The GroovyPlucker Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Hi, I have a Steve Harris Precision Bass, it's lovely with a fantastic tone, it's based on a 50's Precision and has Seymour Duncan pick ups, just wondering if anyone has any knowledge on fitting an active preamp in precisions. Am wanting to also have a switch between active and passive. I can get more pots for the extra tone control if the preamp requires it, but am having trouble tracing a mirrored pick gaurd with an extra hole in it. Anyone any knowledge of any of the above would be gratefully appreciated, Cheers GroovyPlucker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raggy Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Iv'e always wanted one of those, great looking basses. I think John East does P Bass pre's. Am sure there would be a thread on here somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Most I've seen use the jack socket as an extra hole and re-locate the jack to the side of the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lozbass Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Between around '79 and '83, Fender produced a Precision Special (in LPB and CAR and later in White) - these were active basses and contained one of the earliest commonly available active preamps. I had the pre cloned around 1982 to fit into my Gibson Ripper - great tone but I lost the original tone of the bass! I've had and recently sold a Precision Special (in which the pre needed a simple repair) - I'm a big fan of the circuit, it's extremely powerful if a bit noisy. You'll ocassionally see the pre on its own or a loaded scratchplate come up on ebay (usually in the US) - I'm not sure if they fit directly into a standard P without extra routing but it's worth a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The GroovyPlucker Posted June 4, 2009 Author Share Posted June 4, 2009 Hi, Thanks for the info thus far, very helpful and very quick, don't really want to do any cutting away of the body at all, really wanted to place preamp beneath pickgaurd or round the back, problem I have is it's a standard precision so only pots for volume and tone. I've seen a preamp with just the one pot which is stacked, it would look odd though with the different type pot, although I know Fender do stacked tone pots so if I can get my hands on one of them that'd be good. Anyone any experience with the one volume control and the one stacked active eq pot?? Many Thanks Again The GroovyPlucker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lozbass Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 It sounds like a two band pre with a stacked tone pot is probably the way to go (especially if the unit is small and you can avoid any routing. Have you thought about where the battery is going to sit - it may be that somebody produces a small pre with a battery holder (something like a J Retro but for a P - I think somebody suggested that John East produces a P pre but I haven't seen one personally). On the scratchplate, I think you're just going to have to carefully drill a hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayFW Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 How about an outboard pre? Something like a Sadowsky or Aguilar Tone Hammer would do the trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 The likes of WD Music will sort your pickguard problem out, I'm sure. There's a few places that will cut you a custom one, so you could spec an extra hole and get all mirrored up! Not sure about the pre - looking at the cavity in my P, I don't know where the hell I'd fit a battery in without making bigger holes in the thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjb Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 (edited) [quote]I have is it's a standard precision so only pots for volume and tone. I've seen a preamp with just the one pot which is stacked, it would look odd though with the different type pot.[/quote] It worked a treat on my old 1 pickup Warwick Streamer STD. I used a Seymour Duncan Basslines STC-2 band 2 pickup circuit and simply took out the pickup blend pot. That left me with one volume and one stacked tone knob. [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/cutting-edge-1/stc2_stc32_3ban/"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/bass...tc2_stc32_3ban/[/url] Didn't look odd at all! Cheers- Edited June 9, 2009 by rjb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The GroovyPlucker Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 Hi, Thanks for all your useful advice/comments, I've just seen another interesting idea on Ebay, a Varitone, with stacked vol/tone knob and a six way selector switch for the other pot, anyone any experience of using one of these, specifically on a Precision. The demo film they show is of the Jazz, but would be interested to know how it affects the Precision, Cheers T'GroovyPlucker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesemt Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Did you ever get one? I've just ordered one from the states... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 [quote name='The GroovyPlucker' post='505369' date='Jun 4 2009, 10:46 AM']Hi, I have a Steve Harris Precision Bass, it's lovely with a fantastic tone, it's based on a 50's Precision and has Seymour Duncan pick ups, just wondering if anyone has any knowledge on fitting an active preamp in precisions. Am wanting to also have a switch between active and passive. I can get more pots for the extra tone control if the preamp requires it, but am having trouble tracing a mirrored pick gaurd with an extra hole in it. Anyone any knowledge of any of the above would be gratefully appreciated, Cheers GroovyPlucker[/quote] Hello! What exactly do you want the active circuit to achieve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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