Getting the best sound out of a B8S

[Kleingeld]

Hi all,

I recently acquired a cool B8S from a fellow HFCer. I totally dig it. It's much easier to play than I anticipated (particularly finger playing which I thought would be much more difficult than it is). The thing is, though, that I don't think the pickups are doing the bass justice. It's a 1998 sporting the factory EMGs and electronics.

I'd really like open up and brighten the sound. I want to be able to emphasize the harmonics of the higher strings. I'd like to hear the strings really sing. I'd like to NEED the tone control, but flat-out open is too muffled and mid-rangy for me. I put a new set of nickel-wounds and a new battery in it, but it's still too dull sounding for me.

I was thinking that an updated preamp might do the trick, but before I start doing surgery on it I'd like to know more about what others have done to improve the sound of their Hamer first. Has anyone fiddled with their electronics or added a preamp to get a better sound out of the stock EMGs? If you found the EMGs to be useless, what PUPs have you had put in your bass? If it comes to replacing the PUPs, I'd be most likely to go passive, so I'd be particularly interested in passive PUPs advice, again with the hope of opening and brightening the sound of the bass to get the full benefit of the extra 4 strings.

Thank you, sage HFCers, for any advice you can give.

- K

[Caddie]

Try out this David Eden pedal

[chromium]

Bumping up an older thread.

I didn't expect I'd get a chance to benefit from the info here...

Annnnnnnd.... again!

Thanks to Marcnorth, I now have your bass' 4-string twin, Colin.

This time I swapped out the EMGs with Bill Lawrence (...or rather "Bill Lawrence") EB-50s - based on a recommendation from maxschrek (thank you!!!!). They. Sound. AWESOME.

I got a chance to gig this one with the original EMGs/EXB this weekend prior to the swap, and it did sound decent... but these BLs have so much more guts... and because this bass doesn't have a battery box and did have a ground wire already run to the bridge- I figured it would be perfect for a complete passive conversion.

I lifted the original setup out and set it aside in case I ever want to revert back to the "stealth look" , and wired up a new harness with basic VVT controls...

Before:

After:

[mc2]

Ahhhh...that was one of mine.

GREAT B4S !!!

Let me know when you figure out what that factory hole in the tail by the Kahler is for!!!

[chromium]

Ahhhh...that was one of mine.

GREAT B4S !!!

Let me know when you figure out what that factory hole in the tail by the Kahler is for!!!

No idea about that hole...

I was speculating that it may have originally been intended as a recessed spot for the strap button, but then when the Kahler route was done there didn't end up being enough substance there to support a button. I didn't see any other functional purpose for it... It's nicely executed, though, as far as superfluous holes go

It is a great player- really happy with it!

[Tres Aardvarks]

Bumping up an older thread.

I didn't expect I'd get a chance to benefit from the info here... but I just had my first experience with the EMGs, and ended up going the same route. Pair of DP-221s to the rescue!

I'm really happy with the results so far, but will have my first chance to put it through the paces live this weekend.

I retained the EMG preamp for now, and simply wired the pickups into the existing harness.

I'm still kicking myself for not jumping all over that one!!

[Kleingeld]

What a family portrait.

Chromium, can you compare the sound between the DiMarzzio and the Bill Lawrence pups? I know it's difficult because they're on different basses, but do you have some ballpark differences you can point out?

[chromium]

Chromium, can you compare the sound between the DiMarzzio and the Bill Lawrence pups? I know it's difficult because they're on different basses, but do you have some ballpark differences you can point out?

The Bill Lawrence EB-50s (to me) sound a lot like some hot precision bass pickups. They remind me a bit of those old Dimarzio Ps in my Mockingbird - aggressive mids, punchy, with a nice bit of "grunt" to 'em. Not far off from the Pitbull either, if I recall (used to have a bass with one of those).

The B4M with the Dimarzios is still running that EMG EXB preamp/eq control, and so I don't think I've actually heard the native sound of the DP-221s yet. I suspect that circuit is scooping a lot of the mids out. This is EMG's description of it:

"The EXB is an unconventional equalization control for bass that increases the low and high frequency regions while reducing the midrange simultaneously to provide the gain and punch that bass players want."

