Switching from Active to Passive on fretless

[Mr. Phil]

I am ready to replace my pickups in my fretless bass (converted Ibanez GSR190). I was thinking of going with Active electronics to be more uniform with my other basses, and to have more tone control.

 

Anyone have any suggestions or companies that are bad or that I should consider?? I saw this pickup Split P

I also need a J pickup. I havent seen any that were too impressive. I want to stay within the same price of this one.

 

I also need to get a 3 Band preamp (one with Volume, Bass cut/boost, Mid cut/boost, Treble cut/boost, and Pickup blend). Are these sold in a package, or do I have to buy them separate and just hook everything up together?

 

I need some insight on this...Thanks a lot.

[Mr. Phil]

i could really use some insight before this thread gets BUMPED down

[Mr. Phil]

I was just looking at some Preamps, and the 2 at the bottom look good. What do you guys think?

Bartolini Preamps

[_Sweet Willie_]

Patience, young grasshopper.

 

Start your research at the source, rather than the dealers. That means visit the following websites to begin to learn about what pickup options are out there for you. This is not an exhaustive list of pickup manufacturers, but it's a good start.

 

Bartolini

Seymour Duncan -- Basslines

DiMarzio

EMG

Rio Grande pickups

Lindy Fralin pickups

 

Some of these sites will also have info about preamps -- Bartolini, Seymour Duncan, EMG. The Bartolini preamps offer different knob configurations. Your bass, if I remember correctly, has 3 knobs. For example, if you want to go active w/ a 2-band EQ, you could get a Bart preamp set-up w/ volume knob, pickup blend/pan knob, stacked treble-bass knob.

 

You could also investigate the Aguilar on-board preamps: Aguilar website .

 

Also, search this forum for "pickup(s)" and "replacement pickup(s)." This past year I replaced the J p'ups in my Carvin with Bart Classic Bass in-line dual coils and the preamp w/ a Bart NTMB. I posted about it, including some of my thinking during my pickup investigation.

 

Lastly, I seem to remember that you were somewhat dissatisfied w/ the hum from your bridge pickup. If so, you want to avoid single coil J pickups and look for stacked humbuckers (e.g., Carvin H50N) or in-line dual coils (e.g., the DiMarzio UltraJazz or Model J).

 

I hope this helps.

 

Peace,

--sweetness

[Mr. Phil]

OK I think this is what I want to get...

 

Bartolini 3.4

DiMarzio Split P

Rio Grande Powerbucker

 

The only thing is, is that the Rio Grande is Kinda expensive for me. I need some other suggestions for a Bridge humbucker that is cheaper than that one. (its $130)

 

What do you think of this one: Bartolini Music Man shaped Humbucker $118

[_Sweet Willie_]

Good ideas, Phil.

 

Remember, if you go with the MM style 'bucker, you're looking at doing some routing on your bass so that it will fit. As long as you're up for the challenge, that's fine. Otherwise, you could always go DiMarzio all the way, and get something like the P you like and the UltraJazz bridge J, which will be humcancelling in a J-shape and probably be a nice match for the P you like.

 

A lot of this is guesswork because you don't really know what a pickup will sound like in your bass until it's actually in there!

 

Lastly, make sure you check the dimensions of your current pickups and routings and get dimensions from the manufacturers for the pickups you like. Nothing sucks more than having to do unexpected routing, and you'll want to know in advance how well things will fit.

 

Peace.

[Mr. Phil]

I think I'm getting delirious or fervish case of GAS, as defined my ClarkW.

 

How cool would this be?? Hipshot Bass Tremolo

 

I just wish it wasn't $150