what's a nice 2-band preamp for a Stingray?

mcnach · #1 04-08-2010, 11:58 AM

title says all.

I have a Seymour Duncan STC-3M3 on another bass, and it's a nice preamp... but I'm thinking I'd like a 2-band better (typically lower centre frequency on treble, and wider band), for another bass I have (an OLP MM2, with a SD Basslines SMB-4A pickup already installed).

I already have an Aguilar OBP-3 I bought ages ago but never got around to installing. But I think I'd really want a 2-band, and sell the OBP-3 on.

Any suggestions for a nice "Stingray-ish" 2-band preamp?

BassLife77 · #2 04-08-2010, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcnach

title says all.

I have a Seymour Duncan STC-3M3 on another bass, and it's a nice preamp... but I'm thinking I'd like a 2-band better (typically lower centre frequency on treble, and wider band), for another bass I have (an OLP MM2, with a SD Basslines SMB-4A pickup already installed).

I already have an Aguilar OBP-3 I bought ages ago but never got around to installing. But I think I'd really want a 2-band, and sell the OBP-3 on.

Any suggestions for a nice "Stingray-ish" 2-band preamp?

The John East MMSR is a great 2-band StingRay preamp. worth every penny. or if you want that vintage sound you can build one yourself for a fraction of the cost. I built 2 and they sound great. the great thing about making one is you can select all the components and experiment with different chips and values

mcnach · #3 04-10-2010, 07:29 AM

Thanks!
The John East preamps do look interesting, good reviews... but 10k on the treble? It seems awfully high to do much more than adding/removing string noise... or maybe that's the point.
Hmmm.

Pearly Gator · #4 04-10-2010, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassLife77

or if you want that vintage sound you can build one yourself for a fraction of the cost. I built 2 and they sound great. the great thing about making one is you can select all the components and experiment with different chips and values

Sounds interesting. Do you have a schematic you can share?

Thanks!

BassLife77 · #5 04-10-2010, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pearly Gator

Sounds interesting. Do you have a schematic you can share?

Thanks!

this is the schematic and PCB layout. I built 2 and they both sound great. the higher quality components you install the better it will sound. I would stay away from any ceramic stuff. The 1uf cap going to the volume is incorrect on the schematic, it should be 10uf. Everything on the PCB layout diagram is correct. The total for all the parts was only around $12. A lot of bang for your buck

Pearly Gator · #6 04-10-2010, 04:18 PM

Thank you!

ex-tension · #7 04-10-2010, 08:06 PM

Also check out this thread:

Stingray aftermarket 2 band pre

mrufino1 · #8 04-11-2010, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassLife77

this is the schematic and PCB layout. I built 2 and they both sound great. the higher quality components you install the better it will sound. I would stay away from any ceramic stuff. The 1uf cap going to the volume is incorrect on the schematic, it's should be 10uf. Everything on the PCB layout diagram is correct. The total for all the parts was only around $12. A lot of bang for your buck

Did you have a circuit board or did you do point to point on breadboard? I'd definitely love to know what you did to build it
(including where you got parts, etc.). Thanks! I have a bass now that may be calling for a preamp but budget is pretty limited here right now. A $12 preamp that actually sounds good would be amazing. If you want to get into the business of building some of these...!

BassLife77 · #9 04-11-2010, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrufino1

Did you have a circuit board or did you do point to point on breadboard? I'd definitely love to know what you did to build it
(including where you got parts, etc.). Thanks! I have a bass now that may be calling for a preamp but budget is pretty limited here right now. A $12 preamp that actually sounds good would be amazing. If you want to get into the business of building some of these...!

A TB guru made the board and I bought and soldered all the parts. you can view this thread to get more info Stingray aftermarket 2 band pre

mrufino1 · #10 04-11-2010, 01:21 AM

Ah, I did read that thread. I'll have to contact him then and see if he still is planning to do it. These sound good? My bass isn't a musicman (though I sold my SR5 3 weeks ago to get it), but I now have the two J pickups wired in series, which I assume would work with this, I don't like blend knobs or individual volumes, I just want the pickups on full all the time.

BassLife77 · #11 04-11-2010, 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrufino1

Ah, I did read that thread. I'll have to contact him then and see if he still is planning to do it. These sound good? My bass isn't a musicman (though I sold my SR5 3 weeks ago to get it), but I now have the two J pickups wired in series, which I assume would work with this, I don't like blend knobs or individual volumes, I just want the pickups on full all the time.

I built the other preamp into a box and it sounds great with the P/J bass. The cool thing is you can swap out the 8 pin opamp with other ones and see what they sound like. opamps are cheap and manufacturers like TI and LT even give out free samples with free shipping. Since you prefer both pickups at full blast you could also install a series/parrallel switch.

Stealth · #12 04-11-2010, 11:15 AM

Cool schematic there... and finally a PCB layout for it too.

Many thanks.

Suppose you had two pickups to blend - would the blend pot come before or after the preamp? My intuition says "before" because I obviously want to skip making a separate pre-stage for each pickup - but which value blend pot would work for a pair of passive pickups?

BassLife77 · #13 04-11-2010, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stealth

Cool schematic there... and finally a PCB layout for it too.

Many thanks.

Suppose you had two pickups to blend - would the blend pot come before or after the preamp? My intuition says "before" because I obviously want to skip making a separate pre-stage for each pickup - but which value blend pot would work for a pair of passive pickups?

that question is over my head, I'm still learning. I'm at the intermediate noob level

that's why I installed the other preamp in a box, so I could plug my 2 pickup basses into it. Since the preamp pots are 25k, 100K, and 1M I don't know if a 250K or 500K blend pot will work with it. I'm sure one of the TB electronic gurus knows the answer. Believe me, if I can build 2 preamps, anybody can do it. because I can barely solder and I'm farsighted! I used a hand held magnifying glass ($1) and a desolder pump ($1) for the mistakes. Both preamps fired up on the first try!