Vampyre Rockbass Pre Amp

[mentalpatient]

Does anyone know about the pre amp in my Warwick Vampyre Rockbass ? I read somewhere they started putting German built pre amps in them, or are they only for the real deal Vampyres made in Germany. My Vampyre has the 1 piece bridge, not the newer 2 piece bridge. I took the pre amp module out and it only says '2 band eq', nothing about where it is from. Being a Rockbass do you think changing the pre amp can only be a positive move ? I was thinking of going for the Glockenklang 2 band eq. As for the wiring I have it almost figured out, I guess that small white wire going into the bottom pot (trebble) is the earth right ? Where does the earth connect to on a bass ?

[badboy1984]

they probably use MEC pre on the bass.

[Sbociol]

From the Warwick site,regarding the RockBass Vampyre:

# Active MEC J/TJ pickups
# Active 2-way electronics
# 1 x Volume control, 1 x Bass control, 1 x Balance control, 1 x Treble control

they usually say when it's MEC electronics,so i guess they are not...i suggest you check on the Warwick Forum for answers,Florin is always pretty knowledgeable about the big W

[mentalpatient]

Thanks. Found the wiring diagrams on the Warwick site. The Rockbass wiring components look lower end than the MEC's used in the Vampyre NT. I guess an upgrade would help.

[MaddAnthony_59]

I dunno. I had a Vampyre RockBass. The tone was Very Good! I often find that I end up Losing something when "Upgrading"...

I was listening to a show we played a few years back, and I couldn't Believe the Sound I was getting! I had to turn the Video on to see which bass I was playing. It was this one:

[mentalpatient]

I finished the install and it is all good for me. The output level is lower but seems identical to a Sterling Ray 35. I think the Vampyre had more output because it has bass tone gain as well as gain on the volume, with these two combined it certainly was adding something. The new pre amp sounds cleaner and I can push my amp harder. I would describe the tone the same as what I hear when the bass it is played without an amplifier, the sound of the bass. When I was testing it out for the first time everyone at home said my bass sounds deeper and more like an instrument. The trebble control now actually makes a difference and I can hear more changes when moving the balance control, not that I need it, I always have the pick up balance centred, but it is good to know it has that increased sensitivity. I would have gone for the 3 band and mounted the balance pot inside the bass without the shaft protruding so that I would not need to drill a hole in the bass for a knob I do not use, but that's all the $'s I had at the time and was eager to get out my soldering iron for the first time in years. This really has me thinking about the Human Base range that come with Glockenklang pre amps already installed.

If I had not known or tried the Glockenklang I would still be happy with the Vampyre as it came from the factory, just now it's better.

Hey MaddAnthony__59, good picture and nice rig, 8x10's rule.