SR5- 18v pre okay?

[nicjimbass]

I was thinking... the Bongo has an 18v preamp and sounds like the voice of God, so what would happen if I wired my SR5's pre for 18v? I did it once before, when I was naive and turning my volume all the way up... it was pretty hot. Now, I'm wondering if it'll sound 'bigger' like how BP described the Bongo pre when the tried 18v on it.

I guess my biggest concern is doing damage. Can running it at 18v fry anything? if not, I already have a 2 battery box in it, I'll solder a couple wires and see what happens!

 

[nicjimbass]

Okay, so I'm 1) bored 2) curious 3) prone to do things I'm not supposed to with electronics, just to see if it'll work and 4) done converting my SR5 to 18v.

So far, so good. One thing I started to dislike about the SR5 vs. Bongo 5 is how much more I had to turn the volume up on the SR. Not anymore! Sounds good too. Alot bigger. I'll keep up the experiment and let you all know if something goes wrong... or so, so right!

 

[Dr Stankface]

Oooh, interesting experiment. Post some sound clips if you could.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Where do you put the extra battery?

 

[nicjimbass]

Unfortunately, I don't have a way to record anything... sorry!

I put the second battery in with the first. I installed a dual battery box a while back when I first experimented with 18v electronics. I didn't like the sound too much (I was using 100% volume all the time before BP corrected me) so I wired it to run on both batteries @ 9v (double the battery life!). Now that I know what to do a little better, I gave it a go. So far, I dig it.

If I can figure out a way to record and post clips, I will.

 

[bovinehost]

 

[nicjimbass]

Perhaps I should change my screen name..... muahahahahahahahaha!

 

[rhythmCity944]

oh boy, an electronics mad scientist, i mean guru...I took my '88 SR4 and wired the pickup to a switch for series/parallel switching...I also heavily modded a shreding guitar's electronics one time with a battery in the circuit and a small boost pre amp with a passive pick up...and wow, the responce and articulation from that guitar was incredible...i wish i wrote the schematic down cause I sold the guitar...I like experiments...

Don't blow anything up

 

[Duarte]

Okay I'm really interested! How exactly does it sound compared to originally?

 

[fly]

quite interested myself.........on the sound difference.

 

[Rano Bass]

Is the preamp still working?

Just wondering.

 

[Psycho Ward]

That's it I'm hooking mine up to 110!

 

[nicjimbass]

Sheesh, I thought this thread died...lol.

To answer all your questions....

Yes, the pre is still working like a champ. Haven't had any problems whatsoever (knock on wood).

Soundwise, it's hotter and a bit brighter than with 9v. I find myself cutting the treble a bit as opposed to leaving it flat as I normally do. It definitely sounds bigger and meaner. It is much closer to my Bongo in regards to volume now. Also, dynamics seem a little more present, if that makes sense. Basically, imagine if a Bongo and a StingRay mated... this is what you'd get.