6stringbassist Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 (edited) I don't know if there's a thread about this already, I know there's quite a lengthy one over on Talkbass. This thing is absolutely amazing, I previously had a John East 5 knob deluxe preamp fitted, that was good, but this is a totally different ball game. I fitted it myself, and that's no mean feat believe me, I'm dangerous with a soldering iron, but this doesn't require any soldering. I had the old one out, and the new one fitted in about an hour and a half. I only finished about an hour ago, but I'm so blown away by the sounds that, I just had to post this thread. The sounds produced are simply amazing, it can be very 'Wal like', so anyone who wants a Wal but is put off by the ridiculous prices, get one of these fitted. It's actually far more versatile that I remember either of my Wals sounding. I did think it was going to be a bit awkward getting used to the controls on it, it's not a simple cut or boost preamp, but it's very intuitive, and very easy to use. It's only available from Alan at ACG, he's a really nice guy to deal with, I paid for it yesterday and got it today, and he didn't mind me asking him stupid questions on a Saturday afternoon. Edited August 16, 2008 by 6stringbassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 (edited) An hour and a half, what were you doing? Alan even has the Jack socket supplied and soldering into the circuit! I think there's lots of bits and pieces about Alan's filter based pre amp around but I'm not sure if there is a dedicated thread. Maybe placing a 'sticky' on this thread would be a good idea? Moderators? If you haven't already you'll soon find the 'blending' intuitive. I'd go so far to say that it actually makes more sense to me now than a 3 EQ ever did. Set up the low pass filter to get the tone where you want it, add the resonance as required to get the 'bite' then dial in the treble you need. Much more 'organic' and creative than adding or subtracting a bit of this and a bit of that. I have 4 basses equipped with the ACG pre's, an 01 in my Harlot and 02's in my Warmoth Darkstar, Jazzbastard and Modulus Flea. The pre-amp complements them all and doesn't take away from the instruments essential charactor. The 01 of course has the benefit of two low pass filters, one for each pickup and a blend too which gives the wonderful option of setting up the pickups individually and then dialling in a blend of the two to get the desired result. This is a really useful onboard pre-amp not just an on the fly adjustment to tinker with the amp tone. I've not tried the passive tone control option that Alan also offers with the 02, not enough holes! If anyone's not tried one of these and is passing Kendal they're welcome to. A revelation! Alan, as we all know is an absolute Gent, albeit a Scottish one Peter Edited August 16, 2008 by GreeneKing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverfoxnik Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 Is this the one mentioned in BGM last month with Stanley Clarke involved?? Word definitely seems to be that it sounds amazing; it'd be good to hear some sound clips if there's any around? Congrats on fitting it yourself.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6stringbassist Posted August 16, 2008 Author Share Posted August 16, 2008 (edited) Yeah, that's the one. I'm going to take it along to John Diggins in the week though, I had to do a couple of joints, the earth on to the bridge, and the live from the battery, the battery compartment is miles away from the pre compartment, the wires are just twisted together and taped up. And it's kind of a bit crammed in, so I'll get him to do it a bit more professionally for me. Edited August 16, 2008 by 6stringbassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6stringbassist Posted August 16, 2008 Author Share Posted August 16, 2008 [quote name='GreeneKing' post='263705' date='Aug 16 2008, 07:32 PM']An hour and a half, what were you doing? Alan even has the Jack socket supplied and soldering into the circuit! I think there's lots of bits and pieces about Alan's filter based pre amp around but I'm not sure if there is a dedicated thread. Maybe placing a 'sticky' on this thread would be a good idea? Moderators? If you haven't already you'll soon find the 'blending' intuitive. I'd go so far to say that it actually makes more sense to me now than a 3 EQ ever did. Set up the low pass filter to get the tone where you want it, add the resonance as required to get the 'bite' then dial in the treble you need. Much more 'organic' and creative than adding or subtracting a bit of this and a bit of that. I have 4 basses equipped with the ACG pre's, an 01 in my Harlot and 02's in my Warmoth Darkstar, Jazzbastard and Modulus Flea. The pre-amp complements them all and doesn't take away from the instruments essential charactor. The 01 of course has the benefit of two low pass filters, one for each pickup and a blend too which gives the wonderful option of setting up the