Pre Amps

Avram

Avram

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So I have been reading a lot of posts here concerning pre-amps. More often than not, players here describe their pre-amp settings as 'flat'. I assume this means that all knobs are set to the middle with no boost to anything. So my questions are:

1. Which is best; an internal or external pre-amp (or is it a convenience thing)?
2. If you were to set everything flat anyway, is a pre-amp even needed?
3. What is the purpose of a pre-amp if you can adjust your tone with a speaker amp's eq? Is it for PA-ing your exact tone without using your amp or something?

Example, I am kinda considering a passive/passive bass, but am thinking about adding an active pre-amp afterwards. I am trying to decide if an external (like EBS Microbass) would be better than an internal (like MEC), or if I should just use the speaker amp's eq to find the tone I like.

I guess I am still trying to figure out this whole pre-amp thing. :?

Any help would be appreciated, even if it were just to point me in the right direction to find some answers.

Cheers! :)
 
Passive tone controls can only cut frequency ranges, they cannot boost them. An active preamp (on-board or outboard) uses a power source (9V battery or 110/220V power) to be able to inject energy so frequency ranges can be boosted as well as cut.

Personally, I prefer an active bass because it puts more tone control at my fingertips. But James Jamerson, Duck Dunn, Jaco Pastorious, (name your favorite old school bass player), etc. all did just fine without an onboard preamp :) Don't let a pre-amp (or lack of pre-amp) stand in the way of your groove!
 
Hey Avram, My CS Streamer has active pickups and passive controls.
1- The extrernal preamp is better, because the internal one has limited performance due the batery.
2-NO! Always the eq bypassed will sound better than eq on flat
3- There are different purposes. Maybe it has a freq the amp hasn't. For example, the MEC 3 band, has a great 800 Hz mid control, I used it full open with my SSII.
Also, you can bypass it when you like by pulling the knob, and you can push the knob for a totally different sound, like a slap sound.
You can change some settings easier from the bass during a gig, sometimes for a reggae song you may want to boost the lows, etc.

So... the onboard eq qill give you comfort, and sounds at your fingertips, but they will make you lose some quality.
 
Well I'll be honest....though I am saving up for a Thumb NT 4, I am still seriously eyeballing a used Taranis. The only thing I do not like about it is the passive electronics. I guess I am wondering if an onboard pre-amp would be better than a external (like an EBS microbass). I see what your saying Florin, about an onboard being more convenient. And thanks to you Greg for the note about passive eq's I did not know that they only cut the tone, but that makes sense now that I think about. I guess I am just hoping to add a little more 'umph' to the Taranis, and maybe some more flexibility with an active preamp of some sort.

Let me know, anyone, if an onboard preamp would be better (in your opinion of course) than an external preamp for this passive/passive bass. And please don't tell me to just get a Jazzman, I like the Taranis better. :wink:

Thanks! :)
 
My advice would be this - if you want to be able to boost at some times and cut at other times, it's nice to have that ability on your bass. That way you're not walking back & forth to your rig to adjust your tone. But if you're just looking to boost the lows all the time, you can do that with an outboard preamp or your existing amp.

Warwick sells all of the MEC on-board pre-amps separately. I'm thinking the BEC-2 w/ 3 pots (part number M60013) or the BEC-3 w/ 3 pots (M60033) would be a nice fit for the Taranis.

BEC2: Volume (push-pull active/passive), pan, stacked treble/bass.
BEC3: Stacked Volume(PP active/passive)/Pan, mid, stacked treble/bass.

These list for $320 and $416 respectively, but they can be had for much less. PM me if you'd like a quote. You'd also need to add one or two stacked knobs.

There are also plenty of other on-board pre-amp alternatives that have been discussed on the forum (Aguilar, Audere, Bartolini, Seymour Duncan, Mike Pope, etc.).
 
Thanks Greg :) if you can PM me a quote on the BEC-3, and two black push/pull knobs, that would be cool...it would be nice to know how deep in the pockets I must reach to scratch my current Warwick itch... :wink:
 
Avram - my apologies! The store got CRAZY this afternoon, and I didn't have a chance to respond to this. I'll hit ya with this info first thing tomorrow AM.
 
no rush, no rush....it will still be many months before I can afford anything anyways. :D I am currently in the 'research and money-development' faze. 8)
 
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