Marcus Miller Signature Bass Owners UNITE!

[Etienned]

I am thinking about getting the John east preamp... Does it keep the same beastly growl ?

[Voolou]

Yes of course. The whole sound is much improved.

[Voolou]

Very much so.

[murphy]

Originally Posted by Voolou

The original preamp made the bass sound to nasal and wasn't quite up to having the fat sound I wanted. The MM Retro really gives the bass a warmness I couldn't get before. I often have people come up to me after gigs and tell me how great it sounds.

I do sometimes encounter that nasal sound........I think if the treble and bass are turned up too far?
I'll have to try and note the settings next time I hear it.
It has been a while.

[trujo777]

Im selling my Japanese 4 stringer FS Fender Marcus Miller and Peavey Fury bass
however I still got a USA 5er

[Al Bass]

Originally Posted by Voolou

Yes of course. The whole sound is much improved.

Hey Voolou, did you install the MM Retro yourself? If so, any difficulties? Thanks!

[pan1k]

Originally Posted by Sorax

Wow! Awesome to see so many modded basses!



How do they sound? How would you describe the change in pickups' effect on the overall sound of the bass? Nice pic by the way



They are really quite good. The improvement over the stock pickups literally blew me away. It's a great sounding bass stock, but in my experience this simple mod added depth and clarity - it made the stock units sound tinny!

I also rewired with a star ground, as there was some funny grounding business going on, and this also helped clean up the sound a bit. I'd recommend any of you look at this. It seems that the 5 string version is wired with a star ground, and unless mine is an exception the 4 string (ie Japanese, not American) isn't.

Btw, this photo makes me wish I'd gone with the burst finish :P

i was going to do the same... looks like its a go!

[trujo777]

Im sad to post it but here goes my Marcus Miller USA 5er custom pearl white with upgrades fs/ft:
Fender USA Marcus Miller 5 string custom ...gotta see White metallic pearl!!!

[Etienned]

I ordered the John East preamp today...
The waiting game is a cruel one.

[Voolou]

Yeah I waited ages for mine but it was worth it : ).

[Etienned]

I'm really happy with the M-Retro, lots more of low end compared to the stock preamp

I am still figuring out different settings to achieve certain sounds, I'm not used to that much control.

[Voolou]

Originally Posted by Al Bass

Hey Voolou, did you install the MM Retro yourself? If so, any difficulties? Thanks!

Yeah I did. It was a 5 minute job. It just slots in. The only thing I cut and soldered was the battery wire so I could still use the battery cavity.

[Lewis7789]

My MM is still my go-to bass after all these years. I bought her new from Sam Ash Music here in Cleveland about 8 years ago. First thing to go was the pickgaurd and I made a tort one from a blank. About 5 years ago I put in some Nordstrand pups and Aguilar pre-amp.

She's plays great and sounds amazing. I've had a Sadowsky owner ask me to trade for his Jazz. haha, no way, buddy.

[dropbass]

Thoughts on the pickups?

[Rano Bass]

Originally Posted by Lewis7789

My MM is still my go-to bass after all these years. I bought her new from Sam Ash Music here in Cleveland about 8 years ago. First thing to go was the pickgaurd and I made a tort one from a blank.

Looks great naked!

[zachbass02]

Originally Posted by Lewis7789

My MM is still my go-to bass after all these years. I bought her new from Sam Ash Music here in Cleveland about 8 years ago. First thing to go was the pickgaurd and I made a tort one from a blank. About 5 years ago I put in some Nordstrand pups and Aguilar pre-amp.

She's plays great and sounds amazing. I've had a Sadowsky owner ask me to trade for his Jazz. haha, no way, buddy.

Really like the look of it undressed. I recently picked up a brand new "old stock" MIJ one that Corner Music was blowing out. LOVE IT! This is the 3rd MM I've owned, but I'm just now coming around to the 70s pickup spacing and sound. I suprisingly really like the stcok pre and pickups. I did a full shielding job on mine. It was really noisy when I first got it. But the shielding made it quiet as a mouse. I like the voicing of the stock pre and pickups, but really wish it had a passive tone control....so, when the parts arive, I'll be adding one to it. In theory, it should be a simple add on, we'll see if my theory holds water. My main hold up has been how to add the additional knob. Thought about adding a stack knob on one of the volumes or adding a stack for the B/T controls. Downside is I can't find a stack for the pot values of the B/T controls. No one makes a stacked 100K linear pot without a center detente. So, I'm going to add a "random" fifth knob for a "master" tone control to the mutant size pickguard. I ordered a second control plate in case I screw one up. Should be interesting.

[murphy]

I ordered my parts from Best bass Gear. Stacked concentric 250k volumes controls.
Single 250k tone control with orange drop capacitor.
My 5 string already had active / passive switch...but i am sure it is relatively easy to make your own.

[DJJazzV]

I'm in! Like many in this thread, I may be looking to work on the tone a little. Active preamps don't get along with me so well. I'm thinking to just make the bass passive. Haven't decided yet. I want it to sound closer to my '76 Jazz.
Amazingly well built bass. So easy to play, and only 9 lbs.

[murphy]

If you add a passive tone control, you don't have to remove the preamp.
you have a passive jazz bass and an active jazz bass to choose from!!

[DJJazzV]

Great post! Thank you! I just tried the Active "flat" setting. Quarter turn for Bass & Treble. I got it very close to sounding like the passive mode, then slightly cut the Treble (-1). That's more like what I am looking for. Bass 0, Treble -1. The great clarity is still there, and it has some warmth that was missing.
I'll have to play with this a bit, but perhaps a mod is not necessary after all. It was more important to understand the preamp first.

Originally Posted by pdeon99

I also never used the active electronics, but now I understand more about it and use it properly thanks to this private email from Tommy Thompson, which I quote with his permission:

"For the last few years I have been trying (very hard) to get players to understand that the Fender Marcus Miller preamp (FMEQ preamp) does deliver and sound as good as a Sadowsky, Aguilar, Suhr or Bartolini preamps. The lowest treble and bass setting on the Fender FMEQ preamp is -3, but the lowest setting on the Sadowsky, Aguilar, Suhr and Bartolini preamps is 0. Hence, the Fender FMEQ preamp has less total output, but the treble and bass tones are very similar.

The one thing I know is that the Fender FMEQ preamp is based on the original Bartolini TCT preamp that was popular in the 1980s. The FLAT SETTING on the original Bartolini TCT was BASS =3, MIDRANGE=10, and TREBLE=3. In other words, Bartolini TCT = 3-10-3, and Fender FMEQ = 3, preset to 10 inside the preamp, and 3. Hence, the midrange plays an important part in supporting the notes of the bass. Currently, on the Fender FMEQ preamp, the midrange frequency level is set for flat or zero, but the bass and treble must be set at an output of level 3 to achieve the FLAT SETTING.

DEFINITION:
1. FLAT SETTING somehow means no frequencies are deleted, or that the sound is virtually transparent, i.e., Aguilar preamps are transparent.:-)
2. Marcus' famous SCOOPED MIDRANGE SOUND probably should ONLY occur when the bass and treble controls are boosted.

The FLAT SETTING on the Marcus FMEQ is about 3 O'clock(a 1/4 turn) if 12 O'clock is the lowest setting.

In other words, BOOST(clock wise) = 3 O'clock to 10 O'clock, and CUT(counter clock wise) = 3 O' clock back to 12 O'clock. There is no center detent in the control pots.

Thanks Again,

Tommy Thompson
The Bass Advocate