mario_buoninfante Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 Hi, Few weeks ago I decided to put my Spector Legend Classic 4 (lefty) up for sale, because I bought another bass and decided I had to get rid of another one. That said, in the last days I was thinking about it and I decided to pick the Spector up after 3 weeks without playing it and I immediately thought I should reconsider that! (Thing that I've just done! ) The quality is really good. Feel and finishing are these of a 1-1.2k bass. But, I realised that what I like less is the TonePumpJr active preamp. This circuitry colours a lot with its 16-18dB cut/boost EQ (don't have the specs at hand, but I know that cuts less then it boosts and that lows and highs settings are different), and the lack of "centre position" started to annoy me a bit as well, despite initially I thought it wouldn't be a problem. So, after fiddling with the EQ and trying to find a more neutral settings, I'm running the assumption that I like the PJ Barts pups, and I thought I should probably try one of the following things: remove the active preamp, add a passive tone control (maybe 1 per pickup) and leave the bass passive change preamp and I was wondering if anybody had done any of the 2 on a similar Spector. I'd be particularly interested in hearing if anybody ever made their Spector passive (I know sounds like an oxymoron right? But I have to admit the bass sounds really good even unplugged, so I don't think it would be such a heresy after all). But also, if anybody replaced the preamp, what did they go for and why? After this experience and after buying a G&L L2000, I started realising I really like transparent preamps, but I'm open to any recommendation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 I have a Legend 6 (I think) with Bartolini soapbars which was rewired from some kind of Tone Pump to passive VVTT by a previous owner -- it sounds pretty good to me with everything wide open, (although I'm not 100% sure it's totally correct: the tone controls don't do much and it buzzes when both volumes are at 0, for some reason). I have been thinking along similar lines to yourself, either a new preamp or get a new pre-wired VVTT loom, but there's no real need if I'm being honest, I rarely touch the controls on any of my basses and it works just fine as is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_buoninfante Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 (edited) 47 minutes ago, velvetkevorkian said: I have a Legend 6 (I think) with Bartolini soapbars which was rewired from some kind of Tone Pump to passive VVTT by a previous owner -- it sounds pretty good to me with everything wide open, (although I'm not 100% sure it's totally correct: the tone controls don't do much and it buzzes when both volumes are at 0, for some reason). I have been thinking along similar lines to yourself, either a new preamp or get a new pre-wired VVTT loom, but there's no real need if I'm being honest, I rarely touch the controls on any of my basses and it works just fine as is. Nice! Would you happen to have any recording you could share? I'd be really curious to listen to it. In the meanwhile I also discovered that Spector do a passive bass (apart from the entry-level Performer), the MK-5 Pro. I couldn't really find too many sound examples online, but from what I found it sounds really good. Now, I know that has EMG soapbars, while mine has PJ Bartolini, but at least that proved that Spector basses can sound good without an active preamp too. Edited January 23, 2023 by mario_buoninfante Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 2 hours ago, mario_buoninfante said: After this experience and after buying a G&L L2000, I started realising I really like transparent preamps, but I'm open to any recommendation. The G&L is not active in the true sense of the word. The treble and bass are passive "cut" controls. The active part is purely a line driver that boosts the signal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_buoninfante Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 5 minutes ago, BassBunny said: The G&L is not active in the true sense of the word. The treble and bass are passive "cut" controls. The active part is purely a line driver that boosts the signal. Yap, I'm aware of that. But it's an active preamp, the EQ is passive. And I quite like that tbh. For the records I use mine in passive mode all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 47 minutes ago, mario_buoninfante said: Would you happen to have any recording you could share? I'd be really curious to listen to it. Not at the moment but I'll see if I can put something together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralf1e Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 I have seen a thread about this subject on either here or TalkBass. I believe the idea was shown that the tone pump j can be swapped out for the more advanced tone pump model which is said to sound better and also has a little pot in the back making it adjustable. One of the things many owners do is turn the tone pump down a bit as they feel it is too much from factory setup. Personally I have left mine alone. It has bart soapbars and I love the range of sounds it gives me to choose from It is a euro LX 5 string. Not sure how other models sound as I only have the one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 10 hours ago, BassBunny said: The G&L is not active in the true sense of the word. The treble and bass are passive "cut" controls. The active part is purely a line driver that boosts the signal. If I may be pedantic, it does have the treble boost option, so the preamp does do one tone altering thing... