Charvel Pro Mod San Dimas worth it?

[thorstiborsti]

So I've been researching the Charvel Pro Mod San Dimas bass. Lobster's review clearly calls out how horrible the onboard pre-amp is, function wise as well as how noisy it is. However reading and watching other reviews (such as the renowned German magazine Gitarre & Bass, Bass The World) there is no mention of excessive noise or that the pre-amp is in any way 'bad'. I really like the features of the San Dimas like the fast and roasted maple neck, Di Marzio Pickups and that it's an active PJ setup for under 1k$. So I'm wondering if Lobster received a dud and if there are any owners here that could share their experience? Having to go through a shielding exercise to get the noise under control is a major turn-off for me.

 

[350125g0]

I haven't put my hands on one of these, and active pre-amps aren't really my thing, but if the bass feels the way you want it to feel, couldn't you always upgrade the pre-amp to make it perfect for you?

I understand that's more money, but sometimes a bass just needs a little upgrade before it's perfect.

 

[musicman556]

I have been wanting one of these in blue for years, but keep buying other stuff instead.


I believe there are now two "generations" of the San Dimas Pro Mod basses. The green and blue 4 strings with the cream pickup covers are Gen 1, and the white and dark gray/black with the black pickup covers are Gen 2. I think I remember reading that the preamp on the Gen 2 stuff has been changed/upgraded to avoid the noise. I encourage you to do some more research to confirm that.

The 2 blue Gen 1s I played did seem to be a bit noisier than some basses I've played, but not the worst by any stretch. I love the roasted maple necks, and the look of blue, cream, and chrome is just killer. I almost bought the second one I played, but it had a lot of dents and dings on it already, and the shop wouldn't budge AT ALL from full price. Pass.

If you don't care about color, get a Gen 2. If a used blue one pops up near me for a steal, I'm absolutely grabbing it (assuming it plays well, etc) and will just put an audere preamp in it if the stock pre is noisy.

 

[thorstiborsti]

I have been wanting one of these in blue for years, but keep buying other stuff instead.


I believe there are now two "generations" of the San Dimas Pro Mod basses. The green and blue 4 strings with the cream pickup covers are Gen 1, and the white and dark gray/black with the black pickup covers are Gen 2. I think I remember reading that the preamp on the Gen 2 stuff has been changed/upgraded to avoid the noise. I encourage you to do some more research to confirm that.

The 2 blue Gen 1s I played did seem to be a bit noisier than some basses I've played, but not the worst by any stretch. I love the roasted maple necks, and the look of blue, cream, and chrome is just killer. I almost bought the second one I played, but it had a lot of dents and dings on it already, and the shop wouldn't budge AT ALL from full price. Pass.

If you don't care about color, get a Gen 2. If a used blue one pops up near me for a steal, I'm absolutely grabbing it (assuming it plays well, etc) and will just put an audere preamp in it if the stock pre is noisy.

Good call about the 2nd gen. I did see a black and a white model but didn't put 2 and 2 together. I'll do more research. The blue one is my favorite too but if get 2 is better out of the box then I might go for the white one.

 

[thorstiborsti]

Good call about the 2nd gen. I did see a black and a white model but didn't put 2 and 2 together. I'll do more research. The blue one is my favorite too but if get 2 is better out of the box then I might go for the white one.

Actually the color is called Platinum Pearl and not white.

 

[superheavyfunk]

I own a 5J and it does not have any noise in the preamp, nor did any of the ones that I tried in the store before I purchased mine, regardless of whether it was the 4 or 5 string version.

Let’s keep things in perspective here: Lobster had one (1) bass that was noisey. A few other ppl claimed that theirs was noisey as well but none produced any videos as evidence. This is a tiny sample that can be described as anecdotal at best, and completely overblown at worst.

I’m not saying that there aren’t noisey ones out there but you certainly won’t find them by asking folks on TB and getting some unproven information about supposed generations of build runs. I would be happy to be proven wrong, but to this point I’ve seen no collection of serial numbers, QC signatures or any other kind of actual trackable details about this.

tl;dr play a bunch and pick one that you like. They’re great instruments!

 

[Phr014]

I also own a 5J, used it for several live recordings since 9 month see the link..
https://youtube.com/@vilamarianatrio

Out of one gig place near a railway line where the 50 Hz hum was unbearable, our sound guy never told me that a bass track was spoilt by noise.

