Hammock Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikay Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 Pickups are passive (I believe the same as on the BB414) so no problem on that front with switching out the preamp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown_User Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 This is probably no help at all but I built a preamp pedal from this layout. I think it gives a really nice tone to my passive P and J basses. Particularly the J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 What's wrong with the current pre-amp? What are you looking for sound-wise that can't be achieved with the controls on your amp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 If the bass doesn’t sound ‘good’ flat, a preamp won’t help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammock Posted April 18, 2019 Author Share Posted April 18, 2019 20 hours ago, BigRedX said: What's wrong with the current pre-amp? What are you looking for sound-wise that can't be achieved with the controls on your amp? Hard to explain. It sounds a little to hard for my taste. That is probably not a good explanation 😖. One reason is that I cannot make it passive at all now, but that could probably be done with some switch. But I also love my Sadowsky sound on my UV70, so am a just curious on how the preamp can sound on this Yammie. I will of course save all original parts. And if it won't turn out good I can always put the sad preamp in another bass. Something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammock Posted April 18, 2019 Author Share Posted April 18, 2019 18 hours ago, ped said: If the bass doesn’t sound ‘good’ flat, a preamp won’t help. Well I am not so sure about that. For starters this bass have no option to go passive, I would like that. Is it your opinion that a flat preamp does not, what so ever, colour the sound, in any way? Thx for the input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammock Posted April 18, 2019 Author Share Posted April 18, 2019 20 hours ago, ikay said: Pickups are passive (I believe the same as on the BB414) so no problem on that front with switching out the preamp. Thx! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 2 hours ago, Hammock said: ...this bass has no option to go passive, I would like that. Is it your opinion that a flat preamp does not, what so ever, colour the sound, in any way? If you need an A/P-switch, you just need a DPDT switch and some wire to bypass the tone controls. If you do not want to make extra holes to the top wood, consider using a push/pull pot with a switch. A flat preamp should not change the sound of the pickups, BUT that low impedance (lo-Z) output may behave in a different way than a hi-Z output. If you drive some OD/fuzz/dist with your bass, the sound is certainly something else than with a hi-Z output. I found out this while testing different fuzzes and compressors a few years back. Now I have one set for hi-Z (Spruce Effects / Daring Audio), and another for lo-Z basses (Amptweaker / tce). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.