NeonMig Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Yeah so I really love the sound of my bass. The only thing that bugs me is the output is surprisingly low, considering it's active (both preamp and pickups). It's a '99 model with SD Bassline pickups, and I think an MEC preamp but I'm not sure (got it used). So I was thinking about upgrading the preamp. It's a 2-band, but that's all I need really, I'm not a fan of fiddling around with knobs much (no I don't mean like that you bloody pervert) so I'm not thinking of getting a 3-band. Any suggestions? I'm a bit clueless when it comes to higher-end electronics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 [quote name='NeonMig' post='264474' date='Aug 18 2008, 12:38 PM']Yeah so I really love the sound of my bass. The only thing that bugs me is the output is surprisingly low, considering it's active (both preamp and pickups). It's a '99 model with SD Bassline pickups, and I think an MEC preamp but I'm not sure (got it used). So I was thinking about upgrading the preamp. It's a 2-band, but that's all I need really, I'm not a fan of fiddling around with knobs much (no I don't mean like that you bloody pervert) so I'm not thinking of getting a 3-band. Any suggestions? I'm a bit clueless when it comes to higher-end electronics.[/quote] I agree that a lot of the Warwick MEC preamp outputs can be fairly low BUT (hopefully without sounding patronising) can you match the input gain on your amp to get the desired output? If you can then there really isn't much point throwing money at a new pre. A new higher gain pre would just mean that you'd have to lower the input gain compared to your present pre. It's a different kettle of piscine altogether if you aren't getting the level out of the bass to drive the front end of your amp. This (again) isn't meant to sound patronising but have you got a fresh battery in and does your present preamp have the little blue gain pot fitted? Many Warwick MEC pres have a little blue trim pot sealed into the block that can be tweaked to give more gain (watch you don't increase too much and add noise), have a look inside the cavity... you might get a pleasant surprise. If all this fails there are loads of excellent preamps out there. In fact I have a Warwick 18v 3 band (4 pot) preamp that I am taking out of my Warwick fretless to drop in a 2 band I purchased as I'm not keen on 3 band EQs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 [quote name='warwickhunt' post='264504' date='Aug 18 2008, 01:03 PM']I agree that a lot of the Warwick MEC preamp outputs can be fairly low BUT (hopefully without sounding patronising) can you match the input gain on your amp to get the desired output? If you can then there really isn't much point throwing money at a new pre. A new higher gain pre would just mean that you'd have to lower the input gain compared to your present pre. It's a different kettle of piscine altogether if you aren't getting the level out of the bass to drive the front end of your amp. This (again) isn't meant to sound patronising but have you got a fresh battery in and does your present preamp have the little blue gain pot fitted? Many Warwick MEC pres have a little blue trim pot sealed into the block that can be tweaked to give more gain (watch you don't increase too much and add noise), have a look inside the cavity... you might get a pleasant surprise. If all this fails there are loads of excellent preamps out there. In fact I have a Warwick 18v 3 band (4 pot) preamp that I am taking out of my Warwick fretless to drop in a 2 band I purchased as I'm not keen on 3 band EQs [/quote] A friend of mine uses he Schack circuit in his Warwicks. They work really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Schack are good (had one of their carbon necked headless basses) but I found the preamp 'WAY' to complex... Saying that I once had a bass custom built that had one control; Volume! Suited me down to the ground until I installed a 2nd pup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeonMig Posted August 18, 2008 Author Share Posted August 18, 2008 (edited) @Freak: Yup, fresh battery. Well I mean, I sometimes find myself really having to boost the gain on my amp in order to get the drive that I want (I like a little bit of tube crunchiness at times), way higher than I would for other basses... the difference is a bit too much to be just put down to the nature of the beast. No little blue pot in the electronics cavity, I suppose that means it's not an MEC after all? Well I'm just looking for a 2-band, not a fan of 3-band eqs either and certainly don't want to go having to drill another hole into my bass! Thanks for the heads up. So, any suggestions? Edited August 18, 2008 by NeonMig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJE Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Hello, I could be very wrong here but would a external EQ pedal e.g. Sadowsky etc make a difference to output or is it just for sound? It may save you stripping out the electronics and wont hurt the orginal state of the bass for resale. Its an idea I know people have suggested it for passive basses, and I am thinking of getting something for my Roscoe Beck. Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 If you have space for two batteries, the Aguilar OPB1 is great - very much like the Sadowsky (or Musicman) preamp, with great bass boost. Doesn't add any gain as such, so if your pickups are lowish output, then it may still seem a bit low. Also doesnt do any active pickup mixing. Are your pickups active or passive? I'd also be tempted to try the ACG/East filter preamp.....expensive but looks good! BB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 If you have space for two batteries, the Aguilar OPB1 is great - very much like the Sadowsky (or Musicman) preamp, with great bass boost. Doesn't add any gain as such, so if your pickups are lowish output, then it may still seem a bit low. Also doesnt do any active pickup mixing. Are your pickups active or passive? I'd also be tempted to try the ACG/East filter preamp.....expensive but looks good! BB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalmickey Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 How about a SD STC2? Check it out here - [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/cutting-edge-1/stc2_stc32_3ban/"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/bass...tc2_stc32_3ban/[/url] SD's EQs have served me fine in the past, and the stack means no drilling. Bout a ton retail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brave Sir Robin Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 did you look inside to see if there is a trim pot to control the output? Many pre-amps have that built in. It's possible it is set low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 [quote name='Brave Sir Robin' post='264623' date='Aug 18 2008, 02:57 PM']did you look inside to see if there is a trim pot to control the output? Many pre-amps have that built in. It's possible it is set low.