That bridge looks odd, like there are parts missing. Mine was a different set up so I can't say for sure.
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Willcox Bass Club (Lightwave)
- Thread starter kirkdickinson
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Those monoliths look like a very early model. From what I can see it looks like you adjust your saddle height by loosening the string, and using the slot in the brass to lower or raise the saddles. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s what it looks like from the picture. Both lightwave bases that I have adjust the saddle height with an Allen screw.
Your problem with sound may involve the adjustment of the sensor. Do you see another? Alan set screw on top of the monolith that raises and lowers the light sensor. Here is a link to the users manual.
https://www.willcoxguitars.com/wp-c...itars-LightWave-Systems-Saber-User-Manual.pdf
You can adjust the sensors manually by ear until you get the most volume out of them, but the best way is to use the procedure in the manual. There are also trim pots to increase or decrease the volume on individual strings. I had a set of strings where the D string seems to have more volume than the others. I had to turn it down a little.
I really love my lightwaves and will be playing my fretless at church this Sunday.
When you do a string change to a new type of strings, there is a bigger commitment because the setup is move involved than with magnetic pickups. I have never been a fan of the Lightwave method of intonation, but I have a Dingwall bass that intonates the same way. I guess with monotholic bridges, this method is pretty common.
if you contact Willcox with your serial number, they can tell you the year of manufacture and the exact model of your new bass.
Your problem with sound may involve the adjustment of the sensor. Do you see another? Alan set screw on top of the monolith that raises and lowers the light sensor. Here is a link to the users manual.
https://www.willcoxguitars.com/wp-c...itars-LightWave-Systems-Saber-User-Manual.pdf
You can adjust the sensors manually by ear until you get the most volume out of them, but the best way is to use the procedure in the manual. There are also trim pots to increase or decrease the volume on individual strings. I had a set of strings where the D string seems to have more volume than the others. I had to turn it down a little.
I really love my lightwaves and will be playing my fretless at church this Sunday.
When you do a string change to a new type of strings, there is a bigger commitment because the setup is move involved than with magnetic pickups. I have never been a fan of the Lightwave method of intonation, but I have a Dingwall bass that intonates the same way. I guess with monotholic bridges, this method is pretty common.
if you contact Willcox with your serial number, they can tell you the year of manufacture and the exact model of your new bass.
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Here is a photo from the manual of the motherboard.
And the section from the manual about the optical sensor alignment.
The following setup procedure is performed in order to align the
centerline of the optics with the long axis of the string. This will
provide maximum output, as well as accommodate string bending
and related playing techniques. This operation can be done by ear,
or electronically. In either case, turn on the bass, and adjust the
position of the optics by turning the 5/64” hex adjustment screw on
top of each monolith.
By ear, with the instrument plugged into an amplifier and/or
headphones: raise and lower the optics, listening for the “sweet
spot”, where the sound output is loudest.
Electronically: select the string to be calibrated, by turning the
miniature rotary selector switch on the Motherboard (use a ~2mm
flat screwdriver). If your bass has the HexFX option, the rotary
switch will be hidden under the HexFX daughterboard. Lift straight
up on the daughterboard to temporarily move it out of the way.
The switch positions are numbered to correspond with the strings,
with position 1 being the highest frequency string. When the string
is selected, the red/green LED on the Motherboard indicates
the position of the optics. LED ‘green’ indicates that the optics
are below the string, and must be raised (clockwise turn of the
adjustment screw). LED ‘red’ indicates that the optics are above
the string, and must be lowered (counterclockwise turn of the
adjustment screw). At the optimum adjustment point, the LED will
extinguish, indicating that the optics are centered. Take care not
to turn the adjustment screw too far in either direction, and do not
force it. After all of the strings have been calibrated, turn the rotary
switch back to the zero position.
After proper optics setup, the output of each string can be adjusted
for overall balance using the corresponding trimpots on the
Motherboard. These are the six miniature trimpots in a row, at
the center of the Motherboard, labeled ‘SL1’ through ‘SL6’. ‘SL1’
designates the highest pitch string. Full output is at the end of the
clockwise rotation of the trimpot, and is recommended for optimum
performance. Start with all strings at the full up position, and
balance the outputs by attenuating, or turning down, the louder
strings until outputs are equal. The trimpot adjustment range is
10db. The trimpots for any unused string channels have no effect on
signal level, and should be turned fully down (counterclockwise).
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From the Troubleshooting section. The battery may not be charged enough...
Problem: The sound is very weak and thin.
Cause: Insufficient battery voltage.
Solution: Check the status of the Power LED to see if it is out,
or very dim. If so, the battery pack needs recharging. [You can
continue to play with the charger unit plugged in, and the battery
pack will still charge.]
