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If You Could Only Change One Of Them...
- Thread starter papmech
- Start date
A good preamp should be transparent, so changing it out would not give me any improvement in tone unless I was using the EQ.
Pickups on the other hand will give you an immediate change in tone.
Pickups on the other hand will give you an immediate change in tone.
It all depends on what the exact problem with the sound is. Too many folks go about changing things in the futile attempt to fix things without ever doing any accurate and precise analysis of what exactly is the problem.
Listen to the bass unplugged- if you're getting a sound in the ball-park of what you're after then changing the electronics and/or the pickups will help. But if you have for example a mid '70s P bass that's all attack and sustain, but you're after the sound of a warmer, rounder P bass, then no amount of altering the guts is going to overcome the inherent sound of that chunk of wood.
Then, if you decide that the problem is in the guts, play it with the pre-amp by-passed or at least with the EQ set flat. If it still doesn't sound good, then changing PUPs is the key. But if the basic sound with the EQ by-passed is good and with the pre in the circuit isn't good, then a new pre is the logical choice.
And no one can answer those three questions for you except you. You do of course that you're leaving out another critical element by leaving the amplifier out of the equation too, don't you? If you have a highly colored amp (e.g. most Ampegs that have a characteristic shape) and despite the popularity of them your ear wants to hear a more transparent sound, no amount of monkeying with the bass is going to translate what your bass is doing the way you want it.
John
Listen to the bass unplugged- if you're getting a sound in the ball-park of what you're after then changing the electronics and/or the pickups will help. But if you have for example a mid '70s P bass that's all attack and sustain, but you're after the sound of a warmer, rounder P bass, then no amount of altering the guts is going to overcome the inherent sound of that chunk of wood.
Then, if you decide that the problem is in the guts, play it with the pre-amp by-passed or at least with the EQ set flat. If it still doesn't sound good, then changing PUPs is the key. But if the basic sound with the EQ by-passed is good and with the pre in the circuit isn't good, then a new pre is the logical choice.
And no one can answer those three questions for you except you. You do of course that you're leaving out another critical element by leaving the amplifier out of the equation too, don't you? If you have a highly colored amp (e.g. most Ampegs that have a characteristic shape) and despite the popularity of them your ear wants to hear a more transparent sound, no amount of monkeying with the bass is going to translate what your bass is doing the way you want it.
John
It would be helpful if we knew what kind of bass, the current model pick ups and preamp, and what is your goal. Do you want more lows, mids, or highs. Have you tried different strings? Have you tried adjusting the pick up height? How do you play, fingers, pick, or slap? Where do you play, near the bridge, over the pickups, near the neck, or on the neck?
All of these have a very significant impact on tone, note definition, and overall sound.
As stated above, do you like the way the bass sounds acoustically? If not, you may want to think about changing out your entire bass to something that is closer to what you are looking for. It's easier to work with an instrument that has a natural voice you like than to try to change that voice with expensive electronics.
All of these have a very significant impact on tone, note definition, and overall sound.
As stated above, do you like the way the bass sounds acoustically? If not, you may want to think about changing out your entire bass to something that is closer to what you are looking for. It's easier to work with an instrument that has a natural voice you like than to try to change that voice with expensive electronics.
