Highest output bass?

[seedokebass]

The highest output bass I had was 90's Gibson Les Paul bass. It seemed like a fairly plain instrument, all black with Bartolinis and I think it had bass and treble controls.

I don't know what specific pickups they were but holy christ they'd overload my preamp with the gain all the down. I think it clipped a padded input as well, so I'd have to roll the pickup volume down quite a bit.

I did not care for it with the rig I had at the time but imagine it would have been kickass with an all tube amp.

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

Alembic Series bass or Turner Electroline. Both are scorching hot output. That Series bass is line level out I think. Yeah. You can send that to FOH, and some do.

 

[A9X]

That Series bass is line level out I think.

None of my 4 were.

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

None of my 4 were.

I may be incorrect. It is however, an extremely high output signal.

 

[Jefenator]

What comes to mind are:

• Gibson EB-5 w/ neck humbucker in series.
• ABG and my upright w/o attenuation. (Piezos can crank!) Both have volume controls after an active buffer stage so I usually leave them between 12 & 3 o'clock to match other instruments.

I used to have a bass with a DarkStar (i.e. BiSonic) pickup that I seem to recall was pretty hot.

I wouldn't necessarily seek an instrument or a pickup out just for signal strength. A hotter signal can be kind of fun, though - within reason.

 

[A9X]

I may be incorrect. It is however, an extremely high output signal.

Sorry, I disagree. The same basic electronics package has been used since the 70's and it still needed to be used with amps that were sold at the time. Having a massive output makes little sense.

 

[MisterUbu]

While Im more specific to my own headless, just about any bass with an overwound guitar humbucker gets to that level.

While i love the sound of dimarzios, I do find with really hot putput pickups a series/parallel switch is almost necessary, it tends to be much more work to have to fiddle around with input levels to clipping/get articulation back than having a pickup thats not as hot in output.

 

[DownUnder_Funk]

Some interesting replies - for the record I agree a super hot bass can be impractical to use, but fascinates me nonetheless.

 

[SixtyCycleHum]

Ibanez SR Series give so much output on bass and/or mid boost that they overdrive the head's preamp. You need to back off the SR volume to keep it clean, if you want a lot of tone boost.

Ibanezes kind of rock. I want one again. I'm just not sure which one.

 

[SixtyCycleHum]

A Fernandes Jazz which sounded ANGRY, but was unusable in a recording context. Insert my username here. It was horrendous for that.

 

[Planespotter]

My G&L ASAT has cable straightening output and can easily overdrive any of my pedals. The neck pickup on my EB-3 is mega high output, but the voicing makes it not seem as extreme as the g&l.

 

[ElectricBass72]

Ibanez ATK. Attack.

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

Sorry, I disagree. The same basic electronics package has been used since the 70's and it still needed to be used with amps that were sold at the time. Having a massive output makes little sense.

You can disagree all you want to, but the fact remains anytime I plug one of those basses in, I have to turn the input gain on the amp down, significantly from any other bass.

 

[Rib 13]

Of the few passive basses I own, my Peavey T-40 has a very high output

 

[Dapper Dan]

I have a Danelectro Hodad bass, and with all three lipstick pickups selected at the same time it seems to produce a significant surplus in output when plugged in right after any of my other basses. I'll soon be retrofitting some MFD humbuckers into a bass which I hear will imbue it with nuclear energy.

 

[thewildest]

A monk playing on top of Mount Everest would be the bass with the highest output on Earth.

 

[kodiakblair]

Highest output is my Bass Centre Bruce Thomas P bass.

No surprises there , those British Masters are serious bits of kit

In my collection the loudest is a Fender Modern Player Telecaster.

Not the loudest I own but none the less a lovely bass , what can I say expect you have excellent taste

 

[Spirit of Ox]

P bass with Dimarzio Model P or Will Power.

 

[Blues Bass 2]

My highest output bass is my Squier Contemporary Jazz 5HH . Stock it wasn't very impressive to me . Average output and good but not great tone and EQ . I put an Audere 3-band classic preamp and Nordstrand Big Blade single coils in it . Holy cow ! I have to turn the gain way down on my amps . The tone is glorious when you get it dialed in . My Sire V-3 5 with 60's Nordstrand single coils can get close to the same output but only in active mode with some EQ boost . The well known TBer I bought it from told me the output was kind of over the top and he was right .

 

[Mastermold]

I thought the King of high output passive basses was the 1960's Gibson Mudbucker, the down side is you loose all the higher frequencies, that's why they call it the Mudbucker.
View attachment 4463814

My Gibson EB-2 is that way, which is why I almost always use the choke. Otherwise it’ll blow out walls and level buildings!