Bassguitar mod - Part 1

The Morgan YB-48 is a (Norwegian model only?) bassguitar that looks like this (left picture)

Stock 

Stock it has this setup:

• Neck: Jazzbass-style bridge pickup
• Bridge: Musicman Stingray -style pickup
• Electronics: Preamp/active electronic
• Volume, Balance, Bass and Treble pots

Mod

After some usage, I found myself not to happy about the sound. So, I did some mod/upgrade to:

• Neck: Fender Jazzbass '75 Bridge-pickup
• Electronics: Passive jazzbass pots (vol, vol, tone)

Here are some soundclips before/ after
Stock:
http://g-sun.no/Upload/Bass%20mod/Bass%20stock-neck.mp3
http://g-sun.no/Upload/Bass%20mod/Bass%20stock-bridge.mp3
http://g-sun.no/Upload/Bass%20mod/Bass%20stock-Middle.mp3
Modded:
http://g-sun.no/Upload/Bass%20mod/Bass%20mod-neck.mp3
http://g-sun.no/Upload/Bass%20mod/Bass%20mod-bridge.mp3
http://g-sun.no/Upload/Bass%20mod/Bass%20mod-Middle.mp3

44/16 wav.zip /all files here

Note: Of course not identical takes, so very unscientific 

My conclusions

 I realy liked the change. But, it seemed obvious to me that the bridge-pickup wasn't to happy about the passive mod. So, that brings me to Part 2 of the bassguitar modding..

Building a small studio - Preface and TOC

This will be a table of content (TOC) for my project:

Building a small studio

• Building a small studio - Part 1: The starting point
• Appendix 1: More pictures
• Building a small studio - Part 2: The plan
• Building a small studio - Part 3: Floor, walls and roof
• Building a small studio - Part 4: Windows, doors and ventilation 
• Building a small studio - Part 5: Electricity, light and heating 
• Building a small studio - Part 6: Construction details  
• Building a small studio - The big halt
• Building a small studio - Resources

Forum-threads

Latest news, updated plans and discussions can be found here:

• forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?p=1052509
• www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17850

 Tips

• Please click on images to view them in full size.

 Note

• I'm a building/construction newbie, so please read, comment and give advise with that in mind. Thank you!
• Please inform me if I'm using wrong words or you if don't understand. I'm not to good at building construction  words in Norwegian, and worse in English :)

This post will be edited on the way to give easy overview and navigation for the project.

Building a small studio - Part1: The starting point

So, we've moved house, and I'm about to build my new sound-studio..

 The goal

My goal is a one-room, budget-studio. I'll be recording and mixing in same room, with mostly me doing things alone. I'm planning it big enough for a trio with drumset, but no vocal-booth -at least not for now. Budget is tight, so it'll have to be a few compromises and DIY-solutions.

I'll often record vocal, acoustic guitar, some percussion and misc.

What is

The house is a shed, located on the middle of our plot, with trucks passing by at 60-70km/h 150m away, and occasionally some planes passing by. So, this means I have to to my sound-proofing well.

Shed with planned sound studio in the left part.

The hight is 1 1/2 floor. And the interior is currently a small garage, an isolated room and a room for firewood and tools.

The sound-studio will be inside the blue arrows 442cm x 339cm, possibly the 442 (magenta) arrow.

Floor, walls and roof

Walls: The outside walls of the shed are typically built with 2x4" studs, with "barn-clothing" (Norwegian expression, no: låvekledning).
Floor: The floor is one part concrete fundament, another part studs (2x4") on concrete poles with hardwood on top.
Roof: The roof is studs, some hardwood slats and metall-plates on top (yes, those that make most noise if raining)
1st floor: Studs with hardwood

Note

• I'm a building/construction newbie, so please read, comment and give advise with that in mind. Thank you!
• Please inform me if I'm using wrong words or if you don't understand. I'm not to good at building construction  words in Norwegian, and worse in English :)

See also

 Appendix 1: More pictures

ToC | Next >>

Mics: Trion8000 - C1jjMod - M179

A new shootout.

Mics:
- Cad Trion 8000
- Studio Projects C1 jj mod
- Cad M179 

All files, mp3 and wav are Here

All takes normalized to same RMS-volume
(0,5s vocal / 0,1s guitar). No highpass.

