Pickup & Preamp Upgrade for Squier Bass

[bassWR]

I have a Squier P-Bass with P/J config.. controls are volume volume tone. This my son's starter bass and I'd like to upgrade to a beefier tone. I like the feel of this bass and want to use as my backup 4-String. Any suggestions?
BTW-I'm new to TB. Great Forums!

[eastcoasteddie]

Well, depends on how much you want to spend. Usually, the top preamp pick is the Aguilar OBP's. I'm not sure how large your control cavity is, but the OBP is SUPER tiny and will fit just about anywhere. You only have to find a place for your battery. I prefer the OBP-2 (2-band, bass & treble cut/boost) for converting a passive bass to active, because you can use a minimal amount of pots, they come in a few different configurations and have a lot of wiring options. They do cost about $130 on average.

http://www.aguilaramp.com/products_onboard_preamps.htm

with the OBP-2SK, you can utilize your 2 existing Vol pots, and use the supplied stacked Treble/Bass pot. No need to drill any extra holes, however, you might need to enlarge the hole for the stacked pot.

I have had success fitting a battery and a preamp module (not the aguilar itself, a cheaper preamp from ebay) in the stock Jazz bass cavity, albeit tightly. You might be able to fit a battery in your P-bass cavity.

[bassWR]

Originally Posted by eastcoasteddie

Well, depends on how much you want to spend. Usually, the top preamp pick is the Aguilar OBP's. I'm not sure how large your control cavity is, but the OBP is SUPER tiny and will fit just about anywhere. You only have to find a place for your battery. I prefer the OBP-2 (2-band, bass & treble cut/boost) for converting a passive bass to active, because you can use a minimal amount of pots, they come in a few different configurations and have a lot of wiring options. They do cost about $130 on average.

http://www.aguilaramp.com/products_onboard_preamps.htm

with the OBP-2SK, you can utilize your 2 existing Vol pots, and use the supplied stacked Treble/Bass pot. No need to drill any extra holes, however, you might need to enlarge the hole for the stacked pot.

I have had success fitting a battery and a preamp module (not the aguilar itself, a cheaper preamp from ebay) in the stock Jazz bass cavity, albeit tightly. You might be able to fit a battery in your P-bass cavity.

Thanks Eddie,
Looks like you've upgraded the Squier in your arsenal.

[FunkMetalBass]

I vote you get the Aguilar OBP-3 over the OBP-2. BestBassGear.com sells them for relatively cheap, and you can even get them pre-wired in a vol/blend, bass/treble, mid configuration so that you can fit it all inside your current route cavity.

If you have basic router skills, I'd suggest ordering one of those plastic quick-change battery packs and routing a small cavity for it on the back of the bass. Having to take off the pickguard just to change a battery is more hassle than it's worth.

Pickup tone is up to you, but SD basslines are great for P/J configs or Fender upgrades in general, and they wont break the bank.

[groove pump]

If you mean that you want to be able to boost/cut to beef up the tone, then go ahead and do the preamp. I've tried some electronics upgrades in a couple of my basses in the past and I've found that there's a difference between getting more onboard control by installing a preamp and getting better basic tone in general.

With two of the basses I "upgraded", I replaced some cheezy electronics, but the instruments didn't make decent fundamental sound. All I got with the top shelf guts was more control over mediocre tone. I know I may be mastering the obvious there, but you might consider just some different pickups first if that good foundation isn't there yet. Then if things sound better, you can do the preamp to steer that tone on the fly.

In my "active experience", I've enjoyed having a mid control more than just bass and treble knobs, even if I'm not tweaking them every thirty seconds. Had good times with EMG and Aguilar pre's.

[gidbass]

for my .02, i would just put in a Dimarzio model p and dimarzio model j and skip the preamp IMO (i prefer a simple VVT setup). I put model j's in my squier VM jazz and i love the sound i get from it now....

Good luck!

[eastcoasteddie]

In the end, it depends if you are an "active guy" or "passive guy"

I myself am an "active guy", where I activated my Jazz and am not looking back. I mean, look at the basses I own...go figure.

[bassWR]

Guys,
Thans for the input. It is great to have a source for a lot of different approaches to the same problem.
God Bless.