What are the best Pickups/preamp for fretless?

[sonojono]

I know there's been many forums years ago about this but can't seem to have found the right information for my particular setting. I'm looking into upgrading my Link Removed
This is my first time looking into parts outside of just me playing with stocks for my 6 years of playing so I really don't know what I'm looking into

With the current stock pickups the Brice has on em are very dull (not bright enough for the fretless to shine in my playing) and would like to upgrade into something that has more tonal control (bright but not too bright) for the metal genre I am currently playing for. So I'm here wondering if there are any preamps that implement that kind of style I'm leaning towards to make my fretless actually sound like a fretless! Especially in a live setting, I feel like every show I have to raise the treble to 10 just for the audience to hear the sound of a fretless. It really irks me although it could be my playing with only 1 yr going into fretless

As far as pickups go, I hear a lot of great musicians just using passive with active preamps instead of using well active pickups to match with the active preamp. Can anyone tell me the pros/cons (if any) of that peculiar setup? Will HOT pickups be a better solution than active?

Anyone have any suggestions that have currently gone through the time, trial and error of preamps/pickups for their current fretless bass?

My budget for parts is $300 anything over that would make me feel bad investing tons of money on a bass I could have just saved up for a GWB Bass

 

[Antisyzygy]

I have heard good things about Tone Monster preamps, and they would easily fit in your budget. They have a lot of options in terms of what you want, like active/passive switching, mid+sweep control, multiple knob configurations, etc.

I am putting this one in my fretless bass, it's on order : Tone Monster SEB2 A Preamp Guitar J P Bass Balance Volume Treble Bass 12nu | eBay

If you can wait about a week I'll let you know how it sounds. I have used their passive harnesses before, as well as one of their active boost circuits and they were all great products.

For your bass, with the 4 knob holes, you could get something like this one that has more options : Tone Monster SBK 3AD Guitar Bass Preamp 3B EQ Mid Sweep 4 Pots 12nu l l91 | eBay

They also have options like, 2-band active/passive w/ passive tone knob available if that is your thing.

I think you should pick a preamp first, and that would dictate what sort of pickups you want. For example, on a preamp with NO mid control I'd probably get a mid-heavy bridge pickup and a mid-scooped neck pickup so I could have some control over the mid-peak when I blend the pickups. That also should give you the "Mwah" sound when soloing the bridge. This is actually what I'm going to do on my fretless down the road, I just am upgrading one step at a time here. Preamp first.

If I had a 3-band preamp with a mid-frequency selection knob I might get a neutral sounding bridge pickup because the preamp can boost any of the frequencies as needed. I have no idea what I'd get for the neck pickup in that case. The bridge pickup always sounds better to me on a fretless for every one of them I owned so with a preamp like that I doubt I'd use the neck pickup much. Maybe I'd use something in the neck position with a lot of low-end and then use it sparingly.

At any rate, I'd pick the preamp first then figure out what sort of neck and bridge pickup I wanted for maximum versatility in tone.

 

[JustForSport]

Strings can make a HUGE diff in the sound you get- just strung some Ken Smith Compressors (Alloy 52) after not being satisfied with anything else so far, and they took it to a new, brighter, more dynamic level. Also, if you have 2 passive pickups, try un-grounding the balance pot if you have one- frees up the tone more in the middle. Or try Dunlop Super Bright S/S strings- if the strings don't produce the tone/sound, the pickups cannot re-produce it, and any preamp can't manufacture what's not supplied to it. Strings are far cheaper, besides.

 

[line6man]

As far as pickups go, I hear a lot of great musicians just using passive with active preamps instead of using well active pickups to match with the active preamp. Can anyone tell me the pros/cons (if any) of that peculiar setup? Will HOT pickups be a better solution than active?

Active pickups, and preamps are not normally used together. There are some examples of the pairing, but in general, it is best to avoid the practice. Firstly, chaining gain stages leads to decreased headroom, and that is never a good thing. Secondly, there is usually no reason for it. A lot of active pickups are simply standard high impedance passive pickups, with the addition of a buffer, inside their housings. This serves the same role as a preamp, minus the EQ. In any case, active pickups are a rarity to begin with. There are only a handful of brands that even offer them.

