Charvel San Dimas Preamp Swap - Installing the Darkglass Tone Capsule - LowEndLobster Fresh Look
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- Опубликовано: 25 июл 2024
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Hey everyone! Today we're going to be gutting my Charvel San Dimas bass (again) and finally removing the terrible stock preamp. I got several requests to throw in a Darkglass Tone Capsule.... So.... LET'S DO IT!
Charvel San Dimas ProMod IV Review: • Charvel San Dimas ProM...
Shielding/Grounding Guide for San Dimas Bass (and others): • Charvel San Dimas ProM...
Stock Preamp Deep Dive: • Charvel San Dimas ProM...
Darkglass Preamp Swap: • Charvel San Dimas Prea...
This bass and all my other basses with rounds are strung with MJC Ironworks Nickel Plated Stainless Steel 45-105(125) unless otherwise noted. Check them out at www.mjcironworks.com
Info on my signal chain, setup and more: • FAQ: My Signal Chain, ...
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Sounds good. This is a case where you can hear how sterile the stock pre is compared to the Dark Glass. I just wish it had a bypass with tone control. Sounds like a good mod to add to this green machine😉
Thanks Meyers! Indeed this is a great example of how big a difference a preamp can make. I was contemplating doing a tone control mod on this, but was happy enough with the DG. What was extra great here is that I didn't touch the pickups or strings, just the preamp. So pickup height and everything is unchanged, so all you hear is the preamp!
Another home run Lobster. The Darkglass preamp made a night-and-day difference tonally. That stock preamp should be used for target practice. Now the bass sounds like it should have sounded at the outset - before F****r got their marketing people to work in product development. Job well done!
Thanks Chris!
I just rounded up the Tone Capsule, the green SD, and all the wiring and copper tape…just gotta watch a few times to catch everything in this video vs. the shielding video. I’m not really a wiring guy.
Great job, Lobster! Sounds wonderful and I’m really looking forward to getting mine up and running!
Fantastic improvement! Thanks for the demo.
Not trying to throw you a fish but this bass is awesome. I have damaged my hearing playing bass for 40 years so I don't hear the highs well. Maybe the best I have seen and heard on your blog. Thanks Lob
Thanks John!
Hi Lobster King :) Just received my Charvel and this bass is really great, I get this awsome P bass sound. It needed truss rod and string height adjustment. I also lowered the pickups, and it helps to normalize the output level. Mine seems less noisy than the one you tested, but shielding is still planned! You're right for the EQ boost that causes clipping, but I found that it's also a strength as you have more room to shape the sound (of course, pushing to the max all frequencies will cause clipping, but I always try to EQ by *removing* frequencies, not by adding). I also plan to install a Delano Sonar 3 preamp and will provide an update here. So, thanks for your review, it was inspiring!
Great work, Lobster. I love the color so much. If these had thicker necks, I'd be all over one of these.
Thanks Lobster for one more great video. Nice content !!
Thanks Marcio!
Fantastic upgrade! Now... I'm wanting a San Dimas! But, I'd be doing an aesthetic upgrade as well as a preamp upgrade. The body is a little too plain looking for me.
A very clanking sound like you said, even with the DG preamp absolutely love the look of this bass tho, still sounds better with the DG preamp good choice 👍 great review lobster 🦞… what a nice slap tone!!
Thanks Jeremy!
Cool shirt ... and an excellent video (as usual).
thank you for putting this together.
ITS TIME!!!
WOOO!
Great improvement 👍
this is the best sounding bass/preamp combo ive heard
Would you trust your common guitar center/sam ash luthier to do this mod or nah? Lol i don't know any good ones near me
Thank you! I definitely wouldn't trust a guitar center/sam ash. I'd do some digging online and see what small shops/techs are near you with good reviews.
The Darkglass preamp is clearly an improvement.
Thanks Sam!
Some pretty cool new tones along with some old school kinda tones.
Now it sounds sweet!🎉🎉🎉🎉
My dream came true.....more or less.....still need the emg pickups on this baby!!
Thank you :)
Did'nt know the tone capsule makes that much of a difference. Was looking toward it so nice of you
Thanks David! It really woke up the beast here :)
Now this bass is a Stingray contender!
:)
Much better. BTW Great t-shirt!
Thank you! I got it at the 'Ring. Twas a blast!
Bass looks sweet! Love cream pick up covers. Have em on my orange mustang, its a tasty dream sickle.
Thanks Ty!
Sweet!!
A world of difference! Thanks.
Thanks Matthew!
