Pickups or preamp?

[ardi100]

This could very well be a very dumb question, but how do you know if a defiency in the sound of a bass is due to the pickups or the preamp?

 

I've read many discussions of cheap basses where people state with certainty that either the pickups or the preamp (or both) need replacing. What are the tell tale signs of either?

[Downunderwonder]

Imbalance between strings can come from string to pickup distance or pickups themselves.

 

Noise can be from anywhere.

[itu]

A pretty easy trial is to bypass the preamp. Then you can hear the signal from the pickups only. If there are hi-Z (passive) components like pots and capacitors between the pickups and amp, they also have an effect on signal and sound. Every hi-Z pot is a tone-like LPF that cuts highs. 

 

I would like to add that strings and setup (including pickup height) are also two important parts of the sound. 

Edited 9 hours ago by itu
add2

[Misdee]

1 hour ago, ardi100 said:

This could very well be a very dumb question, but how do you know if a defiency in the sound of a bass is due to the pickups or the preamp?

 

I've read many discussions of cheap basses where people state with certainty that either the pickups or the preamp (or both) need replacing. What are the tell tale signs of either?

 How do people know? They often don't, they just think they do.

 

If you've got a cheap bass that sounds deficient it's not necessarily the pickups or the preamp that makes it sound deficient. It could be shortcomings in how the bass has been designed and built, the structure of the bass itself. 

 

If the bass is active and has a preamp you can bypass and it sounds markedly better when doing so that can be a sign that the preamp is poor or knackered, to use the technical term. If the pickups sound very weak or hum excessively or both then they might be either rubbish pickups and or faulty.

 

Overall, if you play bass unamplified and it sounds lively and dynamic and if you then find that isn't reflected in the amplified sound that can be an indication the bits that produce the amplified sound are not up to the job, but working out where and why can take a bit of investigation and experimentation. Throwing money and replacement parts at an inexpensive bass won't necessarily remedy your dissatisfaction. 

[chris_b]

Cheap basses always have cheap pickups and electrics. It's where they cut corners. 

 

I have an inexpensive jazz bass which sounds OK in the right circumstances. Putting in Barts, Nordstrands etc would cost more than the bass, and resale value would be through the floor. My solution, which got me half way there was a Sadowsky preamp. On a good day, I can almost imagine I'm playing my Sadowsky Jazz.

 

So get the best preamp you can find.

[Misdee]

4 hours ago, chris_b said:

Cheap basses always have cheap pickups and electrics. It's where they cut corners. 

 

I have an inexpensive jazz bass which sounds OK in the right circumstances. Putting in Barts, Nordstrands etc would cost more than the bass, and resale value would be through the floor. My solution, which got me half way there was a Sadowsky preamp. On a good day, I can almost imagine I'm playing my Sadowsky Jazz.

 

So get the best preamp you can find.

Was that the outboard preamp Chris?

 

Buying an outboard Sadowsky preamp would makes good sense for a lot of reasons. That bit of kit makes most basses sound better, cheap and not so cheap, so it may well stay useful if someone upgrades to a more expensive instrument. Even if the Sadowsky preamp doesn't make your cheaper bass sound good enough to satisfy, you can keep it for the next bass. Sooner or later it will be useful and money well-spent.