I have had an SBK-3AD for nearly 12 years in my 5 string Samick Fairlane 5. I run mine at 18 volts and it sounds amazing! It has their brand of active pickups. You are incorrect this preamp does work with active low impedance pickups. The stacked concentric mid/mid sweep, the bottom knob is the mid cut/boost and the top knob is the sweep. It also only boosts/cuts 6db between a range of 1khz and 3khz. The only kicker is that eventually the concentric stacked pots wear/fail. The old design used a stacked b100k and c500k for the mid/mid sweep. The B is a linear taper, and C is a rare reverse logarithmic taper! ****They have since redesigned the circuit to have a more standard stacked b100k for that function as well as the stacked bass/treble. Thankfully I reached out to guitar fuel and they sold me some replacement pots! THEY DO SELL REPLACEMENTS! I will tell you though that the only difficult part if you do not have a desolder vacuum gun is removing the potentiometer from the PCB. Once you get past that obstacle then the replacement repair is very straightforward.
Greetings from Germany! Love your videos! One suggestion: could you build a cheap diy telecaster, possibly with humbuckers and some other cool mods? Thanks Oskar
I'm in love with these pre wired kits. I picked one up off Amazon that had pickups with it, was super cheap. Popped it in my el cheapo Amazon "IB" bass that I'm using as practice painting/adding new hardware to. And the difference just with the cheap upgrade was amazing. Kind of thinking I want a pre amp for the Ric style bass kit I just bought. REALLY can't wait to start that build, going to do it with the boy, get him interested in building.
I'm a bass noob so I'm early in the learning phase, but I definitely like the active sound on my bass and the online demos I've heard. I'm not all that discriminating about the more subtle nuances of tone and even though I'm a true geek, I don't like twiddling analog knobs when I'm playing to change EQ settings. I'm leaning more toward setting the bass EQ fairly flat to something that sounds pretty good overall and doing specific EQ settings with effects pedals on the fly so I can take my time to create just the sound I want and then instantly select it with a foot tap. I have a Zoom B3n that can have programmed banks with three stomp switch effects available at any time, but after watching this video, I wonder if some bass players have 2-4 EQ pedals with each set for a particular playing style - bass lines, slap, solo (yeah, right), etc. 0:35 - I now know to pause these wonderfully fast paced videos to fully appreciate Dan's sense of humor.
Step 1: get happy over notification for new Guns and Guitars video. Step 2: Click in notification Step 3: Click thumbs up before even watching (because you know, no matter what, it’s going to be a badass video) Step 4: Actually watch Step 5: Start planning on ways to convince your wife you need to do all the projects Dan does and that it’s not stupid guy toys and it’s not a waste of money. Step 5: ?????
I'd like to ask how to turn an on-board preamp into a pedal. I'm planning to build one that has a socket for a power supply and an xlr output. Thank you!
Assuming this is his jag bass build which I am 99% sure it is, they are an Artec double J humbucker bridge pickup and a DiMarzio Ultra Jazz neck pickup
Hey, Dan! Love your videos, but this one got me thinking about a bass I own and want to fix. I bought a secondhand Warwick rockbass and someone's messed with the electronics! It's supposed to have a volume, blend, bass and treble, but right now it's like the bass knob is some kind of "notch" (center position takes out some of the low end, either 0 or 100% are a fuller sound) and the treble knob does... nothing. Now, the bass sounds great, and the preamp still works, but where can I go to find a schematic for this thing to get all the controls working like they should? Are you aware of a site with the proper diagrams available? if not, I may just try this preamp kit! Thanks!
Hey Dan I bought the 5 knob version and noticed that there's a slight hum and when I turn to the neck Pup the volume falls off significantly and there's really no noticeable difference when adjusting the eq?
Dan, I’ve been watching your videos for a while now, and I’ve been looking at your website and I’m wondering a few things. One how come you don’t sell the preamp petal (and other custom petals) on your website? Same goes for the Jazzguar bass on why it isn’t sold anymore. But that’s more of a me problem... I think you should sell the petal in this video (alongside other petals) and your guitar wall mount thing on your website for a reasonable price, pardon me for saying this, but I think your shop looks a bit barren. You’re a skilled bass/guitar modifier and I also think you should have a custom line of guitars and basses on your website. Though I think you should start with petals just to have a cheaper product to get your name out. I’d like to contact you about a custom bass, but I’m not sure you make custom tailored basses or just sell the ones you’ve made and modified on your website. I’d definitely like a custom bass, but I neither have the money at the moment nor the means of contacting you outside of the comment sections of videos. If you do read this I am sorry for taking your time, but I would like a response just to know that my words on a comment considered. Have a good day Mr. Dan Thompson (no clue if that spelling is correct)
I might have missed it, but can you use this preamp with Humbucker pickups? Also is it still possible to do your TRS jack from your Rickembocker copy build with the switch and still have the battery cut off when unplugged?
