paradis Polybass-R User manual

User Manual for Polybass-R
(RMC/Godin Multiac version)
V7 5.1.2001
Why do we make such an Effort?
Bass is fundamental
working as a sound engineer, playing in bands, studying the history of instrument making
and analog electronics, the feeling became stronger every year that bass is much more
important than it seems. it’s unfair that the bass player is in the background, but it also ts
to his fundamental task of stability and coordination for all other musicians.
Harmonies are built from harmonics of the fundamental tone. on primitive instruments like
the fanfare its only possible to play those notes, and hearing the bass tone, we feel why
all other notes belong together and why the notes that are not directly in the scale create
an interesting tension...
more so, I feel that the vibrations resonate in our bodies and a concert or dance night is
not just a social and cultural event but also a therapy... short:
IF I COME HOME FROM A SHOW AND DID NOT FEEL SOME LOW BASS, I AM NOT SATISIFIED !!
How to create the bass in a small ensemble
unfortunately not in every combo there is space for a bass player. there are probably more
duos and trios of voice, guitar and percussion or harmonica and clarinet and so on where
one of those instruments takes the musical task of the bass player, yet on an instrument
which does not have the size to create a real low bass.
BUT:
we are lucky that engineers of the last decades created portable woofers that ll a big
room with solid and profound bass! so one of the band can play a bass pedal and its done.
how clumsy and synthetic! we have a better solution: we divide the lowest notes of the
guitar so that they turn into bass notes! the guitar plays as usual, maybe a bit more aware
of its function, and the bass comes out for free, low and alive, discrete and present, but
not calling attention or pretending to be another instrument: everyone can see who plays
those notes, no one cares why they sound so low, but they feel satised
The physics of intervals
since the scales are made of harmonics which are multiples of the bass note, the higher
climb in the scale, the more notes we get, the closer the intervals are. and also: the high-
er the frequency, the shorter the wave, the quicker we identify notes. so an interval that
sounds good on the guitar can sound wobbly one octave lower!

About this Manual
the Polybass board serves for any guitar if there is a polyphonic (hexaphonic) pickup and
enough space for the board and at least one additional control.
But it is specically made to replace one of the RMC preamp boards which are used in the
RMC Polydrive and the Godin Multiac ACS/SA/Spectrum/Jazz and some other instruments
with this RMC system.
if you own such an instrument, the installation is very simple, explained in this manual.
if you want to build it into any other instrument, pick the manual for the version Polybass-P
most users are happy after the installation and do not need to read beyond.
for those who are not afraid of electronics we have many more options, just contact us!
adjust the eect volume
for D-string
here you can connect
a LED that blinks when
the battery is weak
pins 15/16 for Spec-
trum/Jazz or split PBass
gently push while
inserting wire
insert black wire
select the volume of
each string by adding
gain to the weaker
ones (default is all
closed)
in this position, the
SynthVol controls the
Polybass eect vol.
remove to disable
compensation lter
(see page 5)
insert red wire
VolGK enables to con-
trol a guitar synth
removing the Prio1and 2
switches o the priority
function
if nothing is installed
here, a jumper is need-
ed next to INSERT
Bass adds PBass sig-
nal to mix (remove for
split outputs)
What is different about Polybass
there have been many approaches to create bass, but not for a clean single bass line! ba-
sically, one octave generator which switches to the lowest played string would be enough.
but we found that sudden switching between strings call attention. so we made an octave
generator for each string, tune it to the string and then select the lowest note and fade
the previous. then a steep lter takes its color, so instead of sounding like an instrument
which is not on stage, it just vibrates totally synchronous to the guitar string.
The complete high class preamp system
Polybass is not only the low bass but a complete 7-channel low noise low power preamp
and mixing system, designed to give you the maximum possible options for conguring and
mixing any kind of pickups in any guitar.
in the 90ies we explained to the world what livelooping was good for, now you can partic-
ipate in this evolution...

Contents
Why do we make such an Effort? 1
Bass is fundamental 1
How to create the bass in a small ensemble 1
The physics of intervals 1
What is different about Polybass 2
The complete high class preamp system 2
About this Manual 2
Installation into Godin Multiac SA/ACS 4
Installation into Godin Multiac Spectrum / Jazz 5
wood cover 5
Installation into RMC Polydrive 6
Trouble Shooting 6
Controls 7
Adjustable Volume for each String 7
D4 string Bass volume 7
Understanding and Adjustments 8
Filter 8
Warmer Sound 8
Solder Battery Wires 8
Battery low warning 8
Priority 8
Split Polybass effect out 8
Resonances in your instrument 9
Insert connector for wooDi-M etc 9
jumper for Insert connector 9
Roland GuitarSynth and compatible 10
Polybass without RMC base 10

