Moreau Posted November 27, 2004 Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 So do the Bartolini pickups come just on their own? Or do you get pots and such, as with the EMGs? If not what pots and such would I have to get, in order to install a Bartolini Musicman pickup? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moreau Posted November 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 can anyone help me on this please? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted November 27, 2004 Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 Are you starting from scratch, or are you replacing an existing pickup? If you want a complete MusicMan setup, you'll have to get an active tone control to go with it. A passive setup can be as simple as two 500K pots, a .022µF cap and an output jack. A little more information will make answering your question a lot easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moreau Posted November 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 Thanks for the tip. So here goes. Im building a bass, so I need everything. I am not sure whether or not to go the passive route or the active. But I would like to emulate the sound of the music man, In my electronics setup at least. So i guess active. Im planning a Walnut body with Maple top. Should I go Active? what would be any drawbacks of this setup? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Posted November 27, 2004 Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 If you are going with Barts, I suggest getting either a Bart active preamp or an Aguilar preamp. I built my own preamp and I'm not quite satisfied with the sounds I get from my Bart MM pickup. www.bestbassgear.com is a great site and has good prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted November 27, 2004 Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 Well, if you're looking for the classic 3 knob StingRay, all you need is a two-band (treble/bass) active EQ, like the Aguilar OPB-1 or EMG's BTS Control. You can buy one or roll your own - the obvious advantages of buying are guaranteed performance (low noise/distortion, good frequency response, predictable sound) and robust construction, but there are plenty of good homebrew preamp/EQ designs out there that will hang with the big boys if built correctly. If you decide to use either of the units above, you'll need two 9 volt batteries ( the BTS will run on 9 volts, but the headroom gained from the second battery is definitely worth the extra hassle, especially on a bass!), battery clips, and one 500K audio volume pot and your output jack. Keep in mind that while the EMG is great and the OPB-1 is legendary in certain circles, they will cost you a bit - street price on the BTS runs about $75-80, and the OPB-1 runs $99 at Da Fiend. The only disadvantages in using active electronics is dealing with batteries - they take some getting used to, and if your bass is badly shielded or your wiring is bad, they'll make it more obvious, but the good ones are really transparent, and easy to use. Oh, before I forget, the new StingRays have a 3 band EQ and some fancy switching - personally, I have no use for a Mid EQ (but someone else might), and the parallel coils and single/dummy coil sounds leave me completely cold, but they're easy enough to add if you want 'em. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted November 27, 2004 Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 there are plenty of good homebrew preamp/EQ designs out there that will hang with the big boys if built correctly Lovekraft, do you have schematics or a link to a good 2-band preamp I could do myself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted November 28, 2004 Report Share Posted November 28, 2004 (edited) Yeah, Phil, I had some thing bookmarked somewhere - let me dig it out, and I'll post it. <EDIT> OK, sorry for the delay - here's a short list of EQ possibilities (from my bookmarks): http://www.diystompboxes.com/pedals/schems/TimbreBox.pdf Jay Doyle's 3 band resonant EQ - You could easily just implement 2 bands if you prefer. http://home.eunet.cz/rysanek/cor_sym.gif Simple "Baxendall" active tone control - replace the Balance pot with a fixed 100K resistor and use two 9 volt batteries for power. http://www.mitedu.freeserve.co.uk/Circuits/Audio/t-ctrl.htm Here's another simple Baxendall with discrete components. http://www.montagar.com/~patj/toneccts.gif Two more Bax stacks from Pat J - use a better opamp if you make the upper circuit (TL071 or NE5534) http://headwize.com/projects/showproj.php?file=equal_prj.htm MiniEQ from Headwize - scroll down to Figure 2. They use an OPA132/134, but either a 5532 or a TL072 will work fine. Leave out the mid circuit if desired. And, finally: http://www.albertkreuzer.com/electronics.htm#preamps Albert Kreuzer's preamps - lots to check out. His onboard is excellent, but lacks a standard two-band EQ. Also take a look at his outboard preamp. I had some other stuff, but I can't find it right now (typical!). All of these are workable, but I haven't actually built any of them, and they'll all need some small adaptations to make them guitar-friendly. The second entry above would probably be easiest - it'll just need a 500K volume pot on the output (instead of the 10K), and possibly some gain reduction in the first stage to avoid clipping (you might just make that first 100K balance pot a trimmer to adjust the input level). The Headwize circuit will probably work as-is, but may also need some gain tweaking on the input. Kreuzer's onboard is road-ready, but could easily be tweaked beyond recognition, and Pat J's circuits would both benefit from a buffer in front of the circuit. So, nothing guaranteed, but several really good starting points. For the best noise levels, use metal film resistors, poly caps, and pay close attention to lead dress and grounding. HTH - if you have more questions, post here or PM me. </EDIT> Edited November 28, 2004 by lovekraft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Mailloux Posted November 28, 2004 Report Share Posted November 28, 2004 Woah! Thanks for all the links Lovekraft. The only one I found myself was the Kreuzer one but it doesn't really suit my needs. With my limited knowledge of electronics I probably never would've known the other ones where good enough for a bass. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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