Unfortunately you can’t do the “dan-o-sound” feature with an onboard preamp because the preamp uses the ring of a TRS jack for battery power. Plus preamps only have mono output, so one pickup would be bypassing the preamp anyway. You’d have to install two preamps, one for each pickup, and separate TRS jacks for each pickups output.
SPOT ON, DAN! - I reached the same conclusions about this preamp, save for the fact that it developed very noticeable sound problems and the battery-life dropped a lot, so, I removed it: ''HIGHLY UN-RECOMMENDED!'' And, your bass sounds far better passive.
I know this is 9 months later but did you change out your output jack for one that had a break circuit? If not, then of course it drained your battery.
I have a suggestion that I don't think anyone has requested, but would be really helpful for me and others. A video on how to install a kill switch (like a button). And hey, maybe you could add it to your guitar.
Get a 2 way toggle or button or whatever (can also work with 3-way switch), solder a wire to the hot lug of your output jack tip to one side of the switch, add another wire to the ground lug of your output jack to the other side of the switch. Wahlah
So, it's 2022 and the TONE MONSTERS have jumped up to $89 and $99 bucks, but I still ordered one. I tried a Mings that I had in my parts drawer. It was about $19 shipped and after all these years I FINALLY installed it and it's DEAD SILENT ! I was pleasantly surprised. EDIT : I love the idea of making a pedal for ALL basses to use !
The SEB series are best in my opinion...I used the SBK from this video but wasnt happy with it, when the SEB series came out I tried it and have never turned back...installed 2 in my basses
I ground from the bridge to one pot metal case, then pot to pot metal case and also ground the cavity and pickguard with grounding plate or paint. No matter if is passive or active. Think about a amplifier or preamp pedal they are cased always in grounded metal box
Hey Dan, I have a really important question since it decides if I keep my new bass or not. My Ibanez SRFF805 Sounds pretty dark and way to strong in the minds and the slightest change on the active preamp boosts the hell out of the tone on the bass and mid knobs, but treble is almost unaffected. On passive it sounds rather muffled too... (I'm looking for the zing for my metal bass sound). Would you rather mod the Pre-Amp or the Bartolini BH1's? Heard mixed opinions about this. I really like the bass but the tone isn't mine and pickups would have to be custom made which costs a lot. I'm thankfull for every advice!
Thanks for your tip, I see your point but it doesn't sound dead like dead strings. It's definitely a Problem with either the pickups or the Preamp. When I crank out the Mids, it gets better but even on flat it sounds really harsh and muddy. Turned up it's plain terrible... I assume it's because of the pickups, because on passive mode (eq bypass) the sound isn't bright and clear ether.
If you don't like the active or the passive sound, you should consider returning that one and getting a different bass before you void the warranty or invest a bunch more money just to lower the resale value. One thing you might want to consider, which would be the cheapest fix, is replacing the pots. From what your describing, the taper of your pots is not very good. Upgrading your pots to something with smoother tapers would cost you ~$50 to install yourself and is totally reversible. Otherwise I would replace the pickups, because what you're describing is the naturally dark/muddy nature of Bartolinis. Bartolini H65 are direct MIA replacements and will sound better overall, otherwise measure your pickups and see if anything else will fit, or find a pickup that you really like and route the body to accommodate it.
i just got this "PRE AMP" for my bass guitar. Installed really freakin awesomelee. I feel like ive shot heroin for the first time all over again when i held my squire bronco active bass in my bands, designed by fender too. isnt that cool..designed by fender..who woulda thought a man would be born to design such an awesome instrument i would put this "PRE AMP" inside. The Treble is fine. The middle is fine too. I INDEED plughed into "SOMETHING AWESOME" a Ampeg SVT98 with 6x98 speaker cab. Very awesome indeed. Now this. I feel like you failed to really capture in your clip. no one warned me what the "BALLZ" knob would do..holy macaroni linguini eeniii.. "BALLZ".......first i thought in the video "BALLZ" meant bass, like the MALE organ...like i get it Bro...Better than a "VAG" knob..lemme tellya...BUT ANYWAY...I turned that "BALLZ" knob all the way up..and somethin fell into place..i was determined..sweating...ready to play..in the cage the man was watching...i screamed into the dark room i was in "BALLZ!!!" i was screaming at the top of my lungs "BALLZ!!!! AAAAAAAAAA BALLZ!!!" i screamed into the black void....it takes you. changes every part of you the BALLZ knob is exclusive..elusive...elative..i know why you refused to call it by name. BALLZ BALLZ BALLZ get it now? BALLZ KNOB cranked will not satisfy him..the cranked ballz knob gets close but you end up screaming all alone by the time it s"CRANKED" .... 4 5 bucks well sepnt to be honest.........
