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Gibson RD Artist bass - low output

haystack55

haystack55

Jan 16, 2011
553
349
Houston, TX
#1
hey all, I'm looking for some advice regarding the output levels on my newly-acquired RD Artist bass. it's a '78 and I was told that all of the electronics are original and non-messed-with, but I've got an output issue that's got me scratching my head.

I've been a G&L player for years and have been using the same Ampeg non-pro SVT-II for even longer. My SB-2's passive MFD pickups are smoking hot and the gain on the amp NEVER needs to go past 3. when I used a G&L or Fender jazz bass I had to bring the levels up a little, maybe to 5, but never past that.

Now comes this RD, which has the best tone I've ever heard for the type of music I play. I absolutely love it in every way (except for the weight, obviously) except that the output is so low from the pickups that I'm having to run with the gain between 7 and 8 to get the volume I need. I always run at 4 ohms into either a 'fridge or my Emperor 6x10. I've been playing around with using the amp's EQ boost to up the signal and using a Sansamp for my boost instead of the EQ footswitch but just have been completely unable to get the nice round sound that I'm used to getting through my rig.

So here's the questions:
1. is this normal? I've never used one before now, only heard other bassists using them live and on recordings. I never paid all that much attention to the live player's rig configurations since I never thought I'd EVER be able to afford one... now I wish I had!

2. is there an easy way to check the electronics to see if the active electronics have been defeated somehow?

3. is it possible (advisable?) to add an extra 9v battery to up the output?

thanks!
Drew
 
#2
My RD had pretty much "normal" output levels before I removed the preamp. After converting it to passive it sounds a lot closer to what you're describing. The pickups are VERY low ouput on their own.

Maybe your preamp has been removed and/or messed with? I'd say open up the control cavity and see what's going on in there.
 
#6
haystack55 said:
out of curiosity, why did you convert it?
Click to expand...

My preamp was giving me trouble, a few of the features/modes never worked properly from the day I got it. So before paying an amp tech to try and find/fix the problem, I figured I would try it passive first. It still sounds great, just low output. I also prefer passive basses in general.

Unfortunately the pickups are also an odd shape, making them virtually impossible to replace.
 
#7
I opened up the control cavity this morning and found that everything was more or less intact. my 1st thought was that if someone had disengaged the preamp that there would have been a break in one of the power leads. this was not the case and the rest of the board looks fine. however, I did find that the ground lead from the bridge which is soldered to the bridge pickup volume pot is broken. here's a photo:

RDbassgroundlead.jpg


now the question is whether this could be the reason for the low output. my 1st assumption would be no.
 
#9
yes, the battery is new and I've swapped in several different ones just to be sure.

I have tried virtually every switch combination I could think of (which is a lot!) and have not found any that made any overall difference in the output level.

one point that I would make though is that the switches seem to function as far as changing the pickup combinations and turning on the high boost/compression functions... but again, the output is equally low in all the different configurations.
 
#12
I once owned an RD Artist Deluxe. A black one with an ebony fretboard. Bought it brand new in 1978. It was one bodacious hunk of wood, a real log!

Contrary to popular belief, the electronics were not really "all that". Sure, they were pretty unusual and interesting - especially by 1978 standards. They were designed by Robert Moog, after all.

But it's worth noting that nothing quite like the Moog preamp has ever been used on a bass guitar since. There's got to be a good reason for that - and there is: It sucked!

In particular, the onboard compressor/expander circuit simply did not produce very musical tones - but it did mess with your sound, by creating weird, unusable tones & timbres. Moreover, the whole dang thing was just noisy.

You may think you've got a rare prize, but I beg to differ. The RD Artist is one powerful hard rock bass - no doubt about it (if you don't mind the weight). That 12 pounds or so of solid mahogany has got to have some effect. But the electronics? Not so much...

Alembic got it right. My suggestion would be to keep the pickups (probably), but replace the onboard preamp entirely, to something more modern, more functional, more musical. With the big low end of the Aguilar OBP-3, for example, combined with the powerful natural low end of the RD Artist itself, you could level entire city blocks with that thing. :eek:

MM
 

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