Grand Wazoo
Well-known member
Well well well, the 25th Anni Bass 5 HSS... how can I put it?
It's a bit daunting to take it all in in one day, there are sooo many pickup options when you have 3 pickups, 2 modes active / passive and one series option when all the 3 switches are in the off position, I make it...
7 options in active and 7 more in passive. There could be more, and if I've miss them, those of you with an HSS pray tell
please.
In a nutshell these are as follows...
Active Mode:
1) H - S - S all on
2) H - S - S all off (gives the bridge humbucker in series)
3) H - _ - _ only bridge humbucker is on in parallel
4) H - _ - S Humbucker and neck pickup
5) _ - S - S middle and neck
6) _ - _ - S neck pickup only
7) H - S - _ Bridge Humbucker and middle together
and again in passive
Passive Mode:
8) H - S - S all on
9) H - S - S all off (gives the bridge humbucker in series)
10) H - _ - _ only bridge humbucker is on in parallel
11) H - _ - S Humbucker and neck pickup
12) _ - S - S middle and neck
13) _ - _ - S neck pickup only
14) H - S - _ Bridge Humbucker and middle together
Initially to really appreciate the difference between passive and actve, you would think the obvious: "active on" = more power, and "passive on" normal power, but no, it's not just a boost jump between the two, the passive tone control does more than roll off highs, it adds gravy to your beef, so to speak, and really it is very much like having two different basses, in active you are very close to the powerhouse destroyer sound you get with a Bongo, with the 4 bands eq, but when you play passive it's back to the old days of Volume and Tone and you think your sound control is limited but you'd be wrong, with 7 different pickup combo's and a classic tone vibe you are more than spoiled for choice.
Some sounds I have heard from some of the options are totally new to me, and I do like them all but all in all I have narrowed it down to the 3 following preferences:
The 1st of my fav choice is the bridge humbucker on his own in series (with all the 3 buttons off), either active of passive this is such a cool sound, and proves that series coils rock.
The 2nd one is the middle pickup on his own in passive, gutsy, middley and hollow at the same time, played with a pick, it's what I missed so far in both the Bongo and the StingRay.
The 3rd of my fav sounds is neck and middle together in active mode. Perfect sound for blues / jazz, if you add some low mids, a bit of bass and roll of the high a touch, this sound is great through an amp, but of all the sounds I've tried through the Mbox / Protools / PC this is one of those that seems to be coming off the best of the bunch.
In conclusion, I believe to have made the perfect choice, this bass is a great instrument, not only it's difficult to put down but also it's difficult to beat like nothing I've ever had before, it really gives me a world of options, some of them I'll probably never remember they exist until they pop up by error.
I went on quite a crusade in order to get it, and all the heartburn and that considerable expense, made it all worth it in the end when the bass arrived.
Very rarely I would buy an instrument and sell it on and this is definately a keeper. Best Xmas I have ever had in years.
It's a bit daunting to take it all in in one day, there are sooo many pickup options when you have 3 pickups, 2 modes active / passive and one series option when all the 3 switches are in the off position, I make it...
7 options in active and 7 more in passive. There could be more, and if I've miss them, those of you with an HSS pray tell
please.In a nutshell these are as follows...
Active Mode:
1) H - S - S all on
2) H - S - S all off (gives the bridge humbucker in series)
3) H - _ - _ only bridge humbucker is on in parallel
4) H - _ - S Humbucker and neck pickup
5) _ - S - S middle and neck
6) _ - _ - S neck pickup only
7) H - S - _ Bridge Humbucker and middle together
and again in passive
Passive Mode:
8) H - S - S all on
9) H - S - S all off (gives the bridge humbucker in series)
10) H - _ - _ only bridge humbucker is on in parallel
11) H - _ - S Humbucker and neck pickup
12) _ - S - S middle and neck
13) _ - _ - S neck pickup only
14) H - S - _ Bridge Humbucker and middle together
Initially to really appreciate the difference between passive and actve, you would think the obvious: "active on" = more power, and "passive on" normal power, but no, it's not just a boost jump between the two, the passive tone control does more than roll off highs, it adds gravy to your beef, so to speak, and really it is very much like having two different basses, in active you are very close to the powerhouse destroyer sound you get with a Bongo, with the 4 bands eq, but when you play passive it's back to the old days of Volume and Tone and you think your sound control is limited but you'd be wrong, with 7 different pickup combo's and a classic tone vibe you are more than spoiled for choice.
Some sounds I have heard from some of the options are totally new to me, and I do like them all but all in all I have narrowed it down to the 3 following preferences:
The 1st of my fav choice is the bridge humbucker on his own in series (with all the 3 buttons off), either active of passive this is such a cool sound, and proves that series coils rock.
The 2nd one is the middle pickup on his own in passive, gutsy, middley and hollow at the same time, played with a pick, it's what I missed so far in both the Bongo and the StingRay.
The 3rd of my fav sounds is neck and middle together in active mode. Perfect sound for blues / jazz, if you add some low mids, a bit of bass and roll of the high a touch, this sound is great through an amp, but of all the sounds I've tried through the Mbox / Protools / PC this is one of those that seems to be coming off the best of the bunch.
In conclusion, I believe to have made the perfect choice, this bass is a great instrument, not only it's difficult to put down but also it's difficult to beat like nothing I've ever had before, it really gives me a world of options, some of them I'll probably never remember they exist until they pop up by error.
I went on quite a crusade in order to get it, and all the heartburn and that considerable expense, made it all worth it in the end when the bass arrived.
Very rarely I would buy an instrument and sell it on and this is definately a keeper. Best Xmas I have ever had in years.