For the most part it is as good as I was hoping. I'm wondering if it's possible to remove the balance knob and replace it with 2 volume knobs? There is a faint buzz when the balance is centered but when it is more one one pickup or another the buzz goes way up. Would volume knobs have the same effect? I'm speaking from a little ignorance here. This is the first time I've tried to add a pickup. Or I should say successfully. I purchased a generic 3 band cheapo from amazon and never got it to work.
Dan do you know if this will work with active EMG pickups? I have an old Kramer Spector that only has active EMG’s in it with no preamp just a 9V battery. Thank you.
The problem you're having you said running 18 volts doesn't add a lot of headroom you're wrong it's those lame pickups that's why that company stopped making bass guitars they're terrible tuning pegs break they should have stuck to making Bass amps that 1000 watt Bi -amp Bass amp you could plug in the middle and use both channels..
Why would anyone do this, it really makes no sense. Just get a 10 or 12 band active EQ pedal or clean boost pedal with EQ, its the same thing but you're not locked into what you've put into the guitar. With this, you're just putting a 3 band active EQ pedal into your guitar, why anyone would do that, I have no idea.
I love this video but the bass sounds like my $100 bass with or w/o the monster preamp! Check the mid stock….I wonder they are so like the artec bass preamp!
ok, I'm so confused and I've been staring at this for days... why are there 5 things that look like they should be sticking out of the bass but only 3 when it's installed? I'm just learning how this stuff works so don't judge me lol
Hi Dan, didn’t really dig the pre-amp. It looked like you were running 9VDC, if correct, highly recommend demoing at 18VDC. Great video though as always and some very good ideas to expand on as well. Cheers!
Putting a preamp in an external box defeats the purpose of having an onboard preamp. The reason that it makes such a difference is that you are increasing the electrical signal close to the source. Smaller electrical impulses sound thinner and are far less distinguishable from stray electrical impulses that we deem as noise. By amplifying the impulse nearer to the source we are doing that amplification with far less influence from stray impulses thereby giving us a hugely more accurate boost of the signal. That isn't to say that a preamp at your pedal board won't help but active DI's (they do what you are talking about asside from convert from unbalanced signal to balanced) do make a difference but the difference is not nearly as effective as an onboard unit.
I would be lost without you helping me find everything to revamp my old guitars I'm currently doing my archer 5 string I run flatwounds on and I feel like a boost in sound should really drive it into being my favorite bass
Hi Dan, I’m modding an evh Wolfgang and adding a 3rd humbucker in the middle. I was wondering if you had any tips, or could make a video on what the best way to wire the 3 of them together would be
Hey man. I just picked up an Tone Monster SBK-3AD. I want to make it active passive with a push/pull pot being the volume knob. Do you have a diagram or maybe let me know how to make that happen?
Hey man, just seeing this video, amd seriously thinking about getting one. But is there any way I can get one shipped to germany? Your link doesn't ship to over here. Or are there any good alternatives?
Love what you do please continue on only I ask please when playing turn up the bass, we don't even need drum tracks they distract and usually over power the bass line anyway. But it's so difficult to hear it clearly, plus you play well cut loose and show us what these gitfiddles sound like when you lay into them.
I would love to see you mod that jazzmaster those awesome kit vids are my favourite. I would also love to see you build your own guitar body or neck. Have fun enjoy
i forget how i came across your videos but damn i am glad i did. so much useful information for my ears to absorb and eventually use one day when i can afford to build something xD
Except for all the way back and forward and the center detent, how can you possibly tell there the sweepable mid lies? Turn it halfway and guess? I'd almost rather have just 3 settings - 800hz, 1350hz and 2000hz. I don't like the guess work if that is the case.
If one is spending $45 for a pre-amp I'd assume it's not totally necessary to know precisely which mid-freq you're cutting (like in a pro setting). But either way, wouldn't you always play around with any pre-amp to see what sounds best to you? Even if the knob had detents, you'd be assuming it's accurately doing what it says it is. But I guess you mean detents so you can get repeatable settings....just gotta mark up your box/piece of cardboard I guess. :P
@ guns and guitars I have a Tone Monster preamp, but was having the hardest time getting any sound. I know it has to be ground. My question is do all the black wires coming from the pickups and the back . Are they all to go inside that middle connection. Where the neck and bridge wires go? I hope I’m making sense. Oh yeah the bass is a six string Ibanez GUI
The pickup hot wires go to the "Blend" pot ,you'll see the connections marked "N" for neck and "B" for bridge.The grounds from the pickups go to the centre connection on the blend pot. You will need to solder the ground coming from your bridge,by that I mean the actual bridge not the bridge pickup.
