How much impact can a good preamp have?

[skimmilk]

Hey,

I have a jazz bass copy (Y-man from Korea)which sounds mushy, noisy, and no clarity in tone whatsoever. I tweaked controls to get some definition, but it doesn't help much. Bass sounds pretty bad with all the controls flat or tweaked.

The body wood is pretty nice, and bridge, nut and neck are pretty decent too.
I'm thinking that this is a preamp issue. But can a good preamp really improve sonic quality without a really good pickup set (considering the fact that this is at least a decent pickup set)?

Any recommendations for a good on board pre?
Anybody have one on sale?

Thanks guys,

 

[4StringTheorist]

A preamp modifies the signal it gets from the pickups. If it's getting an input signal from the pickups that you don't like, it's going to take a lot of modifying to find something you do like.

So I'd say look at the pickups first.

By the way, the applies to the pickups getting what they get from the instrument and strings too. Does the instrument sound good to you unplugged?

 

[slaerts]

You are on the right track. I had a cheaper bass and upgraded the pickpups and the preamp. Sounded 100 times better. Check the classified forum it is cheaper buying on there than new.

 

[GianGian]

I suggest trying to chance the pick ups first, maybe you won't even feel the need for a pre amp.

 

[tdurden]

here is my 2 cents
I would suggest buying a new bass. There area lot of cheaper models that do not have as many issues. If the bass sounds bad, adding pickups and preamps will only help a little. If you find a lower ebd bass with passive pick ups that has great tone it will only sound better when adding active pick ups or a pre amp.

 

[Big Hungry]

Well nothing in the way of a pre amp or amp can make a crappy bass sound like a good bass, but it can modify the sound quite a bit so depending on how crappy your bass actually is you might be able to do it. I have a Sansamp RBI and I have found that I can change the settings in such a way that my passive Squier P bass sounds very similar to my active Ibanez Ergodyne.

So the short answer is yes.

 

[skimmilk]

Thanks so much guys!! very good info