What difference does using a preamp make with a pickup ?

[ambient]

I have a Fishman Full-circle pickup fitted to my Silent bass.

I just plug it direct into my Markbass combo.

Would using a Fishman preamp make much difference to the sound ?

It can sound a bit 'harsh' at times, but that may be the rather rubbish strings that are currently fitted to it. I'm getting some Innovations at the weekend for it.

[TPJ]

Yes, it can make a difference depending on the input impedance. I don't know all the ins and out of the electrical jiggery pokery, but I know that you have to load a piezo somewhat to get the best out of them. Amps like Acoustic Image have high impedance inputs so you wouldn't need a separate preamp if you use one of those. Even something like a pedal tuner can help. I use a Full Circle with either a FDeck pre or a MXR M80 which actually has a pretty high impedance input.

Edit. I might have my terms wrong but the bottom line is that a preamp can help the sound when using a piezo pickup.

Edited September 11, 2014 by TPJ

[timbass]

I think that the input channels of most ordinary bass amps are not optimised for the impedance of piezo pick-ups and therefore need a pre-amp. My experiments seem to support this. I suggest buying a pre-amp, trying it out and selling it on ebay if you don't like it. That's what I did, and the LR Baggs and Headway EDB1 that I tried were both excellent in their own way - before getting rid of my piezo pickups altogether and the pre-amps shortly afterwards. I lost about 45% of the purchase cost but counted this as a cheap experiment to get a good sound. I now use a Kent Armstrong mag pickup and an AKG C411P contact condenser mic and haven't felt it necessary to change in about 2 years. It all depends on what style of music you play and the relative volume levels of your companion musicians. I play melodic jazz alongside some loud drums and up against Hammond organ that competes mightily in the low frequencies. I saved up hard and have Bose L1 model 2 with B2 bass bin and love it. I use Phil Jones for smaller gigs and Roland Cube 100 for rehearsal, all using Bose ToneMatch pre-amp (brilliant kit). But that's just me and I probably don't know much. Good luck with your experiments.

[fatback]

Definitely try a preamp with the Markbass. Also, if you get one with high pass filter, a notch filter and polarity switching it'll help help tame feedback.

Full Circle is a great pickup, so it's worth getting the best out of it imo.