Preamp Advice/Info Needed

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flexo

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I have a Corvette Proline (active preamp, passive pickups) and I'm thinking of replacing either the preamp or the pickups.

Firstly, which would be more beneficial? I'm looking to get more defined sound (punchier and more growl) than I'm getting at the moment.

I've had a look at a couple options and it seems as if the STC line of preamps from Seymour Duncan/Basslines would be a good fit. Do the 3-band EQs sound much better than the 2-band models? Obviously the 3-band EQ would require some modification to be installed.

Another thing I'm unsure of is whether I should get the preamp for active pickups or passive pickups. Can you use a preamp made for active pickups with passive pickups or vice versa?
I ask because if I upgrade my pickups later they might be active.

I've had a look around at pickups and the Seymour Duncan/Basslines AJB pickups seem to be highly regarded but I can only find the 5 string version around, do they make a 4 string version?

What about Delano pickups too? The versions with the large pole pieces look great and they apparently have a modern tone to them which is what I'm after. Does anyone have any experience with these?

Sorry for all the questions, hopefully someone can answer a couple of them! :oops:
 
flexo said:
Do the 3-band EQs sound much better than the 2-band models? Obviously the 3-band EQ would require some modification to be installed. :oops:
Click to expand...

they sound different if you use the added mids pot which only comes on the 3-band, but if you bypass that, it will just sound like a 2-band, but even if you dont use the mids on a 3-band its always handy to have if you decide to use it. but if you have a 2-band you obvisiously will not have that option. :)
 
I think MEC active pickups will give you a good puchy solid sound.

3 band EQ... you have one more - very useful - frequency. It is a good upgrade too. If you buy MEC 3, you dont need any mods to be made, just buy the whole package with 3 pots, like for thumb NT

The preamp is the same, but the volume pot is different for active pickups. If you change the pickups, you need to change tat pot too, very easy...

Cheers/ Flo
 
The STC 3A preamp is heavenly! I got tons of more growl from it on my SS2. The pickups are just...pickups. I don't *think* they make as big of a difference as the preamp. I've also heard great stuff from the Aguilar OBP.
 
corvette master said:
flexo said:
Do the 3-band EQs sound
much better than the 2-band models? Obviously the 3-band EQ would
require some modification to be installed. :oops:
Click to expand...

they sound different if you use the added mids pot which only comes on
the 3-band, but if you bypass that, it will just sound like a 2-band, :)
Click to expand...
`

The targeted center frquencies of the 2band and 3band are very
different. The 2band might sound like the 3band in terms of overall
coloration but the reactions to boost and cut will be so different that
most players who don't play close to flat EQ will not perceive them
to sound alike.

`
 
elpelotero said:
The STC 3A preamp is heavenly! I got tons of more growl from it on my SS2. The pickups are just...pickups. I don't *think* they make as big of a difference as the preamp. I've also heard great stuff from the Aguilar OBP.
Click to expand...
Do you have any soundclips or know of any links to any with the same pre amp? I'd love to hear it. Thanks.
 
Gerry said:
elpelotero said:
The STC 3A preamp is heavenly! I got tons of more growl from it on my SS2. The pickups are just...pickups. I don't *think* they make as big of a difference as the preamp. I've also heard great stuff from the Aguilar OBP.
Click to expand...
Do you have any soundclips or know of any links to any with the same pre amp? I'd love to hear it. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Dirk Lance (Incubus Science album), Pnut (311), Sam Rivers ([ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLmtgWW9KXo[/ame])
 
SD AJB pickup.....I really don't like it....I had whole SD active system on my Thumb 5, they can't push the feature of my Thumb, you may try EMG or MEC...very good for Warwick bass!! you can use the same preamp for active EMG or MEC pickup!!!

You got passive pickup on you bass so the preamp pots is about 250K, if you wanna keep the pickup, make sure you have preamp with 250K pots, if you wanna keep the preamp, you will need passive pickup too.

The active SD STC is 100K, special for SD pickup, other active pickup like MEC or EMG is 25K, you can still connect them together but you will not know if the sound is right.....another season I don't like SD pickup!! The passive SD system doesn't have this problem!

Go for the 3 band preamp for sure, ex: MEC 3 band preamp is much better than MEC 2 band preamp.......more range & more output!!
 
Didn't mean to jack your thread Flexo! (nhs) I really want a better pre amp to go in my Spector Euro Lx 5.(Emg pups) I like my SS2 as is.
 
flexo said:
I have a Corvette Proline (active preamp, passive pickups) and I'm thinking of replacing either the preamp or the pickups.

Firstly, which would be more beneficial? I'm looking to get more defined sound (punchier and more growl) than I'm getting at the moment.

I've had a look at a couple options and it seems as if the STC line of preamps from Seymour Duncan/Basslines would be a good fit. Do the 3-band EQs sound much better than the 2-band models? Obviously the 3-band EQ would require some modification to be installed.

Another thing I'm unsure of is whether I should get the preamp for active pickups or passive pickups. Can you use a preamp made for active pickups with passive pickups or vice versa?
I ask because if I upgrade my pickups later they might be active.

I've had a look around at pickups and the Seymour Duncan/Basslines AJB pickups seem to be highly regarded but I can only find the 5 string version around, do they make a 4 string version?

What about Delano pickups too? The versions with the large pole pieces look great and they apparently have a modern tone to them which is what I'm after. Does anyone have any experience with these?

Sorry for all the questions, hopefully someone can answer a couple of them! :oops:
Click to expand...

Coming from a fellow proline player- Bartolini. My bass is amazing because of the new Bartolini two band Eq.
 
Thanks for all the replies everyone.

It turns out that I'm a bit dumb and my proline actually has active pickups (gold MECs) so that is no issue after all.

Well so far I'm hearing that changing the preamp will have more effect than changing the pickups, is this the general consensus?

I think I'm almost set on the Seymour Duncan preamp since I've heard a lot of good things about it, I just need to figure out whether its worth the extra money and effort to get the 3 band preamp. What would you guys do?

I have researched Bartolinis as Michael J suggested but most people seemed to think that they made warwicks more mellow which is the opposite of where I'm trying to go.
 
i go and get the 3-band preamp put in mate, a Seymour Duncan preamps would sound great, but if i got one of those put in id get a set of basslines put in too. :)
 
no offense ! all Bassline system sucks! tried both passive & active, very weak!
 
flexo said:
Thanks for all the replies everyone.

It turns out that I'm a bit dumb and my proline actually has active pickups (gold MECs) so that is no issue after all.

Well so far I'm hearing that changing the preamp will have more effect than changing the pickups, is this the general consensus?

I think I'm almost set on the Seymour Duncan preamp since I've heard a lot of good things about it, I just need to figure out whether its worth the extra money and effort to get the 3 band preamp. What would you guys do?

I have researched Bartolinis as Michael J suggested but most people seemed to think that they made warwicks more mellow which is the opposite of where I'm trying to go.
Click to expand...

Mellow? I got wayyyy more growl. Its such a natural preamp... it pairs with the MEC pickups to create amazing tone...
 
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