Doug Parent
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I wouldn't say the EMG circuit prevents anything...however, it is powerful, and significantly shapes the sound at the beginning of your "sound chain". Pedals, rack effects, and the preamp in your bass amp will further shape the sound after the EMG, as they are between it and your amp, but for some reason, the tone that comes from the EMG active preamp circuits (note: I speak of active preamp AND active pickups) is very "sharp", in that it has a very clear, cutting quality to it. By comparison, I find passive preamp sounds, even with the tone all the way up, to sound muffled in comparison. That's where the descriptor "hi-fi" comes from. Tons of high-frequency clarity vs. other brands.
I know several people that went with the EMG GZR passive pickups and an active OBP circuit (Aguilar, EMG, or other brands), and many people love this sound. By comparison, you CAN achieve a more vintage P-bass tone with the GZR pickups.
Sometimes it's difficult to put what we hear into words, but I hope that helps a bit.
That's stupid, I'm sorry. Who cares what you think about EMG pickups? This post is about EMG preamps. Every time I've tried an EMG preamp, I've also wired it with a bypass. I've noticed zero volume changes between with the EMG preamp bypassed and engaged.
Agree ,good preampsNothing! I absolutely love the EMG 40Ps and BTC that came stock on my Modulus Quantum and have never entertained replacing them.
...just wanted to reinforce that like you, not everyone hates EMGs!
I have an '81Aria ProII SB1000, great bass, came with a single active pup and 6 position switch that changed the voicing of the pre. The pup or pre went bad a few years back, and I replaced the whole thing with an EMG 40TW and a BQC pre. Because of the bladed magnets, a 5 string pup works for 4, and fit in the Aria perfectly.
But the BQC??
There is no tone I cannot dial in. Between the pup, easily switchable from HB to single, and the immense range of the BQC, If I want a vintage p-bass, single coil and scoop the mids, a rickenbacher growl? HB setting and roll the bass off. Once I get a tone, I will use that through a song, or a show, and rely on my amp and pedals for my performance tone changes.
Yes it is a "clean" sounding system, but I find it much easier to "dirty" a clean tone than clean a dirty tone.
I often roll the treble off, and use the mid sweep to act like a treble, boosting around 800>1200, I get the scrape and attack, but no harshness or "sterility". And this still leaves me plenty of tone control on my amp's front end, to help shape the cabinet and room tone.
I recently had a custom($5K!!) made for me that featured Nordstrand MM/DC combo and their pre-amp. I have heard good things about Nordys. The MM was defective and microphonic out of the box, and the DC , with the pre in or out, was weak, little definition or clarity, and an overall lack of punch. Not to mention you had to totally reset everything when you switched the pre in or out. Not because of volume, but the tone would shift, and never in a good way.
My $700 Schecter with the cheap EMGhz sounded so much better, as did my Aria with the EMG. So......I am having everything replaced with EMG's.
.
But the BQC??
There is no tone I cannot dial in. Between the pup, easily switchable from HB to single, and the immense range of the BQC, If I want a vintage p-bass, single coil and scoop the mids, a rickenbacher growl? HB setting and roll the bass off. Once I get a tone, I will use that through a song, or a show, and rely on my amp and pedals for my performance tone changes.
Yes it is a "clean" sounding system, but I find it much easier to "dirty" a clean tone than clean a dirty tone.
I often roll the treble off, and use the mid sweep to act like a treble, boosting around 800>1200, I get the scrape and attack, but no harshness or "sterility". And this still leaves me plenty of tone control on my amp's front end, to help shape the cabinet and room tone.
I recently had a custom($5K!!) made for me that featured Nordstrand MM/DC combo and their pre-amp. I have heard good things about Nordys. The MM was defective and microphonic out of the box, and the DC , with the pre in or out, was weak, little definition or clarity, and an overall lack of punch. Not to mention you had to totally reset everything when you switched the pre in or out. Not because of volume, but the tone would shift, and never in a good way.
My $700 Schecter with the cheap EMGhz sounded so much better, as did my Aria with the EMG. So......I am having everything replaced with EMG's.
.
I have an EMG BQC in an OLP bass with no other controls ( volume , tone ) except for a bypass switch. For some strange reason when I plugged it in the other day the volume has dropped considerably when I switch in the preamp. I have tried new batteries ( I'm running it at 18 volts ) but it makes no difference. I tried the passive setting through a simple buffer circuit which has been hanging around for years and when I switched in the BQC the volume balance was spot on. Any clues out there?
A late response I know but my EMG preamp kept making horrible clunking sounds every time I played any string. No matter how much I EQ'd it, adjusted the pups, neck, bridge, the noise was still there.
Besides this major drawback, I couldn't get a sound out of them that I liked.
It was the EMG B64rD accompanied with two EMG hz 35's. Came stock with the bass and if I'm honest, I'm in the HATE category for this set up.
Very cautious to spend on a different EMG set up since my only experience with them hasn't been good at all.
Besides this major drawback, I couldn't get a sound out of them that I liked.
It was the EMG B64rD accompanied with two EMG hz 35's. Came stock with the bass and if I'm honest, I'm in the HATE category for this set up.
Very cautious to spend on a different EMG set up since my only experience with them hasn't been good at all.
Personally I wouldn't call that any kind of experience with EMG.
The passive HZ pickups (formerly the EMG Select series) are designed with budget in mind. The preamp you mentioned, the EMG B64rD? As far as I can tell from searching for it, it's not EMG at all, just another cheap made-for-pennies entry level circuit from Southeast Asia. It might have a part or two (circuit board blank, pots etc) stamped as made by EMG, or maybe EMG licensed a design to the manufacturer at one point, but I highly doubt it's an accurate representation of an actual EMG preamp.
Thank you for the reply. I can accept what you say and yes I'm being harsh in my analysis.
You're allowed to be harsh. Problems can be frustrating. I have a Spector Legend Custom that I think had the EMG setup you described. For the life of me, I have no idea what is causing your problem. Is it possible the battery connector was loose and the battery was connecting and disconnecting? That,a bad jack, or a pickup moving around loose are the only "clunks" I can think of.
And let me add a +1 for what @Papazita said. That pickup and preamp combo can sound pretty good, but they aren't "real" EMG's. I wouldn't judge the brand based on problems with one example, especially when that example is closer to a "licensed by" than the real thing. If you want a well defined, rock tone, active EMG's are pretty hard to beat. I upgraded my HZ setup to an EMG P4 and a DC and like it a lot better.
