Modding ye olde Warwick - it now sounds like this:

[alexclaber]

Listening back to a recording made with my fretless bass (which has a single J-pickup right by the bridge) I started wishing I could get that compressed growly sound out of my Warwick.

 

I used to always tilt the pickups so the bridge pickup favoured the low strings and the neck the high strings, to give me a more even tone across the neck. This precluded changing the pan setting from 50/50 or the relative volumes from string to string would be affected. Consequently when I upgraded the electronics I simply wired the P and J pickups straight to the volume pot.

 

A combination of changing the strings from 'hybrid' gauge LaBellas to Bootzillas (thinner E has more growl and thicker G has more body etc), improved technique and removal of compression (yes, weird isn't it!) means that I can now have the pickups set conventionally and still get even tone.

 

Rather than going for the conventional pan pot (as I had before) which would require changing the pots to have one concentric pot, I'm thinking I might go for a simple 3-way switch. As I have really powerful EQ with the OBP-3 there isn't the need to always have the neck pickup involved (however slightly) to give the bridge pickup extra body. The more pure dynamic response of each pickup individually (bridge much more compressed and neck more open) means that all or nothing settings have a bit more clarity. I don't have the dual J-bass set up so I won't be missing out on the classic 100% bridge, 80% neck sweetspot. Plus it's much easier to make changes on the fly with a switch, especially when you've got a whole bunch of pedals to pilot simultaneously.

 

I'm thinking that the bridge pickup will give me my funk tone, the neck pickup my jazz tone and the pair combined my rock and slap tones, and from those starting points I can use my hands and work the EQ to nail the exact sound in my head.

 

My purist minimal EQ and fixed pan approach has certainly helped me find 'my' clean sound (I used to consider the effects a completely separate ballgame - which they're not, they're all part of the fluid sound whole) but now I'm wanting to broaden my options without making things too complicated. Dig?

 

Alex

[Fred TBP]

There are electronic switches (alas, requiring the dreaded 9V that seems to go dead in the worst case) that will offer more switching options (say, wiring pickups or HB coils in series/parallel mode)

 

You can also go with the mini-toggles, and if your tech is creative you can use a VOM to check out the impedance on both pickups at your sweet spots (100% bridge plus 80% neck = 100% blend? I know what you mean. ) and duplicate that as a preset setting on a mini-switch using internal trim-pots to pre-set the pickup outputs. A little similar to what Carvin and others are doing with piezo/magnetic pickup blending. Would meet your need to just hit a single mini-switch to the "classic J-tone position", or another mini-switch to bypass that and make manual adjustments on the fly. Mini-toggles require less routing, less power and provide less current loss over conventional Switchcraft-style 1950s toggles.

 

Downside of all this is the need to remove extra wood which might affect the natural tone of the instrument. Yet I thought I'd offer these suggestions if you're curious.

[_Sweet Willie_]

I like the idea. I believe the Roscoe Beck Fender model uses a pickup selector switch, as do some (all?) Dingwall models.

 

You've already pointed out that there's much you can do with your hands, and I've always found that the single pickup in my MM 'Ray5 has been plenty in conjunction w/ my hands to get plenty of variety in tone.

 

On my Carvin, w/ two J pickups, I tend either to keep the pickup pan balanced evenyl between the two or else to favor partially the bridge pickup. BUT, that's neither here nor there in your case...

 

You've always been one to experiment, why stop now?

 

Peace.

--s-dub

[alexclaber]

Originally posted by Fred the bass player:

There are electronic switches (alas, requiring the dreaded 9V that seems to go dead in the worst case)...

I'm already doomed to 9V batteries due to the bass having EMGs, which also mean that I can't do anything cunning with the wiring, as each pickup is internally humbucking and preamped, so they're both putting out a fairly strong low impedance signal.

 

Originally posted by Fred the bass player:

You can also go with the mini-toggles... I thought I'd offer these suggestions if you're curious.

You're so creative you should be like, a musician or something! Cunning plans indeed! I think I'll go for a mini-toggle a la G&L, and have it positioned in the middle of the diamond shape that the four existing knobs make.

 

Originally posted by Sweet Willie:

I like the idea. I believe the Roscoe Beck Fender model uses a pickup selector switch, as do some (all?) Dingwall models.

