John East ACG EQ-02

[thomashawk]

I am having a custom shortscale made with the following pup config:

Neck - Dark Star
Middle - Nordstrand NP4
Bridge - Aero MM4

Proposed electronics:
Bridge - John East MMSR (3 knob/3 band)
Neck/Middle - John East ACG EQ-02 (w/ vol blend) - w/ passive switch

A major concern is that the Aero Stingray pup will not be in the traditional MM "sweetspot." Should I instead put the EQ-02 on the MM4 and the NP4? Are there additional issues I should know about.

In short, I have little experience beyond stock Stingrays, MM Sterlings and Fender Jazzes. Are there additional thoughts or considerations on this configuration?

Any and all insight would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks!

 

[Skelf]

The only thing I can add is that I have a friend with a Dark Star and an EQ02 and it sounds great.

 

[lamarjones]

is this gonna be stereo out?

 

[Luis Fabara]

On the ACG you mean with Passive Tone... or a Passive Bypass??

The ACG seems to work best with pickups that have an extended frequency response this way the filters have more to work with.

The MM pickup thrown to the back will have less of the fundamental and more of the upper harmonics. This will need some compensation on the bass that would benefit from the MMSR Preamp.

The Darkstar alone could benefit a lot from the shaping of the ACG. So pairing it on with the NP4 its not a bad idea, since the levels are adjustable independently.

I think your choice is good. But the Darkstar is gonna get a lot of the fundamental, how many frets does the bass have? whats the distance of the pickup from the 12th fret? Are you having a Blend pot at the end, or just both parallel and using the independent master vols?

 

[thomashawk]

Hey guys, thank you for your input!

The only thing I can add is that I have a friend with a Dark Star and an EQ02 and it sounds great.

Excellent news! We had some debate regarding running the DS through a preamp, and this is great to hear. Although, I still want to be able to run this pup passive...or at least the ability to run it passive.

is this gonna be stereo out?

This has not been discussed. I do not know the advantages/disadvantages of a stereo out. You may not be able to tell given my 3-pup/2-preamp set-up, my hope is to keep it simple.

On the ACG you mean with Passive Tone... or a Passive Bypass??

My hope it to be able to use the DS and P pups au naturale, really being able to get both their classic tones, and entirely new sounds using the preamps and blending. I am not sure of the difference between passive tones and pass bypass. Any insight would be welcome and appreciated.

The ACG seems to work best with pickups that have an extended frequency response this way the filters have more to work with.

The MM pickup thrown to the back will have less of the fundamental and more of the upper harmonics. This will need some compensation on the bass that would benefit from the MMSR Preamp.

The Darkstar alone could benefit a lot from the shaping of the ACG. So pairing it on with the NP4 its not a bad idea, since the levels are adjustable independently.

Wonderful insight! Thank you! While I have been playing bass for 25+ years, professionally for 15 of those, I never gave much consideration to fundamental v. harmonic tones. The process of designing this bass has been the most educational in all my years. Again, while I want the pups "classic" tones, I really think/hope that the blending qualities will make this bass something special.

I think your choice is good. But the Darkstar is gonna get a lot of the fundamental, how many frets does the bass have? whats the distance of the pickup from the 12th fret? Are you having a Blend pot at the end, or just both parallel and using the independent master vols?

Thanks, and great to know...and hopefully soon understand ;-) Regarding size, I do not know the distance, but I have asked the luthier to place the pups in their traditional "sweetspot" locations relative to the scale length of course; 21 frets, 30.5" scale. Regarding blend pots, we are using the EQ-02 for 2 pups, with the concentric volume/blend knob. I do not know if additional pots/knobs (see, that's how little I know) will be needed to run the DS and P pups passive. I am assuming that I will be able to run the bass/pup combinations as either passive-only or active-only at any one given time.

Again, thank you all. Looking back, I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I said "I want the Gibson, Fender, and Music Man sound ALL IN ONE BASS!" I was so young 2 months ago.... ;-)

 

[Luis Fabara]

You cant have them all on one bass... and less with a short scale.

Just for being shortscale it will sound different, the strings will vibrate more (floppier), so the tone will have a different growl.

Being shorter scale means you have less space for the pickups too.

The MM pickup must be in the right MM position for the authentig MM tone., otherwise it will be more nasal sounding.


You are definitely can get that Gibson EB sound with the darkstar in the neck for sure. The P will be right there too, so no problems. If I were you, I would put just a Jazz at the bridge given the space limitations.

Now about passive/active.
The passive tone can be in a active circuit no problem. It gets wired directly to the pickup leads entering the preamp. Like the ACG.
But ... making the bass PASSIVE (passive bypass) to be able to work without batteries or preamp interaction, you need to feed the pickups directly to another Volume/Blend with a switch. The ACG does not provide a way for this, as it is intended to balance the different outputs from different pickups via the gain trim pots. Without this.. on passive or active pickups of different makes would be off balance at center position of the blend control. Also, the way the ACG is designed puts the Volume after the filters, so controlling the volume with the same knob on passive mode is out of the question, you will need aditional volume/blend controls with added dual dpdt switches to bypass both individually to another 250k or 500k blend pot depending on your preference.

 

[thomashawk]

[Extremely insight things]

Luis, thanks man. Beyond appreciated.

I definitely accept that I won't be able to "nail" the traditional tones, and I am planning on that making this bass unique. Of course, I have my fears that this could also lead to it being uniquely awful. I doubt this as the luthier's talents compensate for my electronics ignorance.

Also, the body wood is black limba - taking it further from the traditional sounds. I'm counting on great ingredients and a great chef (not me) make a great dish.

Thank you for the active/passive lesson specific to my issues. I had assumed another vol/blend would be needed, but this helps me understand why that is. I need to study more before I understand what "added dual dpdt switches to bypass both individually to another 250k or 500k blend pot" means.

My REAL question back however is - I can definitely see the MM issues, and can understand the suggestion for adding a J. Would a soapbar, or other option get me closer that that MM/humbucking sound? I have a killer MIA passive Fender Jazz, so I can get there if I need it.

Thanks again.

 

[Luis Fabara]

The best bet for that is the MM sized pickup you already have planned. The benefit from the musicman is that the coils are wide, big poles/magnets and the spacing they have between them.

If you could go custom wound, I would ask for a pickup that enhances the lowest tones, and tell the builder exactly what you expect from the pickup and where are you going to put it.

You can ask Bass Culture, SDG or Kent/Aaron Armstrong for this.

Have you considered having the bass fit with 3 volumes and 3 tones , just passive for now and add the preamps later?
Thats how my uncle does it. He routs for 4 knobs(3 Controls + Jack) and then replaces as needed (or adds a side jack) depending on the customer.

This way you can hear how the pickups sound by themselves before investing in the preamps, that is unless you already have the preamps. In that case I would assemble them in cases with inputs/outputs + battery, and have jacks for each pickup on the bass to try on the different inputs of your preamps. both preamps outputs would need to be parallel to the input of the amp, or to a 2 channel mixer.