wraub
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Posts posted by wraub
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I picked up a Donner Water Echo at a pawn shop for $5.
It's actually pretty good.
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I've been at it for about a week, playing through different amps and my interface, solo and along with professional recordings and my own.
First impressions- The Velvet Hammer pickups seem to be very sensitive to height adjustments, so have a range of sounds. I currently have them set the same, relative to string height, as the old pickups. The old pickups metered at 10.55 K, the VH meters at 9.16 K.
There is a noticeable difference in the sound, as may be expected, but it's the quality of the sound- defined and clear, but not crisp or harsh, with a hint of something like compression that adds a sort of sweet control to the notes that's the most noticeable thing. It's almost like having active pickups without any extraneous noises, you only hear the strings.
I think this is from the magnet layout, which is different from typical P bass pickups.
I also note this, in the product description- "Red's specially designed isolating bobbins are wound in the same direction like a typical humbucking pickup, then wired in series and out of phase to improve hum rejection."
Whatever it is, the name Velvet Hammer seems well chosen.
I kinda wish I'd gotten more audio before I switched pickups, but I was in a hurry... It is what it is.
Soundfiles will, hopefully, be up today.
Cool. May take a bit of tweaking to find the best string balance and then the amp settings. For me, that is small improvements over time, maybe just a few days. -
I am not displeased.
The Velvet Hammer is in my bass...How do they sound?
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I put it in my P bass, for the following reasons-
It's appropriate, time wise, for the era the PU was released
The PJ is actually in a pretty good place, tone wise, and I really don't want to mess with it too much
I wasn't completely happy with the PU in my P bass.
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The Velvet Hammer is in my bass...
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Back when my local pawn shop still had music gear in-stock, I picked up a Boss RC-1 for cheap. It's limited, but still fun.
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I do have a meter, and will use it.
And, I agree about vintage...sometimes it just means old.
Vintage is not always better. That's right I said it. Somehow though, I think bass players would be more apt to agree than guitar players.I hope all goes well with your experiment. Myself personally, I prefer the test of time to see if I like something bass wise. Thankfully I don't have rich tastes. I got a jazz sister copy of of my favorite MIM P. Loved it at first. I wrote a good framework of a song within seconds of having it in my hands. Played it and played it at first and grew to love it less and less as each day went by.
If you have a meter it may be interesting to get readings on the pickups as you go. Difference in output level, how that effects the sound and if you prefer more or less would be my concept.
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In looking for info online about these Velvet Hammer pickups, it seems that the vast majority of the very little info available is about the guitar pickups made by Red Rhodes. Rhodes was a well-known steel guitar player with a lot of credits, but also a skilled amplifier repair guy. He did amp repairs out of a storefront in L.A. and guitar repairs, mostly done by others. He also did make several guitar pickups, wound in the back of the store,. A semi-legendary amp tech, he also apparently designed the PUs in the Peavey T-60 guitar.
He is said to have made "a very few" guitar PUs, in eight different styles, but no exact number known. Even with help in making them, there probably aren't more than a couple hundred guitar pickups known, in 8 different styles. Joan Jett has a few, Clarence White had one, so did James Burton. His Velvet Hammer company made different guitar pickups, but only one bass model- the VHPB.
As you may guess, it was a P Bass replacement model. By all accounts, there were significantly fewer P Bass PUs.
Apparently Rhodes' son tried to jump start the business again a few years back, using the tools techniques he had learned building PUs with Red, but I have yet to determine that he made P Bass PUs.
In looking for more on this model, I found several Talk Bass threads, across several years, that mention these, but- almost all of these threads seem to be talking about the same set, one that came from Juan Alderete of The Mars Volta. They apparently made the rounds on TB, moving through several members and then, apparently, finally landing a good home. They stopped moving at some point, I don't know what happened to them.
I found a set on Reverb, as well as a set in Hungary, and one in Germany. I guess this is 4, counting the Alderete model. All the pics appear to be actual different sets, so I'm pretty sure there's no overlap.
Some other mentions throughout TB and elsewhere claim ownership, so lets say a dozen, total. Throw in the people who may not be online talking about gear
and there's, what... 50 sets of Velvet Hammer P Bass PUs? Maybe 100? In the world?It would seem that I have the set that was on Reverb. They were in Oklahoma then.
Is it possible there's only a dozen or so that keep changing hands, everywhere?
I have no preconceptions, as I literally don't know what to expect. I am genuinely curious to see how they sound, "good" or "bad".
All this and I still haven't even put them in a bass. I probably should...
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Velvet Hammer, by Red Rhodes.
I don't see this question and I'm curious; what makes these pickup different from the ordinary P Bass pickup? I never heard of any special set of pickup that came out ion the 70's. What are they called? -
Yes, I am prepared for the sound to be not great, but, good, or bad, I want to do it. I fully anticipate them being good, but not great, with a reputation hyped in the mystery of absence.They may have been remarkable then, but, it was a long time ago. We shall see.
I will use a 6 foot cable, and I have a good interface and decent software, so a good recording is not a problem.
The bass currently has old strings, and I have a brand new set of the same strings.
I thought I would record with--- old PU/old strings, then oldPU/new strings, then new PU/new strings, then new PU/old strings. All at different settings, with and without a pick.
Unless they are terrible, I would probably keep them, just because.
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Thanks, both.
The purpose of the audio files is primarily historical and also for curiosity's sake.
