Welcome to My Blog!

Welcome: New Inquiry Info
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Thanks for writing! Welcome!

First off, as you can tell, this is not a high glamour fullly automated site with an order form and true shopping cart. It is just me here, making things, fixing things, and coming up with new ways of doing old things, sometimes from my thinking, and sometimes as a solution to a problem posed by your e-mail question. Just about everything you see in these images has been made for at least one photog (or other person), and then other customizations (mods) are done as well. Most often there will be some back and forth e-mails so together we can best suit you needs, desires, and budget.

Thanks for providing your location, and referral info. Mostly this helps with time zone issues and replies, but it also gives me a feel of the geographic distribution of inquiries. I just recently started listing all the unique cities where orders come from, and it is really a pretty interesting list. If you didn't provide your location and referral info, please do, otherwise I will keep asking.

Please ask as many questions as you need. I will direct you to different sections of my site for some of the answers, as I have naturally answered these many times before. Do check out the FAQ's for other items as well. If there is something you still don't understand, or I am not explaining it well enough, please ask again, as everyone has a different basic understanding on these things. If I pass along a link to a specific page on my site, your e-mail program might split the line in two, and it will appear as a broken link to you. If that occurs, you must copy and paste the entire link I send to you into the address line of a browser window. I will usually send a link along within parentheses, like this:
( http://www.link_will_be_like_this.com/ ).

I do ask that if you ask a question, you make sure to read my answer, and then respond, even if you realize that you don't want or are not ready to order whatever it is we are discussing. I feel that if I am taking the time to answer your question, and explain something, you need to follow up either that you are all set at this time, or are ready to order and pay. I am a one person operation, not a big company, so I do take a personal interest in everyone around the world that asks a question, whether they order or not. I try to answer everything within a day, usually less, but sometimes things get lost in cyberspace, so a re-send is sometimes needed.

The home page of my site is at http://michaelbassdesigns.com/, and my shipping address is right there on the title page, as is the "Mini-Catalog" of the different sections. Do take the time to look around, as the right column has many of the important info sections, and the footer will allow you to jump to a specific section. Within the Mini-Catalog, you can either jump to the start of the given section, or jump directly to the specific item, and the list of items also appear at the start of each section as well.

The top of the left column of every page has a section "Jump To" with many links to different sections, including a complete "Listing" of all the different items in date, alphabetic and section order, as well as "Purchase Info", and a "Location" section where you all are from.

Feel free to leave comments in the Guest Book or other sections, but specific questions are best handled by e-mail directly. If it is something that will be useful to all, I will end up including it in the appropriate section of the site. Suggestions, complaints, and kudos are all accepted.

Lastly, if you are pleased with the services and help I offer, please help spread the word by mentioning it in the different forums you frequent, or ask where I think you might also look for more info, and I will pass along some forums I have visited that might be of interest to you.

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Welcome: Writeups, Referrals and Links
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The quarantee for every item I make is that it will indeed work as discussed...every item is tested during and after construction. Prototypes and custom items sometimes need field testing and re-working, often at additional costs, which are always discussed in advance. Should your item arrive DOA (which has never happened), send it back, and I will make it right. There are plenty of sections on my site you should read first such as the "Fine Print", "Guest Book", even the "FAQ's".

Rob Galbraith (Digital Photography Insights) has written about me several times: (Click here to open the review in a new window), and more recently here: (Click Here).


It really all started when David Hobby ( www.Strobist.com ) saw my early Aux Sync Jack Mod for Flash Units, and wrote about them back in July 2006 (there are comments form satisfied photogs there): (Click Here).

Many of the people on the POTN forum (POTN) know well of me, especially in the small Flash and Lighting section. Just ask a question about any of my items, and you will get plenty of answers.