Bingo! The Dingwall GAS reared it's ugly head on the train home yesterday when listening to my growly fretless (as on this jam for example ) with me thinking how I could get some nice fat sounds with their simple passive pickup system, using the pickup switching to get the basic tones and (sit down SW!) even do away with having an OBP-3. Then I had a look at the prices on the net and although the Afterburners are a bargain for such high-end bases, it just seem so much money when I already have a fantastic bass which I'll never sell (and I can't be bothered to mess around with taking two basses everywhere). Then I remembered that I occasionally use effects and so the basses a low impedance (i.e. active) output to drive the long signal chains. And finally I thought - who needs a Dingwall, I can just put a switch into my Warwick. And who am I kidding, I love onboard EQ!

 

(My other Dingwall concern is regarding fingerstyle funk right hand technique - how do you play back by the bridge doing repeated string jumps and get consistent growl with the saddles slanted at such an extreme angle?

 

Originally posted by Sweet Willie:

You've already pointed out that there's much you can do with your hands, and I've always found that the single pickup in my MM 'Ray5 has been plenty in conjunction w/ my hands to get plenty of variety in tone.

Indeed - my view had always been that there's a lot to be said for the consistency and punch of a single pickup approach (even if you've got two pickups pretending to be one - they're so close together on my Warwick that they sound surprisingly like one BIG humbucker), which establishes you in the mix and then the EQ just pulls and pushes the shape of the sound in different directions but the 'fundamental' sound you hear remains centered (I don't know how to spell that in English!) in the same place. Does that make sense? A good analogy would be to rather than having a bass (singer) and alto both singing the same parts (in the same octave) and varying the amount of each singer that you hear to get the tone you want, instead having two baritones (though one slightly deeper than the other) singing the same parts, the balance kept at 50:50 and tonal variation being achieved by EQing.

 

However, since eschewing compression (another change in approach that I REALLY didn't expect) the difference in dynamic range between bridge and neck pickups has become much more significant to me, and however much I dig in back by the bridge and EQ in those growly mids (with both pickups contributing equally) I can't quite get that slinky yet fat growly compressed punch that the same technique would elicit from a soloed J-type bridge pickup. On the flip side, there's also that fat almost boominess that the soloed P-pickup gets, which can really fill up a track beneath noisy guitars and sounds great with distortion due to the mellower chunkier midrange. Also, the wider dynamic range of the soloed P-type lets walking lines swing that much more, by bringing out the subtle accent on 2 and 4.

 

Both of these soled pickup tones have more cut than the equal mix sound of reversed P and J, whose slightly subdued mid thickness is huge but sometimes less penetrating than I'd like. This thickness was finally brought home to me after reading an interview with Preston Crump (Outkast/Raphael Saadiq - I'm teaching my grandmother to suck eggs aren't I?!) where he talked about his reverse P/J Spector getting 'the original thick sound' ( maybe I need more growl for rock now that I'm not using that really growly Trace Compressor)

 

(Lost my train of thought - just been speaking to my younger brother who's been having the pleasure of a summer job in Orlando, complete with complementary hurricane - lucky him!) What have I been wittering on about?!!

 

Ah, that's it! I've been very keen to develop my own sound and thus have avoided copying any of my main 'mentor's gear, from Flea's Stingray and Jaco's Jazz through to Bootsy's Mu-Tron and Jamerson/Henderson/Porter's flatwound Precisions but now I'm realising that I just want to have every tone available to me, and if I want growl I want the soloed J bridge pickup, if I want chunk I want that P pickup etc, and whatever I choose to do I'm still going to sound like me.

 

Originally posted by Sweet Willie:

You've always been one to experiment, why stop now?

Exactly!

 

Alex

[Fred TBP]

Originally posted by C.Alexander Claber:

You're so creative you should be like, a musician or something!

I tried, but no one was listening so I concentrated on the business end instead and kept playing bass just for the fun of it. It's nice to get paid doing something you love.

The DIY stuff is how I save a few hundred a year on instrument repairs and upgrades. I still parcel out repair work like everyone else does, otherwise where would we find the time to play?

[alexclaber]

So, I've decided to go ahead with this mod, not least because my attempt at upgrading the electronics myself has proved somewhat unreliable (soldering is an art!). So I'm getting all the pots replaced with higher quality ones and the push-pull volume pot/switch replaced with a conventional volume pot, a bigger battery compartment routing (to take both 9Vs - and I've had some thoughts on better connections involving two bent brass strips for each battery instead of those awful clips) and having three (3!) switches added.

