• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

I need a preamp that....

#41
Fender_Bender said:
Some of the myriad of pedals mentioned might be an improvement but at the risk of stating the obvious; that pickup is closer to the bridge than a Ray pup and is a completely different design than a Ray pup. If you look around you might find someone (rio grande?, Nordstrand?) who offers that pup shape with big pole pieces or other techniques to get closer to the Ray tone.
Click to expand...

Sorry. I wasn't clear in my OP. I'm not after the Ray tone exactly. I just want it closer to a Ray than to Jaco style jazz bridge pickup burp. In other words, I want it to fatten up to the Ray ballpark as far as girth, not tone.
 
#42
Fender_Bender said:
Some of the myriad of pedals mentioned might be an improvement but at the risk of stating the obvious; that pickup is closer to the bridge than a Ray pup and is a completely different design than a Ray pup. If you look around you might find someone (rio grande?, Nordstrand?) who offers that pup shape with big pole pieces or other techniques to get closer to the Ray tone.
Click to expand...

ihixulu said:
A pickup in that position simply may not be putting out enough low end information for an eq to play with. Run the output through an audio analyzer and see what is there to work with.

FWIW, my P Elite II's bridge pickup was about that far back and no amount of fiddling with eq could beef up the tone when it was solo'd.
Click to expand...

This. You’re not going to get a Stingray tone with the pickup in that position. No amount of EQ is going to change that. If you want a ‘Ray tone you’re going to need a bass with the pickup placement and style that they have.
 
  • Like
Reactions: birminghambass
#43
fauxtoe said:
This. You’re not going to get a Stingray tone with the pickup in that position. No amount of EQ is going to change that. If you want a ‘Ray tone you’re going to need a bass with the pickup placement and style that they have.
Click to expand...

Yep. Sorry. I keep having to re-explain this. I'm not looking for Ray tone. I'm looking to fatten it up enough to get into the Ray ballpark. Just a little less burpy is all.
 
  • Like
Reactions: eff-clef
#45
two fingers said:
Yep. Sorry. I keep having to re-explain this. I'm not looking for Ray tone. I'm looking to fatten it up enough to get into the Ray ballpark. Just a little less burpy is all.
Click to expand...
I’m not entirely surprised. Those “double jazz” style pups look like they’d be awesome as hell, but whenever I’ve tried one I really didn’t think that they were much bigger sounding than a solo jazz. I guess the physical location has a lot to do with it. I still think that a pickup winder could get you closer to your desired tone with a big pole pickup design.
 
  • Like
Reactions: two fingers
#46
Fender_Bender said:
I’m not entirely surprised. Those “double jazz” style pups look like they’d be awesome as hell, but whenever I’ve tried one I really didn’t think that they were much bigger sounding than a solo jazz. I guess the physical location has a lot to do with it. I still think that a pickup winder could get you closer to your desired tone with a big pole pickup design.
Click to expand...

This one just works beautifully with that dat Nordy P to get me several fantastic PJ tones.

In fact, if this project doesn't work out I'll still leave it as is.

Right now I have 4 great tones from this bass. That's enough to keep me happy. If I can figure out this elusive 5th tone, it would just he a bonus..... a really cool bonus.
 
#53
two fingers said:
....the EQ frequency ranges are wider and the boost/cut are more "extreme" than the MXR M81.

In other words, the M81 is too "subtle" for what I want to do.

On my bass, I have a a dual coil pickup at the bridge. It has a single/series/parallel switch with it. It compliments the P bass pickup at the neck very well and gives me three very distinct PJ tones.

But it's too thin by itself.

In order to beef it up I picked up an M81 to use as a stomp box to fatten up that pickup and get it closer to Stingray territory.

The M81 is a great preamp, but the bass and low mids simply don't boost enough to get me there. It sounds amazing when I use it to dial in a second tone with my P bass pickup (already pretty beefy). But just can't get me where I want to be with the bridge solo.

So, whataya think? I need my bridge pickup to sound less Jaco and more Stingray. It will not be an always-on box. It will be more of a stomp box for when a Ray-ish growl suits me better than a P-ish growl. Or when I want Jaco clarity with Pino Stingray era warmth.

The bass is all passive with just a volume and tone, selector for bridge/both/neck amd selector for series/single/parallel on the bridge pickup.

Power supply is a COIKS AC10 and this would take the last spot on that.

Thanks!


The aforementioned bass and pickups...
View attachment 3066339 View attachment 3066340
Click to expand...

Maybe try the Xotic tri-logic preamp (the old 18v one is better than the new 9v). I have the 18v one and it is one of the best preamps out there. What I love about it is that it doesn’t color the sound in any way, it really acts basically like a linear phase eq. To my personal experience, it is able to beef up the sound by quite a lot. Note that if you are not satisfied with your natural bass tone and need coloration there are other more viable options.

You could always go sansamp as well. :)

I also like it a lot since its non coloration is very many awesome if you plug it in the fx loop where you can also fatten or otherwise control the sound of your amps preamp without changing the character. Xotic doesn’t give a poopie, it just sits there and the only way to tell that it’s there is by hearing a wider sound image.

The 18v also has a gain knob for some really nice grind, not sure about the new 9v one. I consider the latter to be a solid downgrade from the older model.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: two fingers
#54
Spidey2112 said:
TF, if you can, try one of these...

View attachment 3066355

... pretty versatile, tough as nails... I haven't worked with the 'Scrambler' circuit that much, as I'm not a Joe Dirt type player, but it does have a blend which may help achieve the sound you're looking for...

Good luck, with your GAS!
Click to expand...
This is #1 on my shopping list. Right now I use an M80 and will continue to do so, just as I have for the last several years, but I want something with a headphone jack for the road.

Are the M80 and M81 the same pre?
 
  • Like
Reactions: two fingers and Spidey2112
#58
Spidey2112 said:
Good question... I've never owned either, but from what I've read, they are definitely two different beasts.
Click to expand...
Really? Well I'm definitely doing the Ampeg, but I'll never play without an M80 in my board. I love it... although the overdrive is stinky poopoo. That's a technical term. curious about the M81 now... what say you on this @twofingers ? m80 vs m81?
 
  • Like
Reactions: two fingers
#59
Spidey2112 said:
TF, if you can, try one of these...

View attachment 3066355

... pretty versatile, tough as nails... I haven't worked with the 'Scrambler' circuit that much, as I'm not a Joe Dirt type player, but it does have a blend which may help achieve the sound you're looking for...

Good luck, with your GAS!
Click to expand...
these ampeg pres kinda suck. get the b7k darkglass micro tubes pre amp. you will thank me later
 
#60
armyadarkness said:
This is #1 on my shopping list. Right now I use an M80 and will continue to do so, just as I have for the last several years, but I want something with a headphone jack for the road.

Are the M80 and M81 the same pre?
Click to expand...

Honestly, I don't know the answer to that question. I've never tried the M80.
 
  • Like
Reactions: armyadarkness

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back