Hi and Roland V-Bass

[Dr.Suess]

Hi,

 

I am new to the forum but have been reading the posts for a few weeks. Good advice and a good sense of humor by most. Thanks for sharing both.

 

I recently purchased a Roland V-Bass unit. I like the versatility it represents but cannot stand the bulky plastic GK pickup and switch you must attach to your bass.

 

I have seen some other higher end basses ( i.e.Fodera) build the pickup unit directly into their basses. I was going to ask my local lutherie if they could take an existing bass of mine and incorporate the GK unit directly into the bass.

 

Are there any other V-Bass users here? Has anyone else tried this? Has anyone come up with contructive ways to manage that bulky pick up unit? Any feedback would be welcome.

 

Thank you.

[Basshappi]

Hi Dr Suess, Welcome to the Lowdown.be sure to post on the "Introduce Yourself"thread.

 

As to the V-bass, hang on I'm sure that greenboy will rush right over here any minute now to have a deep meaningful conversation with you on said device!

 

I know that at least one manufacturer, godin I think..not sure, makes a

'Roland Ready' bass and I know that you can buy the roland pickup made specifically for installation into the instrument.

 

Cheers!

[g.]

Roland has a GK-2B kit that a luthier or brave tinkerer can install on most existing basses. This places the controls at the face of the instrument, and the 13-pin jack where the existing 1/4" jack was located. Google or RolandUS website to see.

 

Also, some luthiers have already built basses for a customer or two using this, I think Lawrence Mollerup is one. And Brian Moore Guitars makes a model that is ready to go - though the spec of his bass didn't really fit my needs, it looks like a great instrument. And, as usual, bass manufactuters are not as ready to embrace newer technology as guitar ones are: when I checked it seemed like a lot of luthiers and companies were Roland-ready, or amenable.

 

I didn't go that kit route because I found a good way to mount the existing unit on MY fave bass, which tracks really good, and got me happening immediately. I don't care that it took a couple small screw holes. I pushed excess GK pickup cable inside the GK controller and under the bridge and it looks clean and is at the right height to make live-gig sonic changes easy.

 

RMC Pickups also has a retrofit some favor that actually includes their piezo bridge technology. They also make electonics to work with this for V-Bass use. Some players like this approach because they improved their tracking for the Oscillator virtual model and others like it. But my bass (Carvin LB-75 fretless) is already really good using the hexaphonic magnetic p'up, and I didn't really want to change bridges to use their piezo saddles. Your preferences may differ : }

 

Here's one you won't as easily find so I'll supply an URL: Graph Tech seemed to be gearing up for Roland-ready stuff when I reseached maybe 6 or 7 months ago.

 

There was a yahoo forum for the V-Bass but it like TOTALLY SUCKED man, no action, no answers, nobody who had a clue was there. I think Talkbass maybe has had a little more action in this regard.

 

I also talked to bassaddik (Adrian Garcia) from around here and everywhere, and xush (Mark C) over on talkbass, and a couple other guys, just to get some impressions. At the time I didn't see any one talking of live use so much as in the studio, but I can tell you that mine has held up at bar gigs with no problems whatsoever - though it would be wise to have an extra 13-pin cable for backup - and it has been a real joy to use ever since I wrote a few pactches that met my sonic and performance interfacing needs.

 

One of these days I'm going to put some faux-woodgrain Contact Paper over the floor unit though, and a nice EDSEL stencil ; }

[g.]

BTW, I see Bill Conklin has finally ogtten his website up again. And it's finally got some Roland-ready stuff shown. I wish he'd announce his news SIT-built string sets though, and start selling them. The gauges are way closer to balanced tension than anything I'm seeing out there, and I think they go as far as 9-string.

[bassaddik]

I had the V bass for while- i think i may have bought the first available unit- but i sold it because i couldnt take the ugly pickup on a beautiful F bass with matching pups.. so.. I am having another F bass built with a new system I believe is called Ghost Midi- Alain Caron has one i believe, I will then try to relocate a V Bass if only for the absolutely killin " Pat Metheny" sound I managed to program on it.. lots of more usable stuff as well.. great unit- no delay!!

[g.]

Yeah, the Ghost stuff is what I mentioned from Graph Tech. When I called you last and was about to buy it wasn't available yet. It looks pretty well thought out.

[Dr.Suess]

Wow.....you guys are awesome!! Thank you all so much and especially Greenboy. I have been other forums and no one has provided me with information like this.

 

Well....this place is a keeper!! I'll be here often.

 

I installed the GK unit on my Fender Jazz Bass but I really wanted to install it on my six string but there is not enough room on the face of the bass and the body is curved which adds to the complexity.

 

It sounds great on my Jazz Bass and I may keep it on and buy a seperate solution for the six string. I am very interested in the information greenboy suggested. Thanks.

 

I am a little upset with Fender. I bought a Marcus Miller Jazz Bass that plays and looks wonderful but for reasons I cannot understand....they dropped a cheap $30 preamp into it!!! I thought it would be a Sadowsky or Bart. I can't stand the sound of this preamp. ( I bought it on Ebay)

 

It is so harsh and not very usable. Now I have to upgrade with a J-Retro or Aguliar and go through a big hassle. I know Fender was trying to drive down costs but I think people in the market for a higher end Jazz bass don't mind spending an extra $100 on a good preamp...... sorry for the rant....ahhh.....I feel better!!!

 

Look forward to contributing and sharing with you guys. Thanks again.

[g.]

Dr.Suess,

 

Yeah, there was just barely room on my LB-75 to squeeze it in where I really wanted it, without it overhanging the body at all. And that places it within a gnat's hiney of rubbing against the bass's midrange knob. While I was thinking about various placement areas I had sat the unit on I just bolted on the back to one of the control cavity threaded inserts and played, That seemed to inspire me ; }

[g.]

The other thing that came out cool on my GK-2B mount position is that it put the unit's jack for the bass's output right next to my bass's output jack. So I chopped the end off the short lead Roland provided, down to about 3" of cable, and soldered a 1/4" right-angle plug to it.

 

Neither that one or the lead from the pickup have any clumsy excess length because the one from the pickup enters the GK-2B right right at the G-string end of the bridge, and I was able to cut a rounded slot there to make the passage flat and clean. Unless you are looking right at my bass (black hardware) you can't tell that it wasn't factory designed especially for it.

 

My bass's case is a Carvin SKB type, plastic hardshell with formed styrofoam and fun fur over that. I simply felt where there needed to be a little more space, placed a towel over that area, and took a fat ballpeen hammer to it. That dented in the styrofoam without mussing the fun fur. It's a good fit : }