Sound Suggestions Sought!

[Nate9]

Hi all

A relative (i.e. complete) electronics newb here; however I know what tone I like and what I'm after (roughly!).

I have the Corvette 2005 Ltd. 'Hot Rod,' and I am unhappy with the sound after playing it every day for a while. Don't get me wrong, I've never played a bass like it; the playability, action and neck are truly fantastic, to the extent I can't play any other bass without reaching back for it. But the sound to me is a bit sterile; I never have it on active; it's 'too clean' if you know what I mean, for me at least (I'm after something chunky and stanky, P-Bass-esque).

I'm looking for suggestions as to what I can do to change this - I would stick Quarter Pounders in it, but I don't know if this will make a difference, what with the active preamp and all. I've no idea about preamps at all but ideally I would want a passive setup, as I never use the active EQ on it.

Apologies if this seems a bit vague; I've tried my best!
All suggestions welcome, cheers.

[One Bad Monkey]

The SD Quarter Pound pickups are a MAN'S pickup, in that you're going to get a beastly tone, compared to a stock P pickup. I used one of those in an old P/J before, and it's a great pickup that will easily get that stank that you're looking for. Combine that with a complete passive EQ setup (as in, pull the preamp and wire it old school), and you should be golden. It's worth a shot at the very least.

[WarwickOfficial]

Great advice, Jonathon! I would agree completely...

[One Bad Monkey]

If you REALLY wanted to get fancy, look up the schematic for the Fender 1962 stacked vol/tone jazz bass and wire the double P pickups that way. It really lets you fine tune the sound while retaining all of the beefiness and attack of the pickups.

[Nate9]

Cheers, that sounds great! What do you mean by wiring it old school though? 2 volume, 1 tone or something?

[One Bad Monkey]

Originally Posted by Nate9

Cheers, that sounds great! What do you mean by wiring it old school though? 2 volume, 1 tone or something?

Yep, wire it passive v/v/t like most P/J and J basses. That should give you plenty of options.

Here's the schematic if you want to try the stacked v/t pots from the 1962 Fender Jazz Bass. Like I said, I found this to be more advantageous and tonally open than just the v/v/t option.

[Nate9]

Thanks very much, you've been a great help! I'll ask around some shops and let you know how it goes.