Preamp issue, Does this sound normal?

[NJE]

Hello all,

I have a Squier Deluxe Active V, its a great bass fun to play but the preamp didnt do much when I bought it. I decided to replace it with an Aguilar 2 band EQ (OBP2?) and had it wired to 18v with and active passive switch. The layout is now: Vol/Blend/Bass/Treble with active/passive switch.

The problem is that now the Aguilar doesnt seem to do much either. I have to have the bass and treble full on to get a good level out of the bass and even if I roll them back to the midway position the volume is really low. My question is, is this normal?

My Overwater doesnt dip in volume when I roll the EQ off, but the Squier makes no noise when rolled off. What is going on, is it wired up wrong? is it not working with the stock pickups?

I am getting to the point where I want to rip it all out and go passive or splurge and get a pre-wired Audere to go in it (or a Nordy Pre). I just dont use it because I hate having a "faulty" bass.

Any help gratefully received.

Nathan

[EBS_freak]

Have you checked your pickups? Are they pretty weak? Get a meter and measure the output... how powerful are the magnets?

How close are they to the strings? Try raising them to get a volume boost.

[BassBod]

From memory the Aguilar circuits don't add any gain to the pickups - so they don't boost output as such, until you crank the eq. I used some old Barts with one, and found the output was similar to a low output passive bass. I guess (assuming wiring is all ok) its hotter pickups or another preamp...but first push the input gain on your amp and see if you like the sound. My guess would be better pickups will get you there.

[NJE]

thanks for the comments firstly.

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='727928' date='Jan 28 2010, 06:25 PM']Have you checked your pickups? Are they pretty weak? Get a meter and measure the output... how powerful are the magnets?

How close are they to the strings? Try raising them to get a volume boost.[/quote]

The pickups are stock so going to guess and say they are not all that good. The pole pieces are not exposed and I have them as close to the strings as I can get them now. It made a slight difference but not much. I think my conclusion is that the pickups may need changing as plenty of people get on with Aguilar preamps.


[quote name='BassBod' post='728164' date='Jan 28 2010, 10:01 PM']From memory the Aguilar circuits don't add any gain to the pickups - so they don't boost output as such, until you crank the eq. I used some old Barts with one, and found the output was similar to a low output passive bass. I guess (assuming wiring is all ok) its hotter pickups or another preamp...but first push the input gain on your amp and see if you like the sound. My guess would be better pickups will get you there.[/quote]


This is really interesting as when flat they are just a little higher output than a passive bass. I used it last night at a practice and it does sound really good and i got a nice sound with the eq boosted (but not maxed). I think part of my problem also was testing it a home volumes. I couldnt hear a great deal of difference when I turned the eq at home but with my amp cranked last night I could hear a difference and the pre seemed to be doing more ( I know I should have though of this before)

The one thing I noticed last night after not playing this bass for a while was that because the pickups are very small (almost like a 4 string set on a 5) it was really uncomfortable to use the pickup as a thumb rest which I do a lot on my Overwater. So after thinking about my volume problems and the tiny pickups/awkward right hand position, I think I am going to go for some new pickups.

Just going to have a look at some Nordy Big Singles or similar I think and see when and where I can get them done. Cheers for the comments chaps, a new set of pickups isnt much in the grand scale of things especially if it makes the bas smore usable.