I have seen older models and prototypes that had the brass parts like that. I think it is just one of those models.
Thanks for your info. The seller included the owner's manual with the bass so I've been able to follow the set-up instructions without any problems. Unfortunately I still get no sound out of the bass without turning up my amp to max volume!! I have tried different amps and instrument cables without success.
The red LED on top of the monolith is lit so I assume there is power? I have turned the trims pot through their full range without any difference to sound volume. I'm going to guess that perhaps the age of the battery has something to do with the lack of volume as it is over 10 years old. I have ordered a new battery pack from the company to (hopefully) fix the issue. I've also reached out to Willcox to see if they have an answer to my problem.
I have found the folks at Willcox to be very helpful. When I was first searching for a fretless 5 string Saber, I found a very old one listed on Chicago Music Exchange. It had the brass in the monoliths like yours does. I got the serial number and contacted Willcox. Chris Willcox himself answered my email and told me that the bass I was looking at was a very early prototype and that the monoliths were actually two piece instead of the molded one piece that the modern ones use. I asked him if it would be risky to purchase one that parts weren't available for. He assured me that they could still get me fixed up if something went wrong. I didnt' have the money to buy it at the time, so that one got away.
Another time, I had actually purchased my Saber VL fretless and it had a buzz that kept me from lowering the action like I wanted. The neck needed to be releveled, which is a fairly easy process and I had a local luthier do it. Unfortunately, the luthier somehow broke the B sring monolith. I called Willcox and actually spoke to Chris. (The company is bigger now and I doubt that Chris handles customer calls anymore.) Anyways... I ended up ordering a new monolith and talked to Chris on the phone for about 30 minutes. I had just acquired a Dingwall bass and we talked about how awesome it would be to have a Dingwall bass with the Lightwave system. At that time the fan fret system was still under copyrite by Novax and very few builders were licensed to use it. (Dingwall was one) We chatted about the possibility of a Willcox Lightwave/Dingwall collaboration. Apparently, Chris had spoken to Sheldon Dingwall about that very thing at a recent NAMM. It never happened. Now that the patent has expired everybody and their brother is doing fanned frets. I still think a Lightwave with fanned frets would be cool. Chris seems like a super nice guy.
Played my Willcox Lightwave Fretless Saber VL sunday. It has a 4A flame maple top and it is a great playing bass. I have LaBella tape wound strings on it. I went through my HX stomp for some chorus, reverb, and SVT emulation. I have a Tone Hammer DI with the AGS circuit lightly engaged. Last week, I didn't like the tone I was getting so tweaked my settings and made sure I had a full charge before playing. I wasn't at my best performance and want to blame the difficulty I was having with the in-ear and hearing the drums, but we all know that is just an excuse.
I thought I would post this because there are so few videos of these bases in the "wild."
I edited out all the "churchy" stuff but the songs are church songs, so view at your discretion. I don't post this to offend anybody.
The live stream mix wasn't very good this week. But you can hear the bass with all my mistakes.
I thought I would post this because there are so few videos of these bases in the "wild."
I edited out all the "churchy" stuff but the songs are church songs, so view at your discretion. I don't post this to offend anybody.
The live stream mix wasn't very good this week. But you can hear the bass with all my mistakes.
Well the "lack of sound" mystery has been solved!! It was simply the daughterboard had come loose from the motherboard during shipping. Clicked it back in and BINGO we have sound.
Now just to figure out how to get the RED LED to go out after turning the optical adjustment through it's full range of movement!
Now just to figure out how to get the RED LED to go out after turning the optical adjustment through it's full range of movement!
Yeah, that will do it.
As far as adjusting the optical alignment, first I usually adjust using my ear to get the loudest output. Only then do I use the LEDs. That way you’re already close to where you need to be at the start.
A warning, if you go too far one way or the other, I have heard that you can derail the or strip out the sensor. I don't know if that is really true? If the sensor is really off, you can see by eyeballing it if it is too low or too high. Adjust that by eye, then adjust by ear to get the loudest output from that sensor, only then go to the led method. Some folks just do it by ear and call it good. I tend to be a little OCD and fine tune it with the led's.
One other trip-up that I had was setting the string setup selector to the wrong string and then trying to adjust and it would never change from red. According to the manual, position 1 should be your G string. 2-D, 3-A, and 4-E. There is a slight chance that since this is an early model, it might be wired differently.
Thanks for the heads-up Kirk. I'll bear that in mind when I get around to adjusting the string action & optical sensors.
Thank you very much for your guidance to help get my Saber sorted and in playing condition. I’ve spent several hours yesterday adjusting the intonation and neck relief. Also managed to get the optics set-up firstly using my ear (as suggested) and then fine tuning with the LED.