[/quote] Yes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeonMig Posted August 18, 2008 Author Share Posted August 18, 2008 (edited) @warhunt: yeah, looked inside nothing like that visible. I'm supposing it's an SD pre after all. [quote name='NJE' post='264548' date='Aug 18 2008, 03:40 PM']Hello, I could be very wrong here but would a external EQ pedal e.g. Sadowsky etc make a difference to output or is it just for sound? It may save you stripping out the electronics and wont hurt the orginal state of the bass for resale. Its an idea I know people have suggested it for passive basses, and I am thinking of getting something for my Roscoe Beck. Nathan[/quote] Well I'm happy with the sound, just the output is pretty low. I'd rather not have to carry a pedal around with my bass... I want the instrument itself to be 'improved' so to speak. Since I don't trust myself with anything related to electronics, I'd take it somewhere to be done... my first thoughts go to The Gallery, anywhere else in London that would be good for such a job? How much would it set me back? Thanks for the answers guys. Edited August 18, 2008 by NeonMig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peted Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 My Warwick Thumb bolt-on 4 with 2 band MEC pre-amp has quite a low output (lower than another bass with a passive Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder). So this is normal and nothing to worry about. Why do you feel the need to increase the output? What scenario do you come across where the output becomes a hinderence? The only thing that I can think of is that you might be swapping basses mid-gig and you have to keep tweaking the input gain on the amp between switches. Please do explain how this becomes an issue? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeonMig Posted August 19, 2008 Author Share Posted August 19, 2008 I'd like more headroom. And the ability to really drive a preamp section if I want to, I like a bit of crunchiness and I'd rather not have to boost the input gain too much in order to avoid too much noise. I mean, it's not a massive issue but I would feel better with say an 18v preamp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 [quote name='NeonMig' post='265477' date='Aug 19 2008, 01:32 PM']I'd like more headroom. And the ability to really drive a preamp section if I want to, I like a bit of crunchiness and I'd rather not have to boost the input gain too much in order to avoid too much noise. I mean, it's not a massive issue but I would feel better with say an 18v preamp.[/quote] If you don't get fixed up and are running on a budget (and don't mind leaving the 3rd band mid setting alone) my 18v 3 band MEC preamp circuit and pots will be available soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brave Sir Robin Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 [quote name='warwickhunt' post='264633' date='Aug 18 2008, 03:08 PM']Yes... [/quote] Warwickhunt, what bass is that? Looks like an aguilar preamp, and from the looks of the wood and cavity, the bass looks like a $$ NT, but the pot alignment looks weird! Just curious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 (edited) [quote name='Brave Sir Robin' post='266838' date='Aug 21 2008, 09:24 AM']Warwickhunt, what bass is that? Looks like an aguilar preamp, and from the looks of the wood and cavity, the bass looks like a $$ NT, but the pot alignment looks weird! Just curious [/quote] Well BSR... It's officially a Streamer Corvette ('91) but they are often referred to as Infinettes as they preceded the Infinity range by a few years. They were a Ltd Ed of between 120 and 200 (depending on what you read/hear). The preamp is actually an MEC unit and the pots as you see are dual concentrics with push/pull switching options for coil tapping the rear pup and for active/passive. Edited August 21, 2008 by warwickhunt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brave Sir Robin Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 definitely not the usual Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeonMig Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 [quote name='warwickhunt' post='265522' date='Aug 19 2008, 04:13 PM']If you don't get fixed up and are running on a budget (and don't mind leaving the 3rd band mid setting alone) my 18v 3 band MEC preamp circuit and pots will be available soon. [/quote] Interesting, I'll keep that in mind. Of course, I'd have to take it somewhere to be done since I trust myself with electronics about as much as I'd trust a 5 year old with a flamethrower. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 My corvette is the same, less output than a bass with a passive humbucker. Can second the aquilar option, tons of clean boost and very difficult to make it sound bad (even for me!). Loving that Infinette btw! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 have you tried simply raising the pups? on one of my basses the precision pup was too quiet for my liking so i raised it and its fine now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeonMig Posted August 26, 2008 Author Share Posted August 26, 2008 Ok, I tried that and the effect was... well okay... still pretty quiet (my old active Washburn XB120 is still so much louder it's not funny... 9v preamp there too.) The pickups being too high up however were uncomfortable for me to play on. I'll look at the Aguilar and other options, cheers guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted August 26, 2008 Share Posted August 26, 2008 Have you considered just upping your 9v to 18v? I'm 99% certain that the MEC preamps can be run at 18v with no modification required, other than you installing another battery (connected the correct way ) into your control cavity. I have one fitted into my Streamer with no issues and the extra battery fitted quite easily. I'm not saying this will suddenly give you a massive jump in output but it will increase the headroom and might be just what the doctor ordered. For the cost of a 9v battery and a clip with 2 wires its got to be worth looking into surely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brave Sir Robin Posted August 26, 2008 Share Posted August 26, 2008 (edited) could be an amp issue. maybe some impedance mismatch. My Thumb wasn't loud, but not really a problem. Preamp bypassed, it sounded the same with the eq flat and the pre-amp was engaged. Edited August 26, 2008 by Brave Sir Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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