Note that output level has no relation to whether a bass is active or passive.

 

[sonojono]

Strings can make a HUGE diff in the sound you get- just strung some Ken Smith Compressors (Alloy 52) after not being satisfied with anything else so far, and they took it to a new, brighter, more dynamic level. Also, if you have 2 passive pickups, try un-grounding the balance pot if you have one- frees up the tone more in the middle. Or try Dunlop Super Bright S/S strings- if the strings don't produce the tone/sound, the pickups cannot re-produce it, and any preamp can't manufacture what's not supplied to it. Strings are far cheaper, besides.

My current string set up on my fretless are DR Pure Blues and of course strings make a huge difference, before DR's I tried Stainless Steel Roto Rounds and I personally did not like the grippage it left on my fingers. So for the first month and a half I let them sit for days but it did give out a good "mwah" tone I'll tell you that. Still, I feel like the pickups are lacking the sound I'm looking for even with roundwounds :/

 

[jg42]

It's all about the tone you're trying to get. Aggressive, woody...etc. there are so many different fretless tones out there. I'd suggest looking at decent pickups first and then see if you do or don't need a pre. From my experience, it is pickups that define the sound (other than your hands, wood, etc) and the preamp is there just to further adjust it. But if there's nothing to adjust in the first place, it won't work. If I were you, I would first and foremost try your existing pickups without your existing preamp and try to figure out whether you like the tone.

 

[sonojono]

It's all about the tone you're trying to get. Aggressive, woody...etc. there are so many different fretless tones out there. I'd suggest looking at decent pickups first and then see if you do or don't need a pre. From my experience, it is pickups that define the sound (other than your hands, wood, etc) and the preamp is there just to further adjust it. But if there's nothing to adjust in the first place, it won't work. If I were you, I would first and foremost try your existing pickups without your existing preamp and try to figure out whether you like the tone.

Just read your comment after I was done practicing my fretless and have stumbled upon something rather interesting. As I was practicing some songs on the active setting, I realized the output was very low compared to passive on my GK Combo Amp. Passive setting on my fretless is very superb and crisp, it's got a great output. So now my guess is that my stock pickups are passive cause I'm currently confused what my current pickups are right now whther it be passive or active.

If the tone "aggressive" means a brighter sound than what I'm currently playing then point me to some good pickups for that!

My local Guitar Center tech wasn't too helpful in my area and never really went into full detail of the situation and just said "It's an active pickup if the bass runs on battery." He also tried to sell me string cleaner to help with the tone I'm looking for...

I swear I feel like GC is a lost cause..

 

[jg42]

If your passive is louder than your active then it could be a dying battery. Have you replaced a battery recently? The other option would be some dying/dead preamp components. Yes, vast majority of pickups are passive and active/passive switch is a very common feature. The only bass I have without it is my P (which is 100% passive) and my recently sold ibanez with active EMGs.
P.S. The important thing is - you like your pickup sound in the passive mode, so maybe it is a new pre that you need and leave the pickups be just for now.

 

[sonojono]

If your passive is louder than your passive then it could be a dying battery. Have you replaced a battery recently? The other option would be some dying/dead preamp components. Yes, vast majority of pickups are passive and active/passive switch is a very common feature. The only bass I have without it is my P (which is 100% passive) and my recently sold ibanez with active EMGs.
P.S. The important thing is - you like your pickup sound in the passive mode, so maybe it is a new pre that you need and leave the pickups be just for now.

Just replaced my old battery with new Duracell ones 2 days ago. Don't think it can be a battery problem. Since I'm pretty noob and am not experienced with active electronics in Bass guitars (always been a passive guy) I'm not sure what to look out for

Here are some recordings I did using a Focusrite 2i2 Interface dealing with both my passive/active pickups. The actives actually sound better played on an interface than my GK amp for some reason but you do hear some dull in the pickups somewhere if you ever catch that


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[line6man]

I'm currently confused what my current pickups are right now whther it be passive or active.

