skelf Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 (edited) If you find the output is low turn the gain up on the preamp inputs they were at the lowest setting so there is a lot of gain that can be added. Edited July 9, 2014 by skelf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 [quote name='Conan' timestamp='1404892940' post='2496665'] No offence, and I'm sure it is not the reason for your lower pickup output - but many would argue that Orange and Markbass cabs are far from being "the best you can get"... [/quote] Best is definitely subjective....I've tried some Markbass cabs and played through pleny of Orange cabs and found them fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 It's funny how different folks see things in very different ways. A sentence constructed with the words 'tonal palette' in connection with the MC pickups would for me include 'unrivalled' and 'awesome'. Each string has it's own pickup instead of sharing one with all the other strings. The articulation that this gives is immense. Perhaps its this clearly defined tone on the higher tone strings without the more usual overtones (your 'warmth'?) that you don't like in comparison with your Warwick? I love my Warwick Thumb and it produces a great tone but it's no-where near as articulate or tonally defined as my MC5 equipped ACG. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Badderer Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 *Disclaimer I have only played the ACG for an hour total* I tend to agree with Peter above. The ACG has an incredible and very clear tone and i think his point about the articulation is exactly the right way to describe the difference. I have a german corvette $$ and it has an amazing tonal variation available to it, amazingly different in a more conventional tonal palette, whereas the ACG has a more unique tone options available. (i love my Warwick $$ and will never sell it as it was the bass that inspired me to get better due to it being the first top quality bass I owned and suddenly could hear what my fingers were doing, something the lower quality PUPs on my 1st basses never let me hear) Possibly what you are pointing out is the strength of the signal that comes out of an active Warwick $$. The only bass i own that produces such a hot signal is my US Spector with both bass and treble boosted to the max (you wouldn't do this in normal playing). I find the Warwick's signal so strong that some of my pedals don't work well with it due to the hotness of the signal (i click it into passive mode if using with pedals). I think there is also a lot of brightness and overtones because of how clear and sensitive the MEC$$ pups are. I can certainly say with having done no faffing with the preamp options (5 pages!!) in the ACG that it has arrived with an incredibly vocal and sonorous tone with some great options that I look forward to playing with! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Badderer Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 oh and on the treble noise point, the pickups in this are probably the most noiseless pickups i've played with (although i have not played it through my Avalon U5 and listened with studio headphones, when I do i'll let you know how the treble noises compare, and i haven't messed with too many settings yet, although i've had fun with the filters!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 [quote name='The Badderer' timestamp='1404947024' post='2497310'] *Disclaimer I have only played the ACG for an hour total* [/quote] I think that's the main issue right there. Like the Wals that in some ways inspired them, many users say that it takes time to learn to get the best out of their ACG basses - especially the ones with the bespoke circuitry. And some basses are just less "shouty" than others! I haven't owned a Warwick, but I found this to be the case with my Spector Euro. It would overdrive the input section on my LH500 and when I cut the bass and treble controls to levels that reduced this, the sound just wasn't the same. Maybe, in your setup, the ACG would be helped by a pedal of some description? Just to add some more of the "richness" (or call it what you will) that you are used to with the Warwick and Spector.... Worth a try! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 I have a couple of the ACG filter preamps and for both I found that giving the gain pot a small tweak made a big difference in terms of the basic tones coming out of the bass. No treble 'noise' experience though - although to be fair I have never tried tried cranking the high pass filter gain and opening up all the filters. Might give that a go tonight to see what it sounds like Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cana.dan Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 My passive J Type has the most output of any of my basses. Blows my Valenti, Rick and Jazz with a J Retro away in terms of volume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Badderer Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 Sorry conan my writing close to midnight may have not been clear. I was attempting to state how great the ACG sound was after only an hour of playing certainly not picking fault with it. I find it so full clear and vocal and beautiful and i'm going to stop talking before i have a crisis!! My point want more for the guy commenting about his Warwick Streamer $$ that i feel it is due to the overall Hotness of the Warwick MEC$$ pups that might mean he finds that difference. The signal coming out of Warwick active $$ is so hot in comparison to every other bass that I own. possibly it is this contrast that causes him to find the ACG pup system weaker. For example if i was to gig the Warwick with another of my basses and wanted to switch between them, I would use my VT Bass Deluxe pedal (which has the ability to connect 2 basses to it) and one bank of preset with the volume level set much lower for a Warwick $$, and would boost up the overall volume level of any of my other basses (unless i was running the Warwick in passive mode). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 [quote name='The Badderer' timestamp='1405001483' post='2497759'] Sorry conan my writing close to midnight may have not been clear. [/quote] No worries - my bad too! Getting confused in my old age... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkin Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 [quote name='Conan' timestamp='1404976082' post='2497377'] And some basses are just less "shouty" than others! I haven't owned a Warwick, but I found this to be the case with my Spector Euro. It would overdrive the input section on my LH500 [/quote] Crikey ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 (edited) [quote name='barkin' timestamp='1405017664' post='2498013'] Crikey ! [/quote] Yep - to the point where I had my amp serviced as I thought something must be wrong! Once I switched back to a nice, passive J bass; the problem mysteriously disappeared (and there was nothing wrong with my amp...) Edited July 11, 2014 by Conan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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