Quote:
Originally Posted by Toastfuzz  Hi all,
I'm GASin for something funky, that distinctive tone you get from a bridge-side humbucker.... the EBMM Stingrays, SBMM Ray35s, or Ibanez ATKs. I've had an ATK before, loved it, but sold it off as I'm solely a 5 stringer these days.
I play a brand of heavy, slow, loud and fuzzy music... doom / stoner rock / sludge metal type stuff. I'm also a sucker for gain effects.... generally my tone is always coming from a Rat, Muff, Rusty Box, or VT. Historically I've had a hard time getting active basses to play nicely with gain effects. I've been playing a passive Carvin J bass lately to great effect, and you can hear the J tones coming through the effects channel in the final tone. Basically I want the option of swapping an EBMM-type bass for the Carvin J, and not having my volumes/gains all goofed up, as is customary when you try to use multiple different active basses through a constant effect chain.
So, if I haven't lost you yet.... I'm not so worried about a drop in output, as my preamp/gain pedals make up for an onboard pre on a bass. I'm more worried that the classic "EBMM tone" is in the pre more than in the pickup.... I'd hate to convert a bass to passive and lose all my playing dynamics and the funk. Then again, the pre gets its signal from the pickup, so in theory swapping the EBMM pre with a Rusty Box / VT Bass would have the same effect, and this is my goal.
I'm probably going to do this anyway, I just wanted to throw it out here and see if anyone else has experimented with this at all? Did your passive-converted EBMM/ATK do the trick, or did you end up swapping for a passive high-gain pickup? Do you like the passive tones, or do you find yourself still using the onboard pre more often than not? |
I also use many tricks in my bag (fxchain pedalboard) I got two different chains if I'm playin' original stuff with my main thrash metal band or with the other all round cover rockband.
This is my humble experience:
with ATKs (I got a 200 for the rockband, a 1200 prestige for thrash tunes) cavity let room for a volume push/pull on/off capacitor to disengage electronic
that way you keep equal output whether you're playin' active (push) with 3 band equalizer set flat (12 o'clock) or passive (pull)
I also don't always need electronics to be on: it happens with G&L and Ibanez SRXXV (thrash metal band) and Ibanez RD900 (rockband) - as in the past with former Ibanez SR4500 prestige, Reggie Hamilton Jazz and Clover Aperiròn - thanx to pedalboard and dedicate eq
A friend of mine acts quite differently
he got a EBMM StingRay V and plays funk with no fxchains:
he's so in need of a pro active attack that swapped EBMM original with an aftermarket Sadowsky onboard preamp... something reknowned for it's "true" approach whenever active but almost dead when switched off with Vintage Tone Control.
Cheers,
Wallace
