L2000 Tribute possible issue!

[mithrandir]

Hey everyone I just picked up a used Tribute L2000 at a local pawn shop. It sounded OK through the little amp at the store but when I got it home I noticed that it was not very clear in its tone. The bass portion of the preamp seems to overpower the treble. I tried new strings and lowering the pickups but I still get a very muddy tone. The treble pot works but it does not really let the new round wound strings sail through the mix, once again the sound is muffled. Is there any way of testing the preamp? Any suggestions will help.

Thanks

[spideyjg]

Originally Posted by mithrandir

Hey everyone I just picked up a used Tribute L2000 at a local pawn shop. It sounded OK through the little amp at the store but when I got it home I noticed that it was not very clear in its tone. The bass portion of the preamp seems to overpower the treble. I tried new strings and lowering the pickups but I still get a very muddy tone. The treble pot works but it does not really let the new round wound strings sail through the mix, once again the sound is muffled. Is there any way of testing the preamp? Any suggestions will help.

Thanks

Try it passive, what happens? Turn the bass down as well. There is no "bass portion" of the preamp.

The chip can go bad and muck up the passive mode.

Jim

[taquitos43]

I used to have an L-2000. You might try changing the battery. When the battery was low on mine it sounded very muddy. Hopefully it's a cheap fix like that.

[rok51]

Originally Posted by spideyjg

The chip can go bad and muck up the passive mode.
Jim

A bad chip can mess up the passive mode???

Kim

[mithrandir]

Thanks for the help. The battery is fine. When I play the bass in passive mode with the bass and treble on full there is a definite muddy sound as if the treble was being obscured and this is the same regardless of pickup, however as expected it is more pronounced when using the neck pickup.

When I turn the bass control off and adjust the treble there is very little difference in tone. The treble on full clears the tone a little but when the treble control if off the sound is just dead. As I increase the bass level the overall volume increases and the bass level completely fills the tone and in my opinion overdrives the sound rather than shaping it. Can you advise me on what I should be looking/listening for if I have a "bad chip". Also if I take off the back and hook the pots up to a meter what numbers should I be looking for if the bass was operating normally?

[lug]

Originally Posted by mithrandir

Thanks for the help. The battery is fine. When I play the bass in passive mode with the bass and treble on full there is a definite muddy sound as if the treble was being obscured and this is the same regardless of pickup, however as expected it is more pronounced when using the neck pickup.

When I turn the bass control off and adjust the treble there is very little difference in tone. The treble on full clears the tone a little but when the treble control if off the sound is just dead. As I increase the bass level the overall volume increases and the bass level completely fills the tone and in my opinion overdrives the sound rather than shaping it. Can you advise me on what I should be looking/listening for if I have a "bad chip". Also if I take off the back and hook the pots up to a meter what numbers should I be looking for if the bass was operating normally?

Have you ajsuted the EQ on your amp to flat? The MDFs put out a TON of bottom end. I found that I never run my bass control over 1/2 and run my EQ much flatter than with most other basses. . As far as the treble, change strings before making any judgements.

[spideyjg]

Originally Posted by rok51

A bad chip can mess up the passive mode???

Kim

Yep, the signal is "T'd" off and is always going to the chip as well as bypassing it.

The switch determines whether the signal at the jack is from the pre output or the bypass.

If the input segment of the chip fries just right, it can load down the entire signal chain.

Hard to explain unless you are an electronics dude. Then again any electronic tech worth their salt would look at the schematic and see this in a blink.


To the OP, Try lowering the pickups too The MFD's have far more low end and can easily sound whacked if you are not EQ'd for it or are feeding too hot a signal to your amp. If your amp has an "active" input try going in there.

Jim

[rok51]

Originally Posted by spideyjg

Yep, the signal is "T'd" off and is always going to the chip as well as bypassing it.

The switch determines whether the signal at the jack is from the pre output or the bypass.

If the input segment of the chip fries just right, it can load down the entire signal chain.

Hard to explain unless you are an electronics dude. Then again any electronic tech worth their salt would look at the schematic and see this in a blink.


To the OP, Try lowering the pickups too The MFD's have far more low end and can easily sound whacked if you are not EQ'd for it or are feeding too hot a signal to your amp. If your amp has an "active" input try going in there.

Jim

Thanks for clarifying that, Jim! I'm a tinkerer, but certainly no electronics tech...I would have thought that passive just bypassed the electronics altogether and could always be counted on as a 'fail safe' mode. Ooops! Here's hoping that the chip gods are always smiling on me!

Kim

[mithrandir]

OK..I tried all the suggestions and it still sounds like mud. The pickups do not seem to pickup the crisp highs of the new round wounds. I put the exact same strings on my Fender MM and boy do they punch through.

I will be off to the tech to see about this chip issue. Thanks for the info and just for everyones info I am putting the bass through a Peavey Max 700 (active mode) into a 410 TVX and Avatar 210 Neo running a full 700 Watts at 2 Ohms. This thing should be crushing.

[spideyjg]

Originally Posted by mithrandir

OK..I tried all the suggestions and it still sounds like mud. The pickups do not seem to pickup the crisp highs of the new round wounds. I put the exact same strings on my Fender MM and boy do they punch through.

I will be off to the tech to see about this chip issue. Thanks for the info and just for everyones info I am putting the bass through a Peavey Max 700 (active mode) into a 410 TVX and Avatar 210 Neo running a full 700 Watts at 2 Ohms. This thing should be crushing.

Watch Ed's demo. If it doesn't react like that, something is hooey.

FYI, Ed left all the tone controls fully up.

Jim

[badboy1984]

Something wrong with your bass. This bass can get either very bassy or very trebly depend what u do with the preamp and the EQ on your amp.

Like other have said, my bass EQ on the amp is stay flat all the time, i just adjust my mid a little bit to cut nicely in the band.