Double Bass Yamaha SLB300 New model

[vedi]

I made my own.

I also had an adapter made to go external power from USB when I'm at home so that I don't have to deal with batteries. Endpin plus this were worth the effort.

such elegant solution. may I inquire about your height, and how you decided where exactly to put the knee? is it turned towards the E string's side? carbon fiber or just black paint?

eneloop pro batteries over here, one pair in, the other pair is spare, never a problem. speaking of, the original alkalines didn't last through one rehearsal (shrink wrap, supposedly brand new). got me really worried there, especially knowing that previous two SLBs had 9V and no DSP.

 

[vedi]

100% of the gigs I've taken the SLB to over the last 3 years has had someone ask me what kind of instrument it is. Sometimes they'll do it while on a break, sometimes they walk up to the stage while we're playing. It's almost ironically funny at this point.

same here. but they accept it's a bass, and walk away in peace. they love the story of how it came to exist in the first place, and appreciate how smartly it is packed, once disassembled. also, so far nobody asked why I didn't choose to play the flute. good times.

 

[uprightbass.com]

Yes. I have Eneloops pro for gigs and they have been great. Not an issue over the course of the year. At home I just prefer to leave it powered up all of the time since I like to squeeze in practices here and there when time presents itself. I asked my generous retired neighbor who is great with electronics to whip this adapter for me and he kindly did that. It provides the 3 volts that two batteries would normally provide. I did created a footswitch to turn the bass on and off (TRS cable) but just not dealing with batteries at home is great. I hear that electronics are stressed the most during each power up, which may or may not be the case for the SLB, I'm just following generalities, so I just leave the bass powered on all throughout the day.

Endpin: Carbon fiber tube with 4mm thick walls. The elbow is stainless with a 1.5mm wall (purchased from a company locally that sells A LOT of fittings for homebrew equipment. The added stopper I got online and it's used by motor companies for pullies which I purchased from Amazon. I added a rubber washer to sit on top of that and between it and the SLB's endpin. I have it there to keep my height consistent and it takes the vertical stress off the SLB's set screw as well as reducing torsional stress. It's glued the tubes inside of the elbows with industrial epoxy. The lengths were discovered through was trial and error. I started by using by DB and its Laborie endpin but after completion, I discovered that the balance and weight is completely different but at least that gave me a reasonable starting point. Fortunately I hadn't glued the elbow at that point so. So at that point it was trial and error by taping a stick to the bottom section and adjusting its length in order to find the right balance, then cutting the final length. I leave it centered just because that's what I'm used to on the DB. I've been using it daily for a year now.

 

[DuluthDank]

This might be derailing the thread a bit. For those of you who bought your SLB300 in Japan and had it shipped to the USA, did you have to pay customs? I'm seeing some things online where if the declared value of an item is over 2K it's a guarantee they will hold it a bit, asses it, and send you a bill sometime after it's delivered.

Some people online seem to think it depends on which delivery service you use as well, since the delivery services sends the bill out.

 

[Hasty]

same here. but they accept it's a bass, and walk away in peace. they love the story of how it came to exist in the first place, and appreciate how smartly it is packed, once disassembled. also, so far nobody asked why I didn't choose to play the flute. good times.

My daughter plays flute and I think a big part of that is growing up watching me haul basses and amps everywhere. Plus she used to roadie from time to time with the promise of payment in street tacos on the way home.

 

[vedi]

My daughter plays flute and I think a big part of that is growing up watching me haul basses and amps everywhere. Plus she used to roadie from time to time with the promise of payment in street tacos on the way home.

I mention the flute, because I studied DB in Rotterdam (NL), and the very first day I walked somewhere with it on the back, the very first person (out of many to follow over the years) across the street yelled: "waarom speel je geen fluit?!" funny people. also got ridiculed for wearing snow mittens while riding a bike during winter.

very cool your daughter plays. I hope my kids pick an instrument as well.

I asked my generous retired neighbor who is great with electronics to whip this adapter for me and he kindly did that. It provides the 3 volts that two batteries would normally provide.

if your input is USB power, that's 5V, so he needed to bring it down to 3V, which is indeed not hard, and another elegant solution. this would also allow you to use a USB power bank, should you need power for waaaaaay longer. velcro it under the shoulder. I may actually do just that.

I hear that electronics are stressed the most during each power up, which may or may not be the case for the SLB

it is so the case. I observed this with a pair of batteries being on their last few %, I would say it takes the most power as the cable is inserted.

