Taranis vs Aguilar OPB-3

[lordie]

anyone or know anyone that face the same problem?

major disapointment today when i upgrade a passive Taranis with a aguilar OPB-3. configure stacked V/V- Mid (push/pull) - stacked bass/treble

everything seems to be working great accept the treble range is very very small almost indistinguishablem push it max and no treble "white noise". metered the pots and it seems to be working. everything works fine.

so qns is it normal or i got a bad opb-3. or this is how opb-3 works with the Taranis MEC pups? very disappointed right now.

 

[fretless6]

Doesn't sound right, my OBP3 has so much treble boost that it's beyond usable.

 

[lordie]

well it could be a bad pre but those pre seldom goes kaput especially new ones.

 

[fretless6]

well it could be a bad pre but those pre seldom goes kaput especially new ones.

You mean my OBP3? If so, what I meant was, theres so much treble boost available, that turning it up to the max goes beyond usable, cos theres just too much of it.

 

[lordie]

i tot it require some other way to wired it due to the MEC pups but i guess its just bad luck on my part

 

[lordie]

*update*

went back to the shopped and they replace the opb-3 with a new one and test it there and it has the same issues, the treble is not distinguishable cut or boost. i know i tested other basses with opb-3 and the treble can boost to a point of usability.

so i reckon it could be an issue with the taranis pups? going to send a support email to 'em.

 

[Resetti]

how is the distance between the strings and the pickup?

I used to have very bad treble on a bass, absolutely none and the bass was too boomy and no definition..... and low volume.... even with active...

i've exhausted all options, then I decided to lower the action and raise the pickup height, and after that I have my treble and mid-punch back and loud too!

so maybe there is too much distance between the strings and pickups so the pickups cannot pick up enough signal strength to get the treble out?

 

[lordie]

did not think of that will give it a spin. how close should the pups and the strings be, any gauge?

i just pick up my bass from the shop, they are contacting aguilar to see whats the issue and i've post in warwick support forums to see if anyone has the same issues as me.

 

[Resetti]

distance between the top pickup surface to the bottom of the string should not be more than 0.7cm.... I keep it about 0.5cm for mine, but expect plus and minus the distance across each string to balance the volume between strings.

some people even recommend 0.3cm plus minus but i think that's too close, but if it give you a good sound, why not...

maybe some pickups have lower number of turns of the coil inside, so it's not as strong and require the stings to be closer to the pickups, while some pickups are much stronger so a further distance away is still fine....

 

[lordie]

need to hop down the store to get some calipers to measure the distance, but the MM MEC pups on my bass is pretty hot. i think one of the hottest passive pups on a warwick.

 

[Resetti]

if it is pretty hot, then probably not a string to pup distance problem...

those on my bass I found out actually had a pretty low number of turns on the coil so making the distance smaller worked out for me.

 

[rudy]

check the wiring,soldering point,could be dry joint

 

[fretless6]

Did u also try switching the pots around?

 

[lordie]

Did u also try switching the pots around?

hmm swithing it around, hmmm... the opb-3 got replace some problem tho. shop tech is puzzle, dunno if they switch it around

 

[prophecy6972]

Hey bro...i saw your Taranis at the shop a few days back. She's a beauty. Saw the guy fixing it as well. So far my experience with the OBP-3 was with an older bass with crappy pickups. The 3 channels did make quite a difference with the bass, and the treble worked nicely there. This is quite puzzling, this problem you're having. Hopefully you have some reply from Warwick support. I'd like to know what the problem is as well cos I'm a little tempted to swap out the preamp in my dolphin as well.

 

[lordie]

thanks bro,

yeah puzzling is the word, a bit dosapointed as well. still no word from warwick or aguilar. i dun wanna change pups just for the opb-3 to work, coz the MEC pups is specially designed for the taranis with large open pieces, that pups is very very hot. even without the pre is very loud but i just want to remove the outboard pre on my board to make room for more pedals so getting an onboard pre is the way to go and it turn out to be a disaster.

 

[hub37]

hi Lordie,

We will probably call Aguilar on Monday. We are pretty sure Aguilar tech support will give us some clues, they have been excellent in their support.

Keep you updated soon

rgds
TYMC

 

[lordie]

get a word from warwick so right now if aguilar can get a work around on it.

got my answer from a warwick forum moderator. MEC pups works at 2.5khz *grinz*, the opb-3 runs at 6.5khz.

Aguilar OBP-3
Bass: +/- 18 dB @ 40 Hz.
Mid: +/- 16 dB @ 400 Hz or 800 Hz.
Treble: +/- 16 dB @ 6.5 kHz.

there u go nothing wrong with the opb-3 but the MEC is running at different khz. unless opb-3 has a work around, i need to change to a pre that works with 2.5khz in the near future and use the opb for my other bass *grinz*

 

[prophecy6972]

Thanks for the update. At least now we're clearer on how we match certain preamps to pickups. Didn't realise the different frequencies plays such a big role. All the best for your upgrade. Hope Aguilar can help you out.

 

[prophecy6972]

To add on, there could be another option for you. Audere preamps seems to be very configurable. But i guess it's not cheap though. Not too sure who brings that in anyways...