After market preamp???

[Rano Bass]

This begs the question, why doesn't Musicman sell pickups and preamps?

+1
It would be great to have the option to experiment with different pickups (say... change from ceramic to alnico) without having to go to other brands of pickup makers to do it.
IMO of course.

[Musicman Nut]

So I was surfin' the net and noticed an auction on ebay with someone selling an SR HH 4 that had a John East BTB MMSR 3 band preamp, with a sweepable mid knob.

Anyone ever heard of these? Does BP know they are being made? What do you guys think of 'em? I don't see what they could possibly add to the sound of my SRs? They claim to make your SR sound more like a vintage SR.

My apologies if this is something I shouldn't have posted on the site, but was curious as to what some of the EB MM faithful had to say.

-Rog

Just buy a Music Man Bass & Play it, changing the guts is never good, cause you'll always go back, you bought a music man for that tone, who knows it better then Ernie Ball Music Man.

[EdFriedland]

If you want a Music Man, guess what?

Jack, I'm stilling waiting for the answer!?




The urge to alter a bass is natural. But over the years, many of us have learned expensive and painful lessons. It took me YEARS to stop turning every frikkin' P Bass I bought into a P/J. And I won't even mention some of the horrors I have bestowed upon other children of Leo that will remain nameless lest I be banned.

A preamp swap is not horrible, but don't cut! I'm just saying.

[bovinehost]

Jack, I'm stilling waiting for the answer!?

If you want a Music Man, you buy a Music Man.

If you want a Fender, well, maybe you really want a Sadowsky. Or a Lull. Or...the list goes on and on. Or maybe you go to Warmoth or USACG and build your own, and frankly I have nothing against doing any of that. (Having done it once or twice, ahem, myself.)

The urge to alter a bass is natural. But over the years, many of us have learned expensive and painful lessons. It took me YEARS to stop turning every frikkin' P Bass I bought into a P/J.

I agree, it IS one of those things you just have to do - at least for a while. Maybe it's just my age bracket, but it seemed to come of age in the seventies. Oh, the J-pickup routes in each and every P-bass....yeah, I did it, too. Brass nuts. BadAss bridges. The list goes on and on.

And even now, I still tell people the same thing: it's your bass, bought and paid for. If you think you have to change things in order to be happy with it, then do it. I would. I have.

But I'm way more easygoing about my own basses and outlook now. A good P bass isn't rocket science. If a P isn't what you want, DON'T BUY ONE.

I'm fortunate, really, that I know what works for me now. That wasn't always true. (Maybe it's not just being older but actually being smarter!) I might occasionally sound like a broken record, but slap a Bongo in my hands and I can do whatever it is I want to do. Pickup configuration is entirely unimportant, mostly. I've given up that thought process that makes me think, "If I only had THIS xxxxx, I'd be better!"

I yam what I yam.

A preamp swap is not horrible, but don't cut! I'm just saying.

There are worse things than swapping a pre, most of which I have done (and you, too).

But I remember a United States Marine Corps maintenance shop sign that said, "If it ain't broke, we'll fix it until it is."

My basses ain't broke, and no Marines are allowed to fix them.

Jack

[eastcoasteddie]

funny, I had 2 Jazz basses. Tinkered with them from day one; pots, bridges, caps, switches...none of it made me say "Yeah! that's it!"

My Stingray, perfect from day one. Don't dare mess with a good thing ('xcept maybe change the battery as needed...)

[tkarter]

This has to be one of the most fun threads I caught up in awhile.

Why doesn't EB sell preamps and the like?

Because they don't have to is the simple answer. They sell instruments.


I am an old hot rodder. Never have had an urge to modify a bass yet. If I don't like how it sounds I go find one I like.


Now I really should go put some taller shocks on the father in law's Buick.
He is having issues with getting down to the right height to ride in it.

When I play bass it is a bongo.


tk

[drTStingray]

I have nothing but respect for John East.



My Stingrays do sound like Stingrays. I realize there's a cult thing going (and some of you are here, I see you waving at me) with "vintage" being ever so fashionable and desirable. I think that's fine. If you believe it sounds better, then it does. Let's not argue about that, thanks so very much in advance.

But a good (passive) Jazz bass, built in a factory somewhere in Mexico or California or wherever....sounds like a good passive Jazz bass that was mysteriously assembled by elves with magic powers in 1964. (Not 1965, of course. We all know the process lost its magic in 1965.)

And guess what? A good Stingray - whether it was built in 1977 or 1997, well, it sounds like a good Stingray, doesn't it? Sure, sure, I know (I see you waving at me, I see you), the older ones have some kind of magic crap baked into them somehow....ahem. I have a two-band active SUB that sounds just as good (if not better) than any of the pre-EB Stingrays I've owned, and I've owned a 'few', as they say.

John East will undoubtedly sell a few of these preamps to people who firmly believe that vintage is somehow better. Good for him, I say - good for him.

Against my better judgment, I'll leave this open unless or until BP comes along and has a problem with it. It's happened before.

Personally, I don't know why you'd buy an instrument and think "Well, if I just yank all the noise-making/noise-processing bits out and replace it with NEW STUFF THAT PROMISES TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE OLD STUFF, it will be an excellent bass!" But apparently, this sort of thing happens.

Choice is good, as BP says. But you can make bad choices, too.

Jack

Jack et al - these are some of the funniest (and perceptive) things I've heard said about the current trend for 'vintage' I shall use some of these when the occasional guitard asks me why I don't use a '63 Fender, '66 EB3, '76 Ray etc - it seriously happens quite often - bass players don't seem to ask this though - in fact a guy I know who uses a '59 Precision agrees it's at least 50%fashion - perhaps the bass players listen to the bass sound for what it is rather than believe the hype??

[RaginRog]

funny, I had 2 Jazz basses. Tinkered with them from day one; pots, bridges, caps, switches...none of it made me say "Yeah! that's it!"

My Stingray, perfect from day one. Don't dare mess with a good thing ('xcept maybe change the battery as needed...)

Been there my friend....you search for that sound in your head and wind-up dissapointed when you can't find it. J basses and P basses are great.....I just prefer my Stingray HS. I thought the Stingray was it....but The HS is certainly the one!

[five7]

Once I played a musicman, that was it. I was hooked. I go to a music store and I only play MMs. I don't even see the other brands. It's like I have blinders on.

[nsh50a]

Sorry for dragging up an old thread. I've got a 97 SR4 I bought from thuroughbred music before sam-ash bought them out. About 5 years ago the preamp blew magic smoke and instead of replacing the 3 band I bought a '77 2 band from ebay. The sound was great however It definitely is not the best s/n ratio wise. The church I play at has huge LED stage lights that make it go nuts if I have the treble knob any where close to midline. I want to keep the 2 band sound and don't want to give up the '77 B00 pre for a replacement, yet I can't send back the 3 band for a replacement 2 band either. I was looking at the john east pre's as something that would come close to the same sound (classic 2 band) with less noise that what I have now. I know that it is the pre causing the noise as well b/c when I replaced the 3 band with a 2 band, I left the original jack hardwired straight to the pickup and when I plug into it it is dead quiet.