Site for bass

Marco, marcor@omniway.sm

On a search engine I typed "methods for bass", and the first link that appeared was yours: I was not aware that this site existed, and I must say that it is very nice and very well structured, compliments! Seeing I am beginning guitarist, this site has become very useful, but I was looking for something more specific for the bass, mostly on the slap technique, and seeing your site is dedicated mostly to the guitar, I would like to ask if you could give me some references.
The fact that typing the key word in a search engine brought you to www.soundme.com is because our site is already predisposed for future bass sections (also keyboards, drums, etc...), even if we can't define the start time. For now, consult the other sites that the search engines link you to.

Send and return

Bruno, Massa Carrara

On my amplifier, I can connect the effects by way of the send and return. Can connect any type of effect?
This is covered in-depth in the appropriate section. Briefly, in the send-return you can connect any type of environmental effect (reverb, chorus, delay, etc.). However, you shouldn't connect equipment that work on the body of the sound (overdrive, distorters). Instead, you can connect a preamp in the return, therefore excluding the pre of the amplifier.

Curvature of the neck

Franco

Why is the neck of the guitar curved?
It's normal that the neck of the instrument has a slight curvature, created by the tension of the strings. However, this curvature must be as little as possible, adjusted by the reinforcing bar on the neck itself, an operation reccommended only for experts. For more information, go to the anatomy of the instrument section where the neck and its regulations are discussed.

Valve or transistor sound

Antonello

What is the main difference between a valve and a transistor amplifier?
The weight! All kidding aside, there are two different construction philosofies, that have very recognizable sounds. Many transistor amplifiers offer important characteristics in terms of sound quality, especially with the advent of sound emulation circuits, but also some battle horses of the past, like the Jazz Chorus series by Roland, have been (and are) great amplifiers. The valve amplifier certainly has a warmer and more full sound, but what counts is your own personal taste. You can find all the information in the amplification section.

TBX tone and Fender Stratocaster

Leonardo, Brescia

I own a Fender Stratocaster that has TBX Tone system installed. I would like to know what are the characteristics of this type of circuit.
Fundamentally, the control of the TBX Tone mounted on some Fender Stratocasters consists of a double meter (2,5 Kw logarithmic + 1Mw linear), controlled by just one small shaft. In the neutral phase, the capacity meter is in a central position, that allows you to turn the knob in either direction. If you turn the knob counter-clockwise, the high frequencies are cut from the signal coming from the selected pick-up.
Turning it clockwise, the resonance peak is intensified higher than the selected pick-up can transmit.

Mark Knopfler sound

Riccardo, Roma

I really like the Mark Knopfler sound, the guitarist for Dire Straits. What is the best instrumentation to obtain that sound?
Apart from the fact that its not easy to obtain the exact sound of a musician, especially if based on audio sources (CD, cassette, MP3 and others), due to many factors, that can be both human (the touch of each musician is typical of that person) and technical (a slight change of the angle of the position of the microphone during recording can "distort" the sound). It's possible to obtain a similar tone by analyzing both the instrumentation and the style of the guitarist. Furthermore, a setup of a musician can be quite expensive, and not everyone can afford it. It's best to approach the sound by using the characteristics of the instrumentation that you have at your disposition.
Regarding the guitars, from the Fender Stratocaster in the first albums to the Shecther and then to the Pensa Suhr. For acoustics, Knopfler never hide his love for the Dobro by National Steel Guitar. For amplifiers, he uses the classical Fender Twin, and the Mesa Boogie, but also a Soldano header with Marshall speakers.

The String Bender

Marco, Sesto S. Giovanni (MI)

What is a String Bender?
The String Bender is a system of levers and springs that is places in an appropriate fissure in a solid-body guitar. It works on one or two chosen strings (usually the lower two), by raising them a half or a full step, depending on the adjustment. To comand the system, you need to work on the neck of the guitar: in fact, the various levers and springs that control the system are attached to the hooks on the body of the instrument. The effect gives a sound similar to that of a pedal-steel, which is normally used in country music.
The designer of the system is Gene Parson, who built the first model on the specific request of Clarence White. It's a pretty common instrument, even outside typical country music (Jimmy Page used it with Led Zeppelin).

The screws of the humbucking pick-up

Sandro, Palermo

What do the six screws found on the humbucking pick-ups do?
They regulate the distance between the magnetic field of the pick-up and the strings. You need to give a lot of attention to this factor, in that a pick-up too close to the strings risks to dampen the vibration. For this reason, the string should not get any closer than 3 - 5 mm from the poles of the pick-up, even if the distances vary depending on the type of pick-up. To find the distance from the string to the pick-up, you can press the sixth string against the last fret on the fretboard and evaluate the height.

The pedals between the amplifier and the guitar

Matteo, Domodossola (VB)

Is it true that one or more effects pedals ruins the sound of the instrument?
It's a simple question that has a complex answer. Anything that intervenes between the source of the signal (in our case the guitar) and the source that will amplify the signal (amplifier, mixer), will always vary the characteristics of the signal itself. This is apart from the fact that the electronic circuit is of high quality. In many cases these variations are almost unnoticeable to the ear, but relevant if analyzed by special equipment.
If you look at the setup of effects used to obtain this or that sound, you can also understand that the pedals are always present, and the sounds... also! Therefore the suggestion that I would give you is to try to understand by ear, how much signal quality a pedal (or pedals in series) takes away: this comes from many, many trials. If, for example, we need an overdrive before the ampli, the fact of not using it could be more negative than using it. If possible, it's important to use quality effects: you can even find good quality pedals at very reasonable prices.

Open or closed soundhole

Valerio, Udine

What are the characteristics of an open soundhole with respect to a closed soundhole?
Basically, we can say that the sound from a closed soundhole is more distorted, while the open soundhole is more indicated of clean sounds. Obviously the essential components of the soundhole are important, like the cones, which greatly influence the final sound. One example of a closed soundhole, is the Marshall, which mounts Celestions in various configurations, and has its own typical trademarked sound. An example of a closed soundhole would be the Mesa Boogie, which mounts the ElettroVoice, that are characterized by an ever present tone in the high frequencies. In the end, the judgement of the sound produced by either type of soundhole remains very subjective.