Post pics of the AUB issue and a location. We may be able to help you out or direct you to someone who can.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Double Bass The DEFINITIVE Palatino EUB Modification Thread
- Thread starter jamiefoxer
- Start date
I'll give the knob threads a good cleaning a apply some lead, and will make a note to grab a new piece of rubber for the bottom next time I go by a CVS.
I'll post some pics when I get a chance. There are some new parts I added months before it snapped, including a custom bridge and new spirocores (which I'm in the process of transferring right now)
Thanks guys! I'll post my findings.
I'll post some pics when I get a chance. There are some new parts I added months before it snapped, including a custom bridge and new spirocores (which I'm in the process of transferring right now)
Thanks guys! I'll post my findings.
Cool. Make sure you get a rubber tip 38th a metal insert inside the bottom.
I got a Palatino a few months ago, primarily for ease of transportation and feedback resistance. Modifications I made:
-Thick rubber cane tip from a pharmacy for the endpin.
-Thin rubber strip (cut up old phone case) both under and over the pickup,
-Removed metal tailpiece, used braided steel cable with clamps to attach the wood block,
-Fashioned a new support bar that leans backward diagonally rather than directly to the side.
-Changed strings to Presto Ultralights.
It plays fine (pizz + slap), sounds fine, suits blues and rock'n roll stuff. But I reverted back to an acoustic db for two reasons:
-While it is smaller and easier to transport than an acoustic db, the gig bag it comes with has very flimsy shoulder straps (unusable), and carrying it in hand is not very comfortable as it is very heavy. Needs a new case.
-I am used to supporting the acoustic db with my left leg/thigh behind the lower bout, without it I feel it puts weight on my left hand to balance while playing, and tires me very quickly. I am thinking of making and attaching a lower bout support but did not try anything yet. Any suggestions are welcome.
-Thick rubber cane tip from a pharmacy for the endpin.
-Thin rubber strip (cut up old phone case) both under and over the pickup,
-Removed metal tailpiece, used braided steel cable with clamps to attach the wood block,
-Fashioned a new support bar that leans backward diagonally rather than directly to the side.
-Changed strings to Presto Ultralights.
It plays fine (pizz + slap), sounds fine, suits blues and rock'n roll stuff. But I reverted back to an acoustic db for two reasons:
-While it is smaller and easier to transport than an acoustic db, the gig bag it comes with has very flimsy shoulder straps (unusable), and carrying it in hand is not very comfortable as it is very heavy. Needs a new case.
-I am used to supporting the acoustic db with my left leg/thigh behind the lower bout, without it I feel it puts weight on my left hand to balance while playing, and tires me very quickly. I am thinking of making and attaching a lower bout support but did not try anything yet. Any suggestions are welcome.
I bent my support to 90 degrees, so now I can rest it on my chest and body, allowing me to use arm weight and body pressure to finger the notes.
I also put a piece of foam meant to cover plumbing pipes, which helps it grab a bit, too.
Thanks, I was inspired to do the support mod by your post previosly seeing these pictures. Mine is similar to this, sticks out a bit more to the side. I still miss the feeling of a lower bout for balance, maybe because the endpin has to be out very long and the center of gravity is high with the dense wood body.
I'm glad I could help.
I originally had my support bent at about 45 degrees, but I found that a) I couldn't rest it against my body to use my arm weight and b) the bass would spin to the left.
I've never played an upright regularly, so I don't have that to compare to, so I don't miss the lower bout at all
Update.
I emailed Guitar fuel to tell them how pleased I was with their Preamp and mentioned the washer size. Today I got 4 new washers in the mail!
If this proves to be gig stable I may be a returning customer for future projects. They reply promptly to emails and seem determined to give satisfaction to their customers.
Update PT II
I took it to a rehearsal this morning. All unevenness between strings was gone. No idea what specifically fixed that, but it's a done deal. On a Tchaikovsky transcription, double and triple stops were clear and resonant. I never figured it would handle that one so well. Generally I use an ABG for this group but I needed a test of the setup before taking it out on a gig.
