Stupid bass pickup question, but...

[ZoSo58LP]

So I've got a Schecter Model-T. It's a 2001. It came stock with Duncan Designed PJ pickups, and back when I first got it up until 2005 it used to have such a DEEP chuggy midrangey awesome sound to it....like, it sounded great.

then in '05, my friend gave me a set of active EMG PJs, and , under the assumption that actual EMG's were better than Duncan Designed pickups (and since Rob DeLeo used EMG's on his Model-T lol...) i installed them. Ever since, the thing does not sound nearly as awesome/chuggy/midrangey...to the point that once 2006 came around and I bought a G&L L2000, i hardly EVER touch the Model-T anymore...but the other day I picked her up again (due to the new STP album being released) and i wanted to get back to my rock roots from when i first started playing, so i started playin this bad boy again....i forgot how amazing it plays, but the tone just isn't what it used to be.

my question is, what the hell did i do here? did i mess something up installing them? lol. the battery is fine...in fact, it NEVER seems to drain, which is odd to me, because i had a battery in there for like 3-4 years that NEVER died...i even took it out to check and it was charged pretty damn well.....

on the other hand, my battery in my active G&L dies a lot much more frequently...and no, i don't leave the chord plugged into them, i always unplug them....causing me to think maybe the battery wasn't working in the Model-T? however, i unplugged the battery in the Model-T and tried to play it, and BUMPKIS! no sound whatsoever...meaning, the battery in the circuitry must be correct, as it's required to play.

either way, i miss the deep chuggy sound it used to have..that midrangey honk of a PJ set on together. ugh. any ideas guys? thanks!

 

[ggunn]

So I've got a Schecter Model-T. It's a 2001. It came stock with Duncan Designed PJ pickups, and back when I first got it up until 2005 it used to have such a DEEP chuggy midrangey awesome sound to it....like, it sounded great.

then in '05, my friend gave me a set of active EMG PJs, and , under the assumption that actual EMG's were better than Duncan Designed pickups (and since Rob DeLeo used EMG's on his Model-T lol...) i installed them. Ever since, the thing does not sound nearly as awesome/chuggy/midrangey...to the point that once 2006 came around and I bought a G&L L2000, i hardly EVER touch the Model-T anymore...but the other day I picked her up again (due to the new STP album being released) and i wanted to get back to my rock roots from when i first started playing, so i started playin this bad boy again....i forgot how amazing it plays, but the tone just isn't what it used to be.

my question is, what the hell did i do here? did i mess something up installing them? lol. the battery is fine...in fact, it NEVER seems to drain, which is odd to me, because i had a battery in there for like 3-4 years that NEVER died...i even took it out to check and it was charged pretty damn well.....

on the other hand, my battery in my active G&L dies a lot much more frequently...and no, i don't leave the chord plugged into them, i always unplug them....causing me to think maybe the battery wasn't working in the Model-T? however, i unplugged the battery in the Model-T and tried to play it, and BUMPKIS! no sound whatsoever...meaning, the battery in the circuitry must be correct, as it's required to play.

either way, i miss the deep chuggy sound it used to have..that midrangey honk of a PJ set on together. ugh. any ideas guys? thanks!

The obvious thing that comes to mind is if you liked the old p'ups better, why don't you just switch back? Don't worry about which ones are supposed to be better or who uses them on what. Go with what sounds better to you.

 

[ZoSo58LP]

thats the thing.....it took weeks for me to get those EMGs working in that bass lol...like i put so much damn work into it (because i was doing it all myself rather than bringing it somewhere) and i honestly don't want to ruin what i did lol..basically, i don't want to mess it up and then not have ANY bass, you know?

..plus i haven't done electrical work on guitars/pickups in over 4 years and my soldering skills might be rusty lol. and i don't wanna go throuhg putting those old pickups back in, only to realize it still sounds shotty.

 

[bassbrad]

EMG pups do have an extremely long battery life but they are pretty clean and neutral sounding so if there is a particular tone you will have to goose it to get that chuggy tone. My suspicion is that you may have used the wrong value pots because if you get sound then they are wired correctly.

