MarkNS4 Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 (edited) [center]Hey everyone This is my first actual proper post on the forum... I own a Conklin Gt-7 and as much as i love the bass ive found that its sound is... well... dull and boring. But what else can you expect with a mighty mite preamp and active bartolini pickups so ive decided to upgrade the pickups and preamp in the hope that i can acheive a better sound. After contacting several companies in the uk to make a custom set of pickups that will fit in the bass, which wasnt soo easy as the current pickups are P4 sized which are usually found on 5 or 6 string basses. Kent Armstrong pickups have said they can make me a set which i have ordered. Ive also choosen to go with an Audere 3ZB preamp which i already have, so im just waiting on the pickups being made and delivered. Ill Keep This Updated For anyone whos interested in how this goes. *edit* here some before pics: [attachment=85252:IMG_0882.JPG][attachment=85251:IMG_0881.JPG] and the controls for the new preamp will be: master volume tonecontrol pickup 1 volume pickup 2 volume bass EQ treple EQ mid EQ Mid selector switch z mode switch *edit* so the pickups arrived and here are some picks of how i got on: [attachment=85757:pups.JPG] [attachment=85758:empty_cavity.JPG][attachment=85759:IMG_0912.JPG] [attachment=85760:newpre.JPG][attachment=85761:topview.JPG] ill consider doing some recordings if anyone is interested[/center] Edited July 27, 2011 by MarkNS4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voxpop Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Welcome. Please keep us posted about the upgrade. Pictures will help.... Get the camera out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Nice bass. Are you sure a Kent Armstrong pickup is going to be much of an improvement over bartolinis? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkNS4 Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 [quote name='EdwardHimself' post='1308456' date='Jul 18 2011, 09:33 PM']Nice bass. Are you sure a Kent Armstrong pickup is going to be much of an improvement over bartolinis?[/quote] well the bartolinis i have just now are active and as of late i`ve realised bartolini isn`t the sound im wanting ive heard some clips of the kent armstrongs pups (which are passive) wired without an internal preamp and on their own they sound ridiculously good ill stick up some pics of the bass before i start drilling etc thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AttitudeCastle Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 [quote name='MarkNS4' post='1308634' date='Jul 18 2011, 11:32 PM']well the bartolinis i have just now are active and as of late i`ve realised bartolini isn`t the sound im wanting ive heard some clips of the kent armstrongs pups (which are passive) wired without an internal preamp and on their own they sound ridiculously good ill stick up some pics of the bass before i start drilling etc thanks[/quote] Link to those Kent Armstrong pickup clips? Sounds like a nice "mod" diary! Any chance of any sound clips now for a before and after? I'll be keeping a close eye on this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkNS4 Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 [quote name='AttitudeCastle' post='1308662' date='Jul 18 2011, 11:53 PM']Link to those Kent Armstrong pickup clips? Sounds like a nice "mod" diary! Any chance of any sound clips now for a before and after? I'll be keeping a close eye on this![/quote] sounds clips eh? i would have no idea on what to play but i guess it is a good idea, maybe even do a video too.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempo Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 (edited) I've had a gt7 for a few years now. Great basses. Had similar frustrations with the electronics. Have changed the pre to an Artec 3 band with sweepable mids, opened up the sound no end. Still debating putting an acg filter in at some point. The pickups are fine imo and very hot once rid of the stock preamp. Also had to change blend pot on artec to a 25k. Hope you get the bass sounding how you like. Pete. Edited July 19, 2011 by tempo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkNS4 Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 [quote name='tempo' post='1308845' date='Jul 19 2011, 09:53 AM']I've had a gt7 for a few years now. Great basses. Had similar frustrations with the electronics. Have changed the pre to an Artec 3 band with sweepable mids, opened up the sound no end. Still debating putting an acg filter in at some point. The pickups are fine imo and very hot once rid of the stock preamp. Also had to change blend pot on artec to a 25k. Hope you get the bass sounding how you like. Pete.