StevieD_FenderP2009 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Hi there After playing my mates Spector bass through my amp the other day, I finally (after 3 years of searching) got the "holy grain" tone I've been searching for so I spent a while looking through YouTube and the Spector website to see what pick ups they used and what pre-amp they used in the bass that I tried out. Now bear in mind the bass I played was the Spector Legend 4 Classic which features: Spector Tonepump JR pre amp EMG SSD Soapbar pick ups (which as you all will know are just the EMG HZ pick ups with Stuart Spector Design on them as they have a little bit more midrange) After finding that out, I decided that those are the parts I want to stick in my Tobias bass. But then I had an idea... I wanted to try and get something extremely close to that tone in my Precision Basses so I went through youtube again and found that the closest to that tone would be the EMG P pick ups (not the EMG PA pick ups, they're a newer alnico magnet version). With this now in my mind I was thinking... Would it be possible to put a Spector Tone Pump JR pre amp in my Precision Bass with the EMG pick ups but have it so it's still just single volume and single tone controls? The way I was thinking was to disconnect the bass pot that comes pre-wired to the TP and just solder the 2 wires together so the bass is in effect always fully open (as it normally is on a P Bass) but then have the treble pot where the tone pot would be and one volume pot wired up instead of the usual 2. My apologies if this is confusing to anyone, it's 5am, I haven't slept yet and I get cooky ideas at this time of night. I know i'd need to rout in a cavity for the pre amp to go but luckily I have all the access I need to tools like that so I could put a rout under the main section of the pickguard. I'm never planning on selling my P Basses so it's not like I care about the value of them decreasing. If you could shed any light on whether it would work or not then that would be great. If it does work and I like the results I get from the 1st bass I do it on (Terry) then i'll eventually do it to my other P Bass (Frank) and maybe even the Steve Harris signature P Bass (but I really doubt I'll do it to that one) Cheers Stevie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Why not replace the Treble and Bass pots with one stacked pot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 You're not going to get a Spector sound from a PB and a set of pickups that are only related to the ones on the Spector by manufacturer brand. My advice would be to save the money you intend spending on pickups/active circuitry, add a bit more to it and buy a Spector if that's the sound you are looking for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wil Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Yeah, I'd just buy a Spector! Mine's got EMG HZ and an EMG BTS preamp, which work very well together. Big, punchy bottom end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevieD_FenderP2009 Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 I know it wouldn't be the exact Spector sound I get from it, but the sound I would get is one quite close to what I want. Anyways, the question isn't really about getting the tone, it's about whether or not it's possible to wire it up in such ways so I could atleast look at putting that set up in my Precision Bass. End of the day, it's just a P that i've built myself and that im never going to sell so i'm just gunna keep messing about on it. I was thinking of wiring it up like this if I was to do it: [attachment=71744:Wiring.png] Would it work this way? Cheers Stevie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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