That is very easy to determine. Look at the wiring, and see if there is a connection from the battery to the pickups. If there is, then they are active. If there is not, then they are passive.

 

[Basically Bob]

Best?

... I sure am happy with this passive, Nordstrand NP4 / Big Split set up.

 

[JustForSport]

More than one bass manufacturer has stated 'active pickups' in advertising, while the bass really had passive pickups connected to an active (as all are) preamp.
Usually an 'active/passive' switch is really a preamp bypass switch.
As line6man posted, the only way to know if they are active pickups or not, for sure is to open the control cavity and see if there is a wire to the pickups from the + side of the battery.
BTW: are you plugging into the padded (active) socket on your GK? With most active basses, you can use the standard socket- just don't have the bass at full volume, and use a little less gain on the amp.
Using the 'active' socket on the amp can make the tone 'dull'.

 

[sonojono]

View attachment 645979


Best?

... I sure am happy with this passive, Nordstrand NP4 / Big Split set up.

Would have been a great choice if they carried soapbars which I don't see in the Nordstrand website..

 

[sonojono]

That is very easy to determine. Look at the wiring, and see if there is a connection from the battery to the pickups. If there is, then they are active. If there is not, then they are passive.

Opened up the cavity to take a look see and was quite intimidated with the bundles of wiring After a good minute of composure I started to take some snaps and finding out the pups are active. What took me awhile to realize was seeing the red wire being soldered/joint together with the black wire making it realize the red wire is blending in with the pickups correct me if I am wrong. With my wild guess seeing the rectangular box inside the cavity is my preamp?? I took the liberty to mark the area I am talking about and provide a full image of the electronics

 

[sonojono]

BTW: are you plugging into the padded (active) socket on your GK? With most active basses, you can use the standard socket- just don't have the bass at full volume, and use a little less gain on the amp.
Using the 'active' socket on the amp can make the tone 'dull'.

Could be why the tone sounds dull when I push down to the active setting on my bass when I'm plugged in to the active socket

 

[line6man]

Could be why the tone sounds dull when I push down to the active setting on my bass when I'm plugged in to the active socket

You should only be using the "active" input if you need it. The active and passive labels on amp inputs are a misnomer that started back when active circuits were meant to be inherently louder than passive circuits, but the terminology has stuck, in much the same way as "tremolo bridges," or "input jacks" on basses. The "active" input on an amp typically has the same input impedance as the "passive" input, but it is simply padded down. Most people report that the padding kills tone. As a general rule of thumb, always choose the "passive" input, unless you are plugging in something that is so hot that it causes distortion.

 

[sonojono]

So I've been looking into active pickups to see what will stand out for the sound I'm trying to achieve for this Fretless bass of mine. Something that can maximize tone and produce a brighter "mwah"

As of now what seems to stick out to me are Aguilars, Seymour Duncan blackout ASBO, and EMG's.

After naming the 3 idk which seems to be the more promising pickup if anyone has ever tried these significant name brands on their own Fretless basses.

Keep in mind my bass set up is low action geared with DR nickle strings before anyone mentions anything about "proper setup."

 

[sonojono]

Bump.

 

[sonojono]

Bump bump.

 

[line6man]

So I've been looking into active pickups to see what will stand out for the sound I'm trying to achieve for this Fretless bass of mine. Something that can maximize tone and produce a brighter "mwah"

As of now what seems to stick out to me are Aguilars, Seymour Duncan blackout ASBO, and EMG's.

After naming the 3 idk which seems to be the more promising pickup if anyone has ever tried these significant name brands on their own Fretless basses.

Keep in mind my bass set up is low action geared with DR nickle strings before anyone mentions anything about "proper setup."

You seem to be talking in generalities. Active pickups are not any different than passive pickups unless they are designed to sound a certain way. You are listing companies that make active pickups, but it is not clear what kind of pickups you want, or what they should sound like.