Vintage StingRay preamp at 18 volts

[oli@bass]

I already tried it out and I was correct, there is a faster response. since there is no gain control on the preamp it also got louder. now all my basses have 18 volts

Sounds interesting. Never occurred to me that there could be a difference in responsiveness of the electronics. I'd love to hear a recording of your StingRay with 18V, 9V and no battery at all.

 

[Manfloozy]

...gotta hack out 3/4" of wood to fit the other battery

I can't look...

I think what some of the other forumites are eluding to is that adding more voltage shouldn't make the responsiveness of your preamp any faster... it might make it louder, cleaner, give it more "oomph"... but likely not any "faster". Generally if you get whatever signal off the bass to a good preamp+amp combo, this is where magic can happen as well. Keep in mind for many years the electronics on "electric instruments" didn't have ANY voltage going through them.

I'm with Jack... whatever makes you happy.... but its kinda hard to undo this one if you change your mind later.

Start throwing stuff at my head now... but I just wanted to try and clarify this.

... and for the record, I still can't look.

 

[Sting]

Probably like my car... hit the gas and it takes 2 seconds to go. I do vaguely remember from using a passive (when I had one) that I had to play 3 beats ahead of the drums to compensate....

Three beats ahead? I own both passive and active (9v) basses and used to own an active bass with 18V electronics. I have NEVER had to compensate by playing three beats ahead on any bass, even the dirt cheap SX bass I bought for my 11 year old daughter (Future EBMM fan and purchaser ). Do any of you Big Al owners have to play three beats ahead when your bass is in passive mode?

My 9v Stingray is punchier and fuller sounding then my 18v bass ever was. Like BP said, it may give you more volume and headroom but nothing else.

 

[bizmarckie]

Three beats ahead? I own both passive and active (9v) basses and used to own an active bass with 18V electronics. I have NEVER had to compensate by playing three beats ahead on any bass, even the dirt cheap SX bass I bought for my 11 year old daughter (Future EBMM fan and purchaser ). Do any of you Big Al owners have to play three beats ahead when your bass is in passive mode?

Note the smilies... it was a joke

 

[Vintage7]

I think what some of the other forumites are eluding to is that adding more voltage shouldn't make the responsiveness of your preamp any faster... it might make it louder, cleaner, give it more "oomph"... but likely not any "faster".

Yes, I agree with Mf.
The speed of the chip has to do with other things like:

Gain-Bandwidth Product in mHz. (frequency in megaHertz): How fast it is.
Slew Rate as V/us. (Volts/microseconds): How much voltage it can swing in how many microseconds.
Settling Time in us. (in microseconds): How fast it can return the waveform to a 0 state.

 

[PaulBass]

sounds good to me. series mode is a monster. only took 15 minutes to hack out space for another battery.

 

[bovinehost]

sounds good to be. series mode is a monster. only took 15 minutes to hack out space for another battery.

You got a beaver? They sure can be useful in certain situations.

 

[bizmarckie]

You got a beaver? They sure can be useful in certain situations.

Hahahaha!!!!!

 

[Musicman Nut]

I already tried it out and I was correct, there is a faster response. since there is no gain control on the preamp it also got louder. now all my basses have 18 volts

I Just tried 6 9Volts and my Bass just took off now I can't find it.

 

[spencer]

passive basses must be like smoke signals or messenger pigions compared to 18v..

If I plug mine into the wall, think the 110v will make a sound before i touch it?

 

[Vintage7]

I Just tried 6 9Volts and my Bass just took off now I can't find it.

 

[Vintage7]

passive basses must be like smoke signals or messenger pigions compared to 18v.

Nah. I have a new (non EBMM) that I spec'd passive Bartolini's for, and it sounds better than the stock EMG P/U/preamp-Eq. setup.
Then again, I rely on a 4-band parametric Eq./Preamp for tone.
So I don't need the Eq. boost on my basses.
But, that said, usually you have more gain and a lower impedance with preamps. You can run longer cable runs without losing higher frequencies.
So there are advantages to active P/U / onboard preamp combos.

The thing about the EBMM bass/pickup/preamp combo, is that it's a really well thought out system.

It's the only bass that I wouldn't go modifying.
I think it sounds perfect for what it was designed for.

 

[bizmarckie]

passive basses must be like smoke signals or messenger pigions compared to 18v..

If I plug mine into the wall, think the 110v will make a sound before i touch it?

*I Got it...*

 

[Vintage7]

If I plug mine into the wall, think the 110v will make a sound before i touch it?[/QUOTE]

Yes, it'll alternately hum tunes at 60 cycles per second.

Just don't touch it

 

[sitonmybass]

I just try to play faster on my 9 volt equipped basses.

 

[sitonmybass]

You got a beaver? They sure can be useful in certain situations.

Hmmm...

 

[Mrs.sitonmybass]

only took 15 minutes to hack out space for another battery.

OOH, send pics. This I gotta see.

 

[Duarte]

OOH, send pics. This I gotta see.

Yes, pics please.

I'm dreading this...maybe it's faster because of the reduced weight?

 

[kevins]

I Just tried 6 9Volts and my Bass just took off now I can't find it.

but now for some reason...my history books all read... "king arthur weilded a mighty musicman stingray"


if this happend when you put 6 batteries in one bass...what would happen if you put 6 batteries in all the basses? the most logical conclusion is my history book would read "the civil war was won by the north on grounds of their most righteous basses"

 

[PaulBass]

So far so good. Still kicking butt at 18 volts. Since EB reissued the classic StingRay I built a vintage preamp from scratch but used modern metal film components instead of the ceramics Leo used, and kept the LM4250 chip. I also ran a silver teflon wire from the volume pot to the output jack. It sounds GREAT! I bought a few LM4250 chips ($1 ea.) just in case. No distortion in the sound. very punchy. one of the best basses in my stable