07/16/08

[metalchurch]

KV2 (Black) named 'Reggie' (Reggie Jackson is black also)

I don't know why, but I laughed like a little kid at that one. It just struck me as really funny in a silly way. ------->JMS

Hahaha!!!
"Yeah, gotta pickup Reggie and take him to practice."
"Who's Reggie? Is he the new Singer?"
"No, Reggie is my Black Jackson."

[metalchurch]

I was scouring the tech archives and noticed your Carvin thread.

Paul, you've had this for 2 months now, and I was wondering how much play it's been getting from you?

Does it stay safely at home, or have you been gigging this beast?
Did you mod it in any way, like a pickup swap, or is it living up to your expectations?

[bassist_25]

Joe, I'm incredibly happy with this instrument. Honestly, there is not one thing I'd change on it (other than a drop shadow on the logo LOL). One reason I decided to order one than just pick one up on Ebay was because I wanted to take advantage of Carvin's new 18v electronics package. I'm glad that I did, because they really stepped up their game with their new pickups and preamp. I find that the instrument sounds consistently good in different venues, and the mid-sweep makes dialing in a musical tone very easy.

I use it on just about every gig. An exception was about two weeks ago in which I played the LB75 for an entire 30 Something show. I love the Icon, but the LB still has that "mojo" to it. I have an emotional and spiritual connection to that bass. Sound-wise, the LB is a bit leaner and perhaps more punchy in the lower mids. That's probably due to the single-coils. The Icon's a fuller sounding instrument, and as I've said before, more Warwick-like. Neither bass sounds superior to the other. They just sound different. That's nice, because usually I've always had one bass that was clearly superior to all of my other basses. The one clear thing that the Icon is superior about, though, is the B string. The B string is much tighter on the Icon 5 than the LB75. I know that the B on the Icon is a .128. I think the current B on the LB75 is a .125; that probably has some to do with it, but even so, I think the B is much tighter on the Icon. Speaking of strings, I'm really impressed with the stock strings on the Icon. I paid five bucks more to get it shipped with steels instead of nickles. I'm glad I did. I still have the original strings on it. I've soaked them in denatured alcohol twice, and they still had plenty of tone on them at Saturday's gig. However, I'm ordering a few sets to have ready for some gigs in the middle of November (including the JP Rockathon, shamless plug). I can order a five-string set for $15. Carvin has flat shipping for all small parts orders, so you can save a lot of money if you order a large amount of strings. They're made by LaBella too.

Plus, the Icon just looks freakin' awesome on stage. Here are some recent shots of me playing it.





Here's a great shot at an acoustic gig of the figured top and its grain.

[metalchurch]

I know what you mean bro, it's nearly impossible to totally 'replace' your fav axe, because it just has that mojo to it as you said.
Besides, your #1 axe is indeed your #1 for a reason after all right?

Sounds like the Icon is really more of a complimentary instrument to your '75 than anything.
That would be so cool to cut a track with the '75 and another track with the Icon to take advantage of what they each have to offer.

Nice to hear that it's getting some action instead of resting in it's case, so that's cool!
So you either gig with one or the other, and never have both at a gig?
Also, do you have your Rig's EQ set up as a "middle of the road", or do you adjust it accordingly to what bass you are using?

As you know, I mainly play KV's and they all have EMG's, same brand/guage of string, yet they all sound different.
Some sound better for certain songs than others, but none of them sound bad, and none really sound better than the other if that makes sense?

The Black one is by far my fav out of the 3 though, because the neck,action, among other minute details make it my go to axe everytime I play. I also set my Rig's EQ up to compliment that guitar, and I tweak it ever so slightly to accomidate the others.

What advantages are offered by soaking your strings in rubbing alcohol? Other than cleaning the gunk and grime off of them? I never understood why guys do that.

Also, I gotta say dude, those are some cool photos! You camera whore!!! LOL

[MeYatch]

What advantages are offered by soaking your strings in rubbing alcohol? Other than cleaning the gunk and grime off of them? I never understood why guys do that.LOL

because guitar strings are like $6 and bass strings are like $25

Paul, do you still play the squier?

[bassist_25]

I know what you mean bro, it's nearly impossible to totally 'replace' your fav axe, because it just has that mojo to it as you said.
Besides, your #1 axe is indeed your #1 for a reason after all right?

Sounds like the Icon is really more of a complimentary instrument to your '75 than anything.
That would be so cool to cut a track with the '75 and another track with the Icon to take advantage of what they each have to offer.

Nice to hear that it's getting some action instead of resting in it's case, so that's cool!
So you either gig with one or the other, and never have both at a gig?
Also, do you have your Rig's EQ set up as a "middle of the road", or do you adjust it accordingly to what bass you are using?

Yeah, I really think that they are both excellent instruments. I think I prefer the electronics a little bit in the Icon over the LB75, but they are both quality instruments. Both usually come to the gigs. Right now, one usually stays in its case. However, I want to get a guitar rack to have them both out. Singular guitar stands can take up a lot of precious stage real estate.

As far as amp EQ - I actually do little tweaking from gig to gig unless I encounter a difficult room. I find that unless you're playing in a warehouse-type of room or outside, huge EQ changes are generally unnecessary. I do most of the tweaking from the basses' onboard preamps. The sweepable mids are a Godsend on the Icon.

