hrnn1234 Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 (edited) Ive been playing a Cort B4 for the last couple of years. Before that it was an affinity precision. I really like the dimensions of the neck, the frets, the feel of the finishing. I've struggled since forever with the electronics. Runs through batteries too fast, pre is a bit noisy and the pickups too quiet and just don't like how they sound (for reference, I already check if they didn't came switched bridge/neck and they didn't). I paid 250€ second hand for the thing. The only possibilities to upgrade the electronics are other bartolinis, nordstrand, aguilar... All of them costing over 100 per pickup plus the pre. There is no mid budget alternative! Do I really have to put almost the cost of the bass to upgrade electronics? (Not entirely fair, I know I got it second hand but still) If the thing came with p/j or emg format pickups it would be an entirely different scenario. /Rant off Edited February 20, 2018 by hrnn1234 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 But but but..... I like soap bars! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolo Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 1 hour ago, hrnn1234 said: If the thing came with p/j or emg format pickups it would be an entirely different scenario Not really though. Congratulations, you found a bass that feels and looks great to you! Now you can get to testing what your ideal electronic situation is. Try basses with the different pick-ups and preamps and select the ones that suit you. What you once paid for the bass is irrelevant, what you want and can spend to build what you want counts, I think. If you sell the thing and get something else you don't know if you'll have a bass you can work with. Good luck deciding what to do! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 If you just want a great sounding bass, and like everything else about the Cort (which, yes, electronics aside, they make great basses) I'd put some Nordstrands in. They sound amazing, and are the only reason I fancy another bass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 It’s worth noting that soapbars simply refers to the casing, not what is inside. Generally speaking, you can find any pickup config in soapbar format, single cool, dual coul, humbucker etc etc. So actually, your setup is much more versatile with what you can test than anything else. I wager that there’s plenty of mid-priced or 2nd hand eBay alternatives to the big names too. You might even find that some pickup companies might fit whatever format you want in the cases you already have. Si 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 Does yours have the Bartolini MKI pickups and pre? If so try just upgrading the preamp, I think that's the weak point on these and the licensed Bart pickups are actually quite nice. I had the B5 and I always found the frequency points odd, the bass being too low/boomy and the treble too spiky. Some people wired these passive and noticed an improvement so.... Cort B series are great bang for buck and are great candidates for upgrades - licensed Ultralites, chunky bridge, nice woods. I would keep an eye out in the classifieds here for a suitable preamp, usually some bargains If you wait a while. maybe get a cheap Artec to tide you over? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 (edited) From what I can see from online images the B4 pickup size looks remarkably like that of the Ibanez SR (no prizes for why that might be ☺) In which case, it's a real pita to find reasonably priced replacements. I've yet to find anything that would fit bar some Barts, which would cost almost as much as the bass did new. One thing I did do to my SR was to replace the active controls with passive ones. I asked @KiOgon to make me a loom with just a volume and tone control for each pickup, however the tone controls have different capacitors to give more tonal options. The loom also incorporates a series parallel switch, so even more options. It's a better sounding bass now, however, the pickup output is still a little low. Edited February 10, 2018 by Marvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrnn1234 Posted February 10, 2018 Author Share Posted February 10, 2018 16 hours ago, Bolo said: If you sell the thing and get something else you don't know if you'll have a bass you can work with. Good luck deciding what to do! The problem exactly! 16 hours ago, Sibob said: It’s worth noting that soapbars simply refers to the casing, not what is inside. Generally speaking, you can find any pickup config in soapbar format, single cool, dual coul, humbucker etc etc. So actually, your setup is much more versatile with what you can test than anything else. I wager that there’s plenty of mid-priced or 2nd hand eBay alternatives to the big names too. You might even find that some pickup companies might fit whatever format you want in the cases you already have. Si I looked into this as well. The mk1s are sealed. I cant just use the cover to put whatever beneath them. And other soapbars besides batrs, nords have different measurements. I'd to route more roome for the new ones and I'd have a gap in another dimension. 4 hours ago, Marvin said: From what I can see from online images the B4 pickup size looks remarkably like that of the Ibanez SR (no prizes for why that might be ☺) In which case, it's a real pita to find reasonably priced replacements. I've yet to find anything that would fit bar some Barts, which would cost almost as much as the bass did new. One thing I did do to my SR was to replace the active controls with passive ones. I asked @KiOgon to make me a loom with just a volume and tone control for each pickup, however the tone controls have different capacitors to give more tonal options. The loom also incorporates a series parallel switch, so even more options. It's a better sounding bass now, however, the pickup output is still a little low. Im interested in this! Could you show/tell a bit more about the end product? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Seriously have a look at Artec SE3 preamp, minimal soldering and they will improve the bass massively for £30. They're a full unit with pots and easy fit connectors, if you're looking to improve the sound of the bass significantly without throwing a ton of money at it then you could do far worse IME. http://artecsound.com/pickups/electronics/se3.html http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ARTEC-SE3-Bass-Guitar-electronics-board-Genuine-Artec/350864811568?hash=item51b12c2630:g:T9gAAOxyBvZTTQD9 The voicing of the 3 band eq is much more musical than the licensed Bartolini that comes stock, the bass control is set to 80hz for a start which is far more useful. Cort seem to like slapping a licensed brand name on what are probably all in-house parts, the no-name preamp in my old (Cort Factory) Ibanez was suspiciously identical to the Bart MKI preamp in my Cort B5, they use a Markbass branded preamp now which is probably the same thing. Those lic Ultralites are great though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrnn1234 Posted February 10, 2018 Author Share Posted February 10, 2018 1 minute ago, lemmywinks said: Seriously have a look at Artec SE3 preamp, minimal soldering and they will improve the bass massively for £30. They're a full unit with pots and easy fit connectors, if you're