Dean upgrade: would it help?

[Chris K]

I play a Dean Edge 4 fretless that I use only for street gigs with a pop coverband. It plays very well, is lightweight, looks good.

Problem: tone lacks punch and definition.

PU's are 2 Dean (active) soapbars 102x38 mm (4 x 1,5 inch).
Would changing the PU's make a difference (given the poor wood quality of the body)?

Which PÚ's do you recommend?

Thanks.

 

[Kalyptic]

The Pickups they use in stingrays do wonders for fretless.
What wood is used in the Edge 4's I have an Edge Pro and ive found it works diffferently depending on the battery used.

 

[Chris K]

The Pickups they use in stingrays do wonders for fretless.
What wood is used in the Edge 4's I have an Edge Pro and ive found it works diffferently depending on the battery used.

What wood? That's a very good question. Been wondering about that myself. The famous "Basswood" I'm afraid... could be anything.

Which Stingray PU's do you mean?
And... which battery etc.

 

[Kalyptic]

well ive found basswood sounds great on the bongo 6 so i dont think its that bad.
As for batteries, Duracell sound a lot more powerfull and last longer.

The Humbuckers used in stingrays, i dont know what brand they are, but they sound great.

 

[Chris K]

Yo, thanks.
But: 'basswood'? I do not consider that to be a specific type of wood. Maybe the luthiers know.

 

[eastcoasteddie]

Yo, thanks.
But: 'basswood'? I do not consider that to be a specific type of wood. Maybe the luthiers know.

Basswood, also known as Tilia


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilia

 

[Chris K]

Basswood, also known as Tilia


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilia

Thanks Eddie. I'm just being oversuspicious again.

 

[ninefingerbass]

I have the same bass in red. It is a great bass and I definitely looking forward to upgrading it. So far I have sanded it to bare wood. Then I stained it honey satin and replaced the bridge with a BAIII bridge. The tone is much better and it still sings well. I'm going to replace the trons since the pre-amp is not very good IMO. Pick ups are next then nut and possibly redoing neck, but that is far from now.

I've added Daddario super light strings so I can up tune and down tune. It is a lot of fun and looks very classy. I have received lots of compliments on my amateur work of refinishing since it was done back in 2005.

 

[T. B. Player]

Bartolini pickups and a Bartolini 3 band pre-amp. You need some mids to cut through the mix.

Basswood body and (I'm assuming) maple neck give you lots of brightness. The Barts will "darken" it up, and then you boost the mids.

IMHO

Z

 

[eastcoasteddie]

Bartolini pickups and a Bartolini 3 band pre-amp. You need some mids to cut through the mix.

Basswood body and (I'm assuming) maple neck give you lots of brightness. The Barts will "darken" it up, and then you boost the mids.

IMHO

Z

yes!

I have found that Bart preamps sound really good in fretless basses. Lots of growl.

 

[ninefingerbass]

I have been trying to go that route by using Barts. Any particular model? I don't mean to hijack the thread from original poster but when I saw him looking to do the same as me, I though why not.

 

[Crockettnj]

I briefly had an ASH dean with a single humbucker in the bridge position and man that hting had some serious growl. It snarled. mids and low mids galore. I wonder if the pres are different or if the wood makes that much difference.