Mid and treble are still less effective than the bass knob when playing pizz. I found myself playing with very little boost, all knobs at detent. Occasionally twiddling the bass knob on long sustained notes just for giggles. (WOWWOWWOW
The nut is stock height. It is too high. That will be the next tweak. Playing a Vivaldi transcription with 3 minutes of octave 32nd notes just about killed me, major cramping. Action is coming down further as well.
I did take a bow to it. As I suspected the mid and treble were very useful here. I was able to dial down the "string noise" and get the nice warm sound of a bowed upright. VERY impressed with how drastic the change is here. This really opens up bowed options for attack and color onboard! The stock bridge is too flat to really dig in with a bow so I'll reshape that when I do the nut.
I did get some tailpiece resonances which were annoying. I ended up stuffing my glove in the tailpiece. I don't like the towel/sponge or whatever as I don't like that kind of look on my rigs. I have an idea or two on this one and will post whatever I come up with as a minimally intrusive resolution to this problem.
Hi, back again - sorry I haven't been on the site for a while. I checked after my last post and didn't find much interest. Anyway, good work Carl H!!
My mods look a bit more extreme than yours. Here's the preamp controls and plate I made;
And the pickup mounting bridge;
The bridge width was 60 mm (2.5 inches) so I cut the fingerboard back the same amount, otherwise it looked very cramped.
Then set about removing the resonance problems the Palatino is infamous for with a covered foam block under the tailpiece;
And rubber rings to prevent string resonance between the tailpiece and bridge. You'll be surprised how much this helps;
Also note the grounding wire to stop hum from the coil pickups. Maybe not the most elegant, but in a gig situation, nobody is going to be close enough to se it!
Then the built-in tuner;
DON'T use a soft hot glue gun like I did. It's not hard enough to sand back to get a good finish and impossible to paint over nicely
Then the body support post became a battery cover for the tuner. 2 x AAA 3 volt going back to the tuner. Just enough body resonance for it to lock onto open strings.
And finally, a stand. These basses are so hard to put anywhere on stage in a gig, especially if you're using other basses as well. It sits on the stand pretty well and when extended, you can use this as a leg or upper thigh anchor to prevent the bass twisting while you're playing.
It's all done in aluminium tube and the bracket is mig welded alloy too. Light as!
If you noticed a hole by the bracket, it's for the final trick - and LED voltage indicator for the preamp battery.It's made my Palatino a very useable bass, with plenty of variation in sound and no worries of resonance if you're on a loud stage.
Last edited:
Wow, I'm digging all the mods! Bravo.
I like the built in stand very much! Did you make it yourself, or re-purpose it from something else?
And I like the built in tuner. Very smart idea.
I like the built in stand very much! Did you make it yourself, or re-purpose it from something else?
And I like the built in tuner. Very smart idea.
Top one is volume, then pickup balance below that - I found the Guitar Fuel preamp is high enough impedance to run the piezo pickup directly into, so this adjusts between coils and original bridge pickup. Then is treble. The stacked one is parametric mid. Inside is frequency and outside is cut/boost. And bass is the last control.
Cheers! The stand legs were actually from a broken telescope.
A friend of mine does lots of manufacturing engineering and has a pipe bender. The tube was bent as much as it would take without splitting, but seems about right!
Thanks for the details and for the good ideas!Cheers! The stand legs were actually from a broken telescope.
Do you have any photos of you preparing and doing the work to install all of the electronics?
Did you have to cut out a lot of the body?
And what did you use as those two damping discs? I really like that idea.
Sorry GKon, no pics of the work being done. It was originally just going to be a mock-up test to see if the pickups would work. They were VERY cheap ones from AliExpress (NZ$9.50 a pair - about $7 USD) Then I was going to get serious for the final build. Was also worried that the strings may not be magnetic enough. They are steel core, but have an aluminium outer winding. The mock-up worked so well, it was pointless taking it all apart to rebuild it. So I did a bit of painting up - used yellow water-colour paint for the stain and gloss black for the edge surfaces. I had to cut about 25mm (1 inch) either side of the original vol / tone cavity and a bit for the AAA battery holder. Also used the switched output socket from the Guitar Fuel preamp to turn on the original piezo preamp as I though I would need this feeding into the pickup balance control. There was enough room in the cavity between the upper and lower body for both and just used resistors to match the resistance of where I had the tone and volume pot sitting, but I was pretty happy when I realised I didn't need it! Less drain on the battery and a whole lot simpler electrical path.
