Warwick Thumb, replacement preamp ??

[KennysFord]

Hey Folks,
I'm having a slight challenge with my Warwick Thumb NT4 whereby I'm struggling to hear the D+G strings when gigging.
The biggest problem is our drummer is "LOUD", he plays at the same volume whether we're doing a wedding in a big room with 200+ guests or a small bar gig with 50. It's basically his band though, he runs and organises everything and he's in denial when you mention it. He doesn't think there's an issue so I'm loathed to keep moaning about it as it's a good payer..... with that in mind I'd like some advise about my Bass please rather than about the "LOUD" issue in this instance.

I've thrown a fair bit of money at trying different amp / cab combinations, the latest set up is an Aguilar TH500 and 2 DB112 cabs. I played a wedding last week and used my Jazz strung with Chromes and heard every note, come New Years Eve and we play a bar gig and my Warwick still doesn't cut through on the D+G with the Aguilar kit. I realise the Thumbs are voiced in a particular way, the nature of the beast and all that but I do prefer playing the Thumb and the rest of the band prefer the tone as well.

So.........
I'm wondering if i should put a different preamp in there ? I tried changing the inherent voicing of a Bass before with a John East U-Retro and it didn't make any noticeable change to Bass at all, a Lakland 44-01 with the LM3 pre in that instance. I just got more variation of the same thing.
Could any of you guys with experience of swapping preamps out offer any light on the situation and recommend one to try out, especially something that might fatten up the D and particularly the G string on a Warwick Thumb.

Apologies for the essay and thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Cheers.

[LukeFRC]

how have you got the current preamp set up? Can you set it into passive mode, and how does it sound there?
... and are the notes too bassy and get lost or what?
Does a similar thing happen if you play high up the neck on the EA string?

Also are you going through the FOH? is the same effect heard there by people out front or just you?

Put this way - if changing the preamp at the amp end doesn't make a difference then I doubt changing the warwick preamp will make a massive difference to the problem you're having.

Edited January 3, 2014 by LukeFRC

[Guest]

Hey Luke,
Cheers for the reply Bud.
I didn't think to check the passive tone to be honest but it turns out that passive was a fair bit louder than with the pre set flat.
I've set it so they are now roughly the same volume so we'll give it a try out tomorrow and see how it goes.
I was wireless with no FOH at the last gig so I was able to have a wander about. It was a small venue and you would fully expect the TH500 plus the two cabs to easily carry the room but the drums were as always very loud. The E and A are fine, it starts to thin out on the D and the G more so. The A and E up the dusty end are fine also.

I think I'm trying to get a bit more control of the mids by changing the pre but also fatten them up but as you say, the front end of the amp should cater for that. However, it's cut and boost only on the Thumb so would adding sweepable mids help.
Thanks again.

[Kev]

Have you tried EQ'ing your amp to get that mid control you need? Like Luke, I would be a little surprised if changing the preamp on the bass would help on stage if changing your backline didn't.

[Guest]

Hi Kev,
Yeah, I pretty much always have my mids boosted on the amp. I could just do with a bit more beef from the G to be honest. The D / G side of the front Pickup was about 1mm to low from the Warwick setup vids on youtube so I've got that set correctly now as well.
I'll give it a whirl tomorrow and see how we go. It might just be something as simple as going to a .50 on the G the next time I restring it with a combination of the tweeks I've made as well.
We'll suck it and see.
Cheers guys.

[Dingus]

This problem is far more likely to do with your pickups than anything to do with the preamp, and any inherent unevenness in the response of the bass is far more likely to be related to the actual resonance and physical structure of the bass than the electronics. I would very surprised if fitting any new preamp will remedy this perceived problem, and would most likely just turn out to be a waste of money.

It's conceivable that using some compression might help even things out a bit , but I would also experiment with the relative height and angling of the pickups and see if that can make a positive difference. See if putting them very slightly closer than Warwick recommend helps at all, maybe.

Thumbs are a particularly powerful sounding bass, it always seemed to me, and the notes tend to "pop" out with a lot of clarity , so what you are describing is not what I would expect from that bass, although I must confess that have never owned one myself and am not that intimately acquainted with the ins-and-outs of them. Could you try another Thumb to compare it to and see if it is the problem is inherent to that design or whether yours is , unfortunately, compromised in some way?

[warwickhunt]

I think you should swap your Aggies for something like... ooooh possibly... maybe a... Bergantino AE2x12!

What's that you say, 'who would have one of those'... why yes I do have. [size=4] [/size]

[Guest]

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1388844618' post='2326748']
I think you should swap your Aggies for something like... ooooh possibly... maybe a... Bergantino AE2x12!

What's that you say, 'who would have one of those'... why yes I do have.
[/quote]

Good One.

Sorry dude but I'm gunna stick with DB's, they really are quite peachy.


Dingus,
Cheers for that bud, I'll see how we get on tonight then report back.

Edited January 4, 2014 by kennyrodg