Blackout modular preamp questions that haven't been asked yet

[jacksonrr]

Not that I know of anyway.

1. If I degauss my magnets will I see a better result? EMG uses around a 10K wind with weak mags, so it only inspires questions.....

2. What is the value of the tone pot you should use? I'm mean to do a push/pull and not use whatever may come with the kit and to use the correct cap/circuit to have a bass cut instead of the popular high cut which doesn't do much for the metal player.

3. What are the EQ changes happening here? A drop in bass to clear the muddies and a shift in the resonance peak perhaps?

Thanks in advance for the info

[Maynardo]

Re: Blackout modular preamp questions that haven't been asked yet

I have a questions too, can I use the pickup wired in parallel for the BOMP ?? ...

That usually gives me better definition in the tone but with some output lost, since the preamp gives you a lot of output, kinda seems like using a weaker and clearer pickup would better.... wright ?

[Despair]

Re: Blackout modular preamp questions that haven't been asked yet

Blackouts are differential preamps, working with both coils of a humbucker. You can feed it an already serial or parallel humbucker, but you lose the noise reduction of the differential preamp, along with a lot of the other benefits of the preamp.

Differential is somewhat like parallel anyways, except with the advantages of an active preamp and EQ beefing up the bass.

[jacksonrr]

Re: Blackout modular preamp questions that haven't been asked yet

Why in the world would they increase bass response? That is just wrong, IMO. Change the bass response/attack sure, but increase the level? Seriously? If anything, they should have made it decrease bass from about 125HZ and down so you don't get effed up the butt by a sludgy muddy low end under high gain. More bass at the front end is seldom a good idea. It's like the diff between an Invader and an EMG 81. Yeah, both have good and bad parts to their sounds, but the Invader will always sound smudgier and the 81 tighter mainly because of the amount of bass they feed to the amplifier.

Ok, so what is the tone pot value they supply you with or that you are supposed to buy? If it does increase bass I may have to do a pretty wicked bass cut circuit post BMP. Either that or I increase the size of my control cavity to fit a custom differential circuit and cut Seymour out.

Increased bass? Really?

[frankfalbo]

Re: Blackout modular preamp questions that haven't been asked yet

Why in the world would they increase bass response? That is just wrong, IMO. Change the bass response/attack sure, but increase the level? Seriously? If anything, they should have made it decrease bass from about 125HZ and down so you don't get effed up the butt by a sludgy muddy low end under high gain. More bass at the front end is seldom a good idea. It's like the diff between an Invader and an EMG 81. Yeah, both have good and bad parts to their sounds, but the Invader will always sound smudgier and the 81 tighter mainly because of the amount of bass they feed to the amplifier.

Ok, so what is the tone pot value they supply you with or that you are supposed to buy? If it does increase bass I may have to do a pretty wicked bass cut circuit post BMP. Either that or I increase the size of my control cavity to fit a custom differential circuit and cut Seymour out.

Increased bass? Really?

No, calm down, soldier! No one from Seymour Duncan said the bass was increased. I think Despair just meant that normally in parallel you have decreased low end, with the differential preamp that is not the case because of how they are summed.

1. If I degauss my magnets will I see a better result? EMG uses around a 10K wind with weak mags, so it only inspires questions.....

EMG does not use weak magnets. The gauss strength is pretty much the same as Blackouts, the difference is that the thickness of the plastic cover positions the coils and magnets farther from the string. EMG's instructions and spec sheets talk about reduced magnetic field, but it is due to nothing more than the cover thickness. When they advise you get the pickup very close to the strings it is to get what they felt were the best dynamics out of their pickups. Degaussing the magnets on your passive pickups that you intend to feed into the BMP will have the same effect as it does passively. If you like it passively you'll probably like it into the BMP. But our Coil Packs are not intended to be degaussed. They are meant to be used as-is if you want to recreate the original Blackouts tone with the look and feel of passives.

2. What is the value of the tone pot you should use? I'm mean to do a push/pull and not use whatever may come with the kit and to use the correct cap/circuit to have a bass cut instead of the popular high cut which doesn't do much for the metal player.

25k pot, .47 cap supplied for "tone control". If you want to experiment with low frequency rolloff, you can experiment with different cap values, but as you know a passive low frequency rolloff is really more like a high pass, and you may need to go to a 100k or 250k pot to get enough resistance around the cap to make it effective across the entire pot's taper. But, as I say above you shouldn't need a low end rolloff if you have the right coils feeding the preamp.

3. What are the EQ changes happening here? A drop in bass to clear the muddies and a shift in the resonance peak perhaps?

I can't divulge all of the secrets, and as explained before the preamp handles the coils differently. So any "EQ" curves I would have spoken of are NOT EQ curves you could expect to hear vs the standard series wiring of your existing passive pickup, because the preamp treats both coils separately. One coil is loaded more than the other. So...

I HIGHLY recommend to every BMP user to try flipping the coils as a fun experiment. Either physically in the mounting ring or electrically by swapping red for black and white for green.

To answer your bass question, there is indeed some low end contouring in the preamp.

[jacksonrr]

Re: Blackout modular preamp questions that haven't been asked yet

Thanks Frank! Will be ordering then! For the pittance of the price, it's not worth it to solder something up myself. I do have high hopes for this product. There are any number of buffer/preamp circuits out there and it would be nice to try something different(ial) that meets my needs.

So no secrets, huh? Hmmm. No increased bass, yet you say there is contouring..... So if you're not going up and there is a change.... LOL. That's good news though.

Low end roll off is important into a high gain pre. Hell, the TS9 is proof of that. I find good results with a 1M pot/0.0068uf cap config with passives. I will have to experiment with the active system to find a good response. I like having max control of my bass. It is the key, IMO. Perhaps the next gen of the BMP could have some teeny trim pots for EQ shaping or coil balancing? That would drive the competition nutso!

[zakk_speed]

Re: Blackout modular preamp questions that haven't been asked yet

I HIGHLY recommend to every BMP user to try flipping the coils as a fun experiment. Either physically in the mounting ring or electrically by swapping red for black and white for green.

Now it'll niggle at me till I go try it...

[Despair]

Re: Blackout modular preamp questions that haven't been asked yet

No, calm down, soldier! No one from Seymour Duncan said the bass was increased. I think Despair just meant that normally in parallel you have decreased low end, with the differential preamp that is not the case because of how they are summed.

Yes, I meant compared to parallel. And I really should have said low end or low mids. I was NOT saying blackouts are in any way loose or bloated!

[IsakaJr]

Re: Blackout modular preamp questions that haven't been asked yet

What`d happen if I mistakenly switch the Red and White wires imput in the BMP? Would taht wire the pickup like Actively Parellel or something?

[xjbear]

Re: Blackout modular preamp questions that haven't been asked yet

Anyone put a Black out Pre in a bass yet? I'm gonna try it tonight on an eb3 bridge humbucker, it needs desperate help and thankfully it's 4 conductor