Schecter Tone

[lowcrome66]

I love everything about my Schecter Stilleto Elite 4, but the tone just isnt me. The lows are ok..mids are great.. but no matter who i do there is too much high end for me.

I'm thinking about trying some flatwounds, but I dont wanna have to give up slapping.

Anybody have some suggestions as to what I should try?

 

[Bigduke]

I have the exact same problem but i bought roundwounds to see if they make a difference,i am going to put them on soon,i will let you know.

 

[JanusZarate]

Ah, this sounds familiar

Look inside the control cavity, and you'll find two little white dip switches inside on the EQ system. They adjust the high end frequencies and tones. Play around with them and then adjust your instrument's EQ again. Roll back the treble if need be.

Also... what kind of strings are you using? That makes a huge difference.

My Custom-4 is equipped with D'Addario flatwounds, and they are not only thick and punchy, but warm as well. My Elite-4, on the other hand, has D'Addario nickel roundwounds, which are bright, but not as bright as stainless steel roundwounds. The Elixirs originally on the Elite-4 don't compare to the well-balanced (but pleasantly bright) tone of my current strings.

One thing's for sure... my Custom-4 and Elite-4 sound nothing alike because of their strings, even though electronics and most other details are pretty similar.

 

[stingray69]

Here are the switch settings/frequencies for the two switches inside the control cavity.

SW1 SW2 Knee Freq
on on 2.5 kHz
off on 3.5 kHz
on off 5.0 kHz (default)
off off 8.0 kHz


Note: As your holding the bass in normal playing position, SW 1 is furthest towards the input jack...and up is the OFF position (in other words, pulling the switch up towards you will be the OFF POSITION).
Pushing the switch down & away from you (towards the bottom of the control cavity) is the ON POSITION.

So if you want to roll off the most amount of highs, you would want to open the back of the control cavity and pull both switch 1 & switch 2 up towards you, away from bottom of the control cavity - this will set the center frequency of the highs at 8.0Khz instead of the factory default position of 5Khz. Rolling back the high tone knob should knock down the upper most 8Khz area of the highs & smooth them out a bit for you.

Experiment until you find what works best for your bass amp/cabinet setup.

Hope this helps.

 

[moopants]

Stingray69, would it be possible for you to take pictures of what you're talking about? I opened mine up to try to see if I could understand, but I don't know anything about preamps, so I just closed it. I didn't want to damage anything.

 

[stingray69]

Moo - I'll try to take a couple shots tonight, but it will be fairly late. Check back soon.

P.S. - The control cavity wall might prevent me from getting a real good shot, but I'll do what I can.


Peace.

 

[moopants]

Thank you so much. I have a Studio 6. Are all the electronics fairly the same?

 

[stingray69]

Thank you so much. I have a Studio 6. Are all the electronics fairly the same?

I believe the Studio models have the EMG B-64 EQ circuit in them (I think). I don't know if they offer the mini-switches or not. I know that EMG's BT & BQC circuits do. You may have to look closely or maybe e-mail EMG's tech support, Google search, etc. to find out. The picture on EMG's website Link Removed is a little too small to see if any switches are present or not. I'll still take the pictures though.

 

[cb56]

I used to own an Elite 5 and have my own theory about the little white switches.
Too me anyway, if I left the treble knob in the center detent position and moved the white switches, I heard no difference in the treble frequency. BUT if I cranked the treble knob all the way up, that's when I heard the difference. So if it's the real high end that's bothering a person, wouldn't it make sense to set the switches to the highest position then cut it with the treble tone knob? Just a thought.
btw, I'm really missing my old Elite 5. Plus it was the greymist color that they don't make anymore.

 

[stingray69]

Here are pics for the Schecter Elite equipped with the stock EMG BT (Bass & Treble) circuit. And for those keeping score at home, the same pics would also apply for the EMG BQC system. Anyway, I took one shot to get the entire control cavity to show the position of the battery, controls, etc. The second closeup shot shows the small, white mini-switches. As you can (hopefully) see, the "on" position would require pushing the mini-switch away from you. Pulling them up towards you puts the switch in the "off" position.