Installation into Godin Multiac SA/ACS
Unfortunately, RMC changed their preamp to a single SMD board while we de-
veloped the Polybass, so the Polybass does not t into instruments made af-
ter about 2017. we can provide an older original RMC board for this case though.
a video that probably shows all you need: http://www.polybass.com/installation/
Polybass octaves each string separately, thats why it works so accurately.
Godin produced the most instruments with a hexaphonic pick-up (the newer versions En-
core and Duet have monophonic pickups though!), thats why we made the board t per-
fectly into those guitars (and others with the RMC Polydrive system).
If you have a screw driver and can strip a wire, you can install it.
1. unscrew black plastic on the back side of the control faders (4 black screws)
2. unscrew board (4 metallic screws with plastic washers)
3. cut the red and the black wire about 2cm from the board
4. pull board to disconnect it from lower board
5. disconnect 14pin at cable connector from it
6. plug the 14pin at cable into the same position on the new Paradis board (its possible
to connect o by one pin!). the red wire is pin1 which is square on the board
7. position the board by the screw holes and then gently press it down in the correct
position
8. strip about 4mm insulation from the wires
9. insert wires to the cream colored receptacle, while pressuring its little levers: red to +
and black to – . verify the wires are correctly inserted by pushing them a little
10. Play! the lowest fader intended to control a Roland synth volume now controls the
volume of the Polybass eect.
11. if it does not work, jump to Trouble Shooting next page
12. verify the volume of each string. if you feel they are unbalanced, increase the volume
of the weak ones. default is all at minimum!
13. screw the 4 metallic screws into the boards corners
14. install the new plexi back cover with the black screws
15. put the little plastic caps on the sliders, the colors help orientation

Installation into Godin Multiac Spectrum / Jazz
Unfortunately, RMC changed their preamp to a single SMD board while we de-
veloped the Polybass, so the Polybass does not t into instruments made af-
ter about 2017. we can provide an older original RMC board for this case though.
the Multiac Spectrum and Jazz have a magnetic pickup which needs another preamp in the out-
putboard andanother twowires toconnected tothe controlboard throughthe Polybassboard.
so the Polybass needs 16pin instead of 14pin connectors (the additional pins intercon-
nected)
sadly those two connectors are also moved by one pin, so the whole board is moved by
2,5mm. since this puts the two boards out of alignment, we extended the two left-hand
screw holes in the Paradis board so that it can be secured in place. the other two screws
can be left o, or if you feel that they are necessary, you can easily cut the bit between
the edge of the board and the holes.
so:
basically the procedure is the same as on the previous page for Multiac SA/ACS except that
when inserting the board you have to be careful to move it a little to the left so that the
two oval holes on the left still t but the two on the left are 2,5mm o
wood cover
another dierence is that the Spec-
trum cover is made of wood and
1mm shorter than the plastic of the
SA/ACS and the screw wholes are
closer together, so we had to make
a dierent plexi cover. in older in-
struments, the battery in this same
compartment. if that is your case,
we can send you a battery holder
to stick onto the board (like in Poly-
drive, below) but we rather recom-
mend installing a battery holder like
Godin did in the newer versions or
into the cover as below.

Trouble Shooting
what can go wrong?
both 14/16pin connectors can be positioned o by one pin!
the rst you can be observed well when pluging in
the second you can control by the holes in the corner of the board.
to insert the two battery wires:
slightly press the gray plastic lever with a ngernail or ne tool
no sound at all:
1. set the amp to a low volume
2. pull the board but leave the wires connected
3. put a nger (or a metal piece you hold) on X2pin7 (picture) – a hum should appear.
Installation into RMC Polydrive
basically the installation is the same as into the Godin Multiac SA/ACS.
we do not provide the xation of the battery holder like the original. but we can send you
a battery holder which you can connect to the solder-less posts and tape to the Polybass
board. what we really recommend is that you build a battery holder into the back cover so
you do not need a tool to remove the battery
you need to remove the output
board with two hex screws and the
jack
here our battery holder and how it ts onto the
board
if not, the 14pin connector is probably misplaced, either o by one pin or inverted: usu-
ally a “nose” on the connector inhibits the wrong orientation, but to make sure: the red
wire is pin1 which is the square pin on the board.
4. verify that the power is coming from the batteries to the board by creating a quick short
circuit between the legs of the cream wire receptacle. a loud clack should be audible. if
not, verify point 8 and 9 of the installation procedure.

