• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Carvin electronic upgrade

G

garythenuke

Mar 13, 2010
407
2
Paso Robles, Ca
#1
I picked up a used Carvin LB76 fretless. It was made in 1998. It has the push/pull active/passive volume knob.
The pups are the standard single coil H50s and the pre-amp is a 9V 501B.
It sounds nice, but I would like more from it. What can you suggest for upgrading the pups without re-routing? I guess I am "stuck" with single coil in terms of dimension. Do I need to go 18V on the pre to get more "oomph", or is there another 9V pre that will give more. If I have to go 18V I'll need to have someone do the routing for the battery cavity.

Basically by more, I mean MORE. I can go passive, so I can go "less" all day long. I want more highs, more mids, more lows. I have only this single bass, and I would like it to do as many things as possible, so that the weakest link REMAINS the player and not the gear.

I plan to mylar the finger board so that I can keep using rounds on it and work on some slap.

Thanks for anyone's input.
GTN
 
#3
I have always really liked the H50N pickups. Are you sure that they are what you have? The way you can tell if they are J99 or H50N is the the J99s will have a dot next to the Carvin logo on the face of the pickup.

The J99 always sounded sterile to me.

They are all standard sized pickups. They are swappable with Fender pickups, so if you are really wanting to change them out it won't be too hard to find a size match.

On the fretboard, I covered mine with a gun oil called Tru-oil. It dries hard and will take some real abuse to come off. My only gripe with the stuff is that it dries glossy and I like satin finishes on my instruments.
 
#4
FF Petro said:
I have always really liked the H50N pickups. Are you sure that they are what you have? The way you can tell if they are J99 or H50N is the the J99s will have a dot next to the Carvin logo on the face of the pickup.

The J99 always sounded sterile to me.

They are all standard sized pickups. They are swappable with Fender pickups, so if you are really wanting to change them out it won't be too hard to find a size match.

On the fretboard, I covered mine with a gun oil called Tru-oil. It dries hard and will take some real abuse to come off. My only gripe with the stuff is that it dries glossy and I like satin finishes on my instruments.
Click to expand...


There's no dot. I'm going to back off a bit on the whole electronics upgrade. I ordered a set of lo-riders today that should be here this weekend. I'll put them on and in the meantime clean pups and get them adjusted closer to the string. Basically just get it set back up to factory+ specs. I already have the pre's screw turned all the way to the right. Yes I did already put in a new battery...:p
I bought some dunlop lemon oil and I'll put a couple of coats on the board. I'd planned on then doing the mylar, but now I'm thinking otherwise...

I hadn't heard of using Tru-oil on the fret board. I don't suppose it would hurt. Has anyone else tried it??
 
#6
brimm51 said:
if you are looking for more highs in your sound i would reccomend setting your rig up to suit extra mids and highs, what are you currently useing for an amp/cab setup?
Click to expand...

I was borrowing a friend's rig for a while. Right now I have a lowly B-Dec. It's fun to mess with but has no balls. I am on the lookout for something like an SWR Redhead. I just need to find one for less than five bills....
 
#8
garythenuke said:
I bought some dunlop lemon oil and I'll put a couple of coats on the board. I'd planned on then doing the mylar, but now I'm thinking otherwise...

I hadn't heard of using Tru-oil on the fret board. I don't suppose it would hurt. Has anyone else tried it??
Click to expand...
True-oil and lemon oil are not the same.
Search in the Hardware/Setup threads for info about true-oil. I put it on my FB when I defretted my bass and it's awesome. Much easier to work with than super glue or epoxy, although not as hard as epoxy.
 
#10
garythenuke said:
Would you do the lemon oil first and then the tru-oil or just do tru-oil? My local sporting goods store has tru-oil.
Click to expand...

Yup, that'll be the stuff. No lemon oil. In fact you might need to get the existing lemon out of the wood first. You want bare, pure wood to start. Light sand, then just work the true-oil in with your fingers, just like the instructions on the bottle say. I regret not doing the first very light coat with a credit card as a squeegy to fill in the grain first and then the finger coats, but the difference would have been very minimal. Just like other finishes, more lighter coats are better. After 2 or 3 coats you'll start to see the grain pop, it's pretty neat, then you can just keep going until you get to the look you want.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back