Stingray Duncans into a Warwick Rockbass?

[Aharon]

would this work? I'm looking to pimp out my Rockbass...its a corvette classic 5. Current PU's are MEC jazz actives.

any thoughts on this decision? The goal is to get closer to the growlier / more punchy yet-trebley sound of Timmy C. Justin Chancellor is (as I have come to learn after some research) a long shot...but I understand those huge Duncans are nice and I can get one for £60...and then maybe another £40 for fitting it (not confident enough to do it myself). I'm looking to have a pimped bass before i go into the realm of amplification (owed to student conditions).

any suggestions or alternatives?

[DavidRavenMoon]

Get the Duncan ceramics... not the alnicos. I have a regular customer that does this to all his Jazz basses




They are nice sounding pickups... very bright and punchy.

The Alnico version sounds a bit dull and lifeless... like there's a blanket over the amp.

[elpelotero]

that's the nature of the metal...ceramic anything in gear is always hotter sounding than alnico, which is smoother.

[DavidRavenMoon]

Originally Posted by elpelotero

that's the nature of the metal...ceramic anything in gear is always hotter sounding than alnico, which is smoother.

Well you have a bit more power in the ceramics, plus it's a harder field. More powerful magnets means more high end, since the highs have more impedance to overcome.

Then of course alnicos are metallic, and that adds to the inductance and eddy currents, so you lose high end, and they seem warmer.

The Duncan ceramic and alnico MM's are also wound differently.

[Aharon]

do they come with the selector switch like on the Stingray and all the necessary preamp stuff? I tried a stingray and actually prefered my cheaper rockbass. made in china, but clearly under tight german supervision.

I understand those buckers are passive with an active EQ, so I'm guessing I cant keep my active MEC neck pickup in there?

[DavidRavenMoon]

Originally Posted by Aharon

do they come with the selector switch like on the Stingray and all the necessary preamp stuff? I tried a stingray and actually prefered my cheaper rockbass. made in china, but clearly under tight german supervision.

I understand those buckers are passive with an active EQ, so I'm guessing I cant keep my active MEC neck pickup in there?

The Duncans come as just the pickups. The preamp is separate. I don't know about the selector switch... I haven't seen them that way.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/product...x.php?page=all

To use them with an active pickup you will have to run the duncan through a buffer before the preamp.

[badboy1984]

I say replace the set with Seymour Duncan MM and Jazz on the rockbass to see how it goes first. You can always replace the preamp in the future.

[Aharon]

Originally Posted by DavidRavenMoon

The Duncans come as just the pickups. The preamp is separate. I don't know about the selector switch... I haven't seen them that way.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/product...x.php?page=all

To use them with an active pickup you will have to run the duncan through a buffer before the preamp.

no preamp...oh I've not heard of buffering a passive into an active preamp before...im guessing that just gives it access to the vol pot but bypasses the EQ in some way?? The preamp is another £100....making it a minimum of a £200 upgrade. If I had a decent amp, it might make it worth my while.
Might have to think this one through. I'll see how the current pickups sound through my sansamp when it arrives. Thanks for the help guys, it was much appreciated. Talkbass seems like a cool place.

[badboy1984]

Your corvette is passive or active?

If is passive and you want to add preamp and change pickup, i say leave it and save up for a proper warwick.

If the bass is active already, just ditch those MEC and replace them for the pickup u want and use the preamp on the bass.

[tdogg]

ive had this same thought with my warwick, except i was thinking bartolini MMC's. i dunno if i have the cajones to cut into my bass though

[Aharon]

Originally Posted by badboy1984

Your corvette is passive or active?

If is passive and you want to add preamp and change pickup, i say leave it and save up for a proper warwick.

If the bass is active already, just ditch those MEC and replace them for the pickup u want and use the preamp on the bass.

mines active. its the corvette classic 5, not the cheap 'basic' models. i've tried a real warwick corvette and a thumb, and didnt notice much difference if i was to be honest. certainly not worth the money IMO.

Are preamps designed with passive or active Pickups in mind? ie. can I use the passive duncan buckers with my current Preamp?
thanks

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by Aharon

mines active. its the corvette classic 5, not the cheap 'basic' models. i've tried a real warwick corvette and a thumb, and didnt notice much difference if i was to be honest. certainly not worth the money IMO.

Are preamps designed with passive or active Pickups in mind? ie. can I use the passive duncan buckers with my current Preamp?
thanks

I think there may be some confusion here.

The vast majority of active basses use passive pickups with active preamps. The only exceptions I know of are EMG - the only pickups that can't run without a battery.

But even EMG isn't much of an exception; their preamps are built into the pickups themselves. The only real difference here is that you can't bypass that preamp, like you could with a traditional active bass setup to make it passive. EMG always has to be active; if you want a passive EMG pickup, you'd have to get EMG-HZ pickups.

But getting back to your question... yes, of course you can use the Duncan. Other than EMG, all the pickups you'll find are passive, AFAIK.

Whether you'll like the combo of the Duncan and your Corvette's preamp is another story.

[DavidRavenMoon]

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

I think there may be some confusion here.

The vast majority of active basses use passive pickups with active preamps. The only exceptions I know of are EMG - the only pickups that can't run without a battery.

Basslines makes active pickups as well, and I had some active pickups in my Ibanez SoundGear that required a battery. There are others out there also. But generally any onboard tone shaping preamp will work with active or passive pickups, depending on the value of the blend or volume pots. For instance, both EMG and Duncan make preamps that work with one or the other, but you have to specify, and it's only the pot values that change.

So if the bass in question uses active pickups, and then uses low value pots, like 25K to 100K, then the pots will need to be changed also.

But most preamps have high impedance inputs and should work fine with passive pickups.

[badboy1984]

This is not related but i personally like passive pickup with active preamp. Can always switch between the 2

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by DavidRavenMoon

Basslines makes active pickups as well, and I had some active pickups in my Ibanez SoundGear that required a battery. There are others out there also.

Interesting... integrated preamp, or just battery-dependent by design?

Originally Posted by DavidRavenMoon

But generally any onboard tone shaping preamp will work with active or passive pickups, depending on the value of the blend or volume pots. For instance, both EMG and Duncan make preamps that work with one or the other, but you have to specify, and it's only the pot values that change.

True, I forgot about that! I had to change out the pots when I upgraded my old Schecter to active EMGs.

[randbguy]

Hi Aharon, I bought the entire kit you are looking at. You can add the three position switch standard on Stingrays, even with your existing preamp. The switch selects series, parallel, and single coil wiring before it hits the preamp.

[Aharon]

thankyou all, this has been most useful.

When going to write a review for the rockbass inthe reviews section...I noticed this:

Active MEC Gold J/J pickups
2-way active electronics

surely this indicates the pickups are also active? or perhaps not

I have a sansamp on the way and im going to see if it'll bring these jazz pups to life.

[DavidRavenMoon]

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

Interesting... integrated preamp, or just battery-dependent by design?

All battery powered pickups have an intergraded preamp. That's what makes them active.

I make my active pickups with the preamp outside the pickup, but they need the preamp. That let's me do 4 conductor wiring though.

Try that with an EMG!

[SC Bassboy]

The question is, will passive pups work with the active MEC electronics? Shouldn't be a problem. The SD active electronics will work with passive or active, you just have to switch out the blend pot. You should call Tyler Krupsky, (805) 856-1709. He works at Dana B Goods, which is Warwick's US distributer. He can tell you definitively one way or another.

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by DavidRavenMoon

All battery powered pickups have an intergraded preamp. That's what makes them active.

Ah... I figured as much.

Thanks for the info!