Advantages to 18 volts???

FuzzBoxVoodoo · #1 12-09-2010, 06:42 AM

I have a Schecter Elite with passive EMG-HZ Pickups in it and I have tried a Seymour Duncan 3 band preamp in it and now a Aggie OBP-3 in a attempt to wake this thing up a little and no luck thus far,I did raise the pickups which did help a little.
My reason for asking this is I want to get more output and clarity from this bass as it is there is a big difference between my other basses and this one so it makes it too much of a pain to use live because I don't have time to deal with it, so I was wondering what those of you that have expierenced when you went from 9 volts to 18 volts?
Steve

KJung · #2 12-09-2010, 06:51 AM

18 volts will not give you any more 'output'. It has nothing to do with volume, but rather with the 'headroom' a circuit has. You might notice a difference if you have VERY hot pickups or very aggressive technique. The additional 'power' will allow the preamp to handle extreme transients a little better (i.e., a touch less distortion). For most, you would not notice the difference.

Many prefer a preamp that has unity gain with the passive output of the instrument, so you can easily go from active to passive without having to change your input gain on your amp.

The OB-3 is pretty low output... just turn up your input gain and you should be good to go.

SGD Lutherie · #3 12-09-2010, 06:52 AM

You wont get more output on 18V, just more headroom.

If you want more clarity, change the pickups.

Hellbastard · #4 12-09-2010, 06:53 AM

AFAIK running a pre 18 volts won't give more output, what it will do is give you more headroom and battery life.

KJung · #5 12-09-2010, 06:53 AM

An idea... if your other 'hotter output' basses have internal trim pots (the OB-3 doesn't), you can reduce their output so that all your basses are roughly equal. However, some preamps have these output trim pots, and others don't. Worth checking 'under the hood'.

rumblinbass · #6 12-09-2010, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FuzzBoxVoodoo

I have a Schecter Elite with passive EMH-HZ Pickups in it and I have tried a Seymour Duncan 3 band preamp in it and now a Aggie OBP-3 in a attempt to wake this thing up a little and no luck thus far,I did raise the pickups which did help a little.
My reason for asking this is I want to get more output and clarity from this bass as it is there is a big difference between my other basses and this one so it makes it too much of a pain to use live because I don't have time to deal with it, so I was wondering what those of you that have expierenced when you went from 9 volts to 18 volts?
Steve

18 volts will just give you more headroom. That's it.
If you want more output from the preamp you will need gain. With increased headroom you will be able to get more gain with less concern about clipping.

IMO, gain from an onboard preamp is unnecessary. Just turn the gain up on your amplifier. Again, that's just my $0.02.

FuzzBoxVoodoo · #7 12-09-2010, 07:12 AM

Thanks for the quick responses.
My other basses have the Ibanez PFR-4 pickups or G&L 2500 which is also a very hot output.
If I were to change the Neck Pickup what would you guys recommend?
Thanks for your help.

SGD Lutherie · #8 12-09-2010, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FuzzBoxVoodoo

My other basses have the Ibanez PFR-4 pickups or G&L 2500 which is also a very hot output.
If I were to change the Neck Pickup what would you guys recommend?

Do you want a louder pickup, or a different tone?

FuzzBoxVoodoo · #9 12-09-2010, 07:21 AM

I am basically looking for a louder pickup that sounds like the EMG-HZ.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

Do you want a louder pickup, or a different tone?

T40Chump · #10 12-09-2010, 07:23 AM

IMO...It's the Hz's. Replaced mine with a Basslines QP Jazz and I love my bass again.

KeithPas · #11 12-09-2010, 07:25 AM

I swapped the HZ's out of my Schecter Riot bass to EMG 40DC's, kept the same preamp and the bass sounds 100% better IMO.

FuzzBoxVoodoo · #12 12-09-2010, 08:13 AM

Could I put a EMG35DC in the Neck position and still leave the HZ in the Bridge position wired up?
I don't mean to be cheap but I have allready put too much in a bass that I do like but isn't my favorite yet.

SGD Lutherie · #13 12-09-2010, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FuzzBoxVoodoo

Could I put a EMG35DC in the Neck position and still leave the HZ in the Bridge position wired up?
I don't mean to be cheap but I have allready put too much in a bass that I do like but isn't my favorite yet.

You can't easily mix the active and passive pickups.

FuzzBoxVoodoo · #14 12-09-2010, 09:13 AM

Thanks for the info and it looks like I will give the SGD's a try.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

You can't easily mix the active and passive pickups.

Medford Bassman · #15 12-09-2010, 09:24 AM

I have to agree with everyone else here. 18v gives you more headroom that's about it.
My MIA P Deluxe is 18v, while my MIA Jazz is a 9v Audere. Not too much difference really except maybe battery life.

OF course, if I wanted to be fancy the audere will also run on 18v, but I see no reason for it at this time.

mcnach · #16 12-10-2010, 03:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hellbastard

AFAIK running a pre 18 volts won't give more output, what it will do is give you more headroom and battery life.

Will it really give you more battery life?
Put two batteries in parallel, and they will put 9V for twice as long as one battery alone. Put them in series and you get 18V, but the battery life is the same as a single battery.
What am I missing?

ZolkoW · #17 12-10-2010, 03:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcnach

Will it really give you more battery life?
Put two batteries in parallel, and they will put 9V for twice as long as one battery alone. Put them in series and you get 18V, but the battery life is the same as a single battery.
What am I missing?

you're right, but you can suck out more current until the series voltage reaches -let's say- 7V.
okay, the headroom is less, distortion is bigger, but if it sounds acceptable at the min. voltage, you have more playing time with starting at 18V.

4StringTheorist · #18 12-10-2010, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcnach

Will it really give you more battery life?
Put two batteries in parallel, and they will put 9V for twice as long as one battery alone. Put them in series and you get 18V, but the battery life is the same as a single battery.
What am I missing?

You've got your basic physics right! Good old Ohm's Law! The trick is that the relationship you quote is only true for ohmic resistors, so named because they follow Ohm's Law. A bass preamp isn't an ohmic resistor though. If you feed it double the voltage, it won't use twice the current.

As a result, at 18V you get more headroom and increased battery life over a 9V setup.

EDIT: Oh, and to respond to the OP's question, I haven't noticed a dramatic difference in tone going to 18V. At first I thought I did, of course, but that was just the placebo effect in action.