Active pups passive bass

[Quilly]

Hi there 

i currently have a 2008 Mayones Jabba 4 with modded circuitry. At one stage I think it was an active bass and was converted to passive, it sounds great but a little ‘dark’ (ie not much top end “zing”. I wonder should I replace the Delano pickups . I’m guessing these were designed with an onboard preamp in mind .. the capacitor is “normal” as far as I can tell .

[fleabag]

Sounds like you could easily convert it back to active rather than replace the pickups.

 

[Quilly]

That’s another option but it’s doesn’t have a battery slot ...I dunno the history of this bass at all . I might just ask Mayones...I was thinking about a John East preamp 🤔

Edited June 6, 2020 by Quilly

[fleabag]

Is it possible that the battery  lived in the control panel rather than having its own compartment ?    Is there's room for a battery , if so, maybe that's where it lived.

Unless of course it was never active in the first place  ?

[Quilly]

I think I like it passive tbh. Just with more top end. I’m looking at just changing the pups . I’ve my eyes on bare knuckles 

[ikay]

The Delano pickups should have plenty of top end. What are the pot values? If they're 250k you could try changing them to 500k which would brighten up the sound. 

Edited June 6, 2020 by ikay

[Quilly]

16 minutes ago, ikay said:

The Delano pickups should have plenty of top end. What are the pot values? If they're 250k you could try changing them to 500k which would brighten up the sound. 

It’s a 473k which should be ok 🤔

[ikay]

Are you sure the pots are 473k? The pic above shows the number 473 on the tone cap which signifies a 47nf cap (a standard value). Or is that just a coincidence?!

[Hellzero]

These Delano JMVC 4 FE/M2 big powerful magnets pickups are quite dark indeed when used with 250 KOhms pots and 47nF capacitor, which is a standard wiring. Putting 500 KOhms or even 1MOhms pots with 22nF capacitor will brighten up the sound a lot.

[Hellzero]

There's is this great preamp for sale here : 

Why not put it in your bass ?

And I'm not related to the seller in any way. 😉

[rmorris]

12 hours ago, Hellzero said:

These Delano JMVC 4 FE/M2 big powerful magnets pickups are quite dark indeed when used with 250 KOhms pots and 47nF capacitor, which is a standard wiring. Putting 500 KOhms or even 1MOhms pots with 22nF capacitor will brighten up the sound a lot.

Yes. Or just take out the tone control completely and increase the pot value as suggested. Or to be more radical bypass the volume altogether and make sure the input of your amp or DI etc is high ie 1M0 or above.

[Quilly]

Rehearsed with it the other day and I had plenty of top end when I used my EQ and compressor. I’ll leave it be ... for now .

[mcnach]

On 06/06/2020 at 22:05, Quilly said:

It’s a 473k which should be ok 🤔

 

No, @ikay was talking about the potentiometers, not the tone capacitor.