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Tone Monster SBK preamps? Anybody here use them?
- Thread starter fourstringbliss
- Start date
Yeah, huh? They're made in Korea - I'll bet by the same folks that made the preamps for MIK Ibanezes. I used to have a BTB with sweepable mids and the preamp was nice.
Well I just pulled the trigger on the 2 band version of this pre. Said it should be here by the 10th. I will keep you posted. It will be going into one of my custom built basses swamp ash with flamed koa top, maple w/rosewood neck. MM style bartolini pickup. I hope it sounds good. The bass is currently set up passive and sounds really good but want to get some more edge out of it. So maybe this will be the ticket. At $25, it cannot be a total loss if I do not like it. I will post sound samples before and after.
I do have one in a Musicman knockoff I built from cheap parts. I put this preamp in it. It works great with the inexpensive (Artec) MM pickup. I couldn't ask for more. Clean and quiet, with great range. I have around $100 in this 5 string, and it is my second favorite bass among 8 or so I have.
That is great to hear and better yet, I have another bass I am building at the moment that sounds like the one you built. It has a MM style pick up and a Pbass pick that I am needing to put another pre-amp in. I have a Bartolini 3 band but I am not a big fan at least with this bass. I am wanting something that is going to be more in line with a true MusicMan SRay sound, Clean and clear. So if it sounds good in this bass I may order the 3 band version. I was going to go with the Bass Mods but if I like this ToneMonster I will just buy another one. Thanks for the info.
I got the s bk2 band pre in today. I did a sound sample of the bass in current passive electronics. I will post pictures and sound samples as soon as I get it installed. I hope it is sounds good.
Here is a sound sample of the bass with its passive electronics. Sorry for the long pause between parts. Had to tell my Son to stop pulling on the guitar cable while I record the part. I recorded it through my iPhone with JamUp on the Powered Pre (Amp) they have. That way it does not color the bass as much as the other amps will.
Also I did a test run of the pre-amp last night but when I went to record it onto my phone, the phone was dead and it was late. So I took everything back out of the bass because I had to drill one hole bigger for the treble pot and drill a new hole for the pick up selector switch. When I drilled that hole it chipped the Nitro finish. So now I have to fix that before I install the electronics again.
So back to the Pre. It sounds great! It is dead quite but I am using a single MM style Bartolini pickup. The pre is also super transparent and does not color the bass tone at all. When you bump the bass up it just brings in more bass and does not make it muddy or anything. When you turn the treble up it does the same. I do wish it could bring out a little more sizzle but that is this pickup I am thinking. I may try adding another 9 volt battery and seeing how that helps. Well I must say this pre-amp is a bargin if I have ever seen one and I am thinking of ordering another one or two for the other 2 basses I have under construction.
To the OP of this thread, Hats off to you for starting this or I may never had given this pre a second thought. Also go for it because it is worth the money and it will not take away from the tone of your bass.
I will post a sound clip once I get it installed.
Also I did a test run of the pre-amp last night but when I went to record it onto my phone, the phone was dead and it was late. So I took everything back out of the bass because I had to drill one hole bigger for the treble pot and drill a new hole for the pick up selector switch. When I drilled that hole it chipped the Nitro finish. So now I have to fix that before I install the electronics again.
So back to the Pre. It sounds great! It is dead quite but I am using a single MM style Bartolini pickup. The pre is also super transparent and does not color the bass tone at all. When you bump the bass up it just brings in more bass and does not make it muddy or anything. When you turn the treble up it does the same. I do wish it could bring out a little more sizzle but that is this pickup I am thinking. I may try adding another 9 volt battery and seeing how that helps. Well I must say this pre-amp is a bargin if I have ever seen one and I am thinking of ordering another one or two for the other 2 basses I have under construction.
To the OP of this thread, Hats off to you for starting this or I may never had given this pre a second thought. Also go for it because it is worth the money and it will not take away from the tone of your bass.
I will post a sound clip once I get it installed.
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Well this is a sound sample of this 2 band pre in another bass I am building. I am running just an MM style pup through the pre and everything set flat. I really like the pre in this bass more than the other bass I installed it in. It really seems this pre is so transparent and has 0 color to the tone. This is great if you have a great sounding bass and pickups but will not make a bad bass sound good. Even when you turn the Bass or Treble up it only elevates the volume for either tone knob and does not make a bass sizzle when treble is turned up all the way unless maybe your bass has that tone already. It is also dead quite. It really is a great pre and once again thank you OP on this and I hope you or anyone else do not think I am trying to highjack the thread. Any way check out the sound clip and this bass I love so much and to me it sounds great even with these 2+ year old strings I am using just to test the bass during construction.
