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Carvin SB5000 / SB4000 Roll Call...Part 8!

#524
dgce said:
Ahhhhh. Gotcha. I thought I read that around here somewhere but I wasn't sure. Thanks.

Say Funk, when I pull the trigger next time, I may follow ur lead and go all maple with SS frets and strings. So tell me, are chiropractors that expensive?
Click to expand...

I installed a push/pull volume pot that will bypass the preamp, making it passive/active. But it only has (as you asked) volume and blend in the circuit.

Please do not blame me for your back woes if you go that direction...but I think my all maple B24 sounds the best.
 
#525
Funkinthetrunk said:
I installed a push/pull volume pot that will bypass the preamp, making it passive/active. But it only has (as you asked) volume and blend in the circuit.

Please do not blame me for your back woes if you go that direction...but I think my all maple B24 sounds the best.
Click to expand...

I may just go with vol, blend, passive tone, and the active bass/treb stack. I won't get my mid/sweep but at least I'll have a tone control while in passive. Besides, my B24S has humbuckers with the Icon pre. So I already have an axe with a mid/sweep.

As for the potential back woes, I must give the maple thing a lot of thought. An all maple B24 sounds heavy. But an all maple SB5000 will be a tank.

Decisions, decisions.
 
#527
Funkinthetrunk said:
You're probably right on this. But it'll probably still be lighter than my 1981 Alembic. ;)
Click to expand...

Well my '97 G&L is not only a back breaker, it's an ASAT; a single cutaway Tele bass. Cool looking, deadly pickups, but terrible balance. The maple SB5000 may actually easier to deal with believe it or not. Then again, an all maple B25S is still a possibility.

Yep, decisions, decisions.
 
#528
5sg, and all other fretless SB players with the active option, I'm wondering what you find the bass/treble brings to the table. For reference, I play a MIM Fender fretless jazz and an LB75FP (that's been at Carvin for repairs for almost 2 months :( ).

When I think fretless, I think mids, and I'm wondering how much use you get from the bass/treble knobs. I've never played an SB, but I've heard they're pretty bright. Is that what you use the active circuit for?

On my LB, I use the on-board EQ to tame the piezo pickup which I think is pretty harsh. On my Fender, I find I get a ton of milage from the standard passive circuit.
 
#529
If I had it to do over again, I probably would order the Mid control just to have it "just in case." I haven't needed it so far because it's a pretty well spoken bass as is. I get instant Jaco when I dial back the front pickup even a little, and it cuts nicely through a mix (but I'll disclaim that, I've only played my SB at a few rehearsals so far). Also, 99% of the time on my fretted Jazz V that does have a mid control (I put in an Audere JZ3), I leave it flat anyway. I don't think the mid control would be NEEDED, but it might be nice to have.

I've found that having the bass/treble on there HAS been really nice though... My two favorite sounds lately have been when I dial the treble knob back with both pickups at full, or a little bass bump with the pickups at maybe 80%/100% neck/bridge, for "Jaco with a little extra kick." I tend to leave the Tone knob at full and control with the active EQ controls, partially out of habit from my Jazz V and partially because to me, it just sounds a little better that way. I also feel like having the bass/treble controls makes my SB more versatile. It nails the tones I want, but there's a pretty wide variety of other sounds it can do as well, that a fretless with just a tone knob isn't quite as good at.

My SB does have quite a bit of high end zing with the rounds I put on, which is why I think it's so easy to get the Jaco sound. It's not harsh though, and is quite controllable with Carvin's stock preamp setup. Sounds just right to me anyway. :)

5sg.
 
#530
I think all of my SB's have only had the standard active controls. Vol, vol, tone, bass/treble. I like the default sound of the bass, so I don't feel the need for more tone shaping controls on the bass.

90% of the time my settings are like this:

Vol: Full
Vol: Full
Tone: Varies depending on string newness
Bass: bumped up a little past center
Treble: center (I think I can safely say 100% of the time. I have very little use for this knob personally. The tone knob does a much better job taming highs, imo)

The other 10% of the time, the neck pickup is dialed back just a hair to get a more Jaco-ish tone. Sometimes I boost the bass a little more when I do that.