Endpin: Carbon fiber tube with 4mm thick walls. The elbow is stainless with a 1.5mm wall (purchased from a company locally that sells A LOT of fittings for homebrew equipment. The added stopper I got online and it's used by motor companies for pullies which I purchased from Amazon. I added a rubber washer to sit on top of that and between it and the SLB's endpin. I have it there to keep my height consistent and it takes the vertical stress off the SLB's set screw as well as reducing torsional stress. It's glued the tubes inside of the elbows with industrial epoxy. The lengths were discovered through was trial and error. I started by using by DB and its Laborie endpin but after completion, I discovered that the balance and weight is completely different but at least that gave me a reasonable starting point. Fortunately I hadn't glued the elbow at that point so. So at that point it was trial and error by taping a stick to the bottom section and adjusting its length in order to find the right balance, then cutting the final length. I leave it centered just because that's what I'm used to on the DB. I've been using it daily for a year now.

thank you. I have been pondering this for a long time, and now I have a summer project. thanks again!

 

[DuluthDank]

So I have a SLB300 on order, and I'm feeling pretty excited. I have an SLB200 now and I'm super happy with it for gigging and home practice (especially with a Fishman Full Circle pickup for gigging). But for headphone practice at home, that piezo sound straight to the ear isn't the greatest. Hence the SLB300.

One criticism i've heard about the SLB300 is that it can sound a bit sterile into headphones directly, and it works better to have it into a full range amp so you get more room sound.

So I'm thinking about picking up some Boss Waza Air Headphones. I guess they have some fancy gyroscopic technology that simulates being in a room with your bass amp. The testimonials I've read on talkbass seem super positive, and I bet it could pair great with the SLB. Obviously I can't provide any reviews myself yet, but I'm just throwing it out there for those who like to use headphones with their SLB300 and might want to give them a shot.

Or maybe somebody here with an SLB300 has already tried them? My one concern is that maybe none of the amp models are full range enough to be ideal.

 

[uprightbass.com]

I haven’t found the SLB300 to be sterile. Sounds way better than a BG direct to headphone by far.

Seems like a pretty hi tech piece of gear but I question the need for amp emulation because the SLB doesn’t benefit from BG effects and a BG amp scooping if your goal is to make it sound like a DB. Think of it this way, they optimized the sound so that it sounds as natural through a flat response system so that would be the ideal starting point. Flat response PA’s give me way more flexibility in terms of tailoring the tone and compensating for a room’s acoustics.

I do have a set of open back headphones and it gives me more of an open sound. I also have a cheapo set of cheapo Behringer headphones that came for free with a mic that I purchased which I use a lot because they are very slim and lightweight. I do HPF because these headphones are not flat and are bass boosted, but otherwise this set of $15 headphones have worked well for me.

The results will also vary based on what you’re playing and expecting to hear. When I’m playing with a backing track it’s fine direct. If it’s arco and I’m playing solo it can sound a little too direct. Maybe add some reverb if you want to emulate a larger hall, which these days is an easy effect to add by many other means as well such as a plug-in or a microverb.

When I practice through headphones, I do have the blend knob all the way to mic, which is not how I normally would do it if through speakers.

I guess what I’m saying it might be worth not spending on headphones until you’ve spent some time practicing because you might find that it works very well as is.

 

[DuluthDank]

I haven’t found the SLB300 to be sterile. Sounds way better than a BG direct to headphone by far.

Seems like a pretty hi tech piece of gear but I question the need for amp emulation because the SLB doesn’t benefit from BG effects and a BG amp scooping if your goal is to make it sound like a DB. Think of it this way, they optimized the sound so that it sounds as natural through a flat response system so that would be the ideal starting point. Flat response PA’s give me way more flexibility in terms of tailoring the tone and compensating for a room’s acoustics.

I do have a set of open back headphones and it gives me more of an open sound. I also have a cheapo set of cheapo Behringer headphones that came for free with a mic that I purchased which I use a lot because they are very slim and lightweight. I do HPF because these headphones are not flat and are bass boosted, but otherwise this set of $15 headphones have worked well for me.

The results will also vary based on what you’re playing and expecting to hear. When I’m playing with a backing track it’s fine direct. If it’s arco and I’m playing solo it can sound a little too direct. Maybe add some reverb if you want to emulate a larger hall, which these days is an easy effect to add by many other means as well such as a plug-in or a microverb.

When I practice through headphones, I do have the blend knob all the way to mic, which is not how I normally would do it if through speakers.

I guess what I’m saying it might be worth not spending on headphones until you’ve spent some time practicing because you might find that it works very well as is.

Good call. Thanks for talking down my GAS. I have a pretty decent pair of open backs I use, so maybe that will be plenty. I notice that even with the SLB200, the way I can hear the actual acoustic sound of the strings along with the headphone signal at the same time definitely helps it seem more open.