 

One 3-way neck/both/bridge pickup switch, one 2-way 400Hz/800Hz mid freq switch and one 2-way preamp bypass switch. They'll be mini-toggles similar to those on G&L basses. The question is where to put them. Any ideas?

 

Here's the current control layout:

 

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nicola.kate.simpson/Controls.JPG

 

Here's the cavity (what a mess!) which I'd rather not rout larger:

 

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nicola.kate.simpson/Cavity.JPG

 

And here's the whole body of the bass in question:

 

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nicola.kate.simpson/Body.JPG

 

Any thoughts much appreciated!

 

Alex

[J. Robert Rennix]

It looks like the only spaces in your control cavity are in the upper right and upper left corners. I would probably place the two mini-toggles in the upper right of the cavity, meaning the switches would be on the upper left corner of your knobs, just below the bridge. That leaves the 3 way switch in the upper left corner of the cavity, meaning the upper right corner of your knobs, just below the bridge pickup.

[Tom Capasso]

G&L and USMasters put the switches just below the bridge. This may require enlarging the cavity, but the only other possible opening in that space is ahead of the first pot. This would put the switches next to the pickups, which I wouldn't like (and I don't slap!).

 

US Masters standard design

 

http://www.usmasters.com/basspgs/vol.jpg

 

US Masters "Studio Electronics" option

 

http://www.usmasters.com/basspgs/stdactsm.jpg

 

G&L Tribute - note how close the switches are to the pots....

 

http://www.glguitars.com/Tribute/instruments/pics/small/L2000_Premium.gif

 

Tom

[g.]

What was the original problem - if any? Or maybe I should restate: what was the goal? I looked at this thread this morning (never saw it before) and wondered if I wanted to read that hard ; }

 

I got the feeling that a good dual inverse balance pot was being replaced. On my basses that approach works incredibly well. So would a three way selector of course...

 

I've got problems of my own when it comes to cavity space - should Hipshot/GraphTech ever deliver the brdige I was promised anyway. I've got to cram regular preamp, piezo preamp, and 13-pin reading/isolating circuitry into my bass. I've come up with a couple of solutions I hope will prioritize which comntrols are where effectively. But it is a beacth compared to some of the multi-switched hotrodded jobs I've done in the past, partly because this bass doesn't have much of a lower bout and very little body beyond the bridge, and a 2 fat soapbar-sized pickups under the string path, which is one area it would be sonically compromising to route near.

[Fred TBP]

Originally posted by C. Alexander Claber:

Any thoughts much appreciated!

What's under that black space between the P and J? (Forgive me if you mentioned it earlier, but I was getting dizzy looking at all those switches Dr. Z displayed and thinking how I'd never find them on a dark stage in the middle of a song... Anywho, if that's some kinda hidden cavity, you can stick the batteries under there. If not, and IIRC, that dual-9v pop-up battery box that Stewie-MacD sells on his site might fit in there, but I'm not certain if your Warwick is thick enough.

 

My old Alembic has a dual 9v compartment in back just behind the bridge and the edge of the bass. Doesn't seem to affect the balance in that position.

[g.]

Yeah, the harware in the pickup area looks like it should be on a ten-string bass or a touch-style instrument, routed through two separate systems/rigs ; }

[wraub]

Fred-that spot between the pick-ups looks like foam to me, but I'm sure Alex will chime in here soon.

 

I am with GB, I think, on this. The pan pot seems a simple, almost elegant solution, and it has the added merit of already being there. I have pan-pots on my 2 main basses. Three-way would be my next choice.

 

If it is to be the mini-switches and all, I would agree that Dr. Zarkavvo has a good point regarding switch placement, that being that too close to either the knobs or the pick-ups does definitely get in the way for slapping and moving on the fly, at least for me. It would be worth a bit of extra routing to me (within reason) to accommodate a better, more functional switch placement.

 

If I were going to attempt your mod, I might put the toggles up higher on the bass, somewhere on the bout ala' a Les Paul p/u selector switch, for example, or ahead of the knobs like a Telecaster. Easy enough to switch ultra-quickly with a bit of practice, and out of the way when not needed.

The Tele idea would not require much in the way of additional routing, whereas the LP idea would add the complication of a drilled channel for wiring between the switches and the neck p/u cavity.

 

Just a thought or two.

 

Peace,

 

wraub

[RHINO_ROB]

do you not want push pull pots?