The bass definitely sounds a whole lot better with the Darkglass preamp. I still think my preference for this particular bass with those DiMarzio pickups would be a simple passive vol/vol/tone configuration. I really love the way my mid 80s MIJ Fender Precision sounds with the DiMarzio split P pickup, never felt like it needed a preamp.
Thanks Michael! Agreed, a simpler control setup would have negated this whole issue entirely
@@LowEndLobster not to mention it would make the bass less expensive. Win-win. The stock preamp is crap and while I don't really think the Darkglass fits the character of the San Dimas it's much much better than the original one. What were they thinking?
I think they shot themselves in the foot by not making it a simple passive. Not only does it have the problems LowEndLobster has detailed but it detracts from the wonderful 80s aesthetic of those straight up throaty sounding mean workhorses with your cream-coloured P/J pickups.
@@NeglectedField man people sleep on passive, and PJ especially, they can really punch with the right pickups
So I have a DGTC in my sandberg and my favorite thing about it is that I can use every single bit of the boost and cut on all 3 bands. I cannot find any unusable tones. I attribute this to the frequency selections.
On my Genzler rig I bet you couldn't overwhelm it with boost and mid cranked and treble cut all the way.
I will say though, the John East I use in my EHB to me sounds like a better preamp and I can set the bass, mid and treble windows into the same frequency ranges as the TC leaving the only variable the "coloring" of each.
TC: plug and play, easy to install and ready to rock at a great price.
East: twice the price, way more adjustability, not so easy to install.
Both: WAY better than stock.
Great comment dude! I 100% agree. The DG is one of those preamps that you can really crank without needing an amp pad or gain reduction. I 100% agree about the east. Messing around with my Dingwall 'Dingray' with the East MMSR, I can find myself getting pretty close to the DG tones with the treble boost and 'bright' mode. Yan really dial in the clank! Damn right about the install too. I appreciate how the DGTC is an 'add on circuit' where the east is definitely a more intricate and finicky install (learned a lot about shielding/grounding my first time installing one!)
Really like how the darkglass adds just the right amount of frequencies to the sound. The stock preamp just sounded really shrill and just lacked punch.
Thanks Andrew! I agree 100%. I wasn't sure how the combo would sound (DG+DiMarzio Model PJ) but I was very impressed
Not bad Mr. Lobster, not bad ...😎
Thank you Ricardo :)
Sounded good before, but now it sounds great.
Thanks Dom!
My go to for all my bass needs. Just ordered a darkglass for my ibanez soundgear in hopes itll sound better
Very cool, turned the turd into a very usable bass with a lot of tone possibilities! Thanks Lobster! 🦞
Thanks Sparks :)
Nice vid, you make the installation look so easy. I like the grey corrugated foam, where did you get that?
I think it was from some set of EMGs or something I had laying around lol. Thank you!
This is what I didn’t know when I recently bought my 5string Charvel I love the feeling and how I’m able to love it more than my Trbx….
I would like DG like you did because it’s slightly noisy when I’m recording
That little orange amp sounds so good 👍
Thank you! I have another 20-25 watt version (I forget) which I brought to NAMM for our hotel room. My buddy who was with us also brought his GK410 combo (big amp). I had my bass plugged into the small Orange, and it fooled everyone. They thought it was the GK. These little orange amps are built super well and have great low end response. The only other small amp which impressed me as much was the new Ampeg rocket series that just came out
@@LowEndLobster unfortunately both Guitar Center and Sam Ash her are empty so I can't even try them. Hopefully when they start stocking up again I'll come across one 👍. I actually run a Gallien-Krueger RB700 through an Eden 4x10 and an Ampeg 1x15 that's sounds really nice but when I hear your demo's I'm like 😀. I have good neighbors who don't mind me cranking all my gear so I really don't need a small amp but I'm always up for some good tone gear 👍
Mission Accomplished 👍☮️ Bob
Thanks Bob!
Like the look and feel of this bass but not the electronics, same as you.
I’m thinking of some EMG’s and a Darkglass pre. In your opinion, would that be a good combo on this bass and if so, which EMG’s and which Darkglass module do you think would be best? Cheers in advance. And after only very recently discovering your channel, I’m really enjoying your content and your knowledge… and the boss, I mean cat!
Love the nurburg shirt
Thank you!
Hey Lobster, excellent video and mod as usual. Are you going to do that video of the new Sterling Ray34 black ash as it comes, without any modification? I know you already made a video of the Ray34 with natural swamp ash. But I recently had the opportunity to try both basses side by side. I can swear the black ash one sounds different -in a good way. Thanks!
