So i'm a 17 year with a budget enough for one thing or the other: New good pickups or a good preamp. The stock mim pickups are good, but not exactly the greatest thing in the world. I was going to upgrade them until I had the idea of getting a preamp to give me the tone I want. I make music with my cousins and don't gig, so I'm wondering what will give me my money's worth. My bass is passive and I know what pickups I would get, but I'm not familiar with preamps. Any recommendations If that is my better option? Thanks.
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Good Pickups or Good Preamp
- Thread starter Josh Diaz
- Start date
Hi Josh!
A couple questions to help me and others answer your questions. Context is king after all.
What bass is it?
What's your amplifier setup?
What sort of music are you wanting to play?
How long have you been playing?
A couple questions to help me and others answer your questions. Context is king after all.
What bass is it?
What's your amplifier setup?
What sort of music are you wanting to play?
How long have you been playing?
Fender mustang. The program we use to mix and master our music is ableton live. But outside of that I have my dad's old Hartke b30 amp.
I play all kinds of rock and punk. I've been playing for 9 months, but I feel like I'm "aheah of the game" as my humble self would describe.
Awesome! Are you more concerned that your live sound is lacking, or your recorded sound?
If it's the recorded sound that you're most concerned about, what hardware sits between your bass and Ableton?
If it's the recorded sound that you're most concerned about, what hardware sits between your bass and Ableton?
Get some better pickups. If you don’t like what your current pickups are delivering now, adding a preamp is only going to give you the ability to enhance a tone you’re not happy with.
Yeah, it's what the my sound is lacking both live and in-program. The problem with ableton is that the effects and tone shaping in the program itself sound like crap and just all around fake.
Specifically though, what's your signal chain from bass into Ableton? What piece of hardware is digitizing your sound? Are you using a DI box, or the output from a preamp of some kind, or is the bass just plugged directly into the sound card on the computer?
To not bury the lede any more, I think it's far more likely that your recording setup and that B30 need to be addressed before you need to worry about different pickups. That Fender Mustang is quite a nice bass for the money, and I think you might have some things to suss out in the rest of your signal chain before different pickups will matter much.
How often do you change strings, and what strings do you use?
How often do you change strings, and what strings do you use?
I can’t see how you need a preamp at all, good or otherwise.
i changed mine a month ago. I use D'Addario Nickle wound 40-95, short scale of course
Sounds like operator error to me. I’ve used Ableton before and all the plugins work fine and sound as good as those with any DAW. It’s astonishing what comes free with these things nowadays.
These are fantastic, whisper quiet. I had one in a Squier vintage modified jazz bass and it really pumped good. It doesn't work for you for some reason you can always use it in another bass. You already like the pickups so this is a low-cost way to improve you sound with little to no risk.
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could be, I've only got a year under my belt. but even in live settings in not satisfied with my sound
Nice! Okay.
I'm still leaning toward the thought that the primary upgrade targets for you are:
Here's a jazz guy named Janek Gwizdala using your bass, completely stock with a new set of strings, getting some tasty sounds out of it (incl. effects pedals later in vid) That's a jazz context not a rock one, but I just wanted to show some of the things that great instrument can do!
I'm still leaning toward the thought that the primary upgrade targets for you are:
- A nicer amp ASAP That B30 is your limiter live. 100%
- More experimentation and learning with that behringer audio interface and Ableton to help your recorded sound.
- More playing experience with getting the tone you want from your hands (where you pluck the string at, dynamics, etc.)
Here's a jazz guy named Janek Gwizdala using your bass, completely stock with a new set of strings, getting some tasty sounds out of it (incl. effects pedals later in vid) That's a jazz context not a rock one, but I just wanted to show some of the things that great instrument can do!
Yeah I realize my need for a new amp mid-answering your last comment. Any recommendations for a ~$200 amp? My initial thought was the fender rumble 40 v3. but I'd like to know from a more experienced voice.Nice! Okay.
I'm still leaning toward the thought that the primary upgrade targets for you are:
In about a year with a bit more time under your belt, I'd be all over getting you to upgrade. I put a Seymour Duncan SPB-3 (high output! Rarrr rock n roll!) in my beginner Peavey bass about a year or two into playing, and that helped me cruise with my cheapie (cheaper and worse than your Mustang) starter bass until I saved up the scratch for a nicer instrument. So I dig where you're at and the things you're working on. Keep at it!
- A nicer amp ASAP That B30 is your limiter live. 100%
- More experimentation and learning with that behringer audio interface and Ableton to help your recorded sound.
- More playing experience with getting the tone you want from your hands (where you pluck the string at, dynamics, etc.)
Here's a jazz guy named Janek Gwizdala using your bass, completely stock with a new set of strings, getting some tasty sounds out of it (incl. effects pedals later in vid) That's a jazz context not a rock one, but I just wanted to show some of the things that great instrument can do!
*Thanks for the feedback
Buying pickups is a big waste of time and money unless you know exactly what you don't like about your current ones and which specific pickups can address that. Doesn't sound like you're close to that. In fact, don't buy anything until you can articulate exactly what you feel is missing in your tone. You may just need a different type of strings, like flatwounds, or you may need an effects pedal or two. No one here can help you if you can't tell us exactly what type of tone you want to achieve and how your current tone is different from that.
Try to get as much cash as you can and get the best amp you can. For bass power is king in live situations. I would say 100 watts minimum. I had a dad bring his son with him to ask about more pickups as the music teacher told them they needed it to get better sound. I plugged his bass into my amp played a little and asked if that was the sound he wanted. Kid was nodding yes. I told dad to take the $200-300 for the pickup and install and go invest in a good amp. Dad went away all smiles. Once you have a satisfactory amp then you can look into tweaking the instrument.
I agree with the new amp situation. Look for used cab like a 1x15 with a decent amp. Could be Peavey, Ampeg, GK, etc.