 

what are the values on all of your pots? ( i am not familiar with the aguilar system so i do not know what they are using for pots). i am assuming that you have a three band e.q. and a push/pull for the master volume and the push/pull there controls the mid frequency shift for the e.q..

if you want you could replace the volume with a concentric pot. (which will control both pick ups with an independent volume). then you will only have to add two switches.

if the value on the e.q. pots is not too weird then you could probably get a push pull for the mid control to control the mid shift, and also one to put under either of the others.

__________________________________________________

if you want a three way switch with no routing then i would leave volume push/ pull pot(but move it to the upper rear position). use the push/pull switch for e.q. bypass. get a concentric pot to control the bass and treble(lower forward or rear position), get a push pull pot for the mids and have switch on it control the midrange(lower front or rear). then put in your three way switch in the upper empty hole.

[tarsia]

Yeah, I was wondering about that pic of the Warwick & what was with that thing between the pickups. But doesn't C. alex C use a "Willis" ramp on one of his other basses - maybe it's a function similar to that ?

Or maybe just a cover ........

[g.]

tarsia, you are right. I just looked at the closeup. Doh! ; }

[alexclaber]

Originally posted by jrob:

I would probably place the two mini-toggles in the upper right of the cavity, meaning the switches would be on the upper left corner of your knobs, just below the bridge.

That's what I'm leaning towards, with the 3-way switch also a mini-toggle and in the same location.

 

Originally posted by greenboy:

What was the original problem - if any? Or maybe I should restate: what was the goal?

I currently have the two pickups wired straight to the volume pot - no balance control. I'd lke to get the functionality back but in a quicker to use manner.

 

Originally posted by greenboy:

I got the feeling that a good dual inverse balance pot was being replaced. On my basses that approach works incredibly well. So would a three way selector of course...

I've thought about a balance pot but I don't really want a fifth knob, or a stack knob on the bass. However, the main reason behind the switch idea is ease of use, when trying to sing and use effects heavily there's not much time or brain power left to turn knobs, compared to flicking a switch.

 

Originally posted by Killer Fred from Outer Space:What's under that black space between the P and J?

Nothing exciting, just the body of the bass.

 

Originally posted by Killer Fred from Outer Space:If not, and IIRC, that dual-9v pop-up battery box that Stewie-MacD sells on his site might fit in there, but I'm not certain if your Warwick is thick enough.

It's not sadly. That's the kind of battery holder I want, but none of them are slim enough for the Warwick. Irritating...

 

Originally posted by RHINO_ROB:

do you not want push pull pots?

I currently have a push-pull volume to switch the mid frequency. I simply don't like the way it feels or looks, plus once it's out it's harder to get to the knobs below it. And it's really hard to get push-pull pots with centre detents so that means the EQ pots can't be push-pull.

 

Originally posted by tarsia:

But doesn't C. alex C use a "Willis" ramp on one of his other basses - maybe it's a function similar to that ?

Bingo! It's an ebony thumbrest/ramp. Much nicer than the lump of gaffer tape I previously had fulfilling that function.

 

Thanks for the help guys! I think I'll go for the three mini-switches placed below the bridge in the upper rear corner of the cavity. I'm also going to move the treble pot to the rear and the bass pot to the front as it gets the most use!

 

Alex

[g.]

I'm really thinking hard on WHAT TO LEAVE OUT for my V-Bass setup. Because really, with the V-Bass one doesn't need any sounds the piezo or magnetic systems would provide. But it is nice on my current setup using the Rolanc GK-2B pickup to have the magnetics (don't have piezo yet) to blend with in varing degrees, and the signal chain in the V-Bass of the magnetic p'ups and the GK-2B can be different.

 

So at the minimum I would want the passive volume and blend between the two magnetics, and the blend knob between magnetics and virtual, and the inc/dec switch 13-pin supports which can be assigned to about anything within a preset. Though it would also be nice to have the active EQ controls for the mags, and blend for the piezos so I can use that tonality, and maybe a midrange control for the piezo subsystem, and...

 

; }

[Fred TBP]

Originally posted by greenboy:

I'm really thinking hard on WHAT TO LEAVE OUT for my V-Bass setup. Because really, with the V-Bass one doesn't need any sounds the piezo or magnetic systems would provide. But it is nice on my current setup using the Rolanc GK-2B pickup to have the magnetics (don't have piezo yet) to blend with in varing degrees, and the signal chain in the V-Bass of the magnetic p'ups and the GK-2B can be different.