looking to improve the sound of the bass significantly without throwing a ton of money at it then you could do far worse IME. http://artecsound.com/pickups/electronics/se3.html http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ARTEC-SE3-Bass-Guitar-electronics-board-Genuine-Artec/350864811568?hash=item51b12c2630:g:T9gAAOxyBvZTTQD9 The voicing of the 3 band eq is much more musical than the licensed Bartolini that comes stock, the bass control is set to 80hz for a start which is far more useful. Cort seem to like slapping a licensed brand name on what are probably all in-house parts, the no-name preamp in my old (Cort Factory) Ibanez was suspiciously identical to the Bart MKI preamp in my Cort B5, they use a Markbass branded preamp now which is probably the same thing. Those lic Ultralites are great though. I might try this. I've read about artecs in the past looking for alternatives but I didn't find any consistent opinions about them. Thruth is tough that I could do without the pre. I've noticed that I rarely touch the on board eq- I fiddle what the amp offers and leave it at that. But for 30, why not... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Def look at changing the preamp, that’s usually the weakest link. You could also get the pickups rewound by someone like Aaron Armstrong. Way cheaper than getting new pickups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Artecs are popular because they are a complete unit which includes pots so you don't have to completely disassemble your existing preamp and loom. They're also pretty nice sounding IMO, I have one in my old Cort and you can't get a bad sound out of it. I think the MKI pickups are quite low output so may be better suited to a replacement preamp than going purely passive, won't cost you anything to try it though I suppose! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Smalls Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Goldie Looking Chain would disagree! Most certainly not safe for work, btw... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrnn1234 Posted February 13, 2018 Author Share Posted February 13, 2018 well... the artec pre is in the mail. should be arriving any time now. with any luck I'll do the swap this weekend. fingers crossed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 (edited) On 10/02/2018 at 11:30, hrnn1234 said: The problem exactly! I looked into this as well. The mk1s are sealed. I cant just use the cover to put whatever beneath them. And other soapbars besides batrs, nords have different measurements. I'd to route more roome for the new ones and I'd have a gap in another dimension. Im interested in this! Could you show/tell a bit more about the end product? Whilst swapping the pre is the biggest thing, I did find swapping the pickups for some decent dual coils improved the passive sound a lot (for obvious reasons). I went through Elrick Basses, who stocks USA dual coil Bart in MK-1 sized housing, always handy: http://www.elrick.com/product-category/elrick-accessories/pickups-electronics/ That said, depends if that's above your budget as well. Worth considering that if your bass had pickups/preamp that indeed you loved the sound of, would the cost actually be higher. ie don't think about it as spending the same again on 'just' pickups, think about it as you spending the money on a bass you need to in order to get a sound pleasing to you. Si Edited February 13, 2018 by Sibob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrnn1234 Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 so, as an update: I installed the preamp. just can't get to solve a noise/grounding issue. probably just me, but I'm still sending it back. I realize now that I actually don't care at all about the eq. I like the "preamped" sound but I can do without the eq as I never use it really. I'm trying to find options for a preamp with no eq but it's really slim pickings. so far I found a very interesting a dual channel bartolini which could work perfectly in this case but it's impossible to get anywhere a polish one guy shop made G-501 a NOLL electronics can anyone add any other candidates to the list? any experiences with any of these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Why not just turn up the input gain on your amp instead and leave the eq you already have flat then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrnn1234 Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 it's just that I don't like the sound of the preamp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 I’m not sure what you mean. In the previous post you say you like the preamped sound but now you say you don’t like the sound of the preamp. A non-eq preamp should really just amplify the sound you already have without colouring it. You end up with the same sound, just louder. If your bass has passive pickups then the whole purpose of a preamp is to colour the sound by applying eq to taste. If you don’t use the eq but you like the sound flat even though it’s too quiet then turn up the input gain on your amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrnn1234 Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 3 minutes ago, Doctor J said: I’m not sure what you mean. In the previous post you say you like the preamped sound but now you say you don’t like the sound of the preamp. I meant I like the artec one. disregarding the noise. I don't like the mk1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Ok, let me figure it out right. You finally like the sound of your bass with the stock pickups but don't need any EQ and like to have more gain, simply put. Right? So, what you need is a buffer preamp like these ones : https://www.bartolini.net/product-category/electronics/module/bufferpre-amp/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrnn1234 Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 exactly! AGB918-2 is the one I've been eyeing as for what they show on the diagram it's for two pickups (I suppose it all depends where I put the preamp in the circuit) but I couldn't see it in any online store "nearby" (I'm in Austria, btw). only one in dubai with a weird website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 A good tech should be able to make you a buffer preamp, there's a few schematics floating around the internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 https://www.woodbrass.com/en-at/guitar-pickups-and-preamps-bass-bartolini-agb918-2-p255086.html http://www.guitarcenter.fr/micros---preamplis/micros-basses/electronique-active/agb918/2-preampli-buffer-gain-ajustable-0-12db-/-9v-18v,p-107418.html And the double inputs one : https://www.guitar-parts.shop/bartolini-agdb-918-2-buffer-adjustable-gain-dual-channel-9-or-18v-voor-magnetic-pickup?SID=7t3ibca39vqek1874ral566812&___store=en&___from_store=default 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Here the Noll version : https://www.bassparts.de/epages/61038859.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61038859/Categories/NOLL_Elektroniken/Bass_Elektroniken/NOLL_PA_1_aktiver_Vorverstaerker And the 2 inputs Noll that also works as a balance : https://www.bassparts.de/epages/61038859.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61038859/Categories/NOLL_Elektroniken/Bass_Elektroniken/Mixpot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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