Hey Emmanuel! Yes, there will be a review of the Ray34 Ash Black. It sounded exactly like the old Ray34 ash I had IMO hahaha, but I still haven't tried the regular Ray34 non ash yet. I hope the mahogany can get the weight under control lol. The black one I got is like 11.6 lbs, a backbreaker for sure haha. Either way, I did shoot a review before doing the DIY Darkray mod - I was just too excited about the mod to wait. The unmodded review will be coming soon
Much improved! Now I want to buy one. Lol. Great job on that repair
Thanks Ryan!
Don’t bother, I bought one did these exact mods a month ago, still doesn’t draw me in. I find myself just picking up a p bass when I want that tone. This bass plays very fast, the neck is slim, doesn’t take heavy gauge strings at all, has some serious fret rattle, although I don’t mind that, it’s just not THAT interesting to be honest. Maybe lacking character, or identity, I don’t know.
the more I hear the DG tone capsule the more I want it. 😁
:)
Big tone lobster !!!
Thank you MAO!
I just had a DG Tone Capsule installed on my Music Man Sting Ray a I luv the tone for my stoner/grunge, most tunings in drop D/C...thanks for sharing this as I had this bass and Charvel did not want to upgrade/fix, so I bought a Ibenez EBH1005MS:)
Nice! Enjoy :)
@Blass I am thinking about adding the DG to my MM Sting Ray as well. Can you please tell what are the current pick ups you have installed and it there a big difference in tone then from the original Pre-amp?
Dr. Lobster Strikes Back... at MIM Fender mediocrity. I love the combination of the DiMarzio tone fatness and the preamp boost.
Thank you Breakit :)
From watching the vids I think the rule of thumb is Aguilar/East preamps for low/mid output pickups and DarkGlass for high output pickups
Not too bad !👍
Thanks Ram!
Ok Lobster. What are you doing to me man?!? Very good options you got here with the dark glass. The thing I really like is the high mid vs the treble on standard preamps. It's not so clanky and cleans up the high end. I'm not sure if I'm hearing it clearly. But if I am, I'd say a different "modern pickup setup" needs to go in there. To help bring out the Darkglass tone better. I'm not sure which one. I was thinking Delano or Bartolini. I really like how the Delano in the "Mint O Ray" sounds over the DiMarzio. It seems to be a little fuller and growlier. Over all though. A much needed improvement over the stock preamp for sure. What do you think? Until we groove again ✌️😎👍🦞🎸
Well, for €900 i expect a well shielded and grounded bass!
Right!?
I'm surprised to hear that abiut the shielding also.
@@someoneelse101 should see my 2000 dollar Spector
Funny what just one year of inflation does. Now for this price you can expect something with shoddy electronics, sharp frets, buzz all over the neck and no gig bag.
Souch cleaner , less clicky . Makes it sound fantastic. 👌 love it ,want it .. endless possibilities.
Wonder if I can get a tone capsule in either a Suiere PJ or US performer PJ
You'd likely need extra holes drilled, but it's possible.
@@thejoetandy thank you Joe. Yes in the pickguard. Hope enough room behind it for battery too . We will see
Thanks
Thanks Stuart! Also, if you don't want to drill you can utilize a stacked noble B50k pot with center detent and stack some of the darkglass controls. I did this on the DIY DarkRay and on another upcoming ray video (giveaway winner's Ray24)
I played one of these recently at Guitar Center and loved the look and feel but let down at the price and sound. I really wanted to love this or the 5 string j bass Charvel made but i just couldn't pay that price for something I'd have to modify.
Appreciate you and video! It sounded like you still weren’t crazy about DarkGlass pre-amp in the Pro Mod. What pre-amp do you think would match best in Pre Mod?
If money were no object, the Flexcore preamp is incredible. A more affordable optionwould probably be along the lines of an aggie or nordy pre as those are pretty neutral overall and would maintain the pickup character
YEEEEEHAWWWWW 🔥❤
WOOOOOOO!
Dark glass sounds so bad ass. Wonder if it could even make the hard luck kings sound good
Hey @LowEndLobster. Would you recommend the Dark Glass Tone Capsule as a good alternative to the Spector Tone Pump Jr in the Pulse? I mostly play Metal and Rock on my bass.
Would there be any chance of a picture of the actual wiring or something a bit better than the Darkglass book? I’ve tried following the schematics and I still can’t get mine to work. I can play it in passive mode still, though. 🤯
Hey LowLobster, you forgot to rate the modified Dimas? Sounds like a 4 claw mod. Thanks for your reviews. They are the best.
I just picked up this bass and the Tone Capsule after watching your video... I just tried to install it however I must have missed something as there is no output when I plug it in and I notice the battery got pretty hot.
