Preamp and/or Active pickups

[Dwalk]

I currently own a squire j-bass and I want upgrade it. I've been reading about preamps (audere) and active pickups (bassline). Could some of you more technical brothers elaborate on these upgrades. Are they bassicaly doing the same thing. Which one would you get first? I'm also trying to elimate some of the noise in my bass. I constantly have to play with knobs during service when we are not playing to eliminate that buaaing sound. I was told it's normal on J-basses when the volumes are not equal.

Thanks for any help

[malthumb]

Here's a link to a thread where I detailed the steps I took to install an Audere preamp in my Made In Mexico Fender Jazz.  It wasn't difficult at all and it significantly improved the overall tone of the bass.  http://www.learngospelmusic.com/forums/index.php/topic,47917.0.html

Whether you start with pickups or preamp is a matter of taste and preference, unless you can identify that the things you don't like about your current setup are a result of one or the other.

In my case, I couldn't tell whether the pickups were decent or not.  By going with the Audere preamp, I am committing to passive pickups.  I don't have a problem with that, since there are so many aftermarket passive pickups available, if I choose at a later date to change out the pickups, I still have a lot of options open to me.  On the other hand, there are probably more aftermarket active pickup choices.

Peace,

James

[dhagler]

that buzzing sound. I was told it's normal on J-basses when the volumes are not equal.

Unfortunately, it is true.  If you're still getting noise with the pickups set even, try adjusting your tone knob, a different cable, plugging into a different amp, etc., identify the source of the noise.  It could also be a shielding or grounding issue.

[carlmack7183]

HEy James, is this you getting down on this MTD??? Nice sound

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PoQ8K_epOuk&mode=related&search=

[malthumb]

HEy James, is this you getting down on this MTD??? Nice sound

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PoQ8K_epOuk&mode=related&search=

Well, yes and no.  That is me on the MTD but most of the sound you hear is Ken Jung.  He's the guy sitting across from me playing his blue Celinder.  Dude......Is.......BAAAAAD!  We were both playing for a while but he started to go someplace I couldn't figure out, so I dropped out to see if I could hear where he was going and jump back in.

I just listened to it again.  That was me playing up until somebody said something about my boots. Then I stopped playing and started laughing.  Ken was still playing.

By the way, even though everybody brought two or three basses, ALL the amplifiers and speakers belonged to Tom Bowlus, the owner of the house.  We were in his basement.  Or maybe that should be spelled BASSment.

Peace,

James