 

[ZoSo58LP]

hmm, i can't remember if i used the original pots or the ones my friend gave me wtih the EMGs...i think i used the EMG ones. my tone pot SUCKS though...theres like no variation...its either like all on, or when the tone is all the way down its just mud..theres no definition of the pickup tone,like there is on my G&L.

also, i think i might just be retarded. i think it's because my main bass rig right now is just that: a rig. i play a gallien backline 600 head through a sunn 4x15 cab.....i plugged the model-T into my old multivox 1x15 combo amp, and realized holy hell, this amp has tons of midrange HONK, whereas my gallien kureger has like NONE. so i think i might be retarded and since i've been using the stack for like 4 years now, i forgot how the schecter USED TO SOUND when i played through combo amps...

that being said, DAMN! so my rig is the reason why my model-t's tone is blah? how the hell can i add some midrange honk lol

 

[bassbrad]

The preamp voicing can certainly make a huge difference on tone, hare the mid scoop current tone, one of the reasons I still use the SOS instead of newer stuff. Easiest route might be an Eq pedal, or one of the vintage voiced preamps like a VT or something. I use a Zeibek Submarine preamp with all my basses and it is just the right tone.

 

[rayc]

30 seconds after doing the exchange & realizing I didn't like the sound I'd've switched everything back. Mate, you're happy to leave the newer pickups in but not use the bass because it now sounds lousy?
At least you liked it when it was original (for the life of me I don't understand why people tinker with the things they like).
It doesn't help that you're soldering etc skills aren't much BUT, really! You don't like the newer pickups, the physical bass plays/handles really well, what thinking needs to be done?
Sell it & stick with the GL?
Reinstate the old gear & play it as a 2nd/alternate bass?
Leave it as it is & unplayed/unplayable while you wish you hadn't tinkered with it?
I wish I could afford your budget/cavalier attitude.

 

[lpdeluxe]

30 seconds after doing the exchange & realizing I didn't like the sound I'd've switched everything back. Mate, you're happy to leave the newer pickups in but not use the bass because it now sounds lousy?
At least you liked it when it was original (for the life of me I don't understand why people tinker with the things they like).
It doesn't help that you're soldering etc skills aren't much BUT, really! You don't like the newer pickups, the physical bass plays/handles really well, what thinking needs to be done?
Sell it & stick with the GL?
Reinstate the old gear & play it as a 2nd/alternate bass?
Leave it as it is & unplayed/unplayable while you wish you hadn't tinkered with it?
I wish I could afford your budget/cavalier attitude.

Well said. So you put all that work into it and it's not what you want? Change the damn thing back and charge the time to the "lessons learned" account. You shouldn't feel that your herculean efforts to improve the bass deserve a memorial. Get it where it's playable again...or didn't you know that's the purpose of owning a musical instrument?

Otherwise, sell it. You don't owe it anything: it's just a factory-made artifact. Sometimes factory-made artifacts can come to life in your hands, but it should be obvious by now that that ain't gonna happen.

 

[ZoSo58LP]

i probably should have made myself clearer:

when i first put the pickups in, i loved the sound. it was cleaner than the duncans, and the active gave it a nice bite. then i stopped playing it because i got the G&L. after i got the G&L, i got the bass stack and retired combo amps. one day when i decided to play the schecter again, i played it through the stack. that's when i realized i didn't like the tone so much.

my ears forgot how it sounded from using the G&L so much (which is 2 humbucker pickups) compared to using a PJ set. i found my old pickups, but my one P plastic casing is cracked and idk where the other piece broke off and went, so i'd have to find a replacement case if i decided to put it back in.

there's no way in hell i'm selling the bass lol, i don't sell my equiptment. everything i've had from day ONE is still here in my studio and will not leave. i have no need, am not strapped for cash, and do not want to sell anything i've got.

i've been playing it much more recently, but i'm realizing i want that mid-rangey honk sound that i THOUGHT i used to have...the reason i used to have it was because my old combo amps produced such a sound; however, my gallien krueger backline head and sunn 4x15 stack don't have much of a midrange sound, perhaps due to the fact the sunn cabinet has no horns, it's only 4 big ass 15 inch speakers.

this topic was silly for me to create, as i kind of realized it was my ears playing tricks on me and never honestly thought that a crappy 80's used combo amp would have a bit of a nicer midgrangey sound than a gallien head; but, then again, that's why so many people record in studios with small amps and whatnot and use rigs for live stuff. stupid me!