Reversebird Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Hi I was looking to upgrade a spare Thunderbird bass I have with an active circuit. I just want to boost the tonal qualities and output signal of the pickups without using pedals etc. I tried a varitone and it was ok but it doesn't boost the output signal and was still a bit wishy washy. Problem is I want it to look standard and don't really want to drill any extra holes or use stacked pots because I have witches hat knobs which I like. There is plenty of room in the cavity for a circuit and battery so no mods needed there. My first idea was find: An active single tone control knob that had a large sweeping range of bass tone say from 50 to 4k. I haven't been able to find one yet ? My second idea was: Take a three band circuit (they are pretty cheap now) and use only one of the pots ? Problem is I assume that each pot has a set of parameters / band widths. So I assume it's trial and error thing testing each pot with the TBird pickups to see which one is the most useful and gives the best dynamic range. Any one else thought about this problem or got any suggestions ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I don't know exactly what you mean by "boost the tonal qualities" - the large sweeping bass control from 50Hz to 4kHz - do you mean a suitable bandpass at a set gain? or a low pass filter to take to top off? (like a passive tone knob) if it were me I would use the bass passive and then make or buy a floor mounted preamp to run first in your signal chain - I would probably make a clone of the stingray preamp, mainly as I've been wanting to make one for a while - the sadowsky preamp box is supposed to be pretty good too, something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reversebird Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 I think what I'm looking for is an active tone control. On an active circuit you can cut and boost curtain frequencies labelled Treble / Mid / Bass...obviously. Each must have its own frequency sweep range. I want one knob that covers more than just a narrow band of the frequencies.....sort of. I believe the technology is available and possible to put on circuit board, but whether it's practical is another thing? EMG two band circuits have dip switches to select the frequencies to suit your style of playing and then you can cut and boost the bass and treble in those frequencies. I don't think what I want exists. I think it's going to be compromise of butchering an active circuit and trying to work out which work better with my style of play and the Tbird pickups. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 (edited) I think you're looking for a filter-based preamp (like Wal and ACG electronics). There's something similar in my Westone Spectrum LX (and for that matter I think in the Westone Thunder IA) where you can have the bass in both passive and active modes. In passive mode only there's just a conventional treble cut tone control available but in active mode an additional tone pot becomes available where, as far as I can determine, a fixed amount of boost is introduced, sweepable through bass frequencies in one direction and treble frequencies in the other direction about a centre detente and this boost is superimposed over whatever the passive tone is set to. Edited September 25, 2014 by HowieBass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 What you're after is a one band Parametric EQ - the EWS BMC pedal does almost exactly what you've described. It's a pedal though… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 I think EMG make a single knob active tone control. [url="http://www.emgpickups.com/accessories/bass-accessories/tone-controls/exb.html"]Here it is[/url]. But I'm not sure it's exactly what you're looking for. It's quite limiting for an active circuit to have only one parameter to adjust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 You could just put a flat active circuit in (Redeemer?) and get the most out of what is already there? The EMG expander is an option, but not sure if your existing knobs will fit the pot..and it is a bit crude by modern standards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iiipopes Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 The EMG EXB simultaneously boosts bass and treble, while cutting mids @ 1kHz. So it is a variable vintage-to-modern or straight-to-slap contour circuit. I find it to be very useful, and I have one on my gig bass, so I'm not always fiddling with knobs. But it has a specific purpose. It is not a be-all end-all to eq. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommorichards Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Ive got an emg exb for sale here if you want to try it out. Pay me for it if you like it? http://basschat.co.uk/topic/244778-bunch-of-bass-parts-for-sale-pickups-bridge-bass-hardcase-emg-eq/page__fromsearch__1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyboo Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 This might be of help as well: Mid Sweep module http://www.east-uk.com/index.php/bass/mid-sweep-01.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.gif.9ad672bb8b84505709f76b39c8c256ec.gif)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.