Subthumper Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 (edited) Hi folks. I mostly use an active P bass for most of my playing but now in a band where I'm using my tokai jazz a fair bit too. The problem is that the jazz is passive, and whilst it sounds great (fitted with Japanese fender pickups) it's tone and volume always suffers in comparison to the active p bass. I don't really want to put actives in it so can anyone recommend an on board signal booster that will fit the cavity without any routing? Edited July 18, 2018 by Subthumper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EliasMooseblaster Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 I believe there are plenty of onboard preamps desinged work with passive pickups, though I'm not an authority on which ones are worth trying! It did occur to me, however: one of the benefits of an active bass is that you can turn down the onboard volume without compromising the tone: is it worth turning down the active P to match the output of the passive Jazz? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subthumper Posted July 18, 2018 Author Share Posted July 18, 2018 Hi, the P bass has EMGs so it's not possible to adjust the level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 37 minutes ago, Subthumper said: Hi, the P bass has EMGs so it's not possible to adjust the level. How about installing EMG J pickups which have the same output level? Or you could buy a cheap EQ pedal to step in when you play the J bass. The beauty of which is that you can add some extra boost on those important MWAAAHHHHHH frequencies using an EQ pedal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 Have a look at the Bartolini TC3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roman_sub Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 Turn down the active P volume (emg should not change in tone as much as passives would) or just use an outboard preamp to boost up the J volume (eg sadowsky) - imo easier than any bass modifications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Easiest way is to use an outboard pre. I have an MXR MX80+. Works great. As mentioned above an EQ pedal would also work as most have a volume boost. The real answer is to splash the cash and fit a John East J-Retro Pre. That'll fix it. G. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 (edited) - Edited February 27, 2022 by Jus Lukin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 2 hours ago, Jus Lukin said: How are you switching between the two? A Boss LS-2, among it's myriad uses, can be used as an A/B with volume control for each signal. Would solve your problem and save any unplugging, if you are doing any! This. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 Yep, LS2 or Sansamp Deluxe/VT with two inputs and memory. The emulation and eq can be used very sparingly, if desired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolhang Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 On 23/07/2018 at 05:15, geoffbyrne said: Easiest way is to use an outboard pre. I have an MXR MX80+. Works great. As mentioned above an EQ pedal would also work as most have a volume boost. The real answer is to splash the cash and fit a John East J-Retro Pre. That'll fix it. G. IMHO - this is the best small pre-amp on the market = will address all your concerns .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 Erm, do you use your gain control the correct way on your amp ? If yes, there will be no volume difference between the two basses. If you don't know how to do, just ask, there is absolutely no stupid question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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