Bart pups & pre into Spector ReBop question

TydidezDiomedez · #1 07-09-2007, 10:05 PM

I love nearly everything about my spector ReBop DLX... except the tone. I'm looking to change its tone drastically, so I've decided to replace the EMG HZs with Bartolini M34CBC pups in the neck and bridge and swap out the tone pump for a Bartolini 4.6AP preamp.

I was chatting with a buddy who may or may not be full of it - he said the ReBop's control cavity may be too tight to accommodate my planned modifications. Ladies and gentlemen of the all-knowing talkbass community, will this be an issue?

Thanks in advance...

RevGroove · #2 07-10-2007, 12:46 AM

Maybe try another EMG alternative? I upgraded the passive HZs in my Spector Pro 5 with an active DC at the neck and active CS at the bridge. I then put a three band EMG BQC control in rather than the two band circuit that was there, and ran the whole system at 18v rather than 9...don't use the doubler, I'm seeing some posts in other forums/lists stating the belief that using two batteries get better results than the doubler.

That being said, I love the (designed by) Bartolini electronics in my new MTD Z5...it has a rather large control cavity, larger than my Spector, so who knows, your friend could be right...with economical wiring, and a really good tech, you may be able to get away with it...

TydidezDiomedez · #3 07-10-2007, 07:58 PM

Hey RevGroove, thanks for the response

- Oddly enough, before I quasi-settled on the barts I was going to put an EMG P soapbar at the neck and an active CS at the bridge, also with the EMG BQC system, but after reading about the barts (never actually heard them) they "sounded" like what I'm going after - more mellow, darkish, full, etc; I'm afraid the EMGs will just be too bright/harsh like the tone pump/HZ setup I've got now. What are your thoughts? Advice?

Once I make my ultimate decision and acquire all the parts I'm going to have Marco and Jimmy at the New York Bass and Guitar Boutique hook it up; I have complete faith in them

.

RevGroove · #4 07-11-2007, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TydidezDiomedez

Hey RevGroove, thanks for the response

- Oddly enough, before I quasi-settled on the barts I was going to put an EMG P soapbar at the neck and an active CS at the bridge, also with the EMG BQC system, but after reading about the barts (never actually heard them) they "sounded" like what I'm going after - more mellow, darkish, full, etc; I'm afraid the EMGs will just be too bright/harsh like the tone pump/HZ setup I've got now. What are your thoughts? Advice?

I tried Barts in a Modulas and hated them compared to the EMG DCs in another bass of the same model, so it was my intention to take the EMG DC/CS set up out of my main bass and stick them in the MTD Z5...I don't know if the difference is because they're designed by Bartolini rather than US made, but I liked them, actually more than the EMGs! Playing them in a Lakland that came through confirmed it...yeh the EMGs are very bright, great for rock...but the EMG BQ circuit helped to tame that, and the EMG CS definitely tamed things down a bit as well, I'd originally tried another DC at the bridge, just hurt my ears. If you go with EMG, I recommend either going DC/CS, TW/CS, or J/CS, or J/TW (TW is the dual mode Jazz to CS with a toggle...I had J/TW in my Spector fretless that just sold). I'd personally recommend the BQ over a BT as well as over the Tone Pump.

You may want to try a three band circuit with mids first, to see if that helps...but if you're decided on the Barts, then go for it! Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

ihateusernames · #5 07-11-2007, 08:23 AM

*subscribed*

(i hate my emg hz's as well)

TydidezDiomedez · #6 10-07-2007, 11:56 PM

I finally got enough cash saved to switch the electronics around in my Spector... ultimately decided on Bart M34C neck and bridge pickups and the Bart NTMB 918F 4.6 A/P onboard preamp. Ordered the pups and pre from The Bass Place, and the fine folks at the New York Bass and Guitar Boutique did all the work - both establishments were great to work with; the bass place shipped very quickly and the NYB&GB was very professional, as always.

The rebop is a whole different beast altogether now - I don't know if I can comment on the pups and pre individually, but together they have really given me so many more options tone-wise, and the pre can be as harsh as the tomepump if I want it to be, but thankfully I can "tone it down" now.

I set the eq on my walkabout scout to flat and just fooled around with the preamp knobs a bit. Believe it or not I was able to get a tone remarkably similar to that of my '78 Precision after a few minutes - the thing is incredibly diverse tonally. I've not had enough time to really put it through its paces but I'm pretty sure this is really the only bass I'm going to need for the foreseeable future.

If anybody has any specific questions I'll do my best to try to answer, but for the moment all I can say is that I'm very pleased with the new electronics. If I can figure out how I'll post some pics...