 

[Fernando Costa]

I have one of these basses, it's a great instrument. There is no bass on the market with so many good features for this price. With all due respect to Lobster and your great review - as always - I think that instrument had issues. Mine has absolutely no noise, and the preamp isn't bad, it's just average. As a precaution I shielded the cavity and rearranged the wiring which is really a bit chaotic. It's very easy to do. The only "cons" of this bass are the tuners, like all Fender MIM tuners, they are very bad. Replacement hipshots do the trick. It is worth the investment because the bass is very cheap.

 

[LowEndLobster]

I think it was the early runs that were hit or miss with the preamps, both of mine were purchased within the first few months of release. I had two examples that were terrible (the second worse than the first), and Bully's 5'er also was noisy. There were at least two different types of preamps found in the San Dimas as well, so I think the early shuffling around of parts and poor out the door QC was the culprit here. I definitely plan on revisiting the bass to see how the model has faired since. Personally, I'd try before you buy if you can as the neck and the overall build is good. I'd probably also go for the 'newer' finishes so you'll have less of a chance of ending up with a dud.

 

[KuroiEvo]

I got myself a metallic blue one at the end of last year. I thought it looks killer and just wanted to give it a try. So I pulled the trigger when a German shop offered a special deal. No regrets until now and it's still here. Actually I rehearsed with it today.

To me it looks awesome and it seems to be a well made bass. The preamp on mine is dead quiet and I haven't found any issues so far. Maybe it's not the most musical sounding pre but I don't use the extreme settings anyway. And you can run it in full passive mode as well. The only annoying thing is the loud pop when switching from active to passive mode. The control cavity is not the tidiest place but still ok - after all it's not a high end bass...

It plays great, the neck is really slick (I usually prefer the wider nut like on a Precision or Stingray) and responds well to finger style or pick. It actually sounds great with a pick and the bridge surface has no protruding edges or screws when resting the hand for muting - I've seen (felt) that a lot worse on more expensive instruments...

It is a rather present instrument in the mix if you want and maybe not for everyone. I think with the DiMarzio PUs it's a bit like on steroids. I like it but I don't run it with the EQ fully boosted or in any extreme settings.
Overall I think it's a great PJ with its own character. If you don't like the preamp, it's still a great basis for mods because the rest of the instrument is nicely done. Just my 0.02 of course...

If you can find one for a decent price it's well worth checking out, I believe. I'm happy with mine.

 

[superheavyfunk]

The preamp on mine is dead quiet and I haven't found any issues so far. Maybe it's not the most musical sounding pre but I don't use the extreme settings anyway.

That’s really the key with this preamp, I think. Small tweaks to slightly emphasize certain frequencies that you want to have poking out or want to cut a little - nothing extreme.

Great bass, overall. I really love mine!

 

[Corrington]

I have a Charvel Pro-Mod San Dimas Bass PJ IV in Mystic Blue. It looks and sounds great. No noise. The DiMarzio pickups punch through, even in passive mode. The bass is well balanced and comfortable to play. I love the roasted maple neck. It’s smooth as silk and the profile is perfect for my hands. Give one a try. I think you’ll enjoy it.

 

[deff]

Played a show last Saturday and the bass player from one of the bands had the PJ in blue. I know that people have complained about the preamp, with caveats like Lobster said, but it sounded great. I think she had it in active mode, but I could be wrong. It sounded super strong and present. She was playing through a markbass and my Berg cab. I was pretty shocked that I liked the clean sound and also thought the markbass sounded good. I normally associate burpy jazzy sounds with those. This was just straight up strong, clear pbass sound. I guess preconceptions were meant to be obliterated.

 

[Ellery]

Since reading this post, I have acquired a San Dimas Pro Mod IV. I think it totally rocks! I have not explored the preamp yet because I set it in bypass, selected neck pickup and out came a killer time that I loved. But no noise. It is a little hefty but it balances really well, the roasted maple neck is light and all the weight is on the big alder body. I played it with a band for the first time last night and it was awesome. I had shied away from thin necks in recent years but this thin next has just the right contour, I found it really comfortable and easy to play. For playing experience and sound it contends with my more expensive basses. Two thumbs up!

 

[Corrington]

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed] and a couple of five strings for $695.

 

[trainyourhuman]

Has anybody put Sadowsky guts in one of these yet?

 

[superheavyfunk]

Has anybody put Sadowsky guts in one of these yet?

Not Sadowsky but there’s a Glockenklang in mine!

 

[Low-Five]

I pulled on the headphones and pugged into my Katana Bass 210 to check out noise in my Charvel San Dimas PJ V. I turned off the noise gate and the compressor and went through a bunch of settings.

