Bart NTMB vs Duncan STC-3

[bassman515]

Hello all, i want to get some opinion on this one. What kind of sound difference would i be looking at between these two preamps? The reason i ask is that i ahve a Warwick FNA 5 with a Bart MMV5CB pickup in it (the Music man) with the STC pre. I also have a Conklin 7 that has the NTMB in it and it has two bart pickups. I notice that the Conklin sounds warmer that then warwick, a little less growl, but nice punch. I wondered how much of that is the preamp or having a two pickup configuration. I run both pretty flat. I seem to clip my amp a little more with the Warwick that the Conklin as well. Thoughts on this? I just wonder if i will be getter a better sound out of a different pre or not. Thanks in advance for your replies
Jeremy

[bassman515]

anyone?????

[elpelotero]

I put an STC3a in my warwick and the growl really increased. It brought out the best of the bass...can't say if you'll have similar results.

One thing for sure though is that the mids and highs really came alive. Mids includes low mids as well. Lows stayed about the same.

If it helps, the frequencies on the stc3a are 30hz, 650, 6500.

[bassman515]

i think that might be the preamp that is in mine. It is duncan stock. What model warwick do you have?
Jeremy

[fretlessrock]

Originally Posted by bassman515

I also have a Conklin 7 that has the NTMB in it and it has two bart pickups. I notice that the Conklin sounds warmer that then warwick, a little less growl, but nice punch.

Comparing preamps in different basses is hard, but that is how I would descrive the NTMB-equipped basses that I have owned. Those have been a fretted Lull M5, a custom J bass, and my Zon Sonus. The differences in wood, pickups, and frets/fretless make isolating the preamp hard, but I think it is pretty well established that the NTMB works in a variety of settings. You can change mid freqs, and there are a lot of ways to configure it as well.

I've played an STC equipped Warwick fretless (model? hmmmm) and thought the pre had a scoopy emphasis that had to be dialed out, but again, that could be me. That would line up with my general observation about most of the Warwicks I have played.

If you are hearing clipping in the preamp you might want to look into going to 18v power. 18v doesn't do much of anything for output volume, but it raises the heardoom considerably if the preampis designed for 18v operation.

If you are having bad clipping noise then you might also want to try adjusting your pickup heights. I see a lot of basses where the pickups are set very high and all it does is cause uneven volume and robs the tone of the instrument.

[bassman515]

Thanks for your reply. I will look at the pickup height as well. Do you think that putting the pre in 18v would keep the amp from clipping?

[fretlessrock]

An 18v supply might keep your preamp from clipping, but it won't change how your amplifier is working. If you are hitting the front end of the amp too hard then you need to be finding a way to turn down, or control transients (compressor, limiter...).

If you don't want clipping at any stage then you have to be able to control each stage of gain... amazingly called "gain staging". Each stage's output should be within the dynamic range of the next stage's input. Sometimes it can be as simple as attenuation (turning down the volume), and sometimes it calls for an active device like a compressor.

It can be hard to separate the sound of an instrument from the coloration of the electronics. IME, pickup and preamp changes can make a difference, but the underlying sound of the instrument is harder to change. It will still sound like you, playing the same bass, but you will have a different type of control over the tone settings.

That's my opinion, and that is why i like a more transparent/neutral preamp over some of the heavy-handed "slapper" preamps that I have tried, like the Aguilar. The Aggie (for example) is a great pre if that is what you want, it just isn't what I want.