New Gibson Basses. Quite breakinf news.

[gweimer]

If you REALLY want to flatter me as a bassist tell me that I get a good sound out of a 400 buck Epi and not out of one of my 5.000+ Dollars sixties Birds which always have me thinking "they better sound great, they sure cost enough".

I get some good natured ribbing about my Holy Crap bass, but it honestly gives me a better sound for my $600 investment than my Johnson Scroll Bass did.  The Scroll was a gorgeous bass, and had a wonderful sound, but my FrankenEpi turned into an experiment gone horribly right.
I think I posted a live cut of the reunion show I did in February with that bass.  You can feel it hit the walls.  An old friend came up to me after my set wondering what bass I was using, since he could hear every little thing I played in the room.

[Highlander]

I don't even consider myself a vintage bass collector, I collect basses like Noah collected animals for the ark.

Does this mean you'll be doubling the Ze Kollection if we get a significant rainy spell in the near future, or is it that you're "high and dry" in that eerie you house ZK in...?  

Or with you mentioning Rush, and considering the new CD cover inferring 21:12, and relating to Alchemy, are you practicing the Dark Arts in the hope of creating a C-"V" from one of your spare instruments...?

Embrace the Dark Side...

[exiledarchangel]

A preamp can't add something that's not there. MM pickups have relatively low output, they're designed to work with a preamp, but set flat, they have plenty of low end on their own.

An overzealous ( = cheap) preamp can, but then your bass will sound like a cheap creative 2.1 speaker set for PCs, you will sound cheap.
Boomy lows, annoying highs, crappy mids. Have I used "cheap" enough times for you?

[gearHed289]

A preamp can't add something that's not there.

Isn't that exactly what an active preamp does? My experience with Barts is that they have very little tone of their own and they need to be put through a pre-amp. I very recently tried going back to active for the hell of it, since I was playing a variety of dance music. I picked up a cheap 80's Korean Spector NS-2A. Passive pickups, and a Korean copy of the HAZ pre-amp. Kind of liked it. Bought a nicer Euro one with EMGs and Tone Pump pre-amp. Didn't like it as much. Sold it 2 weeks later. And after a few of gigs without the Ric/Sadowsky pre, then going BACK... Yeah, that and the Paul are the ones.  The NS-2A is going to my daughter for her 10th birthday in a couple of weeks. I still dig that one.

[gweimer]

Isn't that exactly what an active preamp does? My experience with Barts is that they have very little tone of their own and they need to be put through a pre-amp. 

The Holy Crap bass is passive, with a pair of Bart CGBG pickups that just roar all by themselves.  I'm still trying to figure out what an onboard pre-amp is good for, other than bringing the front end of an amp to your fingertips.  Wouldn't a bass with an onboard pre-amp work by plugging right into a power amp with a speaker attached?

[dadagoboi]

I'm still trying to figure out what an onboard pre-amp is good for, other than bringing the front end of an amp to your fingertips.  Wouldn't a bass with an onboard pre-amp work by plugging right into a power amp with a speaker attached?

That's about it,they don't add enough gain to drive a power amp.  I have a few basses with active pickups and an onboard preamp, I can get good sounds out of them..  Good pickups and a good pre can produce a good sound.  Or a bad one depending on who's twisting the knobs. 

[Grog]

Herr Moderator I think you're working at least in part the "Half Noah" principle, 1 of everything.

That's why I collect guitar & bass matches..................... If we have a massive flood on Dec 21st 2012, I'll load them on the Ark, two by two. When things dry up, the Fenders will all be lost & the Gibsons will rock the new world............... (I'd better bring plenty of 9 volts for the RD's!)

[TBird1958]

The 7enders will make good boat paddles 

[uwe]

Is maho a good ship building wood? I doubt it. What wood would have been Noah's Ark been made of anyhow and how did he keep the woodpeckers and beavers from following their instincts with it?

[TBird1958]

I understand beaver tastes quite good...........


like chicken.



Woodpecker is very different........

[dadagoboi]

Is maho a good ship building wood?

1928 Chris Craft, finest mahogany available.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/1928_Chris_Craft_Cadet.jpg

[Dave W]

The Holy Crap bass is passive, with a pair of Bart CGBG pickups that just roar all by themselves.  I'm still trying to figure out what an onboard pre-amp is good for, other than bringing the front end of an amp to your fingertips.  Wouldn't a bass with an onboard pre-amp work by plugging right into a power amp with a speaker attached?

As Carlo said, it can't drive a power amp, but yes, that's what it does, it gives you tone shaping at the bass. Not meant to replace the front end, just adds some versatility and convenience.

I mentioned MM pickups as an example of pickups being designed to work with a preamp. They're deliberately not wound as hot for more clarity. The preamp lets you boost what you need without blurriness. Of course you can still overdrive it if you want.

Isn't that exactly what an active preamp does? My experience with Barts is that they have very little tone of their own and they need to be put through a pre-amp. I very recently tried going back to active for the hell of it, since I was playing a variety of dance music. I picked up a cheap 80's Korean Spector NS-2A. Passive pickups, and a Korean copy of the HAZ pre-amp. Kind of liked it. Bought a nicer Euro one with EMGs and Tone Pump pre-amp. Didn't like it as much. Sold it 2 weeks later. And after a few of gigs without the Ric/Sadowsky pre, then going BACK... Yeah, that and the Paul are the ones.  The NS-2A is going to my daughter for her 10th birthday in a couple of weeks. I still dig that one.

No, it can't boost frequencies that the pickup doesn't produce. You just don't like the tone of the Barts. If their tone doesn't float your boat, a preamp is not going to help.

[uwe]

I understand beaver tastes quite good...........


like chicken.



Woodpecker is very different........

Very different? Isn't woodpecking more of a mirror view to beaver tasting? In 69 it was, but times do change of course. And, no, Bryan Adams was not singing about a certain year either.

[Grog]

I just had a co-worker bragging up how great beaver tasted......... I don't recall him comparing it to chicken, now woodpecker.........?

[TBird1958]

Very different? Isn't woodpecking more of a mirror view to beaver tasting? In 69 it was, but times do change of course. And, no, Bryan Adams was not singing about a certain year either.

It's more like a certain cheese filled Hot Dog we have here in the States that "plumps when you cook 'em"