Euros..

If you like it, good for you but I don't know why you wouldn't just play electric bass buddy.. It's easier for everything and sounds better..

 

[carl h.]

You seem to have issues beyond your Palatino.

 

[bassfacer22]

The issue was the Palatino.

You seem to think a failed product deserves more chances.

I say again, If you are happy with a Palatino good for you.

Here is a new stock bridge that Palatino sent me to fix the other one.. I can't even get it straight without having the adjusters completely off, If I set them both at the same height, the bridge it totally off with the Fingerboard..

 

[carl h.]

So you got a lemon and didn't find satisfaction and didn't return it. I guess all of us are low brow no talent idiots for having a different opinion than you.

You win, you are the champion of the internet! I shall bake you a tune noodle casserole.

 

[bassfacer22]

If you could kindly direct me to where I mentioned something about anybody having low brow no talent idiots, It would be just swell..

I have said multiple times even in bold that if you like the Palatino, good for you. That was easy.

You may want to note the key part in my picture up above, It states "this is the New Bridge they sent me, after the 1st original one was terrible" '


I didn't get a lemon, We all got a failed, Flawed Product. If they send me a "new" bridge that is totally wrong for their stock Product which is not hand carved, but machine made, and I got a single Lemon? Why is the 2nd Bridge still a joke? Why is there a forum dedicated to fixing this thing?

Look, I don't know why you want to defend it, I'm not trying to attack it, I am just telling you the truth and if you do read through this thread, you will see all the problems and more we've talked about.. it's there.

Whoever likes it fine, enjoy it.. and then change your batteries ha.

 

[carl h.]

well bless your heart.