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_buoninfante Posted January 24, 2023 Author Share Posted January 24, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, Ralf1e said: I have seen a thread about this subject on either here or TalkBass. I believe the idea was shown that the tone pump j can be swapped out for the more advanced tone pump model which is said to sound better and also has a little pot in the back making it adjustable. One of the things many owners do is turn the tone pump down a bit as they feel it is too much from factory setup. Personally I have left mine alone. It has bart soapbars and I love the range of sounds it gives me to choose from It is a euro LX 5 string. Not sure how other models sound as I only have the one. Yap, after starting this thread I then found something on TalkBass that was interesting, and even something here. The TonePumpJr, the preamp in my bass, doesn't have the trimpot, so I can't really experiment with that. But, I'm quite sure that it wouldn't change my mind. I'm not saying this preamp is not good, it's just that is not my cup of tea since it colours a lot. I think my next step is to bypass it simply using crocodile clips, to at least make sure I like the sound of the pups in passive mode. Then I'll take it from there. At the moment I'm leaning more towards making it passive, rather than replacing the preamp, but we'll see. Edited January 24, 2023 by mario_buoninfante 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Quick demo of my passive Legend 6, playing the same groove three times -- both pickups, bridge only, neck only. Tone controls wide open throughout. An empty HX Stomp patch into an SSL2 interface, recorded in Reaper. Caveats: the output is pretty low, so I've had to crank the input gain - apologies for the background hiss. With a proper patch setup this isn't usually a problem. Also I think these strings could probably do with a change. Hopefully you get the idea. spector demo.mp3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_buoninfante Posted January 24, 2023 Author Share Posted January 24, 2023 (edited) 52 minutes ago, velvetkevorkian said: Quick demo of my passive Legend 6, playing the same groove three times -- both pickups, bridge only, neck only. Tone controls wide open throughout. An empty HX Stomp patch into an SSL2 interface, recorded in Reaper. Caveats: the output is pretty low, so I've had to crank the input gain - apologies for the background hiss. With a proper patch setup this isn't usually a problem. Also I think these strings could probably do with a change. Hopefully you get the idea. spector demo.mp3 Thanks for sharing this. Yes the noise gets a little bit in the way, but to be honest I can hear it's a Spector! Maybe I'm convincing myself, but it seems like the timbre is there, it hasn't really lost anything. I'd like to hear what other people think as well though, as I might be biased. Edited January 24, 2023 by mario_buoninfante 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Nice, I can stop window shopping for on-board pre-amps then 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 (edited) The Euro4 RST models I think have Aguilar Super Double p/ups and an OBP-2 and they sound very Spectory to me. Might be an option to consider? Edited January 27, 2023 by ead 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 (edited) An OBP-2 has just appeared for sale in the Accessories thread... Edited January 28, 2023 by ead 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_buoninfante Posted January 28, 2023 Author Share Posted January 28, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, ead said: An OBP-2 has just appeared for sale in the Accessories thread... Interesting, but I'm happy with my pickups though. The Barts on my Legend Classic seem pretty good. I still have to try them bypassing the TonePumpJr though. Edited January 28, 2023 by mario_buoninfante Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 On 23/01/2023 at 22:19, BassBunny said: The G&L is not active in the true sense of the word. The treble and bass are passive "cut" controls. The active part is purely a line driver that boosts the signal. the g&l is active in the true sense of the word. There is nothing that says an active preamp needs any tone controls, it is just a feature of them most has as it is convenient. Mr Fender understood this more than most, which is why the tone controls are passive on the L series 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 On 26/01/2023 at 16:34, ead said: The Euro4 RST models I think have Aguilar Super Double p/ups and an OBP-2 and they sound very Spectory to me. Might be an option to consider? The euro 5 rst (which I have) sounds very good but nothing like the Non RST euro I have with EMGs, sound much closer to my Ibanez premiums Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_buoninfante Posted January 29, 2023 Author Share Posted January 29, 2023 these ones look interesting too https://bartolini.net/product-category/electronics/buffers/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_buoninfante Posted January 30, 2023 Author Share Posted January 30, 2023 (edited) One other idea popped up in my mind, I could try swapping the EQ pots with detent ones. Something like 10 detents could be nice! I wouldn't know where the flat position is, but I'll have reference points anyway. Edited January 30, 2023 by mario_buoninfante Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 You can build your own step attenuators. You need rotary switches that are make-before-break, otherwise you'll have nasty clicks in your signal. Use metal foil resistors instead of noisy carbon ones. I may still have the equations somewhere. This probably has 6 dB steps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_buoninfante Posted January 30, 2023 Author Share Posted January 30, 2023 I was thinking it should be relatively easy to find pre-mad ones too. But I didn't check yet though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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