GreeneKing

Is it possible that the bridge earth has come adrift somewhere? Maybe put a wire from earth on a pot to the bridge and see if the hum goes? Peter

A real improvement, now all you need is a maple fretboard!

Mmmmmm... So that's what the top horn is for

Hiya Edd You could always give Nick Carey a ring re a lesson. He's on here someplace and I've heard very good. Peter

Yo I bought my 97 Flea from Marcus and it's fitted with an Aguilar OBP-3 Pre -amp. It is of course the absolute untimate Flea ( ). I'd just like to add to the discussion that the neck is really good, 11 yrs old, no problems at all, no trussrod no worries etc. In fact good is definately an understatement. Clattery? The most single significant thing about this bass to my mind, bar none, is the fact that all the benefits of a 'perfect' neck are there with real warmth of tone. I keep on wanting to pop an ACG pre-amp in though, just to experience that incredible tone on the most playable of necks. Anyone want to make me an offer on the Agui? Peter

The 02 is quite tiny. I put one in a non Fender Jazz (Allparts?) body this week and had to mod the wood a little. The one in my rear routed Warmoth P has oodles of room. Peter

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170207699918"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=170207699918[/url] I've messaged the seller to ask him if it's fretless as the frets appear ground right back to the board. He says they are indeed 'flat' and acknowledges that may make it fretless. I suggested he might like to add that info So, do you think that someone has ground the frets down or was it made that way? Peter

Good post BigRedX and your comments about the ACG pre are wholeheartedly +1'd. Do you have ACG EQ01's or 02's? This thread has certainly helped me straighten the whole thing in my head and the issue is about the quality of the pre-amp in the bass given the inherent limitations of power supply and space/weigh issues. [quote]It is an accurate reflection for the bass I mentioned (I wasn't talking about all basses).[/quote] I believe you Peter

[quote]which is why I am glad most circuits have a pull-passive,[/quote] I'm not so sure that's an accurate reflection on things. One of my active basses has an active/passive switch, out of about 14. I sense some confusion between active pickups and active basses. Most of my basses are active and none of them have active pickups. As I understand it, the signal from an active pickup is enhanced by the use of a power supply and this signal is led to either a pre amp in the bass or one somewhere else. Once pedals and effects are added into the signal path the whole active/passive subtlety surely becomes slightly incidental? So powered basses, is this the way ahead, get rid of the battery and get some stable and more powerful watts in there? Peter

I think that the key point here is the actual nature of the onboard pre-amp, or indeed any pre amp. Placing a pre in the bass must have it's limiting factors I suspect and maybe this is where some (many?) active basses fail to make the grade when compared with a passive bass amplified via a more sophisticated unit in the amp or wherever? Joe I assume that the Greengrove is onboard? Not like you to have exclusive gear It can be done well, I have no doubts about that. I think my initial point that there's no such thing as a passive sound is still valid to me (well there is but its VERY quiet). Peter

Another thread has got me thinking about the whole passive/active thing and I think it'd be better served bringing it out into its own arena. I have at times been through a 'passive phase' where I listen to the tone I'm producing and think 'Wow' that's it, and where active tones seem somehow 'over-engineered'. Equally at other times I think that passive basses sound a bit weak and that an active bass has much more 'presence'. On reflection I wonder if this whole subjective topic isn't just surrounded by an excess of hype (posh word for bullshit). Basically, as I see it, there's actually no such thing as a passive sound. Why? Because all solid bodied basses need to be amplified to be heard and that the signal processing involves a pre-amp and an amp. Okay the pre-amp can be in the bass (making it an active bass) on the floor (Microbass II etc) or most usually as a stage in the main amplifier but the net result is surely the same i.e. the signal from the pickups is amplified through two ( or more) stages. The fact that a passive bass may have a cut only tone control is surely negated by the amplifiers active EQ, usually constructed around the amplifier's pre-amp. So, what am I saying? Essentially there's no difference betwen a 'passive' bass and an 'active' one? Given that the onboard pre in an active bass and the 'other' pre used with a passive bass are similar then yes, that is what I'm saying. Passive basses are only passive untill they hit an amplifier then they're active basses. Of course I could be swayed in all this subjective tone stuff by the seductive qualities of the ACG EQ02 pre-amp that I have installed onto the two basses I find myself playing most often at the moment. I have to add that my Modulus Flea gets equal 'up' time with it's Aguilar pre but I can't help thinking what an ACG pre would sound like in it Peter

[quote]Any EQ controls available to you, not specifically active ones, could just as easily be used to do this, the semi-parametric EQ on Eden amplifiers/pre-amplifiers is a brilliant tool for this kind of thing.[/quote] Effectively the EQ on amp/pre amps is active as I understand it. Passive tone shaping is cut only, no boost (ignoring Villex for the sake of confusing the issue) so projecting a frequency through the mix isn't going to happen with passive bass mounted controls or in fact any 'passive' shaping. I do think the point I was trying to make here, which may be better placed in its own thread, has been missed. It could just be that it wasn't very well made Peter

One way of looking at the active/passive issue (loyalties) from my perspective is this: The signal from a simple pick up on a solid bodied bass needs amplifying if you want anyone to hear you play. You can use many means of pre-amplification in your signal chain before the signal goes to the power amp. Onboard pre-amp, outboard pre-amp or pre-amp in your amp. So to say a passive bass is somehow 'different' is true until it hits the 1st pre-amp in the signal chain and then it's an active signal coloured by the pre amp anyway. So that would challenge the passive is better argument. Anyone like to comment, have I got it wrong? Peter

Beautiful, giving me a semi (acoustic GAS) Peter

I'm so bowled over by Alan's (Skelf, AC Guitars) new EQ02 pre-amp that I put into my Warmoth P that I've gone and put one in the Jazzbastard too. I took the body into work today to enlarge the rout for a battery with a selection of chisels and a mallet and succeeded in causing no unwanted damage other than severing the bridge pickup wires , soon sorted. I suspect a Fender body will have enough room for the battery without resorting to woodwork. I also slapped a Badass II on and I've just spent nearly 3 hours tidying the earth wiring, filing saddles, putting extra foam under pickups, shimming the neck ever so slightly, adjusting the trussrod and setting the intonation at each and every step. All of a sudden it's all spot on and sounds wonderful. As you can see I'm becoming a total filter pre convert. Unlike Alan's pre-amps fitted to his own basses the EQ02 has one low pass filter with the 'resonance peak at cutoff frequency' knob on top, a high pass filter with a gain control, a volume and in the case of the Jazz a blend. Now I'm used to the concept I find it much more intuitive than splitting the controls into treble, bass and mid with cut and boost. One knob sets where in the bass to upper mid realm you put your 'stick in the sand', with everything under the 'stick' included and the treble fills in where necessary. Add the blend on the Jazz and you have the usual tonal variation there anyway. The pre is so easy to fit, especially on a Jazz at it comes on its own plate and all that is needed is to connect the pickups with a small screwdriver and likewise for the earth. [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/index.php"]http://www.acguitars.co.uk/index.php[/url] Here's some shots of the pair: If you think passive is the only way to go on a Jazz or Precision maybe you should try these. Peter

Ultimate Flea eh? Nice quilt finish but Lane Poor, Badass II and Aguilar OBP-3 wins methinks Peter

Enjoy your trip to Moffat and I know you'll love the bass too. I'm currently over the moon with the ACG02 pre that I've fitted into my Warmoth self build P bass (I know it's not an ACG but Alan's got my next one, a 4 stringer, in hand). I'm so impressed with the way the pre works on a fenderlike P that I've ordered one to put into my passive Jazz too. Totally awsome! Will update. Peter