Preamp Question

[Jonny P]

I put some Bartolini jazz pickups in my Fender Marcus Miller Sig. First I tried the Bartolini TMB preamp and didn't like it. Now I have the Sadowsky; don't like the sound of this preamp either although it has this "vintage tone" control which sounds good. I'm not sure if the Bartolini's would sound the same if I took out the Sadowsky or if the "vintage tone control" actually affects the sound of the pickups, ie. I'm not sure if the "vintage tone control" is just a passive switch.

Anyway, does anyone have an idea for a nice sounding preamp to go with jazz sounding pickups (Bartolini) on a maple necked J bass?

Thanks for your input.

 

[nonsqtr]

Have you tried the Villex pups, with the power booster? That's definitely worth a checkout. Made specifically for the Jazz bass. It's a monster sound.

 

[David Wilson]

could you say what you didn't like about the preamps you tried? They're all good preamps, although some work better in different basses as you've noticed. Without that, it's hard to guess what you'll like.

As you say, I do think a tone control in a bright sounding bass gives more workable sounds than a straight treble cut using active eq.