Bass guitar tone circuits with existing pickups

Z

zook250

New member
hi. what are your opinions on bass tone? do you guys feel its more the pickups or the tone controls that give the bass its sound?

i have a spector with selects ( not very hot, but sounds okay), a spector with active pj emg's , a spector rebop with emg hz ( i like these the best) and i recently bought a thunderbird with passives( i am not digging the tone as much as my rebop) if i add a btc to the existing pickups do you guys feel it will improve the tone substantially over the stock controls, or is a combination of the hz picups and the btc the only way to go.by the way the thunderbird is an epiphone.

thanks for looking
 
I think you are missing the boat here. There are so many factors in the tone you get from a bass. The pickup location will have at least as much of an effect as the pickup type, not to mention the woods, especially the wood of the fingerboard. Of course the strings you use will have as much of an effect or more than any of these things. The playing style, how hard you attack, at what angle, with what part of the fingers (or pick, etc.), where you attack the strings (closer or further from the neck, and where you attack them relative to the pickups).

If you don't like the way the bass sounds acoustically (i.e., without being amplified), you're unlikely to ever be happy with it's amplified tone, regardless of the rest of the electronic chain.

Active or passive tone controls will effect the sound for sure, but there are so many variables you should be thinking about first. Have you even tried different strings?

You don't really say what it is you like or don't like tone-wise. You might even find that you're better off finding a different axe then messing with this one.
 
you forgot to mention the following in regards to tone:

1. the strap post location
2. rubber encased cord of material encased chord used to plug in
3. am i standing on hardwoods or carpet when i play
4. did i wash my hands before i started playing

thanks for basic bass 101 lesson.

passives cut eq, active circuits have the ability to cut and boost. the question was in effect, will an active eq circuit just enhance the sound of the original passive pickups? or can i expect to hear more bite etc due to the active eq. the overall tone of the bass is rather boomy, with little high end. i love the feel of the bass, the look( i am a nikki sixx fan) the sound just doesnt have the bite that my spectors have, by the way i play part time in a motley cru cover band, thats why i bought the thunderbird. emg hz pickups and a btc are fairly low cost upgrades. thanks tho for your reply.

p.s i dont like boats.
 
zook250 said:
you forgot to mention the following in regards to tone:

1. the strap post location
2. rubber encased cord of material encased chord used to plug in
3. am i standing on hardwoods or carpet when i play
4. did i wash my hands before i started playing

thanks for basic bass 101 lesson.

passives cut eq, active circuits have the ability to cut and boost. the question was in effect, will an active eq circuit just enhance the sound of the original passive pickups? or can i expect to hear more bite etc due to the active eq. the overall tone of the bass is rather boomy, with little high end. i love the feel of the bass, the look( i am a nikki sixx fan) the sound just doesnt have the bite that my spectors have, by the way i play part time in a motley cru cover band, thats why i bought the thunderbird. emg hz pickups and a btc are fairly low cost upgrades. thanks tho for your reply.

p.s i dont like boats.
Click to expand...

Sorry if my first sounded snippy. That wasn't the intent. But you told me enough now to give you a better answer.

Getting EMG's and an active pre should help you get some more sizzle and bite. I actually did this on an old Ibanez bass I had, and it sounded a lot better afterwards.
 
thats o.k. i have a couple fill in gigs coming up for other bands, so i will go the full pickup/active eq route.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top