Here is a link to a recent satisfied customer who wrote about his experience on the FredMiranda Forum (posting #8): http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/741688/0#6769753

"If anybody is wondering about dealing with Michael Bass, I want to share my experience. I sent him an email on the 21st at 9:00pm EST (same time zone Michael is in). My email asked a couple of questions and described what I wanted to accomplish. Within 1 1/2 hours I had a clear, detailed, and friendly reply listing all of my options, the pricing, and the advantages of each. I was very happy with the quickness and completeness of his reply.I took a day or two to think about it and yesterday at 9:45pm I decided to buy from him so I sent him a Paypal and then a separate email telling him what I wanted to buy and advising that payment had been sent by Paypal. Again within an hour and a half I had a reply telling me that my product was finished, tested, and packaged and would be out the door under tracer number 9999999999999 first thing in the morning.The product should arrive tomorrow.I am very confident that the product will be of high enough quality that I will want to do business with Michael Bass again, but I wanted to share the unbelievable level of customer service I received. All things said and done, I can't rate this vendor high enough. I wish more companies operated this efficiently and politely."



Welcome: Thanks for Visiting!
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Hi there, and thanks for stopping by, hope you leave a comment and say hello. This all started when my son Justin started needing some cables to connect his new camera equipment and flash units. You can view some of his work through on his site, and I am sure he would appreciate any comments there also!

The first item I started making was the Pre-Trigger cable for his Canon cameras. I started to list these cables for sale on eBay, and then a photog asked if he could use my Pre-Trigger cable to fire his Canon flash unit off camera.

I realized his confusion, and started to inspect my Canon 580EX flash unit that I use when assisting Justin during his wedding photography gigs. Being the engineer that I am, I started to take the unit apart, looking for the missing auxillary trigger, and so began the next process: Canon Flash Auxillary Sync Cord Mod. I couldn't find a good source for the PC jack itself, and I knew it was really an old and somewhat unreliable connection, and also prone to adjustments to maintain good electrical contact, so I knew I should use the single pin plug, and the most obvious was the miniphone (3.5mm) plug and jack, since that is what is used as the Pocket Wizard standard. There was enough room inside the foot of the 580EX for a mini jack, but due to the shape of the foot, it caused the plug to angle down and become unwieldly. The small flat on the side of the foot made for a nice place for the sub-mini jack (2.5mm), and there is a substantial size difference between the two types. In addition, the RA (Right Angle) sub-mini plug is also much smaller than a mini plug.

The first cable I made was the 6' coiled cable, which is perfect if the flash is kept in the hot shoe, and the Pocket Wizard is then placed in a waist pouch along with the external battery for the flash. As more photogs started having this mod done, and using the flash for off camera use, I started to make the shorter custom length straight cables. I now make these sync cables as short as 5 inches, with either straight or RA plugs as needed. I also ventured into using the sync mod on the Canon Off Camera Shoe Cord, both with and without mini-DIN extension plugs which allows using a standard computer extension cable as the extension cable! My standard sync cable can also be used with the Off Camera Shoe Cord, or an extra hot shoe can be plugged into either auxillary sync jack to provide a variety of connections as needed. These different items are listed in the available items in the post of the Canon Flash Auxillary Sync Mod.

My next idea came in trying to help the photogs in taking remote pictures, complementing the Pre-Trigger Cable. After many prototypes, the Lens Mounted Trigger Cable came to pass, as a way
to trigger a Pocket Wizard (transmitter) while holding another camera, without having both cameras fire simultaneously. It is now offerred in either a Single or Dual Switch model, with a straight or coiled cable, and with or without a quick release connector. The newest version has the switch mounted on a small piece of Velcro which can be attached to the camera body. Two remotes can be fired using the Dual Switch Band, as in one remote in each end of the soccer field, or one remote on the balcony, and the other overlooking the grooms shoulder.

E-mail me with questions, or to order and have me make something for you NOW!
First time e-mailing? Please tell me your city, state, and country, and how you got to me if you would like me to answer your question. Thanks for understanding!