pickups individually and then dialling in a blend of the two to get the desired result. This is a really useful onboard pre-amp not just an on the fly adjustment to tinker with the amp tone. I've not tried the passive tone control option that Alan also offers with the 02, not enough holes! If anyone's not tried one of these and is passing Kendal they're welcome to. A revelation! Alan, as we all know is an absolute Gent, albeit a Scottish one Peter[/quote] Look I'm hopeless right, I have the DIY skills of a tadpole ! and I really wanted to make sure that I didn't scratch my bass or anything. It is really, really intuitive, and does actually make a lot of sense, I've only been playing for an hour or two with it. I've also done what you say, I have the 'bass' controls set at about 'twenty past eight' as you look down at them, and I'm just add treble as required really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skelf Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 (edited) There are a few sound clips about but mainly from the EQ01 pre-amp. However the EQ02 is derived directly from the 01 and uses the same circuit. [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/News/84/"]Sound cip[/url] [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/News/83/"]Complilation[/url] [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/News/72/"]Comp 2[/url] Thread on TB about the 02 pre-amp. [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=429951"]TB Thread[/url] Basschat review of the 01 pre-amp. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3919"]BC thread.[/url] It would be great if Mr 6 could see his way clear to getting a few clips together. This will be the third Sei with one of my pre-amps in it. Bigredx has one in his new fretless and Neil Murray has another and now your good self. Alan Edited August 16, 2008 by skelf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deksawyer Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 I received mine on Sat. but won't have a chance to use it until my new bass is built. Great service (thanks Alan) and I'm supposedly the first owner in Scotland, which is nice. It's going in a fretless and I know how much a filter based pre works in that scenario.... Sound clips 6SB!!! D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6stringbassist Posted August 19, 2008 Author Share Posted August 19, 2008 [quote name='deksawyer' post='265103' date='Aug 18 2008, 11:58 PM']I received mine on Sat. but won't have a chance to use it until my new bass is built. Great service (thanks Alan) and I'm supposedly the first owner in Scotland, which is nice. It's going in a fretless and I know how much a filter based pre works in that scenario.... Sound clips 6SB!!! D.[/quote] I'm going to be ordering a new fretless in the next few months, one of these is definitely going to be going in it. My only problem now is, I'm about to order a Status Kingbass, and going form the ACG/East pre to a 'normal' pre just isn't going to be the same. I spent about 7 hours playing on Sunday, just experimenting with the sounds available, it really is amazing how rich and varied the tones are that you can get from this. I don't have any means of recording at the moment, unfortunately, cos I'd love to share how this sounds with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skelf Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 (edited) [quote name='deksawyer' post='265103' date='Aug 18 2008, 11:58 PM']I received mine on Sat. but won't have a chance to use it until my new bass is built. Great service (thanks Alan) and I'm supposedly the first owner in Scotland, which is nice. It's going in a fretless and I know how much a filter based pre works in that scenario.... Sound clips 6SB!!! D.[/quote] Hi Honestly there is not another ACG EQ02 in Scotland. To be honest at the moment other than a couple of early basses both of which went to friends so they don't count there is not an ACG bass in Scotland. Mr 6 Very pleased it has worked out for you. Alan Edited August 19, 2008 by skelf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry44 Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 mark that down as two in scotland!! just ordered one for my ibanez K5 as the pre amp in it seemed to cut more than boost, especially around the higher mids. sounds like this will be just the ticket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deksawyer Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 [quote name='skelf' post='265334' date='Aug 19 2008, 11:33 AM']Hi Honestly there is not another ACG EQ02 in Scotland. To be honest at the moment other than a couple of early basses both of which went to friends so they don't count there is not an ACG bass in Scotland.