Help me with this - why can I not get on with this active bass?

[Minininjarob]

Ok so my first bass was a Fender Precision, one of the player editions. Play though my GK amp with a compressor, and select a drive and other pedals when I need to. Sounds great. I can get a nice clean tone all the way up to something way more aggressive. 
I mostly play with a pick. 
I bought a MM Sterling - active 3 band eq and pickup selector - cos a bassist I love uses them. I initially loved it but now I’m struggling apart from a couple of specific songs. When I’m playing with fingers softly it’s kinda ok, with the EQ flat it sounds very anaemic so I bump the bass up a bit. When I play with a pick the problem I am getting it that it all sounds too ‘false” (sorry quite new so hard to describe it) or artificial. And that’s with no pedals activated. The P sounds like someone is plucking a string and you are getting the vibration but the MM sounds a little like a synth reproducing the sound?

I’ve done a full set up on it, pickups are at the right height (4.8mm) and the action is good and all the electronics are  in good condition, so there is nothing wrong with the bass itself. I get the same feeling  no matter what I do with the EQ or pickups. 
 

Is this something common to active basses? Anyone else experienced it? Do I just not like active basses or something? Thinking back I tried a few other active basses and maybe I had the same thoughts about them but I’m not sure. I don’t like the sound of my friends fancy Spector at all. 
 

Thanks for the help in advance. 

Edited March 14 by Minininjarob

[Minininjarob]

I am fully expecting someone to say “buy another P” and I’m halfway there myself in my head. I still have my original P but I do need another instrument. 

[Franticsmurf]

I'm no expert but I have found with active basses (I have a Sterling and an Ibanez EHB1000s) that the signal can be quite hot going into the pedal/pre-amp and this can create an unwanted distorted signal that can sound a bit 'artificial' (difficult to describe but almost like the signal is mixed with a cr*ppy synth sound with no useful tone). I tend to run my active basses with their volume down slightly, I have the mid tone turned down a bit on the active controls, and may adjust the bass tone up for individual songs My amp has an optional 'Active' input but for most gigs I'm going DI through several pedals.

 

I love my Sterling; It would be a shame if doesn't work for you.

[Minininjarob]

1 minute ago, Franticsmurf said:

I'm no expert but I have found with active basses (I have a Sterling and an Ibanez EHB1000s) that the signal can be quite hot going into the pedal/pre-amp and this can create an unwanted distorted signal that can sound a bit 'artificial' (difficult to describe but almost like the signal is mixed with a cr*ppy synth sound with no useful tone). I tend to run my active basses with their volume down slightly, I have the mid tone turned down a bit on the active controls, and may adjust the bass tone up for individual songs My amp has an optional 'Active' input but for most gigs I'm going DI through several pedals.

 

I love my Sterling; It would be a shame if doesn't work for you.

That’s worth a try yes, thanks. It does distort very easily yes, glad you mentioned it, even when I have no pedals activated. 

[snorkie635]

14 minutes ago, Minininjarob said:

That’s worth a try yes, thanks. It does distort very easily yes, glad you mentioned it, even when I have no pedals activated. 

I never turn the volume of my active basses up fully. Try around a third to half volume on the bass, keep the input level low enough to avoid distortion and use your master volume on the amp to provide volume.

Edited March 14 by snorkie635

[Minininjarob]

4 minutes ago, snorkie635 said:

I never turn the volume of my active basses up fully. Try around a third to half volume on the bass, keep the input level low enough to avoid distortion and use your master volume on the amp to provide volume.

Wondering if I can mod it so it can’t be turned up as much……

[snorkie635]

1 minute ago, Minininjarob said:

Wondering if I can mod it so it can’t be turned up as much……

Why mod it? Just don't dime the volume (and adjust bass/mid/treble to taste).

[neepheid]

5 minutes ago, snorkie635 said:

Why mod it? Just don't dime the volume (and adjust bass/mid/treble to taste).

 

Some of us like to do fade ins using the volume knob, and it's a heck of a lot easier to fade up to 100% than it is to fade up to some other amount.  No I won't buy a volume pedal!

 

[Minininjarob]

3 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

Some of us like to do fade ins using the volume knob, and it's a heck of a lot easier to fade up to 100% than it is to fade up to some other amount.  No I won't buy a volume pedal!

 

Volume pedal won’t check the output from the bass anyway so wouldn’t work. 
I'm always using the volume knob so yeah it would be a pain. But worth a try. 

Why have it output so much at 100% volume to the point that it sounds rubbish? 
‘gets soldering iron out’ 😂

[neepheid]

Does the preamp have a trim pot?  Some do, like my Sire Z7, which controls the overall output of the preamp.

[Bevan7]

I think maybe you just don’t like the sound of active basses? 

[Minininjarob]

43 minutes ago, neepheid said:

Does the preamp have a trim pot?  Some do, like my Sire Z7, which controls the overall output of the preamp.

Dunno I’ll take a look. Thanks 

[Minininjarob]

1 hour ago, Bevan7 said:

I think maybe you just don’t like the sound of active basses? 

Yeah maybe. I’ll keep trying for the moment. It’s a lovely bass and so easy to play and so well balanced. Heavier than my p but doesn’t feel like it weirdly 

[Beedster]

1 hour ago, Bevan7 said:

I think maybe you just don’t like the sound of active basses? 

 

^ This

 

I've owned many many active basses - Modulus, Status, Musicman, Enfield, Fender - and ultimately it took me 20 years to realise that I don't really like playing active instruments, no matter how well designed the instrument or the circuit. But it's not really a audio/tonal thing, I just don't need or like too many options, even playing a PJ I find myself trying to find the tonal sweet spot. I also tend to run my amp tone controls flat, with the occasional foray into using a footswitch if I need to emphasise a certain tone in a certain song, I don't use effects, and rarely even touch the passive tone control on my Precision or variant of, but can usually get a good range of tones by the usual means  - pic/finger/thumb, palm muting/ghosting, varying the distance from the bridge etc.

