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Warwick Thumb NT EQ?

P

Paulb7664

Sep 30, 2004
134
0
Kent UK
#1
Hi All
Why is my E string distorting? I get tight sound playing all other strings Hit the low E BIG FART!! Its like its breaking up. I have tried it with other amps & cabs changed batteries etc.
Maybe I just pluck the strings to hard!!
How much EQ do you set on the bass??
OR do I have a problem with the preamp??

Paul.
 
#3
One other thing to check. I don't remember exactly the setup on the MEC EQ, but if there's an internal gain pot for the overall output on the system, try turning that down so the thing isn't boosting the output so much.

Too much midrange or bass boost can contribute to this problem, too. Are you hearing this distortion with the EQ set flat, or only when you have the bass and/or mids boosted a lot?

And even though you said you already did, double-check the battery. Distortion is one of the major signs of a battery with not enough juice.

Good luck!
Mike
 
#5
The string height is OK and guitar is set up spot on.
I will put a new battery in tomorrow and do some more tests.
Where would I find the internal gain screw? I find if I turn the volume down to 3/4 it's better. I tend to have everything full on the guitar apart from the mid control, then do all my adjustments from the amp.
Is there a better way??

Thanks

Paul
 
#6
The other thing is that warwicks are infamous for having crappy jacks on the outside. If that sucker gets loose, it's a matter of time before your wires get crossed, and the bass starts producing that dying-dog sound you're discribing (I'm pretty sure this is the cause.) Check and see if the jack is loose, if it is, take it to a shop and get them to tighten it (you should probobly stop at Sears and get an appropriate lock-washer to hold it in place). I bought a thousand dollar german warwick hoping that this problem was unique to the rockbass: nope. Just get it tight and keep it that way.

-Ross
 
#7
Paulb7664 said:
The string height is OK and guitar is set up spot on.
I will put a new battery in tomorrow and do some more tests.
Where would I find the internal gain screw?
Click to expand...

It would be a little adjustment pot in the control cavity.

I tend to have everything full on the guitar apart from the mid control, then do all my adjustments from the amp.
Is there a better way??
Click to expand...

Since you're already making all your adjustments from the amp, why not start with everything flat on the bass, set the amp to get the overall sound that you want, then use the controls on the bass to tweak the tone for different songs?

Mike
 
#8
I had this with my thumb BO as well. It would distort on the E and A especially whenever it was played agressively. Even with the bass in passive mode it would still cause distortion. Recently I changed the batter and checked out all the wires and mircaculously it sounds great again, no more distortion.
 
#9
mikezimmerman said:
It would be a little adjustment pot in the control cavity.




Since you're already making all your adjustments from the amp, why not start with everything flat on the bass, set the amp to get the overall sound that you want, then use the controls on the bass to tweak the tone for different songs?

Mike
Click to expand...

There is a plastic adjustment screw on the electrics Could this be the one? It's on the main board which sits over the Mid pot and all other wiring goes to it!

I never thought of doing it like this. When I played guitar I always set it full on and it just followed on to my bass playing.
How do you guys set up EQ??
 
#10
Paulb7664 said:
There is a plastic adjustment screw on the electrics Could this be the one? It's on the main board which sits over the Mid pot and all other wiring goes to it!
Click to expand...

That might be a gain--I don't know the MEC circuits very well. All you can do is try turning it counter-clockwise to see if the overall output goes down.

I never thought of doing it like this. When I played guitar I always set it full on and it just followed on to my bass playing.
How do you guys set up EQ??
Click to expand...

Guitars typically just have a passive tone control(s) that simply cut trebles. So "full on" is the same as "flat". On the other hand, many basses, including your Warwick, have an active EQ that allows both cutting and boosting, so "full on", everything turned up all the way, is actually boosting some specific frequencies a lot.

SoulMaim does bring up another thing to try, though. I think that if you pull up the volume control, you switch from active to passive mode (bypassing the active preamp/EQ). Does the bass still distort in passive mode? If it does, that probably indicates a wiring problem rather than too much gain or bass boost from the preamp.

Mike
 
#11
I would suggest you set everything flat on the bass, and tune from there. I had a 96 Thumb NT a couple years ago, and it would fart out a cab easily if I had everything cranked. Setting the gain on the pre-amp is a must, or you'll just overpower everything from the start. At this point, making adjustments on your amp is useless. Set the gain control on the pre-amp to about half-way, set the EQ on the bass flat, make adjustments to the amp, and once you're playing, make small (if needed) adjustments to the EQ on your bass. Should be good to go after that...;)


_________________________________________________

PS - Seen this?:eyebrow:

Wick club thread!!!
 
#12
The first Thumb I got had a broken nut! (well what more can I say on that) So I returned it for this one. But the previous thumb was not as loud as this one. I'm thinking that the gain is to high!!
I will take out my old Streamer LX tomorrow and set everything up with that. Then plug in my thumb back in and see what the difference is.
I will let you know my findings.

Paul

PS Maybe I should join the Wick club now I have 2 of them.
 

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