Since you do a lot of kit guitars, do you have any experience with the guitar fetish kits? They have a V kit I've been eyeing for a while now to build myself a "replica" James Hetfield White V (the one he used before switching to Explorers). This way I can relic it and not feel bad about ruining a good guitar.
I haven’t done any kits from them (they haven’t been super cooperative) but from what I’ve read and what I’ve heard, their kits are the same quality as everyone else, ie hit and miss.
Hey. I'm a considerably professional bass modifier, and I'm currently working on a Jaguar project. I'd really like to see your video as soon as possible to see what extra I could do for mine.
I didn’t do the spectrum analyzer for this video because the only difference you could see was in the low end, which you could clearly hear, for the mids and highs you could hear the difference more than you can see a difference.
Yeah, changes in fundamental frequency and first order harmonics and subharmonics show up really well on a moving window fft display like you had in the other video. For tracking changes in higher order frequencies a static chart for each sample is required, best overlaid on the same axis if you can do that. Annoyingly cubase won't do that so for the pickup voicing work i'm doing at the moment I've had to resort to matlab. There are probably simpler ways of doing such, but I've been looking for reproducability.
Hi Dan! Thanks for the excellent videos on modifying your bass. I’m building the same kit and was wondering about the pickups you have installed. The supplied pickups are kind of weak... All the best!
I have had an SBK-3AD for nearly 12 years in my 5 string Samick Fairlane 5. I run mine at 18 volts and it sounds amazing! It has their brand of active pickups. You are incorrect this preamp does work with active low impedance pickups.
The stacked concentric mid/mid sweep, the bottom knob is the mid cut/boost and the top knob is the sweep. It also only boosts/cuts 6db between a range of 1khz and 3khz.
The only kicker is that eventually the concentric stacked pots wear/fail. The old design used a stacked b100k and c500k for the mid/mid sweep. The B is a linear taper, and C is a rare reverse logarithmic taper! ****They have since redesigned the circuit to have a more standard stacked b100k for that function as well as the stacked bass/treble. Thankfully I reached out to guitar fuel and they sold me some replacement pots! THEY DO SELL REPLACEMENTS!
I will tell you though that the only difficult part if you do not have a desolder vacuum gun is removing the potentiometer from the PCB. Once you get past that obstacle then the replacement repair is very straightforward.
Greetings from Germany! Love your videos! One suggestion: could you build a cheap diy telecaster, possibly with humbuckers and some other cool mods?
Thanks
Oskar
I'd even subscribe for this... ;)
I have been looking at their pre amps for a loooooong time. Thanks for the demo.
I'm in love with these pre wired kits. I picked one up off Amazon that had pickups with it, was super cheap. Popped it in my el cheapo Amazon "IB" bass that I'm using as practice painting/adding new hardware to. And the difference just with the cheap upgrade was amazing. Kind of thinking I want a pre amp for the Ric style bass kit I just bought. REALLY can't wait to start that build, going to do it with the boy, get him interested in building.
I'm a bass noob so I'm early in the learning phase, but I definitely like the active sound on my bass and the online demos I've heard. I'm not all that discriminating about the more subtle nuances of tone and even though I'm a true geek, I don't like twiddling analog knobs when I'm playing to change EQ settings. I'm leaning more toward setting the bass EQ fairly flat to something that sounds pretty good overall and doing specific EQ settings with effects pedals on the fly so I can take my time to create just the sound I want and then instantly select it with a foot tap. I have a Zoom B3n that can have programmed banks with three stomp switch effects available at any time, but after watching this video, I wonder if some bass players have 2-4 EQ pedals with each set for a particular playing style - bass lines, slap, solo (yeah, right), etc.
0:35 - I now know to pause these wonderfully fast paced videos to fully appreciate Dan's sense of humor.
Yes! I’m glad some appreciates my inability to take life seriously.
Step 1: get happy over notification for new Guns and Guitars video.
Step 2: Click in notification
Step 3: Click thumbs up before even watching (because you know, no matter what, it’s going to be a badass video)
Step 4: Actually watch
Step 5: Start planning on ways to convince your wife you need to do all the projects Dan does and that it’s not stupid guy toys and it’s not a waste of money.
Step 5: ?????
