You know sorry, Played that on the Gretsch Bass,,,losing my mind my avatar pic is the Gretsch, I used
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The Official Rumblekat Club
- Thread starter user362432
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Wow, that is very powerful stuff -- the music and the subject matter. Great playing all around (not to mention video editing). The Rumblekat sounds great -- the sustain, the clarity and fullness of sound. Thanks for posting it.
I’ve now upgraded my Rumblekat with a Supertone bridge. I used 3 washers from potentiometers on top of each post insert and it seemed the perfect height to mount it flush. I am curious how people are mounting it that aren’t using additional washers? I can certainly see how the inserts would pop out without washers. The tone is definitely fuller with the Hipshot, though I do miss some of the high-mids of the stock bridge in exchange. I will be experimenting to see if I can bring them back somehow!
You guys did a fantastic job! I am so torn by military and war ( I am former Navy SeaBee ) but I don't want to start anything political so i won't elaborate. Good tone on the rumble cat!
Here is a copy of the lyrics if your interested, hope to get back to studio soon
Thanks, contextually a solid song. Cant wait to hear the finished song.
I recently bought a Rumblekat -- my first bass -- and created an account to join this thread.
I've played guitar for 20 years but rarely picked up a bass unless in a guitar shop for 30 seconds and didn't like how foreign long scale felt coming from guitar. Huge Beatles/Macca fan. I've been short-scale-bass-curious for years. Saw a Rumblekat used, jumped on it.
This is 100% a keeper. So far I've made a new nut (and previous owner or someone put a TON of crazyglue on the nut, what a mess). It benefited from a complete setup as well and has a few buzzes at 2.5mm/2.0mm action. Level/Crown/Polish down the road. You guys got me interested in a bridge upgrade down the road.
Think I have stock strings -- red silk and measure 45/65/80/105 which from my brief research on TB seems stock.
Finally, and sorry for the further discussion on string gauge, but that set of gauges isn't available at my usual sources (and sometimes international shipping to Canada gets stupid pricy on shipping).
I'd like to try to a light gauge strings with a 0.100 E-string, but I'm worried about that big guy getting too floppy. He's pretty loose now @ 0.105 and I kinda like how it adds to the rumble er grit or something on this string... but I'm afraid a .100 will be just too loose.
I even saw some people were using a 0.095, so I guess it's fine. It's just that most of my buzz issues are on the E string... and again, definitely could use a level-crown.
Sorry for the Rumblekat ramble... very excited about
I've played guitar for 20 years but rarely picked up a bass unless in a guitar shop for 30 seconds and didn't like how foreign long scale felt coming from guitar. Huge Beatles/Macca fan. I've been short-scale-bass-curious for years. Saw a Rumblekat used, jumped on it.
This is 100% a keeper. So far I've made a new nut (and previous owner or someone put a TON of crazyglue on the nut, what a mess). It benefited from a complete setup as well and has a few buzzes at 2.5mm/2.0mm action. Level/Crown/Polish down the road. You guys got me interested in a bridge upgrade down the road.
Think I have stock strings -- red silk and measure 45/65/80/105 which from my brief research on TB seems stock.
Finally, and sorry for the further discussion on string gauge, but that set of gauges isn't available at my usual sources (and sometimes international shipping to Canada gets stupid pricy on shipping).
I'd like to try to a light gauge strings with a 0.100 E-string, but I'm worried about that big guy getting too floppy. He's pretty loose now @ 0.105 and I kinda like how it adds to the rumble er grit or something on this string... but I'm afraid a .100 will be just too loose.
I even saw some people were using a 0.095, so I guess it's fine. It's just that most of my buzz issues are on the E string... and again, definitely could use a level-crown.
Sorry for the Rumblekat ramble... very excited about
Welcome to the club, any questions always feel free to ask, I run .100 lights and 3.00 mm at 12th fret if that helps, just like the feel of the lights, but it all depends on setup and preference
Ditto, welcome @maj34. The Rumblekat is a very compact, playable, and versatile bass. I'm sure you'll continue to enjoy it. Re strings, it's a very individual thing. I haven't tried light gauge strings, so I can't help you there. I'm using these: [This invalid link has been removed]
If you decide to give light-gauge strings a try, report back and let us know how it worked out.
If you decide to give light-gauge strings a try, report back and let us know how it worked out.