The Dimarzios did thicken it up and added some of their characteristic sound that I like, and it would probably sound closer to the rewired B4S if I were to extract that active setup. Gotta say, though, now that I've got the hang of that eq control I might just leave it. I'm getting some good sound from it as is (tight and well mannered, but with that characteristic Dimarzio growl), and that might help serve to differentiate its sound from the B4S... just to add more variety.

[mc2]

Ahhhh...that was one of mine.

GREAT B4S !!!

Let me know when you figure out what that factory hole in the tail by the Kahler is for!!!

No idea about that hole...

I was speculating that it may have originally been intended as a recessed spot for the strap button, but then when the Kahler route was done there didn't end up being enough substance there to support a button. I didn't see any other functional purpose for it... It's nicely executed, though, as far as superfluous holes go

It is a great player- really happy with it!

I originally thought that hole was for adjusting something on the Kahler trem but damned if I could figure it out. Possibly it had a different trem unit on it previously that needed that hole? Or that the E string was somehow run thru-body and anchored in that hole in a gromlett, like Hamer did on some of the four-digit B4S basses.

I actually did ask Jol about it but he could not remember what the hole was for either.

BTW...the bass was originally made for John Monte of Mindfunk and is in at least one of the band's videos. There was also some confusion of John Monte's name with Monte Colvin, another Hamer Bass user who had a black B12S...but I am fairly sure Colvin never had this B4S.

I bought it in NYC on 48th Street around 2002 but not from a music store. I had to meet the seller in the doorway of one of the more famous stores on a Sunday when it was closed, to make the mysterious deal. The bass had a homemade "Stadium" logo on it when I got it that was actually chrome stick on lettering that, I think, Monte put on over the smaller logo. It was hideous so I peeled it off.

[chromium]

I originally thought that hole was for adjusting something on the Kahler trem but damned if I could figure it out. Possibly it had a different trem unit on it previously that needed that hole? Or that the E string was somehow run thru-body and anchored in that hole in a gromlett, like Hamer did on some of the four-digit B4S basses.

I actually did ask Jol about it but he could not remember what the hole was for either.

BTW...the bass was originally made for John Monte of Mindfunk and is in at least one of the band's videos. There was also some confusion of John Monte's name with Monte Colvin, another Hamer Bass user who had a black B12S...but I am fairly sure Colvin never had this B4S.

I bought it in NYC on 48th Street around 2002 but not from a music store. I had to meet the seller in the doorway of one of the more famous stores on a Sunday when it was closed, to make the mysterious deal. The bass had a homemade "Stadium" logo on it when I got it that was actually chrome stick on lettering that, I think, Monte put on over the smaller logo. It was hideous so I peeled it off.

You may be right- I didn't even think about the possibility of that hole being used for a string ferrule. It's funny, prior to getting it I did actually have some thoughts about converting this one to a hardtail (3-point; I know... I'm used to them, though) and doing a ferrule for the E - ala the Farndon bass... but this Kahler unit is not bad at all as a bass bridge (this is my first experience with one). This thing really sustains, and even the low register is nice and tight with solid fundamental. I think it surpasses my Triumph (great bass) in that regard, and reminds me a bit of a Guild JS-2 that I had modified with a custom solid-brass harp bridge+sustain block (although, the Hamer feels MUCH better to me; neck profile, build quality, etc).

I got a kick out of the John Monte connection. In the vids, it looked like he had the entire bass plastered in stickers! The logo sticker over the logo was weird, being that it was already a stadium logo... but maybe the mirror lettering complemented the rest of the stickers? He played on a couple of M.O.D. albums and a Ministry album as well (following Paul Barker's departure), and looks like he had done some guitar work early on- which might explain the short scale and Kahler'd custom order.

Anyway, re: the hole... When it got here, I stripped the bass down to the bare body/neck and buffed the whole thing out. I took some shots of the trem route:

I thought the redundant/filled holes may have just been a goof... but might lend credence to your theory about a different trem unit being on the bass originally.

Here are some shots of the bass in its original stealth bomber attire. You can still see a silhouette of sticker residue around the logo (pic was prior to buffing it out):