I love this comment
Guns and Guitars haha just my procedure for a new video of yours. Btw, that slap setting you fine tuned, DAMN that sounded good
I'm quite pleased with that body. Wood looks pretty damn good. And digging the shape you are going for
Nice video! Still looking forward to the mini pedal reviews as well :D
I'd like to ask how to turn an on-board preamp into a pedal. I'm planning to build one that has a socket for a power supply and an xlr output. Thank you!
Hey Dan, super video. I'd really like to know what those pickups are though.
Assuming this is his jag bass build which I am 99% sure it is, they are an Artec double J humbucker bridge pickup and a DiMarzio Ultra Jazz neck pickup
@@stephendexter3246 thanks!
Now looking forward to the video on updating this kit.
What is the bridge pickup?
Has this preamp this typical Hiss Noise most preamps has?
I hope you wear a guitar shirt in your gun videos
Hey, Dan! Love your videos, but this one got me thinking about a bass I own and want to fix. I bought a secondhand Warwick rockbass and someone's messed with the electronics! It's supposed to have a volume, blend, bass and treble, but right now it's like the bass knob is some kind of "notch" (center position takes out some of the low end, either 0 or 100% are a fuller sound) and the treble knob does... nothing. Now, the bass sounds great, and the preamp still works, but where can I go to find a schematic for this thing to get all the controls working like they should? Are you aware of a site with the proper diagrams available? if not, I may just try this preamp kit! Thanks!
Muchas Gracias where can i buy the kit?
where I can get the preamp that you show us?
Hey Dan I bought the 5 knob version and noticed that there's a slight hum and when I turn to the neck Pup the volume falls off significantly and there's really no noticeable difference when adjusting the eq?
Dan, I’ve been watching your videos for a while now, and I’ve been looking at your website and I’m wondering a few things. One how come you don’t sell the preamp petal (and other custom petals) on your website? Same goes for the Jazzguar bass on why it isn’t sold anymore. But that’s more of a me problem... I think you should sell the petal in this video (alongside other petals) and your guitar wall mount thing on your website for a reasonable price, pardon me for saying this, but I think your shop looks a bit barren. You’re a skilled bass/guitar modifier and I also think you should have a custom line of guitars and basses on your website. Though I think you should start with petals just to have a cheaper product to get your name out. I’d like to contact you about a custom bass, but I’m not sure you make custom tailored basses or just sell the ones you’ve made and modified on your website. I’d definitely like a custom bass, but I neither have the money at the moment nor the means of contacting you outside of the comment sections of videos.
If you do read this I am sorry for taking your time, but I would like a response just to know that my words on a comment considered. Have a good day Mr. Dan Thompson (no clue if that spelling is correct)
The low end is gangster but the top end sounds brittle but the sound is big and fat
I might have missed it, but can you use this preamp with Humbucker pickups? Also is it still possible to do your TRS jack from your Rickembocker copy build with the switch and still have the battery cut off when unplugged?
Unfortunately you can’t do the “dan-o-sound” feature with an onboard preamp because the preamp uses the ring of a TRS jack for battery power. Plus preamps only have mono output, so one pickup would be bypassing the preamp anyway. You’d have to install two preamps, one for each pickup, and separate TRS jacks for each pickups output.
Didn’t see a connection for the bridge ground wire in the video. Do all three ground wires get fastened in the same spot on the pre-amp?
Yes. The ground one big network of all grounds.
You'll get more out of the system if you make it 18-V,.....(two 9-volt batteries)
Mr,, what type your bass in video,, i like ur bass mr
SPOT ON, DAN! - I reached the same conclusions about this preamp, save for the fact that it developed very noticeable sound problems and the battery-life dropped a lot, so, I removed it: ''HIGHLY UN-RECOMMENDED!''
And, your bass sounds far better passive.
I know this is 9 months later but did you change out your output jack for one that had a break circuit? If not, then of course it drained your battery.
it is not available anymore! where can i find it?
Just search eBay for tone monster preamp. You can message the seller when hey will be back.
ok, thanks man
That Nerf gun is perfect lol
Could I use this with a electric guitar ??
Install it on a guitar!
Could you add a parametric bcu
I think it sounds cool but if i can choose active or passive, I would choose passive...but idea of having it like pedal effect is great :)
I have a suggestion that I don't think anyone has requested, but would be really helpful for me and others. A video on how to install a kill switch (like a button). And hey, maybe you could add it to your guitar.
Blair Da Dawg great idea ! Could really use this!
Get a 2 way toggle or button or whatever (can also work with 3-way switch), solder a wire to the hot lug of your output jack tip to one side of the switch, add another wire to the ground lug of your output jack to the other side of the switch. Wahlah
Csguitars actually has a video on this
So, it's 2022 and the TONE MONSTERS have jumped up to $89 and $99 bucks, but I still ordered one. I tried a Mings that I had in my parts drawer. It was about $19 shipped and after all these years I FINALLY installed it and it's DEAD SILENT ! I was pleasantly surprised. EDIT : I love the idea of making a pedal for ALL basses to use !
