MB-1 for guitar? Oh yeah..

[Peter H. Boer]

    @ Vansinn, a fretless is a cool unique sound to be sure, but that's the beauty of the MB-1, it already has a factory preset to make an electric bass sound like a fretless, so that eliminates an extra instrument if you need that sound.

What? MB-1 can slide your fingers up'n'down the shaft? It can have that moiing sound? It can sound like a set of Chromes on an ebony board?
(exit joke)

Exactly! The MB-1 fretless preset is just where the EQ is set to bring out the best of your 'MWAH', so especially for fretless playing.
If you use the preset with a bass without 'wah' (i.e. fretted bass), then you just end up with a fretted bass sound with lots of mid emphasis.

One of my concerns about an active circuit in a bass in the MB-1 would be if I added gain to a preset, would I get an electronic hum with it? That includes any bass with an active EQ or preamp that takes a 9 volt battery.

MB-1 won't add/create hum when using the EQ. If your instrument produces hum, upping the [MB-1] low bass control will of course boost the hum level it's being fed with..

I use everything: passives, actives, single coil, humbuckers, piezo's, and the MB-1 does not add hum. When there is a hum than that particular bass will hum on all my other amps too.

[Harley Hexxe]

I suppose I should clarify that statement. I know the MB-1 will not add a hum to an active circuit, but I have noticed in guitars with built in preamps that were powered by a 9 volt battery, that on certain amps, not all, there was a definite hum when the gain on the preamp board was turned on.
 
   I've never had a need to use a guitar like that with any ADA gear, so it seemed like a good question to ask. I'm sure technology has come a long way since the early guitar preamps, and more than likely are as quiet as passive circuits.

    Thanks for the replies on that Gents

[vansinn]

WRT hum, a wild shot in the darK: Could it be that the MB-1, at least in certain voicings, could have a boot around either the 50/60 Hz, or 100/120, i.e. the 2nd harmonic, range, making otherwise unnoticeable hum come through?

And an observation: One of my axes, an all-passive one, isn't too quiet and easily creates hum in the single coil setting, no matter which gear I use. I've notices more hum when using it with the MB-1 than with the MP-2, so I find it likely that some part of the MB-1 preamp section may be less adequately shielded or electronically arranged than desired, such that the MB-1 more easily picks up hum from the preceding gear, AKA as the instrument.