These PUs were made, commercially in the late 70s, and are one of what may be only 50 or so sets made. There may be a few more, as exact numbers are unknown, but, they are quite rare. There is no audio of these PUs anywhere on the web, that I can find. There's some for the guitar PUs, but not bass. The manufacturer made 8 different guitar PUs, but only one for bass.
That said, even the guitar PUs are pretty rare, with most seeming to be Telecaster, then humbuckers, then rarer Strat-type. Even "non-functional" ones are listed for a couple hundred bucks, it seems
The bass I will use is a 1983 MIJ Squier Precision bass. The body is Sen, a wood very much like Ash, in the rounder post-57 style. The neck is maple, with a RW 'board, standard dimension, typical plastic nut. Bridge is vintage threaded saddle type. The pickguard is anodized aluminum. TR adjusts at the heel.
It currently has an unknown alnico PU that is at least 20 years old, and sounds every bit like a P Bass.
I am definitely aware of the "cork-sniffer" crowd, and, tbh, I've already had some interest in buying these. But, I kinda wanna be the one to do the first audio.
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Muffin Butter
Flish
Zen Again
Mr. Creosote
wred
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...and you wanted to put up sound files online, would you put them in a P Bass, or a PJ?
I have one of each, and I may put these pickups in the PJ if I like them, as the P Bass is set up perfectly.
If I want a recording to accurately reflect the sound of the pickups, good or bad, could the PJ affect the sound, even with the J pickup turned down?
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It's a cheap pedal, but I am really liking my Donner Water Echo... good sounds from a compact pedal, useful for bass and guitar, and mine cost me $5.
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It's this one..
It is indeed poplar, 6 ply, and effective imo as an effect when cranked down, (splat) or as a main snare when tuned up (crack).
I find the parts to be, almost literally, just exactly as good as the price point would warrant, and no more. Decent chrome, but not great, and some extra attention required- tightening all the hardware, lubrication in the throwoff, etc... That said, it doesn't sound bad tuned either way, or in between.
Currently, it sits next to a Yamaha Tour Custom maple that doesn't make it look any better
but, it's a good tool to have imo. Hmm, I don't know that model. The one I had was Pearl, but the poplar would just didn't have enough snap to the sound. I forget its dimensions; narrow and deep as I recall. -
I bet they were good, and I would also bet they are worth more now, too.
edit- did they look like these?
Back in my "lets try everything" days before settling on guitar, I found a Sonor rosewood set at a garage sale for $150.24" kick, metal snare, matching rosewood rack tom and floor tom. The floor tom was big, don't remember the size.
Those were gorgeous sounding drums, they had thick, laminated shells. The Sonor hi-hat stand was super smooth. I picked up a set of K Zildjian hi-hat cymbals at the swap meet for $35 and i had it goin' ON!!!
I sold everything for $400 about 6 months later. I hate to think what it would be worth now... so it goes. Cheers, Kuru
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Since I wrote this, I have studied and remembered and researched and dug deep... And I realized that my favorite brand of drums is Yamaha.
Which is good, because I just got some Yamaha drums
After years as a semi-pro bass player, I finally got a set of drums.I have wanted one of my own for, literally, decades. It is not fancy or high-dollar, far from it, in fact, but it sounds good and I am learning a lot and having lots of fun.
Consequently, my favorite brand for drums are my drums.
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I recently picked up a Donner Water Echo pedal for literally pocket change.
Chorus and delay in a size that's in between mini and standard. Sounds pretty good, too.
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I actually got a popcorn snare a while back, and I like it. It's a Pearl Short Fuse, and it's great on my smaller practice kit.
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I've been assembling a second, smaller drum kit so I can still play with others around the house now, as the "big" kit is often too loud.
Playing a lot on a pad, too.
Also, I picked up a pretty cool effect pedal, called a Water Echo, for literally pocket change the other day.
It's a chorus and an echo in the same little unit, and I'm finding uses for either and both on guitar and bass. Keyboards are next.
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I've been learning to play drums, still playing bass, doing a daily (M-F) FM radio show, and working (at least) 5 days a week at my day job.
Also, yard work and house stuff, when able.
I'm kinda tired.
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I generally don't post that publicly, as my employer is known to search for such.
It's a smaller business that does shipping and deliveries. Currently, we are crazy busy, I did 6 days last week and this week looks like it may go that way, too.
I actually was in HT yesterday, probably will be again today.
That's what I thought.I'm in there all the time, for work. My route covers most of the West Valley.
...and, we are definitely neighbors.
Who do you drive for?
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That's what I thought.
I'm in there all the time, for work. My route covers most of the West Valley.
...and, we are definitely neighbors.
Yep, we are not that far apart.Happy Trails?
Yep
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Yep, we are not that far apart.
Happy Trails?
I think we are about 10 miles apart. Possibly, less.
Cotton Lane and Bell road here.
Please forgive me, I've turned into a Behringer whore.
in Guitar Forum
Posted
I had a Behrin*er bass head for a minute, when I first got to NYC.
It was a BX3000T (a "copy" of an Ashdown amp, iirc) it was used and affordable, it was adequate for home use, and I probably could have gigged with it.
It definitely sounded better when I used it just for power, paired with an SWR preamp.
I sold it to another bass player about 6 months after I bought it used, and it sold for exactly what I had paid, so, no money lost.
I would not buy any other products from them.