The SEB series are best in my opinion...I used the SBK from this video but wasnt happy with it, when the SEB series came out I tried it and have never turned back...installed 2 in my basses
Quick question! if I'm using this preamp with passive Pickups, do I still need to add the ground cable from the bridge to the volume pot?
I ground from the bridge to one pot metal case, then pot to pot metal case and also ground the cavity and pickguard with grounding plate or paint. No matter if is passive or active. Think about a amplifier or preamp pedal they are cased always in grounded metal box
Thanks Brian!!!
Hey Dan, I have a really important question since it decides if I keep my new bass or not.
My Ibanez SRFF805 Sounds pretty dark and way to strong in the minds and the slightest change on the active preamp boosts the hell out of the tone on the bass and mid knobs, but treble is almost unaffected. On passive it sounds rather muffled too... (I'm looking for the zing for my metal bass sound).
Would you rather mod the Pre-Amp or the Bartolini BH1's? Heard mixed opinions about this. I really like the bass but the tone isn't mine and pickups would have to be custom made which costs a lot. I'm thankfull for every advice!
ThrashingBasskill cheap thing to try is a new set of strings. Get some super brights and that will help a bit
Thanks for your tip, I see your point but it doesn't sound dead like dead strings. It's definitely a Problem with either the pickups or the Preamp. When I crank out the Mids, it gets better but even on flat it sounds really harsh and muddy. Turned up it's plain terrible... I assume it's because of the pickups, because on passive mode (eq bypass) the sound isn't bright and clear ether.
Try new pickups since some pickups can just round dark and muddy in general if you looked at his gretsch build
If you don't like the active or the passive sound, you should consider returning that one and getting a different bass before you void the warranty or invest a bunch more money just to lower the resale value. One thing you might want to consider, which would be the cheapest fix, is replacing the pots. From what your describing, the taper of your pots is not very good. Upgrading your pots to something with smoother tapers would cost you ~$50 to install yourself and is totally reversible. Otherwise I would replace the pickups, because what you're describing is the naturally dark/muddy nature of Bartolinis. Bartolini H65 are direct MIA replacements and will sound better overall, otherwise measure your pickups and see if anything else will fit, or find a pickup that you really like and route the body to accommodate it.
Don't know if the Bart. MK1 pups are a direct fit but those should be a brighter option.
Wild. Now it is $80. Inflation?
i just got this "PRE AMP" for my bass guitar. Installed really freakin awesomelee. I feel like ive shot heroin for the first time all over again when i held my squire bronco active bass in my bands, designed by fender too. isnt that cool..designed by fender..who woulda thought a man would be born to design such an awesome instrument i would put this "PRE AMP" inside. The Treble is fine. The middle is fine too. I INDEED plughed into "SOMETHING AWESOME" a Ampeg SVT98 with 6x98 speaker cab. Very awesome indeed. Now this. I feel like you failed to really capture in your clip. no one warned me what the "BALLZ" knob would do..holy macaroni linguini eeniii.. "BALLZ".......first i thought in the video "BALLZ" meant bass, like the MALE organ...like i get it Bro...Better than a "VAG" knob..lemme tellya...BUT ANYWAY...I turned that "BALLZ" knob all the way up..and somethin fell into place..i was determined..sweating...ready to play..in the cage the man was watching...i screamed into the dark room i was in "BALLZ!!!" i was screaming at the top of my lungs "BALLZ!!!! AAAAAAAAAA BALLZ!!!" i screamed into the black void....it takes you. changes every part of you the BALLZ knob is exclusive..elusive...elative..i know why you refused to call it by name. BALLZ BALLZ BALLZ get it now? BALLZ KNOB cranked will not satisfy him..the cranked ballz knob gets close but you end up screaming all alone by the time it s"CRANKED" .... 4 5 bucks well sepnt to be honest.........
For the most part it is as good as I was hoping. I'm wondering if it's possible to remove the balance knob and replace it with 2 volume knobs? There is a faint buzz when the balance is centered but when it is more one one pickup or another the buzz goes way up. Would volume knobs have the same effect? I'm speaking from a little ignorance here. This is the first time I've tried to add a pickup. Or I should say successfully. I purchased a generic 3 band cheapo from amazon and never got it to work.
Dan do you know if this will work with active EMG pickups? I have an old Kramer Spector that only has active EMG’s in it with no preamp just a 9V battery. Thank you.
