LeftyBassist.com

One thing to add my Lull has a passive tone control that works in passive and active. This new way of wiring preamps is the single best thing being done today. It is indispensable as far as tone control. I would HIGHLY recommend whatever you choose have a passive/active overall control it rules like Stalin did.

I agree. Thanks man

I knew already that Thumbslam was an authority in preamp questions but I must admit, I had never heard the expression "it rules like Staline did". I must say, It is badass.
Now, wasn't Marcus Miller's preamp in his 77 Jazz actually a 2 band Bartolini preamp? Just out of curiosity.

Has anybody ever tried an ACG/John East Design preamp? This is the only company I've found thus far that offers an aftermarket drop in low pass filter-based preamp. Got great reviews on Talkbass. Seriously thinking about taking the plunge:

http://www.bestbassgear.com/acg-preamps.htm

Thanks Frenchy I'm not 100% sure but I thought MM had an Aguilar OBP-1 or 2...could be wrong but that's what I heard..

ACG anything is supposed to be insane great stuff. I had a Wal for a while and I loved the filter approach to EQ I will have one in a bass or buy an ACG bass with the new Wal killer pickups as well. This is not for the simple plug in set it and forget guys though. Personally I am an uber tweaker so I can't wait...

Hey, has anyone used any of the Seymour Duncan preamps in a Jazz bass configuration? I have the Seymour Duncan preamp in my Stingray HUGE improvement by the way) and I love it.

Wondering how an SD might work in the project I am plotting.

I have several Seymour Duncan preamps around I have used them a lot and I love them. The thing is they are subtle they do not add hardly any if color at all. They do not add a ton of bass or treble. Some guys don't like that but I find it a great asset they don't over do the bass or treble or get muddy or thin and tinny sounding. You can add 100% without distortion if you like that much boost. It's weird but I like them for live playing because you can't get a bad sound out of it even if you can't hear yourself that well. You won't overdue it. The push pull slap feature is OK to foll around with at home but I find it pretty useless for live playing.

I have several re wired for lefty operation if you are interested.

How do you think the SD would work on a fretless?

Well good news Seymour Duncan has a 3 band preamp designed just for fretless basses. Was designed with the help of Steve Bailey.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/produ ... e-circuit/

Or this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bartolini-HR4-6 ... 35cb2f613f

Ok, one more dumb Q- What do you think of using a blend vs. independent volumes?

Just to add a little clarification to this...

As far as I'm aware, there's no such thing as an "active/passive tone control." There are only either active or passive.

The term "passive" as it's used in guitar wiring simply means that it doesn't require power to operate... you're using a capacitor to bleed off certain freqs to ground and changing the tone, rather than a powered preamp. Preamp tone controls are "active tone controls" because they require a battery and a preamp to operate.

All passive tone controls will work if you have an active preamp installed, as long as they're wired into the circuit... and I've never heard of anyone wiring a passive tone control outside of the active circuit as there would be no benefit. You do not need a special "active/passive" tone control to do this... they don't exist.

It's not a new thing at all, it's just become very popular in the last 10 years or so because it gives you the best of both "active and passive" worlds, since you cannot usually duplicate the tones you can get with a passive tone control from an active preamp and active tone controls.

There's been a resurgence of popularity in "vintage tones" but people still want the boom and sizzle from active tones as well... so being able to do both in a single bass is pretty appealing.

Hey Chris.... Joe's Lull (previously mine) has a stacked passive tone control (TONE on top and MID on bottom). The tone is wired to work in passive or active mode and works pretty well.

I don't think you get what I'm saying.

I put a passive tone control in my Lull several years ago, so I know exactly how they work... it operates in both active and passive modes, but that doesn't make it an "active/passive" tone control.

It's still simply a passive tone control because it doesn't require power to affect your tone... it doesn't matter if it's in an active circuit or not.

I almost always prefer independent volume control/separate pots vs. a single blend knob. The few basses I do own that have a blend knob do not have a fine enough taper (MTD, Zon Legacy), as even the slightest turn in either direction yields 1 PUP fully on and the other fully off. (When the knob is centered, you get both PUPs, but as stated little in the way of varying degrees of blend). Maybe some higher end preamps offer better single blend control, but I haven't found one yet.

Leo got it right with the J bass: 2 vol. and 1 tone knob. Done!

Well I have an Audere 4 band pre on the way. Vol/vol, 2 mids, bass & treble. Now I just need to order the rest of the bass.

Alls I meant is it works while in passive or active..Addison is technically 100% correct I just wasn't up for getting into the nitty gritty but when I said that I should have clarified but wasn't up for writing it out but he is right for shore. It is great and is nice to use while the preamp is on...

I think there was some miscommunication here. The tone knob "is" passive. It just works in passive or active mode. It's an easy mod and should be done on a ll passive/active basses.

Happy Tone knob turning..