Active Electronics

[Fluke]

I'm biulding a remake of a vintage bass (late 70's - early 80's) and the elctronics are difficult (originially made by Moog, a synth company??). Anyway, the circut features Individual Bass and Treble controls and a Volume control for each of the two pickups. I also has a 3-way pickup toggle switch and another toggle switch which activates a Compressor for the neck pickup and an Expansion for bridge pickup, that gives it a high-output explosive kind of sound. The combination is awesome. It also has whats called "Bright Mode" on the same switch.

I need help with setting this up, or finding a place to buy something similar. I've no clue where to start or look. It's really confusing. Links and advice are appreciated.

Thanks

-Fluke

[lovekraft]

What vintage bass are you trying to duplicate?

[Fluke]

What vintage bass are you trying to duplicate?

http://www.electricguitar.50megs.com/rds_2.htm (top left, beside the guitar version) It's an RD artist. I found the features and the unique style of it very attractive. But as with most vintage instruments, they are expensive.

[PerryL]

My suggestion from the other post is Fuggit aboutit. Gibson failed with it and so would you. They never caught on since Gibson were trying to compete with Japanese guitars. Tear apart an effect pedal and mount that in there, you'll like that better anyhoo.

[lovekraft]

Here's the schematic ( from the same site - guess you missed it or something):

RD Schematics

It uses a bunch of common parts, a 2N3904 transistor, a MC4007 CMOS chip and a handful of JFETs, but it looks overcomplicated to me. I don't think I'd bother with it. Get a 2 or 3 band EQ/preamp, and leave the studio equipment where it belongs - in the studio. But, hey, that's just me...

[JohnnyG]

i think lovekrafts right that its overcomplicated but its not so complicated that you wouldnt be able to do it.

if you can get a PCB board layout made up for it (either DIY or ask someone, hell i may do it since i like the idea of the circuit and its tempting to build it) then all youd need to do is get that made up and solder it together and even monkeys can be trained to do that

[Fluke]

FINALLY SOMEONE DOESNT COMPLETELY HATE MY IDEAS!!

Anyway, let me know if you do decide to do that. I'd like to see it.

[JohnnyG]

lol its not so much that people hate your ideas, just that generally people on here know that when you start out, taking on something hard can discourage you easilly so ithink people are basically trying to make sure you dont over stetch yourself. im gonna have a look at this circuit just because im interested in how it sounds and how it does what it does. on your other thread people said that the circuitry suckedand it may well do. may as well try it out tho.

ill have a crack at making acircuit board some time in the next week and may also chuck the circuit into my simulating software to see how tweakable it is

[PerryL]

Nope, He was right. I hate the idea of putting CRAP in a guitar that doesn't belong there and Gibson, In their Infinite wisdom had chose to put CRAP in their guitars that was never meant to be there in the first place. They must have had a contract with Moog and had to put something with his products in them and They Failed Miserably. Why would I want anyone to subject their self to the same Miserable failings that they had with the RD series? R & D, Research and Development. They tried, they failed.

Edited November 15, 2004 by PerryL

[Fluke]

Whats so wrong with this??? I realize that the boards made in the 1970 were most likely poor quality. But were talking about a completely different setup. I just can't see what the big deal is. I've pretty much decided on using a punchline expander/compressor. I am not trying to remake the old Moog boards (yet).

[PerryL]

Do It. I really do hope you have good luck with it. I hate to see you set yourself up for something that's not what you really want. I hope I haven't offended you with my lil rant.

[Fluke]

What do I really want???

BTW, The Pink Floyd! Best band ever!!

[lovekraft]

Before you go any further, you should give some serious thought to building this circuit on a breadboard to find out how well it works, and whether it actually does what you think it does. I can remember at the time (yeah, I'm old!) being absolutely underwhelmed by the RD bass, especially in expander mode! If it was worthwhile, somebody would have cloned it in a stompbox by now (even the Vari-tone's been boxed and marketed). Also keep in mind that it's gonna take a fair amount of technique to build that circuit quiet enough and small enough to be useful. If you want an onboard compressor, Harvey Starr (Starr Labs) makes a really good module for about the price of a good pickup. The circuit is 80s consumer audio technology, regardless of Bob Moog's influence, and with Gibson paying the bills, you can bet it was built as cheaply as is humanly possible. Like PerryL mentioned, this was Gibson's attempt to grab back some market share from the japanese manufacturers that were making better guitars for less, and it failed miserably!

Knowing all that, if you still want to proceed, go for it! Just don't expect much, and you won't be disappointed. I'd spend my money more effectively, but that's just me.

[Fluke]

Well none of this is carved in stone, so-to-speak. What would you suggest I do. I'm at one of those times where I am pretty much insane, seriously. so kinda spell it out. Are you saying I should leave out the effects. Do them differently. or use different effect combinations? I haven't heard any bad sound from these baby's. After seeing Krist Novoselic (Nirvana Bassist), When they were playing a song called "breed", I noticed to expanion/compression having a very attractive and "bouncy" kind of sound. And they all have excellent abilities to be heard over guitars (probably more of a humbucker thing though)

[lovekraft]

Unless I'm mistaken, Novoselic used a ProCo Rat (distortion) on "Breed" - are you sure that's not the sound you're looking for?

<edited so it would make sense>

Edited November 15, 2004 by lovekraft

[PerryL]

Ya know, You could always try installing a multi-effect or Bass pedal of some sort and see if you like that. I got the idea from someone else to put a mini amp into the body and a nice speaker for a travel guitar.