By coincidence I spent a good half-hour in a music store with a Roland V-Bass system hooked up to a Fender Jazz. I was very impressed with the URB sounds (reminds me of how accurately Roland systhezied a grand piano in the 80s IMHO) and basically your statement makes me wonder why you'd add a piezo pickup (and extra wiring) to a bass equipped with a V-Bass. Wazzup with that?

 

Also, I hope you're not doing all this on a vintage instrument. You may have mentioned the instrument in question earlier, but I couldn't find the reference. Other than all that it sounds amazing!

[g.]

The piezos would actually be used to DRIVE the virtual side of the V-BAss anyway, just as the magnetic Roland Gk-2B hexaphonic pickup currently is. The sensing with GraphTech or RMC piezos is even better than that Roland magnetic unit (besides not needing to be surface mounted), and the string isolation/crosstalk is better.

 

Also using the piezos as a discrete AUDIO signal is just icing on the cake. But you can see I am questioning how much icing I actually want ; }

[g.]

Oopsie. The bass is a very good example of the Ibanez SR506, with the best preamp they've probably ever done (sonically - if not so fun to mess with in the control cavity), the good version of the ADX6 pickups (P-like layout under a soapbar form factor), a killer three-piece neck with two truss rods (not that it's moved an iota since I had it), and a Hipshot A bridge and the requisite Gotoh tuners everybody seems to OEM at one time or another.

 

The neck has umpteen layers of a marvelous and flexible ORGANIC epoxy coating (not petroleum based, but made from virgin wood resins) as talked about in http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=006824;p=1 - which DrUU is sending me a 5 megapixel digicam to take piccies of. Right, Sweets? ; }

 

EDIT: I really don't consider this bass any less vintage than any chunk of wood with a F____ bit emblazoned on it ; }

[g.]

Alex, a three-way switch is fine (I've done guitars with the standard sized ones in Les Paul and Start style, as well as minitoggles - although I tend to use the balance knob with my pinkie to do essentially the same task. Once you balance the pickups correctly by physical height near the strings, you really only need THREE settings anyway. I do the bridge pickup first, then make the neck pickup do what I want it to do relationally, and the blend which you'd get with a switch then is practically guaranteed to be the best one available.

[alexclaber]

Originally posted by greenboy:

Also using the piezos as a discrete AUDIO signal is just icing on the cake. But you can see I am questioning how much icing I actually want ; }

It's a hard decision isn't it? Whenever I'm tempted to possibly over-complicate things, I remind myself that the restrictions and reduced choices tend to enhance creativity and vice versa, i.e. techy decisions can get in the way of musical ones.

 

Originally posted by greenboy:

Alex, a three-way switch is fine... ...Once you balance the pickups correctly by physical height near the strings, you really only need THREE settings anyway.

That's my thinking - the subtle variations that a blend pot would add can be approximated by my fingers.

 

Originally posted by greenboy:

I do the bridge pickup first, then make the neck pickup do what I want it to do relationally, and the blend which you'd get with a switch then is practically guaranteed to be the best one available.

That makes sense. I've always done it from the neck pickup first but ended up going back and forth because the bridge pickup can't create as much output. Very logical Mr Spock.

 

Alex

[Fred TBP]

Originally posted by greenboy:

Oopsie. The bass is a very good example of the Ibanez SR506, with the best preamp they've probably ever done...

 

EDIT: I really don't consider this bass any less vintage than any chunk of wood with a F____ bit emblazoned on it ; }

GB, I appreciate the clarification on the role the piezos play. Most interesting. I've been considering installing a piezo bridge on one of my fretless 6s. But to have all three (magnetic/piezo/synth) pickup types on one bass... isn't that a bit of an engineering challenge to manage all that? You'll have to share the evolution of that with us when that happens.

 

By a strange coincidence, I own two SR506s. I couldn't bring myself to alter #1 except to put a NOS bridge and replace a tuner, so I bought a 2nd as I wanted a backup for the years of use I put on them. Both have been my favorite 6s for years, so I totally concur with your rave-up of them, but I hesitate not to call them classics since they were replaced with the SR406s which IMHO are a bit inferior. So #1 is the "vintage classic to be" while #2 gets my blood, sweat and tears.

 

So I thank you for the rave on the 506s. I love them a lot.

