popitinpete Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 For some years I've been looking for an affordable active kit (or circuit diagram) which would suit a Jazz Bass. I would want vol/bass/treble and preferably p/u mix control. Assume 9v battery. Does such a gem exist? The main gripe with my present passive bass is buzz. Go anywhere near my PC monitor in rehearsals and it's really annoying! Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrenleepoole Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 (edited) A few names to check out are East, a UK outfit with lots of kudos but not cheap. Audere do a straight control plate replacement but you must import from the US. And then there's Varitone stuff, available from eBay, quite cheap by comparison. All these will give you an active EQ, not strictly an active bass. Audere are superb preamps, as I have one. I've used East and they're amazing. No experience with Varitone, but the Youtube video demonstrations look very good. Edited May 17, 2010 by derrenleepoole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popitinpete Posted May 17, 2010 Author Share Posted May 17, 2010 [quote name='derrenleepoole' post='839656' date='May 17 2010, 12:08 PM']A few names to check out are East, a UK outfit with lots of kudos but not cheap. Audere do a straight control plate replacement but you must import from the US. And then there's Varitone stuff, must available from eBay, quite cheap by comparison. All these will give you an active EQ, not strictly an active bass. Audere are superb preamps, as I have one. I've used East and they're amazing. No experience with Varitone, but the Youtube video demonstrations look very good.[/quote] Cheers, somewhere to start at last. Reading the forum I notice some players copper line the cavity to reduce hum/buzz. Might try that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Is Varitone active? I always thought it was just a passive array of caps and resistors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalmoore Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 I have sheilded all cavities in the body and the PG and lined the bottom of the bridge with copper tape and connected them all to each other with wire soldered then another wire to the ground wire that audere provided with there drop in preamp and i get zero hum (at least i cant hear any). I think the Audere is great, nice wide range of tones and easy to setup too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrenleepoole Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 [quote name='Ou7shined' post='839671' date='May 17 2010, 12:21 PM']Is Varitone active? I always thought it was just a passive array of caps and resistors.[/quote] You could be right there... not too sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Yep, passive - just different value tone caps to change the amount of treble cut. Copper foil shielding is always a very good practice in any guitar (or bass) whether active or passive. I got a pretty cheap pre-amp from Axes'r'us, as a drop in test for the 5-string fanned fret bass I built, worked pretty well for minimal outlay and a small footprint so it sat within the ctrl covity ok and was easy to wire up. I think u can get very cheap 2-or 3-band pre-amps to slot into a passive instrument withou having to pay hundreds, though the overall quality is never going to meet the top levels of the John East systems. They are really nicely designed and put together units. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikhay77 Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Just finished an active jazz project,it now has a bartolini bass,treble,switchable midsweep vol and pick up blend.2x9v batteries and 2 other 9v battery sized boxes for the pre amp.All nicely buried under the lower part of the scratch plate,low hz emgs so no need to line the compartment.Dead silent but wow what a sound through an amp.Anything will fit if you got a router,ha ha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 [url="http://artecsound.com/pickups/index.html"]http://artecsound.com/pickups/index.html[/url] G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikay Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 [quote name='derrenleepoole' post='839656' date='May 17 2010, 12:08 PM']A few names to check out are East, a UK outfit with lots of kudos but not cheap. Audere do a straight control plate replacement but you must import from the US. And then there's Varitone stuff, available from eBay, quite cheap by comparison. All these will give you an active EQ, not strictly an active bass. Audere are superb preamps, as I have one. I've used East and they're amazing. No experience with Varitone, but the Youtube video demonstrations look very good.[/quote] + for Audere (got one in my JO4), superb preamp and they're about half the price of the East pre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.