The problem you're having you said running 18 volts doesn't add a lot of headroom you're wrong it's those lame pickups that's why that company stopped making bass guitars they're terrible tuning pegs break they should have stuck to making Bass amps that 1000 watt Bi -amp Bass amp you could plug in the middle and use both channels..
Why would anyone do this, it really makes no sense. Just get a 10 or 12 band active EQ pedal or clean boost pedal with EQ, its the same thing but you're not locked into what you've put into the guitar. With this, you're just putting a 3 band active EQ pedal into your guitar, why anyone would do that, I have no idea.
hey man, I really like how scientific your approach is. That is exactly what is generally missing in reviews on youtube :) Good work!
I love this video but the bass sounds like my $100 bass with or w/o the monster preamp! Check the mid stock….I wonder they are so like the artec bass preamp!
I have a tonemonster preamp installed into my redwood pb6 and my god it sounds phonomanal through the humbucker in the bridge
there is no noise at all on this preamp. is this because it is a good preamp or because you shielded it well or something else?
Noob here.. what are passive pups? Active pups? Always thought they were the same
So if your bass is already active you can’t swap preamp outs??
I got the same question help us out lmao
@@t1n670 same lmao
i had swap the preamp on my musicman for this one and it works just fine for me
Do you have an inexpensive suggestion for active pickups?
with this preamp would it be possible to use with strat style single-coil pickups?
Hey I love this channel dude, I have one suggestion, could you possibly buy a fender mustang cheap kit and trick it out? that would be cool.
Swept180sxNet I too would like this
If you guys find me a mustang kit I’ll look into it. I’d probably have to make one out of a p bass kit though and buy a short scale neck.
Great demo. Question: What did you use to create your drum loop? Love those drum sounds.
Wow, very good video, it’s so clear to understand.
Does anybody know how to change the mid range from 250hz/600hz to 800hz or more ???
Make a video on how to make it a stompbox. Thanks :)
Sbk 3D i'ts for a pasive bass too?
That is tough because that bass sounds so good stock.
ok, I'm so confused and I've been staring at this for days... why are there 5 things that look like they should be sticking out of the bass but only 3 when it's installed? I'm just learning how this stuff works so don't judge me lol
That was a suuuuuuuuuuper great video. loads of info, entertaining, great quality demos. thanks for the effort
The bass sounds awesome passive.
Hi Dan, didn’t really dig the pre-amp. It looked like you were running 9VDC, if correct, highly recommend demoing at 18VDC. Great video though as always and some very good ideas to expand on as well. Cheers!
Putting a preamp in an external box defeats the purpose of having an onboard preamp. The reason that it makes such a difference is that you are increasing the electrical signal close to the source. Smaller electrical impulses sound thinner and are far less distinguishable from stray electrical impulses that we deem as noise. By amplifying the impulse nearer to the source we are doing that amplification with far less influence from stray impulses thereby giving us a hugely more accurate boost of the signal. That isn't to say that a preamp at your pedal board won't help but active DI's (they do what you are talking about asside from convert from unbalanced signal to balanced) do make a difference but the difference is not nearly as effective as an onboard unit.
I would be lost without you helping me find everything to revamp my old guitars I'm currently doing my archer 5 string I run flatwounds on and I feel like a boost in sound should really drive it into being my favorite bass
Amazing bang for the buck. Anybody an idea where to get this things in Europe? The only ebay dealers I could find, don't ship to Germany...
Hi Dan, I’m modding an evh Wolfgang and adding a 3rd humbucker in the middle. I was wondering if you had any tips, or could make a video on what the best way to wire the 3 of them together would be
Hey man. I just picked up an Tone Monster SBK-3AD. I want to make it active passive with a push/pull pot being the volume knob. Do you have a diagram or maybe let me know how to make that happen?
So, could you use this in pedal form as an acoustic EQ? Looking for a cheap way to make my acoustic sound better.
Hey man, just seeing this video, amd seriously thinking about getting one. But is there any way I can get one shipped to germany? Your link doesn't ship to over here. Or are there any good alternatives?
Hope this will be so helpful. Will this work in Ibanez SR300e. 5 knobs preamp with Power Tap 3 way switch?
Love what you do please continue on only I ask please when playing turn up the bass, we don't even need drum tracks they distract and usually over power the bass line anyway. But it's so difficult to hear it clearly, plus you play well cut loose and show us what these gitfiddles sound like when you lay into them.
Dan great video, but did you ever make the video on the pre amp hack you talk about in this video?
Can someone tell me how deep the cavities and the neck pocket should be routed out plz I'm building a bass for school
I would love to see you mod that jazzmaster those awesome kit vids are my favourite. I would also love to see you build your own guitar body or neck. Have fun enjoy
Sounds really good.
