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EMG pups + Bart Preamp=?

#2
hey now,

i decided to get creative with my schecter elite 5 and tried installing a bart preamp using the original emg hz pickups.the preamp had an active/passive switch along with a mid selctor switch..] i wired (or so i thought) everything correctly and all i got was passive mode and some really loud pops and squeels in active mode. i posted a similar question a week or so back and got a limited response. ive since ordered a emg bqs system (mid control). im sure its possible but may require specific pots or some other means to get the resitance right.
 
#4
pulseczar said:
Anybody has experience with this combination?

I just bought a Schecter Stilleto Custom 5 and when I read Harmon y Central's reviews, this guy just gushes about how better the bass sounded with that combination.
Click to expand...

FWIW:

Don't know what the stock controls are in that bass. In my experience what aftermarket preamps do more than anything is boost/cut signal (see Dimento's onboard preamp experiment in FAQ). Volume alone can change sound like alcohol can change a women's appearance. Gain in place of volume has a steroid effect. A stock passive harness or stock preamp are often comparatively bland setups so installing something with -12/+15 dB cut/boost will draw results similar to the difference between using active and passive inputs on an amp (typically about 10dB difference - roughly equivalent to tripling amp wattage).

The HZ pups are decent pups (although hard to find tone in my experience) so changing controls from something that seems anemic to in your face doesn't go unnoticed.

So, yeh, I could easily see an experience like that. I also bet he'd have written the same thing having installed any of the popular aftermarket preamps, not just Bart. The differences in my experience were of no consequence in terms of tone.

Preamps newer than 10 years old are extremely reliable and bullet-proof so less extreme abuse, rare factory defect, or improper installation - they will perform flawlessly as designed in my experience. Also Barts typically have an internal gain trim pot so if that is improperly set you could get some distortion but I've never got squeal out of any preamp install and I've done everything wrong to an install I thought was possible - many times over in fact.
 

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