Preamp/AD: Mackie Onyx 800R

Enjoy!

Gearslutz thread >>

a 19" DIY Rack

I've made a 19" DIY rack for my homestudio:

It's 3U + 10U + 4U
and made of 2100 x 400 x 18mm wood panel from Biltema (biltema.no), plus a little this and that.

Difficult parts:
I misunderstood the concept of the 19" inner measure, so the first rack-rails I ordered didn't fit. Had to order the thinnest rails I could get -from the US.
Getting all to line up to square was also difficult, and especially getting the doors right.

Else I'm quite satisfied. The rack are fitting nice beside my PC, awaiting some more DIY-stuff :)

Preamps: HJFP2 - UA610 - Onyx

A new preamp shootout:

• Hamptone HJFP2 (main object of shootout)
• Universal Audio 610 solo
• Mackie Onyx 800R

All files can be found Here (mp3 and wav.zip)

Vocal 1-HJFP2.mp3 
Vocal 1-UA 610 L9.mp3 
Vocal 2-HJFP2.mp3 
Vocal 2-UA 610 G9.mp3 
Vocal 3-HJFP2.mp3
Vocal 3-Onyx.mp3
Ac.guitar 2-HJFP2.mp3
Ac.guitar 2-UA 610 L9.mp3
Ac.guitar-HJFP2.mp3
Ac.guitar-Onyx.mp3

Chain:

Source > Hamptone HJFP2 > RME Hdsp 9632 converter

Source > UA 610 solo > RME Hdsp 9632 converter

Source > Mackie Onyx 800R > Mackie Onyx 800R converter

Mics: Matched pair of Røde NT5, unless otherwise stated

Additional folders/sources/mics: DI bass, DI el. guitar, C1 jj mod vocal, Shure Sm7b vocal, Acoustic guitar Octava MK012

NT5 and DI are identical takes, the others are not.

All clips ar normalized with 500ms RMS-window

Note:

UA 610: G4 L9 means Gain set to 4, level set to 9 (1-10 both)

HJFP2: I've built this myself, still have a few issues to solve. But except the noise-floor, these clips I belive are fairly representative.

Noise: 

1 - You may hear some PC noice on the condeser mic clips. Sorry, didn't bother/remember to shield the recordings.

2 - The HJFP2 channel I'm using has 5-6db more noise than the other (needs to be fixed), but it's not a big thing.

BassDI pickup: Middle position, Morgan YB-48

El.guitar: Middle pickup, Yamaha Pacifica 112J

gearslutz.com >>

Mics: Sm58 vs. Sm7b

A new little mic-shootout.

Mics:
- Shure Sm58
- Shure Sm7b


Introduction:
This is two dynamic mics, that's sort of industry-standards.
The SM58 is an industry-standard for live vocals. The Sm7b is an industry standard for dynamic vocal mic for studio-recordings. So, what's the difference between the two?

Sm58

Sm7b

Well, it's some obvious differences. The Sm58 is designed for being held in the hand. While the SM7b is for mounting on a stand only, and is really to big to be used for a vocalist on stage. Not so obvious, but important: Gain. The Sm58 need quite some gain for a low-level vocalist. But the Sm7b need 10db more! That means that many prosumer preamps will not have enough clean gain for it. So, be warned. So, what's the difference in sound? Let's find out..




Listen:
Vocal: Sm58 Sm7b 
B: Sm7b Sm58 (75hz highpass)
C: Sm7b Sm58 (75hz HP, sm7b presence switch engaged)
You can find all files, wav.zip 44khz/16bit and mp3 256kbs vbr: Here
Additional folder for preamp UA 610 solo (not identical takes)

Path:
Vocal > Mic > Mackie Onyx 800r (pre and AD)
C1jjMod > UA 610 > Rme Hdsp 9632

Technical:
Recorded at aprox. 12 dbFS peak (+-2db).
Normalized to common RMS-value, Rms-window 0,3s
UA 610 solo:
L9: Level is set to 9, clear setting
G9: Gain is set to 9, tubiest setting


Conclusions:
The sm58 is definitively a very good mic, good value, usable on stage and in studio. I find the sm7b to have a little more bass, being a little smoother/classier.
I seem to hear some noise on both mics though, a little unsure what's that about.


Gearslutz thread >>