Another note if anyone is still having difficulty finding the mini-switches: The printed circuit board that hosts the mini-switches is also the "bass" knob on the bass. Hope this helps anyone who is interested.

And the mini-switch closeup:

 

[moopants]

I can't get a picture right now, but there's a .pdf of the wiring of the studio basses. Have you seen it? If not, I can send a link. Does it appear to have the switches? I see little blocks that look like switches, but they are more of a brown color. I don't see what yours has.

 

[stingray69]

btw, I'm really missing my old Elite 5. Plus it was the greymist color that they don't make anymore.

I remember seeing the pics of your bass over in the Schecter thread - that was a sweet looking color. No wonder I never could find one in that finish.

 

[stingray69]

I can't get a picture right now, but there's a .pdf of the wiring of the studio basses. Have you seen it? If not, I can send a link. Does it appear to have the switches? I see little blocks that look like switches, but they are more of a brown color. I don't see what yours has.

I just had a look at that PDF, unfortunately, I don't see those mini-switches. You might want to e-mail ([email protected]) Schecter tech support or EMG's tech support ([email protected]) to confirm for sure. But its looking to me that there just aren't any switches on the B64EQ circuit. If nothing else, one of these tech supports might at least be able to tell you what the fixed center frequency of the highs are on that particular circuit.


Unrelated SideNote: If anyone is interested, I did just recently receive a diagram from EMG's tech support on how to wire a BQC (sweepable mids + mini-switches) circuit while still retaining the passive EMG HZ pickups. I could post it for reference for anyone who'd like it.

Peace.

 

[moopants]

This is rather unrelated, but I don't have much experience in pups. Would Barts or any other pup help roll off the highs? Also, would I have to change the preamp?

 

[stingray69]

From what I understand from reading posts here on TB, the general consensus is that Barts are supposed to be a darker, warmer sounding pickup in general. So yes, they probably would tame the highs down a bit. I believe you could still use the EMG preamp that is currently in the bass.

 

[lowcrome66]

So ***.. why were some of the replies deleted?
The switches didn't do much for me and I still want to add a passive switch.. but the diagrams have been deleted. So what am I supposed to do now?

 

[dvh]

I had exactly the same experience witrh my Custom 4. Could not get the tone I wanted even with fiddling with the switches. I also tried flatwounds but wasn't happy with that tone either. Different roundwounds also doesn't make much difference. I think it's just the EMG HZ's and the charactreristics of my amp. THat bass, though I love everything else about it, does not give me "the tone" so it's now my back-up bass.

I think it's a perfect bass for metal and slapping but I don't think it gives that fat, warm sound I need for most of my music (blues, rock, jazz).

Not helpful to you really but just my experience.

 

[prokfrog]

I just got an Elite-5 a few weeks ago. My first go at a five string in over 20years of playing!. Anyway I love it, however I've never been a fan of active electronics. I just completed gutting the preamp, and went V/V (500k pots) and installed a Stellartone variable tone control I had in my previous main bass. The StellarTone module is a little expensive, but it's like having 4 different basses strapped to your shoulder at once! Plus the pure passive tone. I highly recommend it. I think it addresses alot of the "brightness" complaints I'm seeing. I went with 500k pots for the added "sizzle" with the tone control "open", and on the other 15 settings of the module, you can dial in ( or out ) specific frequencies which in turn enhances your mids.

 

[Jeff O'Connor]

ok......I never even knew my elite 5 even HAD those dip switches......aw jeez that's ebarassing.....

 

[TJBass]

I didn't either! I have a C-4 XXX and also noticed that when I opened the cover that I didn't have a blend knob as the C-4 wiring diagram suggests but a vol/vol/bass/treble setup.

I also noticed that the C-4 seems to have a 4 bolt neck where mine has a 6 bolt neck, is this true?

(I never received a manual or have found any info on the XXX online)

I can't wait to hear what the tone change will be with resetting the dip switches. Will have to wait till morning tho.