Overdrive/distortion for active Bartolini pickup

[EdJ]

Hi,i could use some help finding a pedal that works for a Bartolini TXE pickup.Tried tubescreamer,boss overdrives and various faces but nothing seems to work.They all sound awfull.The pickup has quiet a lot of highs so i wired the tonepot with a 0,1uF cap.This works fine as i can roll the tone back all the way and still get a good sound.I thought this would help in using a distortion device but it doesn't.The boxes i tried make the pickup sound small and cheap.Hard to describe but the just don't work together.On its own the pickup sounds great but i would really like to use a(or a few) stompboxes for soloing,Anyone who has expirience with this perhaps?Thanks very much in advance.
greetings,Ed

[mcknib]

I've personally never used active pick ups but from people I know that do

The Way Huge Swollen Pickle is a favourite pedal as is the Jacques Fuse Blower fairly expensive pedals but apparently well worth it for active's

[EdJ]

Thank you very much!

[DougH]

This is worth a gander:

http://www.muzique.com/lab/pickups.htm

[EdJ]

Thanks Doug,it is worth trying.
I really like the pickup but it is a pity i can't use any of the overdrives/distortions i have with it.
Don't have a small transformer but i have some cheap pickups,i guess using one of them instead of the transformer will have a similar effect wouldn't it?

greetings,Ed

[Mike Burgundy]

I play active basses and have no problem, with the exception of the entire fuzzface family - they rely on pickup loading to sound good.
What pedals are you using exactly? Looks like all of them are built for guitar - which means they are built to cut bass big.
There are exceptions - some in the Big muff family work really well (Tony Levin plays a russian, the swollen pickle is a wonderfully tweaked muff with add-ons and goodies and works great on bass).
There's a bass overdrive/distortion (actually many) out there that is basically tweaked tubescreamer *voiced* for bass. A standard TS is a bit middy and nasal on guitar, let alone bass.

Also keep in mind it needs to sit with the band.
Especially with a full-sounding band, a bit of overdrive will fatten up the bass but you won't really hear if the rest is really playing as well. If you reach the point where you do, you'll be pushing out guitars and keys. This, used mildly,  is actually a studio trick for beefing up the bass and filling out the overall sound - use a parallel track with distorted bass (preferably without low end) and mix that in to taste. You'll hear the effect in the mix as a clearer, more prominent bass, but only hear the distortion when you solo the bass guitar. Hard to get just right live though.

Point is - what sounds awesome when you test it solo, might be almost impossible to use tastefully *in a band context*, so keep that in mind.
This is different for everybody and every band (listen to The Who basslines, crunchy as heck - and wonderful), but if clean is your main sound, don't be afraid to dive into stuff you may think at first is extreme, just know where to use it.
My main bringer of mayhem is a muff with a bass-blend. Have it set up as quite a nasty piercing fuzz, and the mix the bass back in. Serious push, serious wall of sound.

[EdJ]

Thanks Mike,maybe i had to be more specific.
The Bartolini TXE is an active guitar pickup that was designed for Tuck Andress.
It sounds wonderfull,expessially through my Dumble clone,but i can't get it into a smooth distortion.
The pickup has fantastic note seperation but,off course,that has it's drawbacks too.
With the pedals i tried the effect is a bit that they make the pickup sound smaller,more nasal and harsher.
Not nicer and more fluid.
I have just borrowed a,recent,big muff so am going to try that out tomorrow.
I understood the swollen pickle is somewhat similar and this was the nearest thing i could find.
Want to try the pickup simulation,mentioned above,also though.

greetings,Ed

[roseblood11]

I use the Catalinbread SFT with various active pickups

[Digital Larry]

Not sure if you mentioned it, but what amp are you using? 

[Blitz Krieg]

Dumble clone

[EdJ]

For playing with a band an Egnater Renegade.

[Gus]

A circuit diagram, pickup EQ curve and output resistance of the pickup will help. 

A pickup sim between the guitar and amp might make things even more bright

I have not found a TXE with a web search

[EdJ]

Hi Gus,
dc reistance is 25,59k.
It is not a typo.
Measured at the plug with the volume set how i like the tone most it is around 8k.
Pickup is connected to a 25 k vol and 25 k tone,with a 0.1uF cap.

On a big muff it works fine.I am not too fond of the big muff sound for all the soloing though.
It has such a distinctive sound that it becomes a bit boring when used much,i think.

[ashcat_lt]

That DC resistance is the Volume pot!  The pickup itself is probably pretty low, and on the other side of the amplifier that makes it active which is itself undoubtedly on the other side of a capacitor which of course blocks the DC current that your meter pumps through so it can read the resistance.  There is also no DC path through the T pot thanks to its capacitor.  You have successfully verified that your V pot is connected properly and within tolerance. 

Anyway, that amplifier will probably pass like 4V, maybe as much as 6 or so.  Most distortion boxes clip the signal down to just about a volt.  Are you still wondering why it makes it sound smaller?

[EdJ]

Lol,i already thought it was a bit coincidal.
Truth is i know absolutely nothing about active pickups.Never used them before.
Like Gus said,there is nothing to be found about it on the web exept that it was made for Tuck Andress.
A friend bought it years ago and never used it.I put in into my guitar last week and discovered the above said.
The pickup does sound fantastic clean and does what it's name says but if i cannot use distortion with it i guess i'm gonna ebay it.
I have this little box by Bill lawrence with a filter and 2 pots(kind of like the pickup simulator).Going to try that between the guitar and amp
Band practise tonight so we'll see how it behaves...

greetings and thanks,Ed

[EdJ]

Well i finally got the sound right.I combined the TXE with a HI-A pickup.This has a rather low output but the 2 combined with the HI-A rolled back just a little bit and the TXE at about 7 or 8 are giving exactly the sound i was after.For distortion i am using just a tubescreamer and the Renegade's own distortion.
Thank you all very much for the help.

greetings,Ed