Darkstar pickups through a preamp?

[MAJOR METAL]

I was curious to see if anyone here has paired their Darkstar equipped bass with an onboard preamp?

What preamp would you recommend for Darkstars?

Thanks!

 

[ctmullins]

Yep. Whatever preamp you like. Works great.

 

[deepestend]

I have mine through a basic boost only treble/bass preamp and it does add some nice girth to it. I wonder if something that could boost the low mids would round it out as mine tends to sound a little trebley-- though that may be the bass it's in.

 

[sunbeast]

I had dual Darkstars in a J-bass with an Audere Z-mode preamp and it was a killer combo, particularly having the different Z-mode switching options. They also pair well with filter-type preamps like the ACG EQ-01.

I have mine through a basic boost only treble/bass preamp and it does add some nice girth to it. I wonder if something that could boost the low mids would round it out as mine tends to sound a little trebley-- though that may be the bass it's in.

How much clearance do you have between the tops of the pickups and the bottoms of the strings? I find Darkstars could be bright and peaky sounding if there wasn't enough clearance (and adjusting the pole pieces only helps moderately with this issue). The Starfire basses they were originally on generally had significantly more clearance than many Fender-type instruments

 

[deepestend]

There actually isn't much clearance. I should see what i can do. I have out auderes in sone of my other basses and really like what they do.

 

[Jefenator]

I would say Aguilar OPB-1 @ 18V, but that's my answer to everything.

 

[sunbeast]

There actually isn't much clearance. I should see what i can do. I have out auderes in sone of my other basses and really like what they do.

If you have them in a Fender-style Bass you can shim the neck and raise the bridge to get more clearance- I found a little goes s long way with those pickups. When setup well they should have a pretty fat and smooth bottom end with wide but not peaky top end, but without enough string clearance I find the top can get pretty obnoxious and clangy

 

[deepestend]

Good to know. I have it in and old G&L sb-1. I'll see what I can do to get more clearance after the holidays.

 

[sunbeast]

Good to know. I have it in and old G&L sb-1. I'll see what I can do to get more clearance after the holidays.

Depending on the year your SB-1 may have a micro-tilt adjuster in the neck pocket (if its a 3-bolt neck) that you can use to raise the neck angle. What is the clearance between the bottom of the strings and top of pickup when you fret at the last fret?

 

[deepestend]

It's at my practice space. I'll check it out when I'm home.