Author Topic: Skylark Electronics (Read 509 times)

kmh364 · « **Reply #15 on:** October 29, 2004, 04:11:26 PM »

Jonathan: Any more progress a la the sound you're looking for? Inquiring minds wanna know, LOL!

Cheers,

Kevin

jalevinemd · « **Reply #16 on:** October 29, 2004, 08:06:58 PM »

Kevin,

The sound I've been looking for is just about there. I'm reluctant to start adjusting trim pots etc...to get the last bit. I just don't feel comfortable doing such things - no more so than I would monkeying around under the hood of my car. I'm actually quite pleased with the progress thus far. Just a matter of fine tuning. This weekend, I'm going to pick up an equalizer to see if I can really nail it. If not, Big Bear and Little Bear will see more or less equal playing time. Certainly worse fates exist! Any thoughts on an equalizer? Keep in mind that I don't have any rack mounted effects. Pedals only.

Jonathan

tom_z · « **Reply #17 on:** October 29, 2004, 08:53:33 PM »

Jonathan, you need not be reluctant to make adjustments to the trim pots inside the control cavity. It is very a simple turn of a screwdriver, and the effect can be dramatic. It may be just the boost of fine-tuning you are after. These features are made available by Ron and his crew to give you more control over your tone. I say take advantage. =)

Good luck on your quest for the elusive perfect tone.

Tom

tom_z · « **Reply #18 on:** October 29, 2004, 09:40:22 PM »

Another quick post. As an educator, I know that sometimes a picture will serve to get us over the bump. Here is a shot of the controls in my Skylark.

Tom

lbpesq · « **Reply #19 on:** October 29, 2004, 10:02:28 PM »

Great explanatory picture, Tom. I'm curious about one thing, though: what's the purpose of trim pots for the two selector swithes?

Jonathan: Go for it.

Bill, tgo

bsee · « **Reply #20 on:** October 29, 2004, 10:12:38 PM »

I don't know, but I would guess it controls something relative to how bright the bright setting is. It would have to either be the boost at the set treble frequency, or the treble frequency at which the set boost is applied.

palembic · « **Reply #21 on:** October 30, 2004, 08:28:41 AM »

I have another question Brother Tom: I can see your bothe hands in the picture!! Howe do you hold the camera???
Don't tell me you are that one true Alembic-alien chosen one that has three hands. As I mentioned soem 1100 postst ago: I firmly believe you better grow a third Arm to play your Alembic better!!!

Paul the bad one

tom_z · « **Reply #22 on:** October 30, 2004, 11:44:47 AM »

Ahh - three hands - that WOULD be useful. Two brains would be nice too - then I could play the piano better - a brain for each hand. As it is, I will have to continue to labor with one brain and only two hands. Brother Paul, it was my lovely and talented wife who took the picture.

Bill, I will have to leave it to the electronics wizards around here to explain exactly what is happening with the selector-switch gain control, but in practical terms Bob's explanation is accurate. I am still learning about the capabilities of this wonderful guitar.

Tom

adriaan · « **Reply #23 on:** October 30, 2004, 12:05:10 PM »

I noticed on the description of the Skylark electronics that they have a 3-way On/Off/Bright switch. Presumably the trimpot controls the bright setting, which makes me think whether this is or is not the equivalent of a CVQ - but Mica has been very insistent that they can only do CVQ on the Series electronics ... so it must be something else.

smiley · « **Reply #24 on:** October 30, 2004, 03:16:17 PM »

I have a question regarding the switches and it might seem a stupid one but bear with me. Does the off postion mean that the pickup is actually turned off? And if thats the case why does it have an off switch?

adriaan · « **Reply #25 on:** October 30, 2004, 03:28:52 PM »

Time for a wild guess - you could have a 3-way toggle switch for p/u selection, but then you would still need two 2-way toggle switches to have the individual bright option per p/u. So why not just have 2 3-way toggles - less crowded control area.

bsee · « **Reply #26 on:** October 30, 2004, 03:29:36 PM »

Yes, Smiley. Most guitars with two pickups have a three position switch for selecting bridge/both/neck. On those setups, when you select the bridge pickup, you've turned off the neck pickup. This system is no different except in how you make that happen. Additionally, you get the benefit of a standby position (both pickups off) which can be convenient in stage situations.

smiley · « **Reply #27 on:** October 30, 2004, 03:35:34 PM »

Okay I get it now, sorry but its 1:30 am where I am and things always seem funny when I'm up all night.

pace · « **Reply #28 on:** October 31, 2004, 05:59:59 AM »

Adriaan, my guess w/ the trim pots on the pup selectors vary the capacitance to ground thus rolling off frequencies to different degrees of brightness.

This is different from a CVQ~ it's sole function is to narrow or widen the bandwidth of the notch of your eq curve.

adriaan · « **Reply #29 on:** October 31, 2004, 12:10:06 PM »

Mike,

I keep getting my definitions wrong, but wasn't Q the bandwidth of the notch at a number of dBs below the peak?

As you describe it, the trim pots on the brightness switch adjust the slope of the roll-off. But wouldn't that also have some effect on the resonance peak? (But obviously not the same as CVQ.)

It is an interesting concept - I wonder if it's something that would be nice to have as an extra control next to the filter frequency - but I'm sure it's more of a set-and-forget thing.