The 100Hz boost was night and day man!!!!! Back to the dentist to put my fillings back in!!!!!
I need this kind of mod in my Electric Guitar. Will it works?
This is $58 now
Is it quiet or noisy??
no offense to the makers of the boost, but I think in every example I preferred the passive unboosted sound of the bass.
i forget how i came across your videos but damn i am glad i did. so much useful information for my ears to absorb and eventually use one day when i can afford to build something xD
The main issue with these cheaper pre amps is noise, how did this one fair in centre detent and when boosted in the highs a high mids?
I think i might get this pre amp for a jazz bass I’m planing on building
FREAKIN BALLZ LOL
Demo the Bartolini BRMNRBTG/918 2 band preamp
I appreciate the little change up in the riff. I would have watched it anyway but it kept it interesting
everytime i see a new video in my subscription feed i just have to click on it! keep up the awesome work
Except for all the way back and forward and the center detent, how can you possibly tell there the sweepable mid lies? Turn it halfway and guess? I'd almost rather have just 3 settings - 800hz, 1350hz and 2000hz. I don't like the guess work if that is the case.
If one is spending $45 for a pre-amp I'd assume it's not totally necessary to know precisely which mid-freq you're cutting (like in a pro setting). But either way, wouldn't you always play around with any pre-amp to see what sounds best to you? Even if the knob had detents, you'd be assuming it's accurately doing what it says it is.
But I guess you mean detents so you can get repeatable settings....just gotta mark up your box/piece of cardboard I guess. :P
It would be cool a metal zone diesel mod tutorial beacues you explain very well
Very cool demo! That is a nice bass and your playing is no joke!
@ guns and guitars I have a Tone Monster preamp, but was having the hardest time getting any sound. I know it has to be ground. My question is do all the black wires coming from the pickups and the back . Are they all to go inside that middle connection. Where the neck and bridge wires go? I hope I’m making sense. Oh yeah the bass is a six string Ibanez GUI
The pickup hot wires go to the "Blend" pot ,you'll see the connections marked "N" for neck and "B" for bridge.The grounds from the pickups go to the centre connection on the blend pot. You will need to solder the ground coming from your bridge,by that I mean the actual bridge not the bridge pickup.
Since you do a lot of kit guitars, do you have any experience with the guitar fetish kits? They have a V kit I've been eyeing for a while now to build myself a "replica" James Hetfield White V (the one he used before switching to Explorers). This way I can relic it and not feel bad about ruining a good guitar.
I haven’t done any kits from them (they haven’t been super cooperative) but from what I’ve read and what I’ve heard, their kits are the same quality as everyone else, ie hit and miss.
Hey. I'm a considerably professional bass modifier, and I'm currently working on a Jaguar project. I'd really like to see your video as soon as possible to see what extra I could do for mine.
Hopefully I’ll be done with that build next week and get get a video up the following week.
Awesome video demo. It' solves all doubts o /
Hei, thank’s for this video! Where can i buy this preamp from? Do you know any website or online shop?? Thank you for the answer!
Used to be made by Guitar Fuel. Their site still exists but they don't seem to sell anymore.
So close to 50k ! Well done mate
Custom Gretsch country gent?
Do you have an upload schedule?
Putting it into a pedal is a great idea!
i like the 800k boost
You can't boost what isn't there, what do the spectrographs say? (Edited when I saw beautiful lines in the background of your SD preamp video)
I didn’t do the spectrum analyzer for this video because the only difference you could see was in the low end, which you could clearly hear, for the mids and highs you could hear the difference more than you can see a difference.
Yeah, changes in fundamental frequency and first order harmonics and subharmonics show up really well on a moving window fft display like you had in the other video. For tracking changes in higher order frequencies a static chart for each sample is required, best overlaid on the same axis if you can do that. Annoyingly cubase won't do that so for the pickup voicing work i'm doing at the moment I've had to resort to matlab. There are probably simpler ways of doing such, but I've been looking for reproducability.
Hi Dan!
Thanks for the excellent videos on modifying your bass. I’m building the same kit and was wondering about the pickups you have installed. The supplied pickups are kind of weak... All the best!
The neck is a dimarzio hot jazz, the bridge is an artec double j alnico v humbucker
Guns and Guitars Thank you for the explanation - really like the sound of these pickups!
I don't even play bass, and yet I'm watching this video
It won't be long ... At first, it's just like "I'm only looking" ... next thing you know, you're in a band ;0)
Does it exist in a guitar version, or can it work correctly with a guitar?
Yes it works for guitar, it’s actually advertised that way. I just didn’t mention it because people don’t typically install these in a Guitar.