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Yes I did. Replaced the stock mk-1 3 band with guitar fuel tone monster sbk 3.2 with active passive push pull on volume, and gain control. Sounds as good as, or better than the stock electronics. Also added an additional 9 volt and I boost the bass and mids way up and treble a little up, so I don't hear the little hiss that is the same as the MK-1 had, so that's probably my little practice amp with no active input. No hiss when switched to passive. So yeah it gives you a lot of noise, good noise, and that's what I need.
so, this thread has been untouched for a little over a year, but i'm interested in one of these...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111525283266?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
or one of these...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111514547015?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
....because i am one of the many bassists with a limited budget. i have a Dean Hillsboro J bass that i have been working on for quite some time now. love the bass, but the stock preamp is not cutting it. i had put a bartolini preamp, but it was BAD, it did not sound good with this particular bass.... and it quit on me a couple of months after installing it.
question is... does anyone know how these would work on a jazz bass?
i'm also eyeing a pair of fender super 55 pickups for sale at my local music shop for 40 bucks!!!
any opinions on these paired with these tone monster preamps?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111525283266?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
or one of these...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111514547015?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
....because i am one of the many bassists with a limited budget. i have a Dean Hillsboro J bass that i have been working on for quite some time now. love the bass, but the stock preamp is not cutting it. i had put a bartolini preamp, but it was BAD, it did not sound good with this particular bass.... and it quit on me a couple of months after installing it.
question is... does anyone know how these would work on a jazz bass?
i'm also eyeing a pair of fender super 55 pickups for sale at my local music shop for 40 bucks!!!
any opinions on these paired with these tone monster preamps?
As an eBay Associate, TalkBass may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Go for it! They do not cost much and sound really good. To me they are very transparent and sound like they only raise or lower the given frequency when used. Bartolini and others have their own sound in my opinion, unlike the Tone Monster. So if this is what you are looking for go for it.
It is not a waist of money in my opinion. post your thoughts when you get a chance to install and review.great! ill give one of these guys a try... sounds primising.
WILL DO. Hopefully i can have it by the first week of December and will post about it. thanks for your input!
Haji
Supporting Member
I just ordered the SBK-2A to put in my Epiphone Tbunderbird IV. Since I hate top hat knobs, this is a good excuse to throw some black domes on it. What diameter are the shafts on these pots? This particular version of the pre has a solid shaft stacked tone pot and split shafts on the others. What's the right diameter knob to throw on this bad boy?
I have one in my VM Jazz (2 band) and it is fantastic. Zero noise and a fairly tight bandwidth filter. I could record a clip for you if you wanted.
wow! i am completelly blown away! this is one of the best preamps ive tried, and it is staying. it is very transparent, and very quiet.. no humming. i wish i had known about these before i had bought the bartolini and.aguilar pres. this preamp fits better, sounds better, and does a much better job at remaing transparent with regards to sound than either of the mentioned "good brands". one of the other two actually felt cheap when it came out of the box... the tone monster pre actually felt nice, looked nice, and sounds just AMAZING! not to mention how EASY it was to install. honestly, in my opinion, the best deal i've got so far.
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the two band. i think it's named "sbk2" with volume-blend-bass-treble setup. i wanted to get the three band at first, but decided that i didnt want to make another hole on my pickguard.
i guess the only "negative" i saw was that the pre didnt come with any nuts or washers (only the output jack had them), as others do... i had to use some of my spare ones... idk if this happened to anyone else. besides that, it is a great piece.
i guess the only "negative" i saw was that the pre didnt come with any nuts or washers (only the output jack had them), as others do... i had to use some of my spare ones... idk if this happened to anyone else. besides that, it is a great piece.
Haji
Supporting Member
I received mine yesterday. It had nuts and washers for everything in the set. Dropped it off at the local shop to be installed today, since I don't have space enough to do it here, and the Epi Thunderbird IV its going in was purchased from them a short while ago. I found that the input jack had been cross threaded at the factory, so I figured I'd let them deal with that.
