Onboard preamp suggestions

[steviedee]

Hi 

I have a passive fretless, it’s a copy of a well known bass! Plays really well but I just feel the tone is lacking. Currently has Bartolini 6R Pickups. It’s got a good thumpy old school tone but, for me, lacks a wee bit of zing. Any recommendations for a small preamp that might work? Each pickup has a volume and tone control but I’m not wedded to any configuration . A local luthier suggested an EMG VMC. Any suggestions?

 

all the best

 

S

[BassBunny]

The EMG VMC is only a Mid control as far as I know, so probably not what you are looking for.

I guess the obvious choice would be to use a Bartolini pre-amp as you have Bart pickups but my personal choice would be Glockenklang. 3 of my 4 basses have them fitted and as you can guess, I love them. Very transparent, no volume change between active/passive when set flat, easy to fit and very reasonably priced. Other options would be Noll or East both of which I have used.

[steviedee]

1 hour ago, BassBunny said:

The EMG VMC is only a Mid control as far as I know, so probably not what you are looking for.

I guess the obvious choice would be to use a Bartolini pre-amp as you have Bart pickups but my personal choice would be Glockenklang. 3 of my 4 basses have them fitted and as you can guess, I love them. Very transparent, no volume change between active/passive when set flat, easy to fit and very reasonably priced. Other options would be Noll or East both of which I have used.

I’m trying to get a more jazz type fretless sound, might be a hopeless task! I looked at the bart preamps the main thing is size really.

[BassBunny]

Glockenklang and Noll are pretty compact and both give you plenty of scope for "tweaking", particularly the 4 pot with a stacked treble/bass and separate mid control.