 

BUT.......

 

I play music that usually allows me to find a tone and stick with if for the set (at present the set we're doing need two tones, standard Precision and dub, hence the footswitch), it would probably be very different if I was a pro playing functions, shows, or recording.  

[Beedster]

33 minutes ago, Minininjarob said:

Yeah maybe. I’ll keep trying for the moment. It’s a lovely bass and so easy to play and so well balanced. Heavier than my p but doesn’t feel like it weirdly 

You could install a passive circuit, @KiOgon would not doubt be happy to advise and build it. If there was a Nobel Prize for bass circuits......

 

[chris_b]

When it comes to tone an MM and a Precision are chalk and cheese.

 

It might not be an active thing, maybe you just don't get on with the sound of humbuckers.

 

I don't either.

[Beedster]

2 minutes ago, chris_b said:

When it comes to tone an MM and a Precision are chalk and cheese.

 

It might not be an active thing, maybe you just don't get on with the sound of humbuckers.

 

I don't either.

 

I found that the tone I ended up with using EBMMs was achieved using either old/dull rounds or brightish flats, tolling back the highs and the lows a little (on 2EQ models), and tonal heaven. Because it sounded more like a Precision 

[Lozz196]

I love the sound of active basses, but only when someone else is playing them. I’m so used to a Precision type sound coming from basses I play that if I hear anything else it just sounds wrong, maybe that’s where you are as well Rob?

[ezbass]

I wonder if a passive pedal with a vol and tone would solve the issue. Place it first in the pedalboard chain, adjust to taste and Bob’s your Mum’s brother. Whether such a thing exists, or whether you’d have to build it yourself, is unknown.

[Terry M.]

5 hours ago, Minininjarob said:

 cos a bassist I love uses them. 

I honestly think this right here might be the issue.

Edited March 14 by Terry M.

[Terry M.]

Separate and apart from my previous post the MM Sterling uses ceramic pickups which definitely aren't everyone's cup of tea. They tend to sound more aggressive than say an alnico equipped Stingray. Whether that's good or bad is subjective however. I had a 5 string version and loved the sound but not the narrow string spacing so it eventually it had to go.

Having said that I went to a gig just before Christmas and the bassist had a bass like yours and I didn't enjoy the tone. Whether that was the bass or bad sound engineering I'll never know.

Edited March 14 by Terry M.

[Norris]

I don't know exactly which Sterling model you have, but my Sterling Sub5 sounded very "meh". It was just about ok at home, but was quite indistinct and really didn't cut through in a band situation, even in our guitar/bass/drums trio. I then bought an active Sire PJ that sounded so much better, so put the Sterling up for sale on here. After a few weeks of bumping I eventually withdrew it.

 

I was considering changing the pickup, but after doing a bit of reading found several people who said that the preamp was the weak link. So I bought a Stinger '77 preamp from Retrovibe. Oh my goodness - there was the missing Stingray tone! It transformed the bass into something usable. It wasn't that expensive and I considered it paid for itself in one gig. I've gigged it a few times now and it makes a nice contrast to the Sire.

 

You never know, if you fancy a bit of tinkering, you might get a little bit closer to that sound that the bassist you love has

 

https://retrovibe.co.uk/product/retrovibe-stinger-77-classic-mm-stingray-bass-eq-pre-amp-2-band-pre-eb-circuit/

[kwmlondon]

I’ve found modding basses is only really worth doing if you fundamentally like the instrument but have a clear, specific understanding of what you want to improve/change. In your case, if you like the way it plays and the fundamentals of the tone but find it too hot/bright/aggressive then I’d say look into an alternative preamp and/or pickup with a tap/split option. Lobster has done an amazing series of YouTube vids demoing different configurations in a ‘Ray.

[Terry M.]

35 minutes ago, Norris said:

I don't know exactly which Sterling model you have, but my Sterling Sub5 sounded very "meh". It was just about ok at home, but was quite indistinct and really didn't cut through in a band situation, even in our guitar/bass/drums trio. I then bought an active Sire PJ that sounded so much better, so put the Sterling up for sale on here. After a few weeks of bumping I eventually withdrew it.

 

I was considering changing the pickup, but after doing a bit of reading found several people who said that the preamp was the weak link. So I bought a Stinger '77 preamp from Retrovibe. Oh my goodness - there was the missing Stingray tone! It transformed the bass into something usable. It wasn't that expensive and I considered it paid for itself in one gig. I've gigged it a few times now and it makes a nice contrast to the Sire.

 

You never know, if you fancy a bit of tinkering, you might get a little bit closer to that sound that the bassist you love has

 

https://retrovibe.co.uk/product/retrovibe-stinger-77-classic-mm-stingray-bass-eq-pre-amp-2-band-pre-eb-circuit/

OP has an American Ernie Ball Sterling with the 3 way switch. You have an Indonesian import model. They are very different. 

[Terry M.]

3 minutes ago, kwmlondon said:

I’ve found modding basses is only really worth doing if you fundamentally like the instrument but have a clear, specific understanding of what you want to improve/change. In your case, if you like the way it plays and the fundamentals of the tone but find it too hot/bright/aggressive then I’d say look into an alternative preamp and/or pickup with a tap/split option. Lobster has done an amazing series of YouTube vids demoing different configurations in a ‘Ray.

He's probably just not found the right bass to cater to his tastes. The aforementioned switch offers series/single coil/parallel options and is not a Ray but the smaller bodied Sterling with a ceramic pickup. Based on his reason for getting the bass he's better off moving it on I feel.