Jazz bass - passive or active?? Sire V7 owners thoughts are wlecome...

[carlsim]

I have also decided I want to keep some active options so the volume, blend, passive tone and stacked treble and bass is a good way to go it seems for me....

[TrevorR]

16 hours ago, Owen said:

No international shipping for Audere

Don’t  Bass Direct do them? Or have they stopped?

[Owen]

5 hours ago, TrevorR said:

Don’t  Bass Direct do them? Or have they stopped?

It does not look like it.

I wonder if the impedance switching thing is something

which can be replicated seeing as I cannot actually buy one. I shall go and ask on the Repairs and Technical forum.

[Owen]

42 minutes ago, Owen said:

It does not look like it.

I wonder if the impedance switching thing is something

which can be replicated seeing as I cannot actually buy one. I shall go and ask on the Repairs and Technical forum.

The answer is no. I guess I will have to look for someone in the US to be my friend.

[Woodinblack]

12 hours ago, Owen said:

The answer is no. I guess I will have to look for someone in the US to be my friend.

the answer is not no, the answer to the question "can the impedance switching be done in a passive circuit is no". It could be done actively.

[Owen]

Just now, Woodinblack said:

the answer is not no, the answer to the question "can the impedance switching be done in a passive circuit is no". It could be done actively.

Correct! My wife worries about my lack of detail as well. So does my boss actually.

[Woodinblack]

Its odd that there is noone that ships them, even if they don't ship themselves. If all you want is a bass boost, is it important the method it uses to provide that? I mean does it have to be impedance switching, can it not just be a bass boost, which pretty well any preamp does?

[Owen]

13 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Its odd that there is noone that ships them, even if they don't ship themselves. If all you want is a bass boost, is it important the method it uses to provide that? I mean does it have to be impedance switching, can it not just be a bass boost, which pretty well any preamp does?

All I know is that when I flicked that switch back in the day all sorts of super gnarly stuff happened which was very attractive. Not just LF, but grunt and edge.  I should have left the bass as it was, but........ you know how it is.......

It could just have been a level rise which in turn drove the front end of the amp harder.

[ezbass]

The Sadowsky pre amp is not nearly as powerful as many out there (I’ve owned an East pre in the past and had many active basses), but I find it adds just the right amount of ‘fairy dust’ to my passive basses (I use the pedal based version). If I wanted an on board pre amp, I wouldn’t hesitate to use a Sadowsky. YMMV.

[Owen]

6 minutes ago, ezbass said:

The Sadowsky pre amp is not nearly as powerful as many out there (I’ve owned an East pre in the past and had many active basses), but I find it adds just the right amount of ‘fairy dust’ to my passive basses (I use the pedal based version). If I wanted an on board pre amp, I wouldn’t hesitate to use a Sadowsky. YMMV.

FWIW, I have come into the Sadowsky camp in the past 2 years. It just sounds right.

[ezbass]

Just now, Owen said:

FWIW, I have come into the Sadowsky camp in the past 2 years. It just sounds right.

That’s it, it’s hard to define, it’s just… more, without being in your face.

[carlsim]

I’m definitely heading that way…. Providing I can get one.

[Bassman666]

I picked up a version 2 V7 a few weeks ago as I've heard many good things and was very curious. IMHO it's a stunning bass even before you consider how little they cost (I paid £350 mint condition). I fully agree that the control plate is very busy and the controls are abit too close, although I think the stock preamp sounds great and is very useable. I don't think much would be gained by swapping it, it may make it sound different which some people would interpret as better, however it sounds like a jazz bass with the option of active eq. What's not to like?! 😁

[Lfalex v1.1]

On 31/03/2022 at 14:00, BigRedX said:

As you've said, there are already tone controls on your amp.

 

Why would you want a second (potentially conflicting) set?

Use them as a complimentary pair?

 

And when playing live;

 

Core tone from the bass DI >>>> the desk

EQ the amp to compensate for "on stage" sound issues.

[carlsim]

2 hours ago, Bassman666 said:

I picked up a version 2 V7 a few weeks ago as I've heard many good things and was very curious. IMHO it's a stunning bass even before you consider how little they cost (I paid £350 mint condition). I fully agree that the control plate is very busy and the controls are abit too close, although I think the stock preamp sounds great and is very useable. I don't think much would be gained by swapping it, it may make it sound different which some people would interpret as better, however it sounds like a jazz bass with the option of active eq. What's not to like?! 😁

It isn’t really a question of not liking it, it’s more from a practical angle of live use. 
I just find it too much for use on stage, fine tune adjustments I find are difficult. 
I like the passive tone, but I find when I adjust it live I inevitably affect the volume control which is stacked on top… small changes admitted, but live it’s like - where is my volume gone!?

it is a versatile piece of kit, and if I change it I will probably sell it to recoup some cash and considering it is a drop in option and people seem to like them, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone snaps it up as a viable cheaper alternative to an east or Sadowsky drop in option…

[Bassman666]

Yeah I can see it being a awkward live especially with poor lighting. I've used the sadowsky and East pre amps and both are great, the tone control was a personal favourite! 

[Jakester]

Could you not get someone to rewire the pots on the Sire onto a custom control plate? So replace the single pots with stacked pots and put those into a new custom control plate, such as you can get here: 

 

https://www.dragonfireguitars.com/Custom-Designed-Jazz-Bass-Control-Plate-Build-Your-Own-Plate-10408.htm

 

Or are they all fixed onto the preamp board?