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Brice HXB-406 ...not loud enough...

Discussion in 'Pickups & Electronics [BG]' started by DaveCustomMade, Nov 15, 2005.

  1. Nov 15, 2005 #1
    DaveCustomMade

    DaveCustomMade Guest

    Apr 23, 2004
    Southwest Missouri
    I recently picked up the HXB-406 and the sound man has told me that it is noisy, . . . . I kinda figured that since I've heard others say that. But he also says that he has to boost the gain up pretty high in order for it to be heard.

    Now, it does have the active/passive pushpull volume knob, and has a single 9 volt battery.

    My question is, I am planning on (sometime soon) switching out the electronics and pickups for some Bart stuff. Since this bass has only one 9 volt battery place available, would a new Bart preamp and pickups still have this problem, or are they 'hot enough' to help my sound man out?

    I guess a side question would be, for the pickups, would I want to go with split coil or the quad coil, if more volume is needed, or would that have nothing to do with it?

    Thanks for whatever help you can offer! :)
     
  2. Nov 16, 2005 #2
    DaveCustomMade

    DaveCustomMade Guest

    Apr 23, 2004
    Southwest Missouri
    Anyone?
     
  3. Nov 16, 2005 #3
    bad_andy

    bad_andy

    Sep 21, 2005
    Omaha, NE
    The Bart parts are probably going to be inherently quieter and better quality in the signal to noise ratio department, so that will help. Also, while you're in there, you could get some shielding tape and make sure that the control cavity and pickup cavities are well shielded. Check to make sure the new parts are properly grounded and that should take care of most basic noise problems. :)
     
  4. Nov 17, 2005 #4
    DaveCustomMade

    DaveCustomMade Guest

    Apr 23, 2004
    Southwest Missouri
    Yes, I will definitely place better shielding in there. I don't think it has any. I DO believe it has a ground going to the bridge.

    What about the issue with whether it would be better to get split or quad coil Barts? :meh:
     
  5. Nov 17, 2005 #5
    Bassic83

    Bassic83

    Jul 26, 2004
    Texas, USSA
    Won't make too much difference in sound, unless you coil tap them to extract every possible combination of coils, single, dual, quad, series, parallel. Another alternative is EMG (don't care for them myself, but some people love em), they are clean, and have a variety of plug-in preamp modules.
     
  6. Nov 21, 2005 #6
    DaveCustomMade

    DaveCustomMade Guest

    Apr 23, 2004
    Southwest Missouri
    I wouldn't be doing any fancy 'switching'. I do need to clarify if you were talking about the split coil pickups (I'm assuming you meant these) or the quad coil, ...since I'm just going to be running them straight (with just the volume, blend, bass, mid, and treble).

    Thanks for the help!
     
  7. Nov 21, 2005 #7
    Bassic83

    Bassic83

    Jul 26, 2004
    Texas, USSA
    If you're just going to be running them straight, get whichever is cheaper. Just make sure you measure your existing pickups before you go buying them. Split-coils are fine, quad-coils are rarer, and best left to those who have a bass tech willing to do all the switching. If you ran the quads as two split coils, they'd wire up the same and sound pretty much the same as the splits anyway, so if the splits are cheaper, go for those, IMO. If you can get the Classic Bass series, they're supposed to sound great, with a little more 'air' to their tone than the quads. They will run fine going to a TCT or TBT (or the latest equivalent) with 9 volts. 18 volts would give you a little more headroom, not sure if you want to hassle with routing another battery compartment. If you do, great, if not, you may wish to put another 9v battery in the electronics compartment, just be sure there is enough room, and secure it with a clip, or a velcro loop so it doesn't bounce around in there. Don't want to short anything out!

    Hope that helps, good luck!
     
  8. Nov 21, 2005 #8
    DaveCustomMade

    DaveCustomMade Guest

    Apr 23, 2004
    Southwest Missouri
    Thank you Bassic83. I will just go with the Split coil Barts. I'll save about $50 bucks that way. :)
     
  9. Nov 22, 2005 #9
    Bassic83

    Bassic83

    Jul 26, 2004
    Texas, USSA
    No problem! Glad to help!
    Don't forget- you gotta post pics or you didn't really do it! :)
     
  10. Nov 22, 2005 #10
    DaveCustomMade

    DaveCustomMade Guest

    Apr 23, 2004
    Southwest Missouri

    Hehehehe

    Okay, I'll post pics of the Bartolini pickups and of the HR 4.6 A/P when they are installed. :)
     
  11. Nov 22, 2005 #11
    Bassic83

    Bassic83

    Jul 26, 2004
    Texas, USSA
    Let me know how it turns out for you- I have a friend who wants to do that exact same mod on his lefty HXB406...
     
  12. Nov 22, 2005 #12
    DaveCustomMade

    DaveCustomMade Guest

    Apr 23, 2004
    Southwest Missouri
    Okay. I can't imagine it turning out anyway other than good, though. As it currently is, the bass sounds decent. New Bart stuff (at least the way I see it) could only improve the sound. However, I won't know for sure until after everything is hooked up and I plug it in. :oops:

    Anyway, I'll post a review after it's done. :)
     
  13. Nov 26, 2005 #13
    Showdown

    Showdown

    Jan 21, 2002
    Honolulu, Hawaii
    I put a Bart NTMB preamp in mine, but left the stock pickups. It sounds great. Those pickups really aren't bad at all. The preamp is the weak spot.

    I'm sure yours will sound even better with the Bart pickups too.