StevieD_FenderP2009 Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 Hey guys Bit of a weird one but let me explain... On my Tobias I have the pre amp running 9v at the moment but when you go over 50% volume from the bass, it starts really distorting like an old school marshall/hiwatt would do. Now, I love the fact it does this for certain songs (any metallica songs my band covers or for when the guitarists go off on dual harmonies, I set my bass to full volume and have it running overdriven under the guitars). Only thing is though, I like being able to use my bass at half volume to start with then be able to boost it but still keep a clean tone when the time calls for it. Say for instance I was doing some sort of bass intro or bass break in the middle, I would like to be able to boost my bass volume without it overdriving/distorting so what I was thinking of doing was adding a 2nd battery in to add more headroom to the pre amp but I would like to be able to bypass the 2nd battery when the time comes. Any one out there know what I mean? Probably not, I confuse myself to be fair haha. Basically, I want to add a 2nd battery but be able to bypass it and switch my bass back to 9v at times. Would this work? Is it possible? How the hell do I do it? Haaaaaaalp? Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 yes I can see how you'd do that. just needs a spdt toggle switch, only problem I can see is that you'd get a pretty terrifying bang when switching over. not something you need mid song. pm me if you want to try it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 you sure it's the preamp sounding overdriven? to me it sounds like the signal is hot enough to make something else overdrive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevieD_FenderP2009 Posted June 9, 2012 Author Share Posted June 9, 2012 LukeFRC - It's definitely the pre amp. I contacted the guy who made them and he explained that happened when they weren't run in 18v of power. If it still overdrives badly when I've attached a second battery and I lose more head room then i'll be in contact with him again but yeah, that's what he said so i'll go with it until I find differently. Bremen - I'll try out a second battery to see if it does change the point of distortion first then fully decide on what to do. Is it easy enough to add a SPDT switch in to the circuitry? Annoying thing is, I know i'm going to have to drill another hole in my bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 There was a link posted recently to a really good explanation of what "headroom" actually is... and is not. I think it might be helpful here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Was it this? http://basschat.co.uk/topic/35505-advantages-of-an-18v-pre-amp/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 [quote name='StevieD_FenderP2009' timestamp='1339284252' post='1686484'] Annoying thing is, I know i'm going to have to drill another hole in my bass [/quote] If you can get the value of the Vol control, you could replace it with one that has a "pull" function, thus avoiding a hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 [quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1339320877' post='1686688'] Was it this? [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/35505-advantages-of-an-18v-pre-amp/"]http://basschat.co.u...an-18v-pre-amp/[/url] [/quote] That's the one. Some good science going on there, rather than the usual made up guff that gets repeated over and over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mart Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 [quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1339342440' post='1687090']....Some good science going on there, rather than the usual made up guff that gets repeated over and over. [/quote] Except for the stuff about being killed by 9v batteries, presumably? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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