 

[Luigir]

So I have a SLB300 on order, and I'm feeling pretty excited. I have an SLB200 now and I'm super happy with it for gigging and home practice (especially with a Fishman Full Circle pickup for gigging). But for headphone practice at home, that piezo sound straight to the ear isn't the greatest. Hence the SLB300.

One criticism i've heard about the SLB300 is that it can sound a bit sterile into headphones directly, and it works better to have it into a full range amp so you get more room sound.

So I'm thinking about picking up some Boss Waza Air Headphones. I guess they have some fancy gyroscopic technology that simulates being in a room with your bass amp. The testimonials I've read on talkbass seem super positive, and I bet it could pair great with the SLB. Obviously I can't provide any reviews myself yet, but I'm just throwing it out there for those who like to use headphones with their SLB300 and might want to give them a shot.

Or maybe somebody here with an SLB300 has already tried them? My one concern is that maybe none of the amp models are full range enough to be ideal.

Why don't you keep the slb200 and add an impulse response pedal before the headphones? It might do the trick for you without the need for another bass.

 

[jmmcc]

Why don't you keep the slb200 and add an impulse response pedal before the headphones? It might do the trick for you without the need for another bass.

What impulse response pedal would you recommend? and what impulse response files out there would work well with the SLB200? I own a 200 and considering that solution, I also have a ZOOM B6 that I believe can chew IR files, but I'm a bit lost to where to turn.

 

[DuluthDank]

Why don't you keep the slb200 and add an impulse response pedal before the headphones? It might do the trick for you without the need for another bass.

I had thought about that, but SLB200s are going on reverb for a pretty decent amount, so selling my old one will ease the sting quite a bit.

 

[Luigir]

What impulse response pedal would you recommend? and what impulse response files out there would work well with the SLB200? I own a 200 and considering that solution, I also have a ZOOM B6 that I believe can chew IR files, but I'm a bit lost to where to turn.

The cheapest and easiest way is the nux mighty plug. They make the standard it the pro version.

The pro one allows you to load ir and effects and it's not a pedal and does not need an electric outlet. IMHO There's nothing beating it for quiet practice: plug it, connect your headphones and play.

Here you can find a review for guitars but it works like a breeze for bass and double bass. I use the standard version with my MK Double Bass since 3 years and it's a great practice companion.


Regarding impulse responses take a look at sigma audio which does have quite a lot od double basses sounds:
Upright Basses Archives - 3 Sigma Audio

 

[Happy Steve]

I use a NUX mighty plug with the SLB200. There is a way of putting your own IRs in, but it involves modifying a copy of the NUX firmware file and doing a firmware update.
The NUX NSS3 'Mini studio' supports headphones out. It is easier to load your own IRs with the NSS3, but it is a pedal which requires a 9V power source and a lead from the bass to the pedal.
I don't need most of the effects etc in the mighty plug, but it plugs straight in to the bass, has rechargeable batteries and wins on convenience. Plus it can receive practice tracks into the headphones via bluetooth to play along with.

 

[El Thumpo]

So I'm thinking about picking up some Boss Waza Air Headphones. I guess they have some fancy gyroscopic technology that simulates being in a room with your bass amp. The testimonials I've read on talkbass seem super positive, and I bet it could pair great with the SLB. Obviously I can't provide any reviews myself yet, but I'm just throwing it out there for those who like to use headphones with their SLB300 and might want to give them a shot.

Or maybe somebody here with an SLB300 has already tried them? My one concern is that maybe none of the amp models are full range enough to be ideal.

Yes, I use a pair with mine. They work great. I consider them indispensable for those situations where you need to practice/rehearse/warm-up with a minimal of exterior sound.

 

[ClusterFlux]

The cheapest and easiest way is the nux mighty plug. They make the standard it the pro version.

What settings are you using? I haven't gotten a great sound from it yet, and I'm getting a fair amount of hiss.

 

[DuluthDank]

Yes, I use a pair with mine. They work great. I consider them indispensable for those situations where you need to practice/rehearse/warm-up with a minimal of exterior sound.

Do you find that they sound better for reproducing the sound of the bass than other headphones? Is that 3D modeling technology useful, or more of a gimmick in your experience?

 

[Luigir]

What settings are you using? I haven't gotten a great sound from it yet, and I'm getting a fair amount of hiss.

You can find here the QRCode of my preset. I hope it works for you too.

 

[ClusterFlux]

You can find here the QRCode of my preset. I hope it works for you too.

Thanks! Unfortunately I have the Pro, so it won't import I'd appreciate just general tips, if you don't have the time to type it all out.

 

[Luigir]

Thanks! Unfortunately I have the Pro, so it won't import I'd appreciate just general tips, if you don't have the time to type it all out.

It's nothing special but I hope it could work for you too. Here it is: