I’ve had lot of people asking me what’s the deal with the pre-amp for my
ReCurve bass from AC Guitars and why I couldn’t say what kind of electronics were going to go into it yet. In short it’s because it’s going to be a brand new offering that will only be available through AC Guitars as it’s a proprietary design. It’s been going through the design and build stages and Alan’s finally got a working prototype that he’s been testing for the last week or so. I’ll give you some of the details on the amp itself but I’ll leave it to Alan to chime in on how it sounds (because I don’t have it in my hands yet) and what he thinks about it!
Unlike most on-board (“on-bass”
electronics this system will be filter based. As far as I know the only 2 existing pre-amps that use this type of system are in the Wal and Alembic models (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). And you know how much Wal and Alembic users swear by the flexibility and variety of sounds that they can get out of their basses!
And to top it off, Alan worked very closely with John East at E-Pro, the designer of the phenomenal J-Retro and U-Retro bass pre-amps. And yes, if you want one of these new filter-based pre-amps you can order one but it has to be done through Alan via
[email protected] as it is proprietary and as such, won’t be available through John. However, it will still be John’s design, expertise and manufacturing behind every single AC Guitars pre-amp built.
The pre-amp will of course be active (9V) and use 4 stacked pots. Here is how John East describes it:
The AC BASS-EQ-01 is designed for two pickup basses. It consists of 4 stack knobs allowing control of volume and blend between the pickups, individual low pass filter characteristics for each pickup, and overall treble control.
Details of System & Controls:
VOLUME/BLEND STACK KNOB
* LOWER RING
- Active blend for smooth and even control of pickup balance.
* UPPER KNOB
- Low impedance volume control.
2 FILTER/PEAK STACK KNOBS (One for each pickup)
* LOWER RING
- Sets low pass filter frequency for its pickup.
* UPPER KNOB
- Sets the level of overshoot peak for its filter.
TREBLE STACK (“Pick Attack”
* LOWER RING
- Sets the frequency for the treble shelf.
* UPPER KNOB
- Sets the level of treble.
GENERAL
* INPUT STAGES- Two gain adjustment presets are included to allow fine-tuning the level of pickups individually.
- Each pickup input has its own buffer amplifier allowing non-matching pickup types to be used successfully.
- Each input includes a sub filter to prevent harmful 'power-soaking' frequencies below your bass spectrum, reaching your rig.
* INSTALLATION
- The system comes completely wired including battery clip and jack.
- All connections to the inputs, outputs and power are via small screw terminals, so no soldering will be required.
For more details on the mechanical elements/components and specs please visit Alan’s website at
AC Guitars - he talks about it right on the home page.
This is big!!! This is a huge deal!!! Not just because it’s yet another new pre-amp model but look at the combination of things involved… A completely new, custom built, filter-based unit designed and manufactured by John East based upon concept by Alan Cringean, the luthier/designer/builder of AC Guitars himself!!! I am so pumped about this!!!
Let me or Alan (Skelf) know if anyone has any questions and I’m sure that Alan would be happy to address them here in this thread or via PM.