Will do. Probably will be a while before I try new strings though. Going to do a level/crown/polish first (later this year prob). Maybe get the Hipshot Supertone. $200 Canadian - ouch. Still, this is an instrument worth of some TLC and a couple of upgrades if I ever saw one.
I did spend an hour analyzing string tensions though, because that's also fun for me. I used StringJoy and built a spreadsheet:
[I'm assuming my used Rumblekat came with the stock gauges, those are the gauges measured with my caliper.]
I made this graph:
The Legend here correlates with the brand/type of strings in the table above.
The GHS Pressurewound are interesting to me. The Pressurewounds are obviously a lower tension set, but they're a relatively equal tension set.
Now, I'm no expert on string dynamics or bass setups, but I feel like right now my E string could use more relief (i.e. bit floppy). All other strings are happy with typical/lowish relief (0.010). I could just add more relief to make the E happier but I also happen to have bad buzzing on frets 6 & 7... the straighter neck helps with the low frets I have in the middle of the neck.
My theory is that an equal tension set would allow me, or even someone with a better leveled board, to setup the neck so that all strings were calling for closer-to-equal relief.
Again, apologies for bringing it back around to strings, but thought some people might be interested in the graph.
I wouldn’t be certain that tension across the same gauges of different strings would be equivalent, as different brands use different gauges of core and wrap wires to get to those similar final overall gauges (particularly when comparing a different design like the Pressurewounds, which I’ve found to be fairly stiff for the gauges vs rounds). Still somewhat useful for generalizations between similar strings. One thing to consider before buying new strings is that any string with silk on the ball-end side of the string will have the silk extend over the saddle due to the bridge’s short clearance. You can put some sort of spacer (washers, nuts, etc) between the ball end and back of the bridge to extend the string somewhat to compensate or get one of these (or a Supertone of course, thoughts on that below): GIBSON® EPIPHONE® BASS BRIDGE 3-POINT (MOD-BAR!) | eBay
My stock Rumblekat strings had no silks or any other characteristic markings (like colored ball ends, etc), FWIW. I really liked the tone of them on that bass though, so wish I knew what they were! I suspect the strings put on them from the factory have not remained consistent over the years though, probably whatever was cheapest in bulk at the time.
I had a Supertone on my Rumblekat for a short time, but honestly I think it sounded (and even looked) better with the stock bridge. The Hipshot is great for adjustability and string changes, but it’s really ideally for a flat-topped bass like a Thunderbird where it can sit flush on the wood (though I actually have it on my Jack Casady now and prefer it quite a bit on that bass- though it requires significant shimming to not put pressure on the curved top).
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I did upgrade my bridge and it's one SERIOUS upgrade as about tone and playability. Hipshot is way to go. Yes, it's expensive. But, it's worth every dime.
I am using GHS Pressurewounds short scale 7700 and I cannot say enough how I am happy with everything. I just went today to check on it and the neck and strings are still in incredible shape.
I am using GHS Pressurewounds short scale 7700 and I cannot say enough how I am happy with everything. I just went today to check on it and the neck and strings are still in incredible shape.
Yes, was thinking this. Think I explored it a little bit on guitar, but there's probably more room for variation in core size vs wrap size in bigger bass strings I guess.
If the Pressurewounds are tighter (per the gauge) that's very interesting.
Yeah, the strings that came on my used Rumblekat had silk that extended over the E saddle once I intonated it properly. Perhaps they weren't stock strings.
Yeah, I do like the look of the stock bridge a lot. And I am quite happy with the sound of the bass, but I find the saddle screws keep shifting, although mostly because I keep taking the strings off (cleaning, nut replacement, etc).
Yeah, this thread is giving me GAS for the Hipshot a bit, although I find it sounds great now. It's just the saddles losing position and messing up the intonation when strings are off that's annoying.
I have spent hundreds on upgrading guitars before, but usually they were more expensive instruments. This is the first time I'd consider a $200 upgrade on a $400 instrument. With a more intonation-stable bridge and a level/crown this is going to be a FINE instrument.
At least for me, I've sometimes found "sustain" to not be a desirable characteristic on all basses. I preferred the woody thump of the Rumblekat with the stock bridge after trying both, but of course this is all subjective. I felt the exact opposite on my Jack Casady bass, where the Hipshot really was an improvement for my taste.
Switched out the neck pickup on mine to a TV Jones Thunderblade, works great with the Thundermag, loving the tone
