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G&B 3-band preamp schematic?

Maz

Maz

Jan 9, 2011
155
7
Albuquerque
#1
Hey folks, I wonder if anyone out there is familiar with G&B company 3-band preamps. I have one that I bought used back in 2011 and ignored until recently. It came with no pots and no diagram. I should have asked right then but I figured I could find a schematic np later. Well, I can't, and the seller is no help. I have pretty good search-fu, but all I'm finding are the pot values it's supposed to use and some pictures which are confusing.

I've wired it up in several different configurations based on what I think I know, but I'm not getting any sound through it. Does anyone out there know how these things are wired, or better yet, have a diagram they could share? Thanks in advance if anyone can help, this thing is really grinding my gears.

I'm at work right now, but I can post a pic tonight if it helps.
 
#4
wcriley said:
I have one that I pulled from an LTD bass guitar a few years ago. I'll look for it over the weekend and draw a diagram and/or post photos.
Click to expand...

That would be awesome, thanks man.

wcriley said:
In my opinion, it's voiced better for skinny-string guitar than for bass guitar.
Click to expand...

I hope I'm not just wasting my time with this thing. I figure it has to be better than the tonepump jr. I'm replacing with it. At least I can put some mids back into the sound. (I hope)
 
#5
Quick and sloppy sketch:

GBPre_zps8a18395d.jpg
 
#7
Paired up with the EMGSSD bridge pup it sounds pretty good, considering what it is. This went into a Spector legend 4 classic. I just went and noodled around for a few minutes. I have a total sh*t soldering iron here but I have access to some pretty nice ones at work, so I'll wait till Monday to finish the job. The low end is kinda muddy if I crank the bass and the high end is too thin if I crank that, but if I just keep everything boosted a little bit I'm getting a good snarly midrange out of it, which was exactly what I couldn't get out of the tonepump jr. that was in there.
 
#13
traben used one of these, unfortunatley neither posted pic quite matches how my array obsession is wired. 3 pots off of eq, check. but the mini toggle, volume and ( i assume) neck to bridge pup pot confusing. closest i have found is the toggle one above but it doesnt show the extra pot the obsession has. way mine is now there are 2 issues if the cavity coever gets opened it can sometimes cause the unit not to work at all (loose or shorted wire) so i have to make sure it is working while im replacing the cavity cover which isnt an issue for me, but the other issue is that in one position the toggle basically acts like an off switch and kills volume the other way i get sound, now with that having been said the way it looks to me is that in one position the switch puts bass in an passive bass state while the position goes through preamp ( and guess which side i lose output on, yep the side that goes into the preamp). i know it is not a battery issue because i put a brand new energizer in it today and still no go.

so im thinking the preamp was crapped out when i got it and has to be replaced. so, if anyone has a recommendation of another 9v 3 band active eq or where i can find a traben oem one
 

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