[/quote] thats nice to hear, is there any chance you could record some audio clips? it would be much appreciated thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guyl Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Sold a Conklin Sidewinder III a few years ago. Pickups and pre were both Basslines. And were awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkNS4 Posted July 20, 2011 Author Share Posted July 20, 2011 Just a small update for anyone interested my pickups will be shipped on monday so i should receive them sometime next week ive ordere shrink tube and copperfoil for shielding the cavity im getting a bit excited as it will be my first attempt at anything like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 [quote name='MarkNS4' post='1308634' date='Jul 18 2011, 11:32 PM']well the bartolinis i have just now are active and as of late i`ve realised bartolini isn`t the sound im wanting ive heard some clips of the kent armstrongs pups (which are passive) wired without an internal preamp and on their own they sound ridiculously good ill stick up some pics of the bass before i start drilling etc thanks[/quote] Well i'm glad you like the sound of them. I think they're quite good (on the guitar) but of course they're not the most expensive of pickups so if i was rich they probably wouldn't be my first choice if you see what i mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkNS4 Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 [quote name='EdwardHimself' post='1311676' date='Jul 21 2011, 03:57 PM']Well i'm glad you like the sound of them. I think they're quite good (on the guitar) but of course they're not the most expensive of pickups so if i was rich they probably wouldn't be my first choice if you see what i mean.[/quote] expensive doesnt always mean the best, most expensive things are that price due to having a name for themself and if people only bought the expensive stuff then smaller named companies wouldnt take off and ive heard the armstrong pickups wired to a jack with no preamp and that sold it to me, plus the fact that they are uk based and can actually manufacture a custom pickup in my sizes. only one other company could do it and that was nordstrand, but they are american based and id have to wait for shipping and pay for shipping and import tax. but like i said i heard the ka pickups wired straight to a jack and the sound made me decide to not go for the nordstrand ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkNS4 Posted July 27, 2011 Author Share Posted July 27, 2011 For anyone who's interested I have finished this now and I will be uploading pics soon And I'm very pleased withthe results Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 [quote name='tempo' post='1308845' date='Jul 19 2011, 09:53 AM']I've had a gt7 for a few years now. Great basses. Had similar frustrations with the electronics. Have changed the pre to an Artec 3 band with sweepable mids, opened up the sound no end. Still debating putting an acg filter in at some point. The pickups are fine imo and very hot once rid of the stock preamp. Also had to change blend pot on artec to a 25k. Hope you get the bass sounding how you like. Pete.[/quote] Sorry for the hijack but, Pete, can you tell me why you changed the pan pot on the Artec to 25K? I'm about to put one of these into a Yamaha G5A which has passive P-type pickups in a soapbar shell. Apologies again. G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempo Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 No problem Geoff. The Artec comes with 500/250k pots as standard which are fine for passive pickups. Active pickups generally have a lower output impedance and benefit from 25k pots. This keeps the blending of pickups gradual and smooth, not a on/off/both effect. If you are using passive pickups, just wire in as supplied. I still intend to put some sound clips of mine up soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkNS4 Posted July 27, 2011 Author Share Posted July 27, 2011 Main post edited, more pics added Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AttitudeCastle Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 Do sound clips!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Your B string situation looks familiar from my days of owning Conklins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkNS4 Posted July 28, 2011 Author Share Posted July 28, 2011 [quote name='Finbar' post='1319598' date='Jul 28 2011, 06:23 PM']Your B string situation looks familiar from my days of owning Conklins [/quote] lol was a quick replacement B, which wasnt tapered so doesnt exactly fit need to order myself a nice new fullset cant wait to hear how the pups and preamp react with new strings either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 [quote name='MarkNS4' post='1319609' date='Jul 28 2011, 06:32 PM']lol was a quick replacement B, which wasnt tapered so doesnt exactly fit need to order myself a nice new fullset cant wait to hear how the pups and preamp react with new strings either[/quote] Just noticed your band is 96/4. I know the guy who used to play bass for them - you ever spoken to him? He's a Conklin man too, and a cool guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkNS4 Posted July 30, 2011 Author Share Posted July 30, 2011 [quote name='Finbar' post='1319623' date='Jul 28 2011, 06:42 PM']Just noticed your band is 96/4. I know the guy who used to play bass for them - you ever spoken to him? He's a Conklin man too, and a cool guy [/quote] yeah ck, never met the guy as he moved to china, and now lives in canada and is married ive been in the band for 3 years now, were recording our album hence me upgrading the conklin, and i couldnt be happier with how it sounds now where are you from and how do u know ck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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