GreeneKing

At the risk of being accused of sacrilege I decided to look at ways of altering my lovely US L2500 CLF's electronics. I found that the treble cut did nothing to my ears. My ears aren't great but I've read that others have had similar issues. I had checked everything through a couple of times and it was all that it should be. I didn't want to do anything that wasn't reversible. This is an expensive instrument. It sounds really great given that I can't significantly roll off the treble with onboard controls. I love it! I spoke to John East. A Uni Pre 3 knob would have done the job well but it would need to be modified to accept a single input (I want to use the existing 3 position pickup selector) and the 3 knob version has no passive tone control. The EMG BQC Control seemed to be suitable. It is a 3 EQ +/- preamp with sweepable mids. I sourced a 250K/250k concentric pot (Allparts) and set it up as volume over tone, no treble bleed circuit and a 0.047uf tone capacitor. I replaced the 3 way active/passive switch with a 2 way. The passive volume and tone output switches either to the jack socket or via the BQC. I put a 10M resistor across it to mitigate any 'pop' on switching. It works to a large extent. There was a lot of wiring and soldering involved. I had to turn the series/parallel switch through 90 degrees to get everything to fit. I checked connections as I went along but I suspected it would need some fault finding when complete. It worked straight off the bat! Given that the volume was back to front, easily sorted. I'm really pleased. The passive tone works subtly but as I expect. It's always in circuit. The active treble control is again subtle but useable. The bass and sweepable mids are stronger but nothing silly. The active pre gives hardly any noticeable boost. The ability to roll off the treble is what I want and I have it. Adding a variety of mids is also very useful. The EMG knobs are awful. I'm sure that they used to be a nice moulded rubber. These are a horrible plastic and the top catches on the bottom. So a success. Everything added and nothing taken away - except for those knobs.

Vegetarian is me Thank you.

Thank you Matt. I did wonder if the original volume could be used. That helps a lot. Peter

Does anyone have experience of the EMG BQC control (not the BQC System)? I have a lovely USA G&L L2500 and I miss having real +/- EQ and mid control. The bass itself is superb. A later Plek'd model with the CLF headstock. It's a dream to play. The passive treble cut does very little. The BQC Control has two concentric controls, one for bass/treble and one for mids with a sweepable frequency. Any mods I make need to be reversible and I'd like to retain use of the 3 way pickup selector and the series/parallel switch. I've spoken to the lovely man that is John East and a Uni pre would do the job but I don't think he can make me a single input version plus it needs to be plate mounted. I don't think that the BQC Control includes a Volume control. Am I correct in this and if so what volume control should I use? The perfect setup for this bass would include an active/passive switch and a passive tone control under the volume knob. Any thoughts or ideas? I have emailed EMG. Peter

I shall most likely bring the following basses: Warmoth P roundwounds and P-Retro Warmoth 54P Flats G&L L2500 Zoot ZB1000 medium scale Aria SB1000 remodel Possibly Yamaha BB435 currently for sale Markbass MB58R 122 P-4 (Ceramic) cabinet Peavey Minimax 600watt head

If anything gets to ignite a response from me it’s an opinion stated as fact 🙂 I’d agree that simply using a pickup and strings produces a tone that is broadly similar. Unadulterated Jazz, Precision and Rickenbackers are fairly similar especially if played in a ‘conventional’ mode and manner. But, many basses have active tone control onboard. I could play my P - Retro equipped Warmoth Precision in a mode that would leave no doubt in a back to back that it wasn’t a standard P bass. Yes I could be wrong, it’d be interesting to see. Likewise the Zoot ZB1000 in series mode with the active varitone set to one of two or three positions would begin to sound like a different instrument entirely. In the mix in a rock covers band? Yes it all becomes a bit redundant so long as the bass can actually be heard. All my opinion of course. Peter

I met Mark today and caught up while basses were exchanged. As always Mark, a pleasure. Peter

Thank you for that Mark. Peter

Thread revival. I know that Mark (Bass Culture) had an Aria conceived bass made by Mike Walsh of Zoot in Essex. Some here may be aware. It has the now no longer available Rautia MB-1E pickup and Carl’s BB Noiseless preamp. It’s a medium scale bass. Mike added a 6 position varitone of his own design to the build. With apologies for a lengthy post here 🙂 I followed the ‘ZB1000’ build with much interest at the time, having my own custom Zoot Funkmeister 32” scale P bass with Noll preamp. I’ve also owned a couple of Arias, one with failed electronics. Things happen. Mark sold me his Funkmeister 32” Jazz to make room while the ZB build was happening. This bass is a real stunner and it plays and sounds very well although I don’t use it often, preferring P basses. I told Mark I was thinking of selling it and gave him first refusal. He’s suggested trading for the ‘Zoot ZB1000’. It’s likely to happen on Saturday. I’m intrigued by the tonal abilities of the bass. I’ve also been in touch with both Mike and Carl as it seems the bass will need a new switching jack socket. They have been very helpful. Here’s the build thread. Peter

I purchased a lovely bass from Andy. He was a pleasure to deal with.