With clean and mostly clean tones, there was no discernible noise, try as I might to pump things up with the preamp and wild EQ settings.

When I turned up the drive to get substantially distorted or fuzzed-out tones, it got noisy pretty quickly. This was exacerbated by turning the gain up more, turning on the preamp, or turning up EQ knobs on the Charvel. Interestingly, it would get really quiet if I turned the Charvel’s volume knob all the way down, even with the noise gate off —meaning that the background noise would pretty much go away. When I turned on the noise gate and set the threshold to something low to mid, the noise ceased to be a serious issue.

I’m not bothered by the noise just yet, but that may be I haven’t found high-gain tones that I really like yet. The low-gain and overdrive tones that I like so far are mild enough that the background noise doesn’t get bad. I like the Charvel enough that I wouldn’t mind putting a little more into electronics to bring it up a level.

 

[musicman556]

I pulled on the headphones and pugged into my Katana Bass 210 to check out noise in my Charvel San Dimas PJ V. I turned off the noise gate and the compressor and went through a bunch of settings.

With clean and mostly clean tones, there was no discernible noise, try as I might to pump things up with the preamp and wild EQ settings.

When I turned up the drive to get substantially distorted or fuzzed-out tones, it got noisy pretty quickly. This was exacerbated by turning the gain up more, turning on the preamp, or turning up EQ knobs on the Charvel. Interestingly, it would get really quiet if I turned the Charvel’s volume knob all the way down, even with the noise gate off —meaning that the background noise would pretty much go away. When I turned on the noise gate and set the threshold to something low to mid, the noise ceased to be a serious issue.

I’m not bothered by the noise just yet, but that may be I haven’t found high-gain tones that I really like yet. The low-gain and overdrive tones that I like so far are mild enough that the background noise doesn’t get bad. I like the Charvel enough that I wouldn’t mind putting a little more into electronics to bring it up a level.

Just out of curiosity, have you done this same test with other basses you have, and do you have any comparisons you can give/make?

It's a good thing that you heard no additional noise until you started adding gain/overdrive!

 

[Low-Five]

Just out of curiosity, have you done this same test with other basses you have, and do you have any comparisons you can give/make?

It's a good thing that you heard no additional noise until you started adding gain/overdrive!

I spent some time this evening with the Katana, the Boss mobile app, and my Sony MDR-7506 headphones, going back and forth between the Charvel and the Sterling RAY35HH. Both of these are spanking new, bone stock.

Both can get noisy at certain settings, but the Charvel is worse, but how much worse — and whether it’s an issue for you — has a LOT to do with what kind of dirt gain you’re applying. It’s much less of an issue if you pick any one thing to keep it down some — bypass the preamp, turn on the input PAD in the Katana, or don’t crank up the EQ knobs. If you dial in a lot of dirt, no pad, crank the EQ, you’ll probably hear some noise floor when you’re not playing — unless you have the noise gate on.

Both basses make the amp go quiet when you turn the bass’s own volume knob all the way down. The RAY35 was still pretty quiet with its volume knob up, though you would still have an audible noise floor if you had high gain going. The noise from each bass would getter softer or louder or change frequency balance as I stepped through the pickup selector stops on the Ray, or panned the blend knob on the Charvel between the P and J pickups. Interestingly, the center detent position on the Charvel dialed out the majority of the rush of noise but dialed in what seemed to be a radio station. The Charvel was also a little more microphic than the Ray, pickup up more high-frequency content when you’d tap a fingernail against one of the knobs, for example. The Ray would also pick up some noise from such activity, but it seemed a little more of a low-pass pathway, a little less pronounced overall. Keep in mind that these microphonic effects were observed under high gain while not playing.

Noise floors aside, I think I like the distorted sounds better on the Sterling anyway. It seems to retain more definition and composure under heavy gain. I haven’t scratched the surface of what these basses and the Katana can do, and this particular assessment is very preliminary. Also, I do love the way the Charvel plays, its clean tones, and its tones with mild overdrive from the amp models, or a little gain from the “DI” pedal model to give it a bit of that Sansamp Bass Driver zing.

YMMV. Keep in mind that all this done was in a quiet room, playing alone, through headphones. Definitely don’t count it out just because of this. I love the Charvel, and there’s no way I’m not keeping it. I kind of like shielding guitars, and I might even be willing to put a high-performance aftermarket preamp in it, as some have done.