[/quote] He He!! Alan, I didn't mean to doubt you for a second. The replacement knob showed up today as well - thanks for that. I'll get the other in the post to you in a day or 2. cheers D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skelf Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 No hurry. Cheers Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumbob Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 [quote name='skelf' post='263728' date='Aug 16 2008, 08:26 PM']There are a few sound clips about but mainly from the EQ01 pre-amp. However the EQ02 is derived directly from the 01 and uses the same circuit. [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/News/84/"]Sound cip[/url] [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/News/83/"]Complilation[/url] [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/News/72/"]Comp 2[/url] Thread on TB about the 02 pre-amp. [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=429951"]TB Thread[/url] Basschat review of the 01 pre-amp. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3919"]BC thread.[/url] It would be great if Mr 6 could see his way clear to getting a few clips together. This will be the third Sei with one of my pre-amps in it. Bigredx has one in his new fretless and Neil Murray has another and now your good self. Alan[/quote] Hi does anyone know of any sound clips of the east marcus retro 01 preamp or would it sound like the above , would be interested to know if anybody has fitted one of these to a marcus miller , and what they think , Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John-E-Retro Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 [quote name='plumbob' post='265667' date='Aug 19 2008, 04:51 PM']Hi does anyone know of any sound clips of the east marcus retro 01 preamp or would it sound like the above , would be interested to know if anybody has fitted one of these to a marcus miller , and what they think , Cheers[/quote] Hi Very sorry but no clips currently, sadly lacking, something I need to work for my website upgrade. Below is a quote from a French pro player who bought a Marcus Retro last year, in fact he bought a U-Retro too, for another bass in the end too. >>> I recently upgrade my Fender Marcus Miller V. A good instrument but just one sound, and a a big lack of the Marcus Miller clarity , and the bridge pickup was not "jaco" enough. So i decided to put a MM retro w/o plate. John helped me to choose it too !!! a true gentleman. It's a wonderfull sounding bass now. I can go "hi-fi" and vintage organic sounding with a just some tweaking. This bass will be my meat and potato instrument i can go from Motown sounds to sizzly Marcus slapping tones without changing my bass in some live situation. Nicolas Chelly session bass player touring with Terry Lee Hale. Paris France. <<< I'm sure I have other quotes too, but need to segment them unit by unit, again something I've promised myself I will do. Probably better to talk to me on the my section of the forum [url="http://http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showforum=33"]here[/url]. Cheers John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumbob Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 [quote name='John-E-Retro' post='265746' date='Aug 19 2008, 06:03 PM']Hi Very sorry but no clips currently, sadly lacking, something I need to work for my website upgrade. Below is a quote from a French pro player who bought a Marcus Retro last year, in fact he bought a U-Retro too, for another bass in the end too. >>> I recently upgrade my Fender Marcus Miller V. A good instrument but just one sound, and a a big lack of the Marcus Miller clarity , and the bridge pickup was not "jaco" enough. So i decided to put a MM retro w/o plate. John helped me to choose it too !!! a true gentleman. It's a wonderfull sounding bass now. I can go "hi-fi" and vintage organic sounding with a just some tweaking. This bass will be my meat and potato instrument i can go from Motown sounds to sizzly Marcus slapping tones without changing my bass in some live situation. Nicolas Chelly session bass player touring with Terry Lee Hale. Paris France. <<< I'm sure I have other quotes too, but need to segment them unit by unit, again something I've promised myself I will do. Probably better to talk to me on the my section of the forum [url="http://http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showforum=33"]here[/url]. Cheers John[/quote] Cheers for coming across and answering this , sound clips would be a real plus , but this sounds promising , I'll probably be in touch on your section of the forum when i get some money together. Many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry44 Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 guys, i played my first gig with my K5 with the EQ02 pre last night and i am still smiling about how good my bass sounded. i am so pleased i bought this, it has made my best playing bass into my best sounding bass. i played it through my sansamp and opened up both pots, i never added anything to the frequencies, left them at zero. this thing was amazing!!! and i am still to really get to grips with it too!!! if you are considering, just do it, you will not regret it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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