Now I’m very happy with the bass and looking forward to many hours of happy playing!
Now I’m very happy with the bass and looking forward to many hours of happy playing!
New to this Club with a ca.2003 Lightwave Classica C4 with Hex FX module. I still have to explore MIDI and look for the best strings, but so far so good.
re: strings - try to stay with the original string gauges as much as possible. There are adjustments you can make to accommodate slightly larger or smaller strings, but the range is rather narrow.
I prefer GHS pressurewound medium light (ML7200).
re: MIDI - In My Most Humble Opinion it is a waste of your time as a bass player. MIDI conversion takes a long time on low notes and NOTHING outside of fret-sensing circuitry can fix it. Use the 13 pin output to drive a non-MIDI synth such as the SY-1000 and avoid the frustration of MIDI altogether.
I have a Roland GI-20 MIDI converter and a rack full of synths. I'm a keyboard player, and I've been into MIDI since 1989. When I play my Willcox Lightwave Saber, 90% of the time it's connected to my SY-1000, no MIDI, and it just sounds great.
I prefer GHS pressurewound medium light (ML7200).
re: MIDI - In My Most Humble Opinion it is a waste of your time as a bass player. MIDI conversion takes a long time on low notes and NOTHING outside of fret-sensing circuitry can fix it. Use the 13 pin output to drive a non-MIDI synth such as the SY-1000 and avoid the frustration of MIDI altogether.
I have a Roland GI-20 MIDI converter and a rack full of synths. I'm a keyboard player, and I've been into MIDI since 1989. When I play my Willcox Lightwave Saber, 90% of the time it's connected to my SY-1000, no MIDI, and it just sounds great.
Please add me to the club!
I just acquired this Saber in a fairly complicated series of trades. Due to back surgeries (5 in the past 8 years) I was unable to play my 1977 Stingray. After receiving nothing but lowball offers, I ended up trading it for some cash plus two other basses. I sold one of the other basses, and traded an Ibanez headless 5 string fretted for this fretless 5 string Saber. Both of us think we got the better deal.
When I first got it, it sounded great, but the B string sounded dead. I did the adjustment but it was still dead. So, I changed strings to a set of EB Cobalt flats. I didn't have to adjust the optics very much at all, and the B string sounded fine, so it was a dead B after all.
I had read that the bass would yield more sustain if fitted with exposed core strings. Well, I was already running the excellent LaBella Super Steps on two of my other basses, so I ordered a set for this one. The strings arrived today and I wasted no time installing them.
I was amazed at how much more fiddly it was to adjust the opticals for the exposed core strings than it was for the Cobalt flats. On four of the five strings, there was hardly any "space" between the LED going from Red to Green (or vice versa). In fact, on the fourth string (E), the hex screw was way down the hole, whereas the others were almost even.
When I finally got it all done, I was left with a five string fuzztone bass. I tried adjusting the opticals by ear and by the tedious electronic method, but nothing could get rid of the fuzz.
I plugged in both of my other basses that use the Super Steps and they both sounded crystal clear like usual, so the problem is in the Saber for sure. The battery is charged, the red LED is bright, so not a battery issue.
I wrote to Willcox tech support, but then did some searching and found this thread, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. I did go through all 23 pages but if someone has or had the same issue, I missed it.
Thanks in advance for any assistance any of you are able to offer. This seems like a very positive group, so I will be honored to be a member.
Looking forward to your responses...
Bud from Eugene Oregon
I just acquired this Saber in a fairly complicated series of trades. Due to back surgeries (5 in the past 8 years) I was unable to play my 1977 Stingray. After receiving nothing but lowball offers, I ended up trading it for some cash plus two other basses. I sold one of the other basses, and traded an Ibanez headless 5 string fretted for this fretless 5 string Saber. Both of us think we got the better deal.
When I first got it, it sounded great, but the B string sounded dead. I did the adjustment but it was still dead. So, I changed strings to a set of EB Cobalt flats. I didn't have to adjust the optics very much at all, and the B string sounded fine, so it was a dead B after all.
I had read that the bass would yield more sustain if fitted with exposed core strings. Well, I was already running the excellent LaBella Super Steps on two of my other basses, so I ordered a set for this one. The strings arrived today and I wasted no time installing them.
I was amazed at how much more fiddly it was to adjust the opticals for the exposed core strings than it was for the Cobalt flats. On four of the five strings, there was hardly any "space" between the LED going from Red to Green (or vice versa). In fact, on the fourth string (E), the hex screw was way down the hole, whereas the others were almost even.
When I finally got it all done, I was left with a five string fuzztone bass. I tried adjusting the opticals by ear and by the tedious electronic method, but nothing could get rid of the fuzz.