Controls
the Polybass is designed to give you the maximum possible options for conguring mixing
any pickups in any guitar. for the Multiacs only those are relevant:
Adjustable Volume for each String
the RMC pickup is amazingly balanced, but it can loose sensibility over time, mainly due to
salt coming from sweat.
it can also be helpful to adapt the string volumes to playing style, to string characteristics,
to musical intentions… from outside with a little screwdriver, boosting the weak strings…
IMPORTANT: for the perfect RMC level to come out equal to the original board, those con-
trols all need to be fully CLOSED (turn left) !
D4 string Bass volume
by default, the Polybass eect on the D4 string is similar to the E6 and A5 string. but some
musicians like to have no eect on the D4 string and others prefer it to be lower so there
is a transition between the strings with eect and the ones without.
try out your setting on the single little trimmer on top of the board!

Understanding and Adjustments
Filter
the original RMC system has a treble enhancement on the input and a compensating treble
cut on the output. since we only replace the board with the input stage, this treble en-
hancement is compensated on the new board. this compensation lter is switchable with
a jumper which is set by default, so when you plug the board as you receive it, the sound
should be similar. if not, try to remove the jumper Treble BoostFilter:
Warmer Sound
you can try to take o the jumper to experience a warmer sound, see if you like it.
Solder Battery Wires
we used a solder free wire connector to make it as simple as possible for most of the users.
but if you travel around the world and need top reliability we recommend to solder those
wires.
Battery low warning
the rst sign of the battery becoming exhausted is when strong attacks mainly on the D
string cause a delay of the subbass sound. when dropping further, the delay also happens
on lower strings and softer attacks. we think this is a rather smart indication since the mu-
sician will notice but hardly the public.
those who want a visual warning can connect a LED that ashes when the battery drops to
about 7V. (see chapter LED installation in the Advanced Manual)
Priority
in the classic Polysubbass unit, there is a switch to turn priority o. few people
have used this, but if you like to hear the octave on all 3 bass strings at once, you
can remove the jumpers Prio1 and Prio2 (may be soldered in older versions).
If you nd this option important, you can replace the jumpers by a switch. we explain how
to achieve this in the Advanced Manual.
more options those who like to go deep are in the Advanced Manual, just ask for it!
Split Polybass effect out
sometimes its interesting to amplify the PBass signal separately from the normal guitar
signal because
• some eects that sound good with the guitar loose their quality when the PBass signal
is sent to them.
• the main amplier may be made for guitar and not suitable for the low PBass frequency
which can be connected to some subwoofer (without frequency divider even)
there are several options to do this and since they need some electronic skill we explain
them in the advanced manual.

Resonances in your instrument
every guitar has some resonances in the neck that “eat” the energy of certain notes, so
they fade away quicker than the others. usually the worst is around G...A. those irregulari-
ties are better audible with the Polybass, but not related to it. so sorry, we cannot x this,
but you can improve a lot by holding the neck rmly when you play that note.
it may be possible to reduce the resonances of your instrument by adding a cover over
the sound hole or stien the top for example by adding a bridge between top and bottom.
please tell us if you nd a solution, but do not blame us if it does not work ;-)
Polybass oers an insert connector for
the mixed strings (no PBass no Aux mixed
in) where you can connect any eect you
or we may come up with. you need to re-
move the 0ohm resistor and solder the
connector or wires on either side.
(on boards SN < PB-R-0168 you need to
remove the 0ohm resistor and solder the
connector)
so far we can oer one such ef-
fect:
wooDi-M (the small version of the
wooDI) adds some warmth or, as
others put it: it takes some of the
piezo clicking.
it ts well on the trimmer side, it
only needs 8mm hight.
Insert connector for wooDi-M etc
jumper for Insert connector
In case you do not use the insert connector, it takes
a jumper to make the signal ow through it:

Roland GuitarSynth and compatible
in case you are using the Roland GK synth volume as it was intended originally, you will
probably notice that it does not work any more because it now controls the Polybass. (on
boards with serial < PB-R-0068 it controls Synth+Polybass so you may go to step 2)
if this does not suit you or the synth stops to sound (likely with GR55) try this:
1. set the jumper VolGK (not available on boards
with serial < PB-R-0068)
2. change the setting in the Roland box to not con-
trol the Synth Vol by the GK and instead use the
Vol knob on it or add a Vol Pedal. in the GR55
manual its page 69: Edit->System->GK-Ctl...
in the Axon 100 manual its page 23. change to o:
Polybass without RMC base
you can use the Polybass with any polyphonic piezo pickup and some additional mono pick-
up of your choice by creating the correct cabling. we can also provide a output board and
the at cable to connect it. then you have many options to connect volume controls and
send out signals… we can provide you with the necessary information
3. Older Roland units do not have this option. but there are solutions to maintain the
control on the instrument. we discuss them in the Advanced Manual