I tried to follow the wiring diagram supplied by Darkglass and by watching your video. Your installation went by pretty quick and even slowing it down I couldn't follow along.
I'm getting confused with the push/pull volume pot.
Would you be able to share how you installed yours?
Love the videos man, excellent content!
I ran into the exact same problems you did.
Thanks! Yeah man, if anything these seem to be consistent in that regard. I had two which had essentially the same issues at differing degrees
Hey Lobster, how do you think a John East pre would pair with these pickups, and which one?
I just got one of these. I have the same noise issue but the pre amp on mine is an open circuit board? Not the black module encased in epoxy. I wonder what is the deal with that!
I just picked up the Charvel JJ V. Trying to figure out which preamp to swap in... Can't decide between Aguilar OB3, Audere Classic 4 band and the Darkglass Tone Capsule. 3 total different animals.
Great demo. Needs more cat though!
Thanks Paul! :)
Is there a version of this video where you explain how to install the preamp? I have the preamp and want to install it in a '91 Peavey Dyna Bass Unity Series. The current pickup configuration is an EMG PJ style with volume, blend, bass and treble pots. I want to do this myself but not certain about the wiring. Darkglass toes provide schematics but any help would be appreciated. Thanks and great content.
Can this be wired to be both passive and active like stock with the darkglass again?
What amp are you playing through and does it have a 4 or 3 band eq?
Hey there, hoping you can help.
I just ordered the Ibanez EGB1005MS, and I want to swap in the Darkglass tone capsule, and Aguilar DcB.
Will that work?
Is the roasted maple FB in between maple and rosewood? (snap and bright wise?)
No. It's still maple.
Help me i need picture install darkglass on charvel bass thank you
I was just on the Moyones bass configurator page & noticed that there was no treble control on the Tone Capsule~ strange, but I guess I never reach for the treble know & all the extra control of the mids is very useful. Have you ever played a Moyones?
They call it 'high mid' instead of treble because the target frequency is a bit lower than a typical treble control. It does perform the same function however in terms of targeting the 'high' frequencies, those freqs are just lower than other preamps.
curious if you will revist this bass with a newer manufactued one..hopefully without issues lol
I've been curious about the 5 string PJ that uses the DiMarzio in the bridge and a charvel/jackson pickup (assuming the same one in the Jackenbacker 5) in the neck position
Crazy story, my SD didn’t have the grounding hum. At all. Call me stupid, but I can’t find a tone adjustment on the preamp 🤷♂️. But that’s ok, as I’m fine with the stocker. Your mod is an improvement, but I have a Spector Euro with the Dark Glass, so I don’t need the redundancy. The SD sounds enough like a Spector as it is. Lol. I really do like this bass and all it’s features.
Hello there. Did you change the stock pots for volume and pan? I am planning to do the same job on my San Dimas 5string.
No, I left the stock volume and blend controls.
So it's completely solderless like Emg?
Love the shirt! Would love to get my Corvette out there! Lol. Let me know when you want the Crew’s! 👍🏻
Thanks dude! The ring was a blast. There was a US Military dude (don't remember which branch) on leave with his family, and he imported in his '97 Chevy Suburban to haul around the ring for 'sight seeing'.... Ballsy move lol
I thought that the original system sounded pretty good except for the noise; it was just so noisy but that DG preamp really sounds much better. I am in the process of changing my Yamaha TRBX basses system to an all Nordstrand system so I am hoping my results are as great as this bass
Thanks Keith! That project sounds killer!
For us regular folks how much is this going to cost us to do what you just did?
♡
!!!! THANK YOU!!!
@@LowEndLobster Thank YOU! We are gonna share this video rn!
Sweet! Here's another recent you may find interesting- the DIY Darkray! ruclips.net/video/RnioufBnctY/видео.html
I've done a bunch of builds featuring the tone capsule!
LowEnd would you recommend the DG for the Ray 34?
It would work! Check out my 'Project Mint-o-ray', one of the first projects on the channel and the first one that featured the DGTC. You get the darkglass coloring, which may or may not be ideal depending on the type of music you play. However, it did work well!
@@LowEndLobster Thanks for getting back to me LowEnd :) I have a recording studio and have many basses. I don't have a bass with a DC pre-amp so I am picking my Ray 34 as my test subject LOL. This bass with be used for metal so I think it will turn out nicely. My metal clients will like this since most of them use the Dark Glass pedals. I will check out your very :) Thanks as always.
I'm trying to do the same thing. Do you have a wiring diagram of what you did.
Hey Jennifer! I don't but join our discord server and we can probably help. Link is in the description
Does the San Dimas stay in tune? Is the neck solid?
