Thread subject: STATII.COM: For all things Status-Graphite :: S1 Classic 5 Fretless - Active circuit upgrade

Posted by nivek on 16-02-2022 11:56
#1

Hi there, I bought a very pretty S1 Classic 5 strings fretless in 2003: radio.gaudin.tv/S1upgrade/1.jpg It plays and sounds great (I had Dominique Di Piazza try it during a masterclass and he was amazed), BUT I've always been frustrated by the lack of control I could get with its 'simple' active circuit : volume, pickups balance and treble cut/boost. The lows on this bass are HUGE and on all my other basses I also love being able to adjust some mids depending on the room and band. The lack of mids control is even more frustrating on a fretless, all the color of its voice can be tweeked in the mids. So, I've been waiting for years (nearly 20 actually) and re-evaluated recently some active circuit replacement options. I was considering a markbass preamp but was a bit scared by all the wiring (I'm not an expert in electronics) and finally order a board 303 directly from Rob and Dawn after getting Rob's confirmation that the upgrade from board 100 to a board 303 was quite simple. Indeed, the board is the same size, the existing pots placement are the same, the re-wiring is the same and the pots are already soldered to the circuit. I ordered the circuit beginning of February and received it in France 10 days later... with the additional customs taxes (73€), thank you Brexit. I started with removing the original board without unsoldering it and placed the new board to be able to mark the spots for the new holes. A 8mm drill was perfect for the pots : radio.gaudin.tv/S1upgrade/2.jpg radio.gaudin.tv/S1upgrade/3.jpg I measured the mids cut/boost switch at 6mm so I used a 6mm drill for this one. It occurred that this new hole was not perfectly centered so I had to enlarge it and while doing this a chip of wood got off of the top wood Frown. I was expecting this actually as I was drilling from the inside of the electronics cavity and I'm quite happy that it's the only visible damage I did so far... So far, the new board is now ready in the cavity but it's still the old board that is wired: radio.gaudin.tv/S1upgrade/4.jpg I was a bit anxious about the soldering phase but it was actually really straightforward: * Each pickup has its dedicated hot + earth spots pair on the board * 1 "+ volts" spot for the battery (the - wire stays on the jack plug) * out + earth to the jack plug * a bridge green wire on an earth Everything is clearly written on the soldering side of the board and all the soldering spots are already prepared with tin, you just have to put the wire on it, apply the iron instantly melts the tin and fixes the wire. No need for additional metal on the solder. radio.gaudin.tv/S1upgrade/5.jpg Now, I thought I was done. But that's where it gets a bit crazy. I plug the bass... no sound. Long story short: I notice the contacts on the battery box are corroded. I try to scrap, I get some sound but low and fuzzy. I wire a second battery, it gets better but noisy. I bypass the battery box and leave only the second battery connected, the sound is big and clean. Now I'm in this situation: radio.gaudin.tv/S1upgrade/6.jpg Not as bad as it looks, it works and I have now 2 options : * change the battery box with the same (Rob confirmed that the board 303 works with a single battery) * change the battery box with a 2x9V one, requiring to enlarge the battery cavity, but, hey, why not ? S2 basses ship with 18V powered board 303 so... What would you do ? Wink