LukeFRC Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 (edited) Hello Today is an exciting day - why? because it's my birthday and secondly the birthday money has let me buy something.... and I think it may very well be the first bass related thing* I've bought new since I bought my NOS status bass in 2003 - so exciting. Years back I picked up a Warwick Streamer stage one off Warwickhunt, and really didn't get on with it. Then picked up another, lighterweight one which to me sounded way nicer. It took me years before this became my "main" bass though - years of buying and selling other stuff- and one of the main reasons was the sound. The bass was equipped with MEC PJ pickups and the original MEC 2 band preamp. And... it just wasn't nice- it was quite a thin naisel tone with this daft attack. Say you were just peddling the root note for a song - (think U2 style!) on a Fender bass you get a steady dum-dum-dum-dum-dum or what ever, this sounded like a machine gun - all attack and little sustain (relative) - which wasn't really what I wanted. Apart from that, and acoustically, it had an awesome rich low end and a cutting high end. It sat in busy mixes way better than my other basses. So last year I decided to change it - and bought a PJ set of Barts (original series) for it and a Glockenklang two band preamp. Well the glock wasn't much use, the bass already had quite heavy highs and lows - and the MEC preamp which pulls in the high and low mids with it works quite well - the Glock on the other hand just did not work with this bass. I ended up using the bass in passive mode most the time at which point it was time to sell the pre. For a few months till I picked up a passive blend pot I ran the thing with the pickups straight to jack - and it sounded awesome! Really opened up the pickups in a really nice way. Eventually I stuck the MEC preamp in - and while it's not bad it does sound a little bit like my bass has a cold. So a high, or vairable input impedance would be good in a new preamp. And what next caught my eye was the ACG pre. My amp has a pretty good 4 band EQ, so another 3/4 band seemed silly but I like tinkering with sound and sweepable controls that let me do it by ear work well for me. The ACG looked like it would give me the useful passive roll off the Glock had when turned off - which suited the streamer - plus a whole lot more control over the mids and then the option to bring some of the high end back in - sounds like a winner! So saved up about 4 times - including selling loads off stuff, then trading a guitar for more stuff to sell.... and each time the money went on something else (an engagement ring being the biggie) and today placed my order! *except strings, scratch plates and I just remembered my cab was new too. Edited December 18, 2012 by LukeFRC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Have a splendid Birthday. Hope the new purchase proves to be the cure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Happy birthday and heres to hoping this does the trick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Yeah, glad you got there! A retrospective happy birthday, and best wishes for the forthcoming NPD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 (edited) Happy Birthday and enjoy the ACG Pre. I've a ACG03 on order I perhaps need to add that these are only available with a wood surround Edited December 18, 2012 by GreeneKing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamfist Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Outstanding ! Look forward to hearing how it all goes. What's the wait time on these ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 [quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1355836307' post='1903330'] Outstanding ! Look forward to hearing how it all goes. What's the wait time on these ? [/quote] well I ordered it on monday at about 11am, it arrived today at about 9am... Alan is a star... It's in, ill give some first impressions tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 If anyone else fancies one then I have one for sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 So.... first thoughts.... One. Alan is a gent. Really really- he put up with me asking questions without seeming to have any money to give him. If I had money for a bass I would have no problem giving him it and trusting him to build it. Two. Alan doesn't sell the East knobs with them. That is not a problem as I don't like the look of the knobs anyway. 4 gold stack knobs would also cost £41. £3.50 each for these http://www.axesrus.co.uk/Grub-Screw-Alpha-Concentric-knobs-p/hc003.htm seemed much better. Surprisingly they are really good quality parts too and look way more warwick. three. you need to have good ears to use it. I love this as I used to do sound tech at various events and used to love EQing a live band. four. It can do a lot! a lot of Qboost on a single pickup can sound harsh - add both together and magical things start happening. The high stack can massivly alter how it sounds or correct the unnatural sound - just messing I've found that this is a 'tune by ear' thing. Alan's suggestion to set each pickup individually isn't a bad one- but I found myself doing it by ear and they all seem to effect each other in terms of the sound you get. The blend pot is key five. It's very natural sounding- like you can hear it's doing stuff, it has it's own sound - but that doesn't feel fake. five. I still need to find the tones I like - but with everything open and the treble off (as close to flat as it will go) it sounds better than before.... mainly as the pickups have been opened up and nasal tone of the Warwick has been taken away. For a streamer stage one I think thats a good thing- for a more Warwick-y sounding fretted warwick (i.e. lots of Wenge) then I would possibly stick with the MEC preamp. Six - I still need to play with this a lot more. But.... I tried a Alembic in a shop this year- beautiful instrument, £3k secondhand and they stuck me through a £80 practice amp that sounded like crap.... but I did find myself doing new things with my fingers - finding the bass more playable and rewarding and trying and pulling off things I hadn't tried before. It was a nice bass. To heavy and expensive for me but still so nice. With the ACG preamp in I was mainly just playing whatever while I played with the controls... I did catch myself however when I realised I was playing things on the warwick that I had never done before, that it seemed to reward playing and technique in a new way(s) - this is a very very very good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 [quote name='GreeneKing' timestamp='1355835351' post='1903308'] Happy Birthday and enjoy the ACG Pre. I've a ACG03 on order I perhaps need to add that these are only available with a wood surround [/quote] I'm hoping to receive my own EQ03 with wood surround at the weekend... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Nice one, looking forward to the update on that one. Which one in Alan's gallery is it? Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2112 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Hope you enjoy the new preamp, they are very good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Nice review Luke. One thing I found with the ACG pre, (or an ACG bass full stop), is how much you appreciate them after playing something else. Have done a few gigs recently where I didn't want to take my ACG as the venues were a bit "lively". Last week-end we did a couple of Xmas parties and the ACG came with me. A smile on my face all night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 [quote name='BassBunny' timestamp='1355913653' post='1904245'] Nice review Luke. One thing I found with the ACG pre, (or an ACG bass full stop), is how much you appreciate them after playing something else. Have done a few gigs recently where I didn't want to take my ACG as the venues were a bit "lively". Last week-end we did a couple of Xmas parties and the ACG came with me. A smile on my face all night. [/quote] I remember Chris2112 saying how he would play with his old ACG for hours - I can understnad that now, their is something morish about the tone. That said it can't do everything and I think if I played a lot of slap the original set up would be better for the sharper attack. But.... I'm happy I got a P type sound, a jazz(ish) sound, a MM sound and a load of others too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 [quote name='GreeneKing' timestamp='1355909158' post='1904177'] Nice one, looking forward to the update on that one. Which one in Alan's gallery is it? Peter [/quote] Hi Peter, here's the build diary for the bass... http://basschat.co.uk/topic/173590-acg-build/page__gopid__1905145#entry1905145 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted December 20, 2012 Author Share Posted December 20, 2012 So a few days later.... Not played live yet but played along to CD's - which normally can give a fairly decent indication on how it will sit in the mix.... and it performs well! The most amazing thing is that already I can get a sound I want through not needing to look and just turning the right knob the right way to get the sound I'm after, tuning by ear as you go. The treble volume control then to taste. Great bit of kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2112 Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 [quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1355916771' post='1904339'] I remember Chris2112 saying how he would play with his old ACG for hours - I can understnad that now, their is something morish about the tone. [/quote] That said, at least my sound engineers are now happy when I turn up with my Thumb, I can plug it in and I'm good to go! The temptation to the fiddle on the ACG was immense but I did really enjoy it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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