Onboard bass pre-amps - what turns your EQ on?

[Muzz]

On 02/04/2019 at 14:12, Al Krow said:

'Jon, in your considered view, do we need to give much thought to the woods you would use from a tone perspective, or is this much more about the look, feel and weight of the bass?' 

There, easy question to ask him. 

Have you still got your Shuker? If so, pic please! 

 

Lawks, only just seen this...here you go...

[EBS_freak]

I absolute the love the pres in my GBs - I find playing any other bass really awkward now. So much cut and boost (some would argue too much)... but I know those circuits inside out now... and nothing else can come close to getting what the GB Rumour circuit does. Of course, it's all subjective... but for me, GB eqs are home.

Edited April 20, 2022 by EBS_freak

[hypercarrots]

On 05/04/2019 at 23:53, Al Krow said:

I stand corrected. Did you have any intel on the 3 band EQ f-mid-points?

i dont know

[BigRedX]

On 06/04/2019 at 09:07, Al Krow said:

Appreciate that this is a bit of a side track on this thread, but just picking up on our discussion: first impressions of my Squier Bass VI is that's it's "okay" but not going to blow me away. And I kinda get your point already about neck width and string spacing - I'd actually prefer the strings to be a little further apart, in fact, which I appreciate might make playing chords a little more difficult, but just feels more familiar / comfortable as a bass player. 

My initial 'home made' Bass VI approach was to take my Ibanez SR1206 and restring it E to E (which is actually fine on the top E string despite it being a 34" scale). That gives me the ability to use the lower 4 strings as a 'normal bass' with normal bass string and fret spacing and then add in the additional top two strings for Bass VI effect when I want. The more traditional Squier Bass VI format is obviously different and seems to me to have plusses and minuses, but isn't necessarily going to be 'better' for how I will be using it.

Just mentioning this in case the 'home made' Bass VI approach may give you a different angle to explore on your Bass VI journey. Very much looking forward to your debut single.

I went and tried an Ibanez SR306 that was in the local PMT, and which I assume has the same 54mm nut as your bass.

For me that neck was much too wide, which has helped me to set an upper limit on the neck width as being closer to 47mm that utilises the whole width of the neck rather than the 45mm Burns Barracuda which has the strings set in quite a way from the edges of the neck.

[fretmeister]

I removed the preamp in my Ray5.

 

[Al Krow]

11 hours ago, fretmeister said:

I removed the preamp in my Ray5.

Hah! You going to elaborate or leave us hanging? 😀

Was that a Scott Devine moment of deciding you're purely passive player or did you replace with something else?

[Al Krow]

On 01/04/2019 at 21:13, TJ Spicer said:

Absolutely. It was between the BBNE or finding a Sadowsky 5. I was big on Nathan East (still am, I’m a studio player fan all day long) so was collecting the lot (had a bb5000, TRB) etc. However, that wasn’t right for me.

I really should have gone for a Sadowsky 5. I have a UV70 and that’s coming up to 10 years with me, no other bass has managed that!

But, that doesn’t answer the question. Why is is better for me?

TONE CONTROL

I need the tone control to get the treble where I want it. I didint like the cut on the high end from the BBNE2, whereas with a tone control I could have moved where that treble control was affecting. I also felt without the para engaged the bass was overly middy and edgy for my liking. It was most highly emphasised to me in recording. I brought the BBNE, used it on 3 tracks of a 5 track EP. It never sounded right in that setting and tbh, I don’t like having to EQ massively before I’ve started. I used the Sadowsky for one of the tracks and it was the best sounding track on the EP by a mile - as noted by everyone including the mastering engineer.

For me the Sadowsky was a little more organic sounding and requires much less work. All I want to do is plug in, find the right amount of treble and cut for the gig and probably add some bottom end. The rest is about my hands and where I’m positioning them, as well as which pickup I’m favouring (always a little to the front, how much depends). The simplicity of the Sadowsky allows me to do that with tones of warm bottom end in a way the BBNE never could. 

I think it’s honestly the case that the BBNE2 could do too much for me. If I want a drastically different sound, I pick another bass. I didn’t get on with the TRB EQ either to be fair, so maybe Yamaha’s idea of EQ just isn’t for me... Give me a passive yammy any day and it’ll be a good gig  😉

I'm guessing TJ that you would totally love the preamp on this? And if you didn't have one already, you would jump at this bass?!

