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Thunderbird Club

#107,181
ThaCoast said:
Well i don't mind using a battery with the EMG pickups if required, but i don't need an onboard preamp (mainly cause i don't want to start carving the control cavity), The only control i have & want to keep is an on/off switch for the pickups, & the output jack. I'm a less is more guy when it comes to controls both on bass & amps. Although i can't speak in terms of the amount of gear i own :p currently trying to downsize, but there's always another idea popping in my head.
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I'm interested to hear how this works out. I am still thinking through "what to do about" my Pro-V. One thought I have is dropping in EMGs and having a simple VV set up (no pre-amp, no tone controls).
 
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#107,182
PillO said:
I'm interested to hear how this works out. I am still thinking through "what to do about" my Pro-V. One thought I have is dropping in EMGs and having a simple VV set up (no pre-amp, no tone controls).
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Several of my basses have no tone controls and I tend to prefer em that way, since I pretty much never roll back a passive tone control.
 
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#107,184
PillO said:
I'm interested to hear how this works out. I am still thinking through "what to do about" my Pro-V. One thought I have is dropping in EMGs and having a simple VV set up (no pre-amp, no tone controls).
Click to expand...

Will definitely keep posted on how it works out. I'll try without a battery first, just to see if it works accordingly. If not, i'll have to swap my mono ouput for a stereo output jack.

dukeorock said:
Several of my basses have no tone controls and I tend to prefer em that way, since I pretty much never roll back a passive tone control.
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Pretty much all my gear has tone controls. For years, i've always kept them at 10. Only in the last 3-4 years have i started playing around with the tone control depending on the music feel. My birds are the sole kill switch equipped - which i do prefer. Played the standard layout & never found much benefit from the VVT setup. Then again, Nikki Sixx was what drew me to thunderbirds & he's pretty simplistic, i back tracked to find Overend Watts & John Entwistle.
 
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#107,185
ThaCoast said:
Well i don't mind using a battery with the EMG pickups if required, but i don't need an onboard preamp (mainly cause i don't want to start carving the control cavity), The only control i have & want to keep is an on/off switch for the pickups, & the output jack. I'm a less is more guy when it comes to controls both on bass & amps. Although i can't speak in terms of the amount of gear i own :p currently trying to downsize, but there's always another idea popping in my head.
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I think that last phrase describes most of us.;)
 
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#107,191
Gaolee said:
I must be a freak around here. I use tone controls regularly.
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IDK about the 'freak' part, but you aren't the only one to use tone controls. 'Course it could be just you and me. 1219181018-00.jpg I range from 5 to 10 on the NR depending on what kinda song we're playing.
 
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#107,193
Gaolee said:
I must be a freak around here. I use tone controls regularly.
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Well, you are, but not because of tone controls :)

Larry V said:
Me too, brighten or darken tone as necessary.
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Totally get that. It could be purely psychological for me, or maybe my main P bass for many years had a crappy tone pot...not sure, but I just prefer setting a solid baseline tone on the amp and from there switch between pick, thumb or fingers for ‘tone control.’ Obviously, how close to the bridge or neck one plays has a huge affect on tone as well. Since a passive tone control, turned all the way up is the same thing as no tone control at all, I tend to just rip em out. I may take it too literally, but when I roll back a tone knob I just feel like I’m removing ‘tone.’ Taking away from what that bass inherently wants to be.
That said, there’s a reason pretty much all passive basses come with a tone knob. Many (most?) make good use of em. I just never felt a tone knob could do a better job than my own hands could
 
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#107,194
dukeorock said:
Obviously, how close to the bridge or neck one plays has a huge affect on tone as well.
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I stay anchored on the neck P/Up and play there, fingers only. Moving around the "field of play" between the bridge and up the neck is way too advanced for me. That's real pro stuff that I've seen done but don't do.

It's enough for me to not hit clams and stay in time. :roflmao:
 
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#107,195
dukeorock said:
Well, you are, but not because of tone controls :)



Totally get that. It could be purely psychological for me, or maybe my main P bass for many years had a crappy tone pot...not sure, but I just prefer setting a solid baseline tone on the amp and from there switch between pick, thumb or fingers for ‘tone control.’ Obviously, how close to the bridge or neck one plays has a huge affect on tone as well. Since a passive tone control, turned all the way up is the same thing as no tone control at all, I tend to just rip em out. I may take it too literally, but when I roll back a tone knob I just feel like I’m removing ‘tone.’ Taking away from what that bass inherently wants to be.
That said, there’s a reason pretty much all passive basses come with a tone knob. Many (most?) make good use of em. I just never felt a tone knob could do a better job than my own hands could
Click to expand...
I normally set the tone control at 7 on both 'Birds. After EQing to the room as best as possible, that setting seems to be the best all around with quick moves up-to full-or down-to 5ish. Almost all of my playing is 'fingers', in different areas, with an occasional use of pick for added punch.
The one negative about my 2 Rumble combo amps is that the controls are on the top to the rear. This makes them semi inaccessible between tunes-space considerations hinder access. If I was doing it again, I'd have bought the separate head and cab(s), but since all of our gigs are in/out 1 nighters, the convenience of an all-in-one really appealed to this GOF.
 
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#107,197
GonePlaid said:
I normally set the tone control at 7 on both 'Birds. After EQing to the room as best as possible, that setting seems to be the best all around with quick moves up-to full-or down-to 5ish. Almost all of my playing is 'fingers', in different areas, with an occasional use of pick for added punch.
The one negative about my 2 Rumble combo amps is that the controls are on the top to the rear. This makes them semi inaccessible between tunes-space considerations hinder access. If I was doing it again, I'd have bought the separate head and cab(s), but since all of our gigs are in/out 1 nighters, the convenience of an all-in-one really appealed to this GOF.
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Absolutely! I may ‘fine tune’ the amp during a gig, but ‘set it and forget it’ is my preferred way.
Whatever our individual rituals may be, I think the less we have to focus on gear stuff, the more we can focus on playing/singing/performing.
 
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#107,200
ThaCoast said:
Therefore they'll work in my "passive" bass wired direct to the single killswitch. Since i'm in no way using an onboard preamp to boost/cut frequencies, would i still need the battery to power the pickups?



It's worked for Sixx & almost every metal bass player of the time, & most have pretty great tones. My dislike of EMGS, or 'active' pickups, were mainly cause of a repetitive tone which sounded sterile to my ears. Guess having played & owned nothing but passive basses, it was a no brainer to ever own something active.

I fiddled around with Tiger & the combination of the QP split & the classic stack J is really good. As i've said, enough bite, punch & clarity. I may try the Actives just to see what sound difference i achieve with them, & if i end up liking them over the current setup, so be it. I will however be getting a Jazzmaster pickup cover for the bridge pup position.
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I just did some googling on why metal players (guitarists) like EMG, and responses were varied as expected on-line. The most consistent 'con' response was sterility, and the most consistent 'pro' response was clarity. (...) but, the relevant caveat was they were clean/clear through the pedal-chain, so that sounds like a reasonably good reason to use them. (if using a lot of effects) For bass players it would be a different story, unless effects were lined-up there as well. Guy Pratt had EMG's in his Burgundy Mist Metallic '64 J for years and his tone with PF etc was always perfect. I personally know a gigging pro bass player who uses active basses (Aguilar) on stage and the times I've seen/heard him there is no 'con' to his tone or bass presence, in fact - it's solidly the opposite. (as in, great tone/presence... he also has tone controls!)

Different strokes for different folks as always.
 
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