I plugged in both of my other basses that use the Super Steps and they both sounded crystal clear like usual, so the problem is in the Saber for sure. The battery is charged, the red LED is bright, so not a battery issue.
I wrote to Willcox tech support, but then did some searching and found this thread, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. I did go through all 23 pages but if someone has or had the same issue, I missed it.
Thanks in advance for any assistance any of you are able to offer. This seems like a very positive group, so I will be honored to be a member.
Looking forward to your responses...
Bud from Eugene Oregon
Please add me to the club!
I just acquired this Saber in a fairly complicated series of trades. Due to back surgeries (5 in the past 8 years) I was unable to play my 1977 Stingray. After receiving nothing but lowball offers, I ended up trading it for some cash plus two other basses. I sold one of the other basses, and traded an Ibanez headless 5 string fretted for this fretless 5 string Saber. Both of us think we got the better deal.
When I first got it, it sounded great, but the B string sounded dead. I did the adjustment but it was still dead. So, I changed strings to a set of EB Cobalt flats. I didn't have to adjust the optics very much at all, and the B string sounded fine, so it was a dead B after all.
I had read that the bass would yield more sustain if fitted with exposed core strings. Well, I was already running the excellent LaBella Super Steps on two of my other basses, so I ordered a set for this one. The strings arrived today and I wasted no time installing them.
I was amazed at how much more fiddly it was to adjust the opticals for the exposed core strings than it was for the Cobalt flats. On four of the five strings, there was hardly any "space" between the LED going from Red to Green (or vice versa). In fact, on the fourth string (E), the hex screw was way down the hole, whereas the others were almost even.
When I finally got it all done, I was left with a five string fuzztone bass. I tried adjusting the opticals by ear and by the tedious electronic method, but nothing could get rid of the fuzz.
I plugged in both of my other basses that use the Super Steps and they both sounded crystal clear like usual, so the problem is in the Saber for sure. The battery is charged, the red LED is bright, so not a battery issue.
I wrote to Willcox tech support, but then did some searching and found this thread, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. I did go through all 23 pages but if someone has or had the same issue, I missed it.
Thanks in advance for any assistance any of you are able to offer. This seems like a very positive group, so I will be honored to be a member.
Looking forward to your responses...
Bud from Eugene Oregon
View attachment 5361769
Yes, the optics are "fiddly" and changing strings is much more of a commitment than a regular bass with magnetics.
As far as the fuzz, you say your battery is charged and the LED is bright. I have noticed as my battery is dying the sound gets really fuzzy right before it completely quits. Is it possible that the battery has a bad cell and is not outputting the proper voltage?
Here is a test you can try. Plug the bass into the charging cord and then try it. If the fuzz goes away, then the battery is bad. If the fuzz doesn't go away, there may be a bad connector or possibly the power supply transformer or some part of the electronics has gone bad. Try the charging cord first and tell us what happens.
Good luck...
Membership list:
Chris Willcox #1
Marko5657 #2
TRichardsbass #4
kirkdickinson #5
kiwi60 #6
QweziRider #7
IGotGas #8
joenoone #9
basehed #10
TimWinter #11
LightSaberSF #12
warwickhunt #13
Les Ismoor #14
Single Coil #15
disciplejc #16
lotusland9663 #17
Kirk Bryant #18
Ghostinthemach #19
mikewalker #20
morse #21
Witness412 #22
Wigberto Rivera #23
Resigned #24
Jesse Tong #25
Dmon65 #26
@MJMadison #27
@Tosh #28
@james81bong #29
@TanglefooT1959 #30
@cutipaste #31
@TriumphRider99 #32
If I missed somebody who wants a number, I’m sorry. Please remind me and I will add you to the list.
Chris Willcox #1
Marko5657 #2
TRichardsbass #4
kirkdickinson #5
kiwi60 #6
QweziRider #7
IGotGas #8
joenoone #9
basehed #10
TimWinter #11
LightSaberSF #12
warwickhunt #13
Les Ismoor #14
Single Coil #15
disciplejc #16
lotusland9663 #17
Kirk Bryant #18
Ghostinthemach #19
mikewalker #20
morse #21
Witness412 #22
Wigberto Rivera #23
Resigned #24
Jesse Tong #25
Dmon65 #26
@MJMadison #27
@Tosh #28
@james81bong #29
@TanglefooT1959 #30
@cutipaste #31
@TriumphRider99 #32
If I missed somebody who wants a number, I’m sorry. Please remind me and I will add you to the list.
Thanks for the add. I hope I will be able to contribute. Although this is my first experience with a bass like this, I have been playing a long time, and have a lot of experience upgrading and modifying basses and amps.