Yeah the neck and hardware were solid. The preamp in both of the ones I got were absolutely atrocious though. I've never seen a worse implementation (the Sadowsky RSD launch stuff came close)
If you were to have to make the darkglass 2-band, what controls would you use? because the bass im thinking of putting a TC in only has enough holes for a 2-band
You can stack a set of the DG controls. Check out my video with the Aguilar DCB MM and the Darkglass in a Ray24
@@LowEndLobster the case I have I don’t think will allow me to get a stack but is it possible to run the TC with only a high kid and bass?
Yes, I need to see if the internal pot that Spector uses for their DG implementation is available
The EMG BTS would make a good alternative. The treble control can be set to 2.5 K which is lower then the darkglas high mid, and both the bass and treble feature single pole filters, so very musical. I'm planning a custom bass designed around flats and it's either the darkglass TC or the EMG BTS/BQS that will be the preamp.
I'm starting to wonder if there's any bass that wouldn't be improved by that Darkglass preamp... :)
You know... I'm not like a Darkglass fanboy and it's definitely not a jack of all trades preamp.... but it sounds really good in whatever I toss it in
Or a Lobster make over 😉👍
@@LowEndLobster Stick it in a DarkRay, just to do the unthinkable
My guess is that everything that it's been put in has pretty great pickups already, passively, so what we're seeing in the series so far has been always going for a good sound and the TC seems to always go in last after all the other stuff is mostly done or swapped off, again at least when we see it; maybe take a platform (this seems like a good one) and start swapping around pickup and preamp combinations, record some stuff, feel it out. This seems like another nice little rabbithole to put up some interesting content that still has a bit of exploration left in it.
I tried pairing the Darkglass with EMGs MMTW and MMCS pickups. Not a happy marriage, even with 18v. That being said, I tried it on a Yamaha TRB.
Apparently you can polish a turd. Sounds very nice! Great success!
Just don't reuse the orbital buffer after you've finished ;P. Thank you!
You are such a handy guy.God knows I try but you'd think I have lobster claws for hands.I so envy you.I'd like to put a T.C. in my 80s Pilot Bass(EMG p+j pups) that is so good and very special to me.Good idea?
He's a "handy" guy only after you press the like button lol
is it worth to get a san dimas to switch out the preamp as soon as you get it?
If you like the look and pu config, then hell ye.
Worth it is a pretty subjective term. I think it's worth it because the rest of the parts used for the bass are stellar. Neck is super comfy and fast, body color is popping, hardware is very solid and the pickups are killer. That being said, I wouldn't buy the bass for the sole reason of swapping. I'm just a crazy person ;P
@@LowEndLobster cool
@@LowEndLobster if you can find one cheap used in good shape I absolutely would snag one then shield it and swap the pre.
hey. the little blue thing... is that a Trim pot ??
Yup!
@@LowEndLobster interesting .. did you sell the pre out of the Charvelle ? You have a Reverb store ?
@@drewjones9162 I have it somewhere. Not worth selling honestly hahaha. I have a BIG pile of spare parts. I do have a reverb store but never really sell parts there, just basses. Most sell within 24 hrs, so it is usually empty
$949.99 + Tax & Shipping, shouldn't have had to do all of this. That being said, the tone capsule sounds great in the bass. I'd like to hear that set up with the DiMarzio Split P and Ultra Jazz.
Agreed! Great comment :)
0:10 oh im sure it's gonna be nice
3:55 the nearest cat is looking at the computer now
6:15 it already sounds badass lol
good pickups + good preamp = sounds badass
that's not new math but it's the good math
8:25 this now sounds like a 2k USD or better bass out of the gate. First pluck. Completely different machine; same husk totally not the same throat.
Thank you! Yeah man, the DG definitely woke this bass up and gave it the character it needed.
12:20 put some tapes on that thing already and get woofin - also INSTALL STRING MUTES on this bad boi for sho
and then you got scooped as fuck lol
it's got its own voice that fits in with all the classics yet somehow remains distinct - GREAT BASS NOW. Absolutely.
Also cheap as hell for what it can do, so gig the shit out of it ha ha ha
Green ain't it mush ,,, 😎😎😎
Thanks Paul!
I can't believe they sell this thing as it is. I would have just pulled the preamp. Really disappointing.
The initial preamp had a very shrill character that clacked on each touch of the strings. Darkglass was better.
In the end it sounds great, like an ultra strong and clear PJ, the best sound of all.
Thank you Patrick! I agree, the Darkglass definitely brought new life and character into this bass
@@LowEndLobster do you find charvels good at all? I am eyeing an 80s Lefty 2b PJ on Ebay. Will probably stick EMGs in it.