For those who own a Conklin Bill Dickens 7....I have some questions:
1. My bass seems to be way too "boomy" on the low B and low E strings, meaning that it appears to have far more volume and energy than the other strings (however, the other strings are fine in their signal levels). I have turned the trimpot in the control cavity to its minimum level, and even tried lowering the pickups in the vicinity of the B and E string in hopes of getting them to have less volume (and less sustain)...but it still seems that the low B especially, and the low E to a lesser sort, has far too much energy (volume) and sustain, and thus sounds kind of muddy and not as clear as all the other strings. I generally keep the bass tone pot at its center detent position, but would rather not have to rely on turning it further below the center detent position (i.e. less bass) because that will also make all the other strings less bassy (all the other strings are rather high and thin sounding, and reducing bass in those strings would be less desirable). Does anybody else's BD7 sound like this? Is there anyway to reduce the strength of the overly boomy bottom end, to get a more balanced volume across all strings?
2. My selector switch (paramatric) seems to have very minimal differences from one setting to the other. I don't think it is broken, because I CAN hear some difference between each position, but the difference is so small that I wonder if something is wrong with the electronics. Is there any way to test the electronics to see if all is working properly? Are there any voltage test points or anything like that I can take measurements at (resistance, voltage, current, etc)? I am just looking for a way to see if my electronics are all in proper working order.
3. What string gages seem to work best on this bass, from a standpoint of more balanced volumes across all strings? What are your experiences? What brand of strings do you like the most on this particular bass? I am trying to get as close to a Fender jazz bass sound as possible.
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Waukman
1. My bass seems to be way too "boomy" on the low B and low E strings, meaning that it appears to have far more volume and energy than the other strings (however, the other strings are fine in their signal levels). I have turned the trimpot in the control cavity to its minimum level, and even tried lowering the pickups in the vicinity of the B and E string in hopes of getting them to have less volume (and less sustain)...but it still seems that the low B especially, and the low E to a lesser sort, has far too much energy (volume) and sustain, and thus sounds kind of muddy and not as clear as all the other strings. I generally keep the bass tone pot at its center detent position, but would rather not have to rely on turning it further below the center detent position (i.e. less bass) because that will also make all the other strings less bassy (all the other strings are rather high and thin sounding, and reducing bass in those strings would be less desirable). Does anybody else's BD7 sound like this? Is there anyway to reduce the strength of the overly boomy bottom end, to get a more balanced volume across all strings?
2. My selector switch (paramatric) seems to have very minimal differences from one setting to the other. I don't think it is broken, because I CAN hear some difference between each position, but the difference is so small that I wonder if something is wrong with the electronics. Is there any way to test the electronics to see if all is working properly? Are there any voltage test points or anything like that I can take measurements at (resistance, voltage, current, etc)? I am just looking for a way to see if my electronics are all in proper working order.
3. What string gages seem to work best on this bass, from a standpoint of more balanced volumes across all strings? What are your experiences? What brand of strings do you like the most on this particular bass? I am trying to get as close to a Fender jazz bass sound as possible.
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Waukman
I don't see anything about piezos in that schematic. Nor does my (stock) GTBD-7 have piezo saddles. The buffered blend is between the neck and bridge magnetic pickups. Did you score a modded one?