The damping discs where just a bit of soft rubber pipe insulation with a bit of reinforced fuel tubing in the hole, so they'd retain their shape better. Now you know all my tricks
It certainly sounds a lot more solid than the original! I generally use the balance about 60% coil - 40% piezo, with a bit of bass boost depending on what amp I'm running through. I vary the mids and top depending on what's required for the song. I also find you don't have to play nearly as hard to get a great sound out of it.
Last edited:
Too bad about the pics but I really appreciate the detailed information. I promise, if I use any of your ideas I'll give you creditSorry GKon, no pics of the work being done. It was originally just going to be a mock-up test to see if the pickups would work. They were VERY cheap ones from AliExpress (NZ$9.50 a pair - about $7 USD) Then I was going to get serious for the final build. Was also worried that the strings may not be magnetic enough. They are steel core, but have an aluminium outer winding. The mock-up worked so well, it was pointless taking it all apart to rebuild it. So I did a bit of painting up - used yellow water-colour paint for the stain and gloss black for the edge surfaces. I had to cut about 25mm (1 inch) either side of the original vol / tone cavity and a bit for the AAA battery holder. Also used the switched output socket from the Guitar Fuel preamp to turn on the original piezo preamp as I though I would need this feeding into the pickup balance control. There was enough room in the cavity between the upper and lower body for both and just used resistors to match the resistance of where I had the tone and volume pot sitting, but I was pretty happy when I realised I didn't need it! Less drain on the battery and a whole lot simpler electrical path.
The damping discs where just a bit of soft rubber pipe insulation with a bit of reinforced fuel tubing in the hole, so they'd retain their shape better. Now you know all my tricks
One more question, do you happen to have a link for the pickups and the preamp?
Here's the pickups; Jazz Pickup Sealed Pickup Precious Bass PB 4 String Bass-in Guitar Parts & Accessories from Sports & Entertainment on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
You may have to remove the screw mounting tab on each end and fill the gap with glue or plastic filler.
The preamp is the SBK-3A; [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Happy to answer any other questions you've got and good luck with whatever you choose to do on your bass. Mine worked out pretty well, but the finish is a bit rough in some areas. As I said though, if you're at a gig with dark lighting, nobody is going to see it...but they'll sure hear what you've done!
You may have to remove the screw mounting tab on each end and fill the gap with glue or plastic filler.
The preamp is the SBK-3A; [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Happy to answer any other questions you've got and good luck with whatever you choose to do on your bass. Mine worked out pretty well, but the finish is a bit rough in some areas. As I said though, if you're at a gig with dark lighting, nobody is going to see it...but they'll sure hear what you've done!
Thanks very much for being so forthcoming.Here's the pickups; Jazz Pickup Sealed Pickup Precious Bass PB 4 String Bass-in Guitar Parts & Accessories from Sports & Entertainment on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
You may have to remove the screw mounting tab on each end and fill the gap with glue or plastic filler.
The preamp is the SBK-3A; [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Happy to answer any other questions you've got and good luck with whatever you choose to do on your bass. Mine worked out pretty well, but the finish is a bit rough in some areas. As I said though, if you're at a gig with dark lighting, nobody is going to see it...but they'll sure hear what you've done!
I'm personally not planning any major mods for the time being other than your method of string damping with the round pieces and at some point a new set of strings.
I do like though to accumulate info about good and interesting mods so that I have a good library of information for when I do decide to do something in the future.
I also appreciate people's good ideas!
Hey all, just wondering what strings people are using out there? I think it's time to replace mine. I had a wee play on an NS 5 string EUB today. Very nice, and with a price tag of NZ$7,999.00 I would hope so too! The strings felt great - very crisp and great bottom end. I think they were NS strings and not sure they'd fit the Palatino. Any suggestions?