Aside: new ones are going for around £2.5k and this is a decade old so it would seem that Sadowsky hold their value a lot better than many other basses? (Other than Wals  )

[TJ Spicer]

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

I'm guessing TJ that you would totally love the preamp on this? And if you didn't have one already, you would jump at this bass?!

Aside: new ones are going for around £2.5k and this is a decade old so it would seem that Sadowsky hold their value a lot better than many other basses? (Other than Wals  )

I’ve looked so many times haha! But I’m not an Ash Maple chap and my next Sadowsky will be a PJ5 (what almost every Nashville session player is using - I play on the modern U.K. country scene a lot). Always tempted though. Any 5 string Sadowsky coming up for sale always gets many visits from me on BC. 

 

[Al Krow]

 

1 hour ago, Hammock said:

Hi everyone, 

I bought a cheap Yamaha a while ago. It's a BB614 with an active onboard preamp. I am not that fond of the 614 preamp so I was thinking of swapping the preamp to a Sadowsky with VTC (vol-blend-VTC-Bass/treble).

What do you think about this idea? Will it sound any good? Is it passive pickups on the BB614, maybe the same as in the BB414, so that I can use the active/passive push/pull knob on the Sado preamp?

All inputs are welcome. 

Pulling you onto this thread - please see TJ's comments above about Sadowsky preamps, which may be of interest to you.

My only Q is does it make sense to fit a such a nice preamp that is a similar price to the bass itself? Wouldn't you be better off getting a BB 734A and seeing if you liked the pre in that (it's pretty decent) and, if not, replacing it with a Sado preamp?

[Al Krow]

Just came across this, and it seems to tick a LOT of boxes.

Anyone else come across them?

https://www.east-uk.com/index.php/bass/uni-pre-4k-28.html

[Twanger]

Both my basses are passive - a P and a homemade Jazz style. I've been using a Sadowsky outboard for - must be nearly 20 years. It's the original belt clip model, which is still going strong. I don't use it to sculpt my tone, but simply because when using it I can hear my bass in the mix without turning up the volume. It just sounds better. A much tighter, more defined sound. It brings out the detail. I occasionally add a fraction of bass, but never touch the treble knob. No other preamp, or active bass, has ever given me that tightness (though there are many I haven't tried), and I would dearly love to know what it is about that preamp which does this. I know it boosts at 40 and 4k, but I have never been able to find out why it works this way. Whether I run into an amp, or a SABDDI or a straight EQ pedal, or simply into my computer to record, the belt clip makes it sound better. Maybe there's some kind of built in mush cutter. Or maybe it's highly trained pixies.

[TJ Spicer]

15 hours ago, Twanger said:

Both my basses are passive - a P and a homemade Jazz style. I've been using a Sadowsky outboard for - must be nearly 20 years. It's the original belt clip model, which is still going strong. I don't use it to sculpt my tone, but simply because when using it I can hear my bass in the mix without turning up the volume. It just sounds better. A much tighter, more defined sound. It brings out the detail. I occasionally add a fraction of bass, but never touch the treble knob. No other preamp, or active bass, has ever given me that tightness (though there are many I haven't tried), and I would dearly love to know what it is about that preamp which does this. I know it boosts at 40 and 4k, but I have never been able to find out why it works this way. Whether I run into an amp, or a SABDDI or a straight EQ pedal, or simply into my computer to record, the belt clip makes it sound better. Maybe there's some kind of built in mush cutter. Or maybe it's highly trained pixies.

This is entirely my experience too. Even boost off it’s got something about it! 

[tauzero]

Where I've replaced preamps in my basses, it's been with Delano Sonars. I put one into my first Sei as the original Bart preamp had failed and the bass is very shallow, so there were physical limitations on the replacement. After being very happy with that, I used it for my first Antoniotsai as part of an electronics upgrade, and most recently replaced an Aguilar OBP-3 in another Sei with the Delano. I found the OBP-3 to be pretty much unusable with anything other than everything set flat - the boost and cut is vicious.

[BigRedX]

On 03/04/2019 at 18:33, Al Krow said:

Love to hear any recordings / clips you've done on your Bass VI - do you play the bass part as well as the guitar parts?

@Al Krow Finally there is a 1' 30" preview of our forthcoming single up on iTunes. Search for Hurtsfall and you'll be able to hear it. Unfortunately it cuts off before we get to the "middle 8" where I go all guitar-y on the Bass VI, so you'll have to wait until the official release date in July to hear it in its full glory.