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How Can I Upgrade My Ibanez?

#101
Isaac_James said:
I actually considered going with EMGs for this reason, I wanted to maintain the look of the instrument as much as possible. But I compromised on that to get the sound I wanted without paying through the nose. I'm pretty happy overall.

The Wilde pickups are resin potted (I think it's resin anyway) so it's not just a matter of putting on a solid cover either. I don't think I could remove the covers without damaging the pickups.
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And you ended up going straight passive.

But are there any preamps you can recommend that would go well with the Wilde pickups?
 
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#103
The Wildes have a very nice, neutral-but-not-wimpy tone. Plenty of output, plenty of articulation and responsiveness. But pretty even from lows to highs.

For this reason I say they would pair well with any preamp you like.
 
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#104
Isaac_James said:
Great, honestly. These pickups are thick and punchy - the poles are arranged in a way that the strings rest directly over poles instead of between them. I used 500k pots instead of 250k to get some extra clarity on the top end, but I can always roll that down with the tone knob if I want to.

Series mode is loud and gnarly on this bass. Not suited for every situation but it pushes my OD really nicely.

I use DR Low Rider strings FYI
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One thing I love about my passive basses is the tone knob.

Do tone knobs only go with passive pickups? I'm really curious how that works because I don't see a tone control on any of these preamps I'm looking at. Only my passive basses have tone knobs as far as I can tell.
 
#105
I think it's possible, though I've never installed one. Some basses have an active/passive switch and in passive mode there is a tone knob. For an active bass you'd need to look up where in the signal path it goes best and what value capacitor and pot to use.

If your preamp has a treble knob, rolling that down produces a very similar effect. The passive tone knob really just "absorbs" some of the higher frequencies in your signal.
 
#107
AudioTaper said:
I had a 1997 SR800 and used Daddario XL's (45-100) and loved them.
I always felt the preamp was the weak link, but didn't upgrade it before I traded it. If you like the current control configuration, maybe look into an EMG system with the sweepable mids.
I don't know how good the stock pickups actually are, but they're active and should pair well with the EMG system. Might be worth trying out the EMG pickups too.

What kind of music do you play?

Definitely try the strigs first
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I too had a 97 SR800 (Japan) years back, sort of a clinical piano sound with a lot of EQ available but good in its own way...i did try some strings settling with Fender 9050 before i sold it...very nice playing neck but it seems like changing pickups would be chasing a rabbit hole with some of the Ibanez ive played.
 
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#108
DavidEdenAria said:
I too had a 97 SR800 (Japan) years back, sort of a clinical piano sound with a lot of EQ available but good in its own way...i did try some strings settling with Fender 9050 before i sold it...very nice playing neck but it seems like changing pickups would be chasing a rabbit hole with some of the Ibanez ive played.
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The general consensus has been the pickups are ok, but the preamp is lackluster.

I sold mine when I bought a Pedulla RB4 and a mid-90's Stingray. The SR800 had a great neck, but was outclassed by the other two.
 
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#109
Isaac_James said:
I think it's possible, though I've never installed one. Some basses have an active/passive switch and in passive mode there is a tone knob. For an active bass you'd need to look up where in the signal path it goes best and what value capacitor and pot to use.

If your preamp has a treble knob, rolling that down produces a very similar effect. The passive tone knob really just "absorbs" some of the higher frequencies in your signal.
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Thanks man!
 
#112
MycooLeeyun said:
My guitar tech said that I can't pair passive pickups with a preamp. He said I have to get a set like EMG that has matching pickups and preamp. Is he fired?

I'm thinking about going the Wilde Pickups with Audere pre.
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He is definitely fired.
 
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#115
MycooLeeyun said:
My guitar tech said that I can't pair passive pickups with a preamp. He said I have to get a set like EMG that has matching pickups and preamp. Is he fired?

I'm thinking about going the Wilde Pickups with Audere pre.
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Your tech is completely wrong. Most basses with active preamps have passive pickups. Active pickups are fairly uncommon.

I'm not familiar with the audere preamp myself but I've heard nothing but good things about them!
 
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#117
Isaac_James said:
Your tech is completely wrong. Most basses with active preamps have passive pickups. Active pickups are fairly uncommon.

I'm not familiar with the audere preamp myself but I've heard nothing but good things about them!
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Hey, I'm actually leaning toward the Bartolini Classics. They seem like they might have more of the tone I'm after versus the EMG's. Do you have any recommendation for a preamp to go with the barts? I hear that it pairs well with something that's a little more aggressive since the barts are pretty smooth?
 
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#118
eddododo said:
Well, I’ll say this- I constantly advocate for Ibanez when people are asking about a great cheap bass, specifically because I think their PJ pickup position and the pickups themselves on the cheap GSR line are absolutely fantastic and sound as good as any other bass I have.

looking into it, it seems these AFR are ceramic magnets.. now a lot of types of pick ups can sound a lot of different ways, but I haven’t run into too many ceramic pickups I liked the sound of.

so long story short I think you could easily get a fantastic sounding bass with even a modest pickup upgrade. As much as people love SD stuff, that’s a good start, or if you’re trying to blow a little more cash you could throw some nordstrands in it, which to me are about the best sounding PJ you were going to get without stepping into that super expensive tier above that.

edit- I will add a couple things …. First off, it is great advice to slap on some new strings, and adjust your set up if you haven’t… I find that my action is a huge influence on my tone, and a little less so is the pickup height itself..

play with those things and see the kind of range of tones you can get out of your electronics.

I will also add that Nordstrand is great for a modern vintage kinda sound.. which essentially means fat old school tone but with a little aggression and better clarity up top.

if you want more of that muted rounded dark chewy tone, Bartolini is the ticket, but I DO find they are best implemented with a Bart preamp as well. Not that the pickups sound bad by themselves or anything, it’s just sort of a well developed tonal ecosystem with them paired together.

as others said, there are a huge swath of options at various price points that will all sound great if you find that your current electronics are indeed not doing it for you.. it may simply be that you don’t care for the way the upper end sounds with ceramics

extra edit: I think most, if not all Bartolini’s are ceramic, but his engineering and taste are such that the high-end has this nice rounded dark-but-not-muddy sound, which is pretty starkly different from the Generalized “harsh“ top end, you will often see attributed to ceramic pickups.
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One thing I'm confused about is whether or not I'm supposed to pair a preamp with any pickups that I put in this bass. Since it already has one then it makes sense to keep a preamp even if I end up going with Nordstrand pickups.
 

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