EMG Bass 9v vs 18v Mod Comparison

[Ermz]

Had my guitar tech over for a while today, experimenting with a few things on my Spector bass. We decided to do a quick tonal comparison between 9v and 18v, to see whether the mod was worth it on a bass.

Here are the results:

9v

18v

As always excuse the loose playing, they were literally first takes, not warmed up etc.

 

[TheDriller]

On first impressions, 18v seems marginally more dynamic and a bit clearer,
Which is consistent with my own experience of guitars with the 18v mod.

However, I'd guess that if the aim is to suppress those transients in the mix anyway then 9v may be more appropriate as a starting point

 

[AllanD]

^ What he said, though I will add that it's a very nice sounding DI.

 

[Habsburgs]

youre going for that nickelback sound right?

 

[Ermz]

Not really 'going for' anything. Just capturing the bass as it sounds.

Agree with you guys in the first 2 comments. 9v gets you closer to where you want to be in the mix.

 

[colonel_claypoo]

man, spectors really have a unique tone. perfect for metal. what were the onboard eq settings?
can't really say that I heard any difference between those two clips. it's hard to point to something definitive since it's two different takes.

 

[Ermz]

Bass was flat and treble boosted all the way. Preamp was set for a bell boost around 3/4kHz, I think. There are 4 different 'shapes' on the EMG preamp you can choose.