Are Pignose basses supposed to sound distorted?

[bunnykeeper]

A few months back, I won a used Pignose bass in a raffle at the end of a show. I tried it out at the bar, and it sounded really distorted. Not really in a good way. I didn't think much of it, and stashed it away when I got home.

I'm doing an outdoor rehearsal with a guitarist later this week, and I thought it might be fun to try the Pignose, so I just dragged it out again.

Of course, it still sounds distorted. I tried changing the 9V battery, but no change in sound. I tried plugging in headphones, and it still sounds the same.

I tried Googling the issue, but all of the hits I got were for Pignose amps, not basses. Does anyone know if that's the way Pignoses are supposed to sound?

 

[NSJB]

The photo interested me so I looked around for it. Apparently the model number is PGB-200 which should help narrow your search, but also through captioning on this



it apparently has distortion built in that you can turn on and off through a push-pull knob. So that might be the problem. Hope this solves your problem!

Edit: I would also imagine that because the speaker is so small it may just distort a bit naturally due to the frequencies that it is trying to reproduce.

 

[bunnykeeper]

Thanks for digging that up and posting it! That looks like the one I've got. The push-pull knob is actually just the power on/off switch. I guess it's designed to kick into overdrive past a certain point on the volume knob. Not thrilled with it, but hey, it was almost free, right?

At first I suspected it was the speaker, but I got the same sound out of the headphones.

Thanks again.

 

[NSJB]

Thanks for digging that up and posting it! That looks like the one I've got. The push-pull knob is actually just the power on/off switch. I guess it's designed to kick into overdrive past a certain point on the volume knob. Not thrilled with it, but hey, it was almost free, right?

At first I suspected it was the speaker, but I got the same sound out of the headphones.

Thanks again.

No problem! It is really odd that the distortion works like that. I've actually been trying to find a wiring diagram as I wanted to take a look at the amplifier section in it, but I couldn't find one. On the upside apparently they are made by Aria: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. If it was almost free and plays decently then I'd call that a score.

Edit: Another thought, they might have made the range of gain go high enough to cause it to distort the signal like an overdrive pedal. I'm really interested to see how they might have wired the whole thing.

 

[bunnykeeper]

Do you want me to post some photos?

 

[Watchootognbout]

Have you tried lowering the pickup?
Are you able to?

 

[NSJB]

Do you want me to post some photos?

Nah, I'm good. I managed to find the amp section for the guitar version. It's what I expected. I've built similar ones for projects. Thanks for the offer though!

 

[bunnykeeper]

Have you tried lowering the pickup?
Are you able to?

I didn't have any problems when I plugged into an amp, so I think the pickup height is fine. Thanks, though.

Oh, and for future reference, it is adjustable.

 

[Alicecoldnose]

Folks:

FWIW in my historic experience ‘pignose’ basses are intended or at least employed to make use of the distortion discussed here. Take a listen to ‘the bi-ch is back’ by Elton John (bassist Dee Murray) from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and several other similar era EJ tunes. Not sure what the intent of the bass designer was in this case but in the mid-70s this effect was recognizable/compelling and one of the few bass distortion effects to work well IMV.

 

[catcauphonic]

Folks:

FWIW in my historic experience ‘pignose’ basses are intended or at least employed to make use of the distortion discussed here. Take a listen to ‘the bi-ch is back’ by Elton John (bassist Dee Murray) from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and several other similar era EJ tunes. Not sure what the intent of the bass designer was in this case but in the mid-70s this effect was recognizable/compelling and one of the few bass distortion effects to work well IMV.

The amp is just a little 6" speaker inside a tiny portable box. I didn't even know they made em for bass, but my neighbor and his babe both play guitar and each have there own customized and personalized li'l amps that they adore.

 

[thlayli]

Sorry to resurrect a years-old thread, but I’ve had on of these basses for over 16 years now. It’s supposed to sound that way. The Pignose amp they stuck into the bass is the exact same one that they put in the guitar version, and also the same circuit and components as their basic little amp in a box. I found this thread looking to see if anyone had modified one with a better speaker and tried to make it more bass-ey and it appears I’m going to have to figure out how to do it myself. Operation Make My Pignose Better will be commencing.
At any rate, thanks for motivating me to resurrect my tb account!

 

[Steve Chappell]

Sorry to resurrect a years-old thread, but I’ve had on of these basses for over 16 years now. It’s supposed to sound that way. The Pignose amp they stuck into the bass is the exact same one that they put in the guitar version, and also the same circuit and components as their basic little amp in a box. I found this thread looking to see if anyone had modified one with a better speaker and tried to make it more bass-ey and it appears I’m going to have to figure out how to do it myself. Operation Make My Pignose Better will be commencing.
At any rate, thanks for motivating me to resurrect my tb account!

Say, have you had any luck improving your Pignose bass? I hope to do the same.