Also, I gotta say dude, those are some cool photos! You camera whore!!! LOL

I have a reputation for posing when I see a camera pointed at me on stage.

Paul, do you still play the squier?

I had the Squier setup right during the climate change between fall weather and winter weather. The neck shifted shortly after, making it fret out by the nut. The truss rod takes one of the large allen wrench tools, and I can't find mine. The Carvins take the more female truss rod tool. If I could find my wrench, I'd tweak the neck back, because I have been wanting to play the bass. Seriously though, I'd really like to drop a primo set of pickups and a preamp in it.

Oh and alcohol cleans the strings and brings back a lot of zing to them. You can use rubbing alcohol, but denatured alcohol generally is more powerful and lasts longer. Plus, since rubbing alchohol has water in it, you can't leave your strings in too long or they will oxidize.

[metalchurch]

I still dont understand how merely soaking your strings will bring back the snap and ring in them.
Does the soaking process do more than get the dirt, gunk, and sweat out of the string grooves?

I just dont see how the strings could be restored to their original state after they've been played and stretched out.

I know that guitar strings wear out faster and corrode faster especially on the unwound G,B,E strings.
Guitar strings also stretch out and lose some of their tensive properties faster as well.

I'm not doubting the process, I just need mor einformation to help me understand exactly what it consists of.

[bassist_25]

The strings will probably never have their original focus due to the stretching and loosening of the windings that occurs over time, but they do get a lot of that zing back. I'm not really sure of all of the science that goes into it. Bass players use to boil their strings, but that would seriously reduce the structural life of them. You can continually soak strings in alcohol for quite a while.

[metalchurch]

I know that constant de tuning and tuning to pitch takes alot of the life out of strings and guitar strings are even more prone to that given their thinner design.
Maybe bass strings aren't affected as much in that area, but I would tend to think that the benefits that you would get from soaking them, you would lose in string life by the tuning and detuning of the strings.

Guitar strings are very senstive to tuning. Like when you first string them up and tune it, the strings 'settle' in to that tension and tuning, and any other tuning using the same strings just doesnt sound right because the strings naturally want to return to their original pitch they were initially tuned to.
For guitar strings I know that is a fact because I have done that before. I strung it up with new strings and tuned it to pitch, and played it for a few days.
Then I got the urge to tune it down to C# and it tuned ok, but it never stayed in pitch, ever. I had to constantly fine tune it.

Then I restrung the same guitar with the same brand and guage of strings and tuned it to C# from the door. It stayed in tune much better and never acted up on me.
Just something to think about.
The nature of bass strings are surely inherently differing than those of guitar's due to their mass so I'm sure that's a factor.
Also even though a 4 string bass has an EADG like a guitar, the lb. tensions are different than a guitar.

[JackANSI]

The core of bass strings are bigger and can take a bit more abuse in general. All of the tension is carried by the core. The outer winding is there to add weight to "slow" the string to the correct vibrational resonance for the given scale length.

The alcohol removes most of the organic gunk and some of the inorganic that gets lodged in between the windings. Won't remove corrosion though.

I've built a handy little 2" dia pvc "string bong" that does the job nicely. http://www.tunemybass.com/strings/bass_ ... _tube.html

I've tried all kinds of stuff to make strings last longer since I prefer nickel. I tend to have a very specific taste in strings when not playing out, like custom guages and triple wound B and E with double wound A and D, and I love a nice small guage outer wrap on the B, E, A. So making a set of those last as long as possible makes sense in terms of money spent. I have yet to find anything better than the "string bong".

Elixir Nanoweb super-lights (nickel) are where I'm at for playing out right now. Their new tone is much like the strings I like to use after they've been on the bass about a month of gigging. But they stay that way for the next 6 months of gigging every other weekend (probably longer, but I like to change them at least every 6 months when gigging).

Have not had to dip the Elixirs yet as the gunk just wipes off the coating instead of getting ground into the winding gaps. So far I'm loving them. While their "new tone" won't impress anyone, the fact they stay that way for so long is amazing to me.


I used to boil my steel strings and that worked ok. Not sure about any effect on tensile or winding damage that could occur as the temp is usually low enough to not really impact metal that way. I could see how the process might inflict damage if you let the strings sink to the bottom of the metal pot you're boiling them in or coiled them too tight though.


As far as tuning, detuning, and retuning: After destringing and cleaning its important to put the strings back on the same way they came off (especially over the bridge and nut). Also putting the strings on in such a way as to not or at least limit any twists along the string against the wrap direction of twist is VERY important. Never straighten the tuning peg loop when you take them off to clean them, just leave it be.

If you have a twist or two that is counter to the winding, as you tighten you'll be putting that twist's potential energy (which is magnified by the tension in the string) into unwrapping your strings. Now if you were to detune and retune repeatedly with that twist against the wrap you can get the idea pretty quick where that strings life and tone went. That twist might catch and release in different areas of the string each time you tune. Sometimes this can be heard, as a "pop" or a "snap" while you tighten the string. (but yes sometimes its just a winding pulling over the saddle's apex, but I describe that as more of a "clunk")


Grudgingly I'm happy for you Paul.. Looks like I'll have to just keep trolling E-bay for a good LB...