[g.]

Fred,

 

I must admit it takes a little bit of study to understand at first from the GHOST section of the GraphTech wwwebsite, what all is needed. Essentially, you have all these small thin modular circuit boards that either can sandwich or connect by ribbon cable, each preforming a different function. You can variously build toward a piezo system, a piezo/magnetic system, a piezo intended to drive 13-pin for V-Bass or MIDI system, one that does that PLUS gives the best of piezo ABG-like sounds, and magnetics too. You can add a varying amount of controls by small ribbon connectors for both the piezo-specific functions, and the several functions 13-pin type stuff like the Roland GK-2B or Axxion face mount pickup assemblies feature.

 

The trick is to NOT route anything that will adversely affect your tone. My experience with guitars has been to stay out of the neck/strings/bridge area entirely as the majority of tone vibrational transmission takes place there. So that leaves upper and lower bouts. And you know how full that tiny lower bout is on the good 506s. Fortunately the GHOST circuit baord stuff does stack into a tiny space and the control stuff can be put anywhere it is convenient thanks to the EMG-like modular harnessing approach. Still, it's tricky on such a tight body.

[alexclaber]

All the parts are on their way, via Martin Petersen at The Bass Gallery. Adding one 3-way and two 2-way switches, plus a double battery compartment on the rear, new knobs and pots, rewiring all the electronics and getting the woodwork and wiring done by someone more skilled (and patient, that's the key thing!) than I.

 

The question is who?

 

Alex

[Tom Capasso]

And why wouldn't you send it up to Martin and have him do the work?

 

I can't suggest anyone in your area....

 

Tom

[alexclaber]

Originally posted by Tom Capasso:

And why wouldn't you send it up to Martin and have him do the work?

Because I only have one fretted bass and I can't afford for it to be out of my hands that long - too much music to do! If was still living in N London then I'd definitely take it to him but it's a bit of a logistical nightmare from Brighton.

 

Alex

[Tom Capasso]

Wait a minute. Most luthiers I know are not going to take that job in and say "come back after lunch". And you don't want them to

 

Rent/borrow something. You'll have to no matter who does the work. With that in mind, you can have a top-notch person do the work (who ever that is in your estimation).

 

Isn't there somebody around with an old beat-up bass that you can appropriate? Maybe a local studio that has a "just in case" bass - you could take only when you need it. Sure - it kills any type of practice regimen, but it's temporary. I wish I lived closer so I could help you out...

 

Tom

[alexclaber]

It's done and it sounds great! Damn, this is a fine bass!

 

I'd forgotten what the individual pickups sound like soloed. But I don't remember them sounding this good! Maybe it's because they're running on 18V, maybe because I've adjusted them better (as per Greenboy's suggestion of setting the bridge pickup first and then adjusting the neck pickup to match).

 

Though I'd never heard them soloed through the OBP-3 (though I'm running it bypassed quite a lot of the time) and it is amazing what that EQ can do. Bit of bass boost on the soloed J bridge pickup and it's huge growly Jaco fingerfunk tone. Add some high mids and treble and you can't not play Portrait Of Tracy. And that reversed P pickup - what a monster! So round and warm and woody yet defined and clear.

 

Fantastic!

 

Alex

 

P.S. Still loving the Bootzillas which are going strong!!!!!

 

P.P.S. John, hope you're looking down on this with amusement - 5 exclamation marks, not the product of a sane mind! RIP - wish you hadn't left us so soon.

[alexclaber]

Sitting down at the computer to record a song, thought I'd record a quick sample of what my bass sounds like. Firstly with both pickups on, then just the neck P-pickup, then just the bridge J-pickup; OBP-3 bypassed throughout and SWR GP set with all EQ flat; plucking just in front of the bridge pickup. And here it is:

 

 

Damn sloppy white-boy faux funk... but this is about the sound, not the groove!

 

Obviously one can get much more varied tones by changing technique and/or using the OBP-3's EQ: For those that haven't had the pleasure of this wicked onboard pre, suffice to say it can add (or take away) a huge wodge of fat bottom, to rival the fattest rackmount preamps; cut or boost the mids musically at two different frequencies (basically the honk and body/pitch frequencies) and cut or boost the airiest of highs (personally I'd prefer this voiced a little lower, say 4kHz rather than 6.5kHz).

 

Alex

 

P.S. Sorry about this superfluous posting, it's just my own way of controlling GAS...