But at no time do I think, man I wish I had a mids knob to make changes there.
 
#531
5sg, thanks for the interesting perspective! I can imagine the ability to make treble cuts would be useful. I find it interesting that you tend to leave the tone knob full. I've recently started using mine much more often. It may sound counterintuitive, but I like that tone knob adjustments and a neck pickup boost can tame the mwah quite a bit. The members of the band I've recently joined haven't commented on the fact that I'm using a fretless, which for the most part, I think is a positive. Of course, having the mwah in my back pocket is a beautiful thing!
 
#532
Jarrett said:
I think all of my SB's have only had the standard active controls. Vol, vol, tone, bass/treble. I like the default sound of the bass, so I don't feel the need for more tone shaping controls on the bass.

90% of the time my settings are like this:

Vol: Full
Vol: Full
Tone: Varies depending on string newness
Bass: bumped up a little past center
Treble: center (I think I can safely say 100% of the time. I have very little use for this knob personally. The tone knob does a much better job taming highs, imo)

The other 10% of the time, the neck pickup is dialed back just a hair to get a more Jaco-ish tone. Sometimes I boost the bass a little more when I do that.

But at no time do I think, man I wish I had a mids knob to make changes there.
Click to expand...

Those are my settings exactly!
 
#534
fivestringgecko said:
If I had it to do over again, I probably would order the Mid control just to have it "just in case." I haven't needed it so far because it's a pretty well spoken bass as is. I get instant Jaco when I dial back the front pickup even a little, and it cuts nicely through a mix (but I'll disclaim that, I've only played my SB at a few rehearsals so far). Also, 99% of the time on my fretted Jazz V that does have a mid control (I put in an Audere JZ3), I leave it flat anyway. I don't think the mid control would be NEEDED, but it might be nice to have.

5sg.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I sorta suspected that this may be the case. Sounds like keeping that passive tone control is the way to go. I do like the possibility of having a traditional Jazz setup in passive mode then going hi-fi on the fly. Who needs a mid? I have a graphic EQ on my amp anyway.
 
#537
:cool:

Question to all you SB owners.

Now that Carvin is making a 5-string P-Bass.

Would they do a SB5000 with a P-bass pickup in the neck position ?

It's just a different routing for the neck pickup.
You could wire everything else just like a standard SB5000.
Passive or Active.

I think this would be cool.
 
#538
Mojo-Man said:
:cool:

Question to all you SB owners.

Now that Carvin is making a 5-string P-Bass.

Would they do a SB5000 with a P-bass pickup in the neck position ?

It's just a different routing for the neck pickup.
You could wire everything else just like a standard SB5000.
Passive or Active.

I think this would be cool.
Click to expand...

It's just a matter of time, I'm sure. Their P bass is still pretty new and I'd think from a marketing point of view, they'd want that P pickup to be exclusive to this new axe initially. But down the road...
 
#539
On one hand, I have to agree with dgce about that. It seems like that would make sense. Plus, they would probably have to develop the technical/mechanical details of getting their hardware able to put a P pickup on a body other than the PB basses.

On the other hand, I would think they might sell more basses if they have the P option available on other basses... I can't be the only one that doesn't particularly care for that PB body style. If the P/J option was available on a Bromberg 5'er, I'm not sure I would be able to keep myself from ordering one immediately!

5sg.
 
#540
I've had my SB5000 (Ash / Maple FB) for a month or so now. Played it enough to get comfortable with it.

I find I'm almost always playing it in passive mode with either the neck pickup solo or an even blend of neck & bridge. Tone control varies from full open to mostly closed depending on the song & my mood.

Engaging active mode gives a lower mid boost that for me takes some of the instruments "voice" away and muddies up the sound. In passive I'm hearing deeper lows and smoother mids.

Am I alone?

- Keith -
 

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