American P Deluxe preamp q

[Nick Ioannucci]

its been a while since ive posted here, but im almost certainly getting a new bass soon, and was pretty set on a warmoth job, but every time i play an american p bass deluxe with the maple board im pretty happy, but the preamp leaves a bit to be desired. granted it does cop the the classic fender tone pretty damned well and has a fair amount of flexibility in it. despite my search efforts i couldnt find much on preamp swaps on these basses, i was thinking an aguilar of some sort just based on the reviews around here, but am hoping to get something versatile enough to still get that killer fender pj tone as well as have the flexibility to change it up a fair amount. and id probably look into an active passive switch as well as at least an NP4, and even possibly finding something to do with that bridge pickup despite the size and routing issues. any help would be much appreciated.
-nick

[4Mal]

Give Audere a shot. You could do a z3 setup as Vol,Blend, Zmode, 2 or 3 band EQ (if desired), A/P and a tone. Z-mode is way cool !

[Nick Ioannucci]

ill definitely look into it, thanks for the suggestion.

[aproud1]

Put a OBP-3 into a Fender deluxe 5 string and it only made it better. While I was in there I shielded the bridge pickup and the electronics cavity. Made a world of difference. I love the Deluxe american fenders but the preamp is kind of crappy.

[Nick Ioannucci]

cool man, thats what i was leaning towards. any noticeable issues with output? ive read a couple posts saying that the aggies have relatively low output

[ErnieD]

Im looking at buying a ADP-V, they are discontinued now. But I would hope for the price they are asking for this new bass a preamp replace would not be needed immediately I have not had a chance to play the P but did play the ADJ-V at a local store, it sounded pretty nice to me, it too was abit pricey new, but felt great in my hands. A bass broker sorta nearby has one for sale and I may have to drive a ways to play it first. So is this mod a preference for these basses or just plain necessary?

[Nick Ioannucci]

its a preference for me, m just picky and am currently checking out my options. in all likelihood if i end up getting the bass i will wait a few solid months to really get to know the bass before i swap anything out. but it is definitely not a requirement to answer your question

[RADUB1]

Originally Posted by aproud1

Put a OBP-3 into a Fender deluxe 5 string and it only made it better. While I was in there I shielded the bridge pickup and the electronics cavity. Made a world of difference. I love the Deluxe american fenders but the preamp is kind of crappy.

This is true...and this bass SINGS now....I have it and I love it! Great Mod

[Nick Ioannucci]

does anyone have the dimension for the double jazz/humbucker in the bridge position of the 4 string AM P Deluxe? i want to see whats available as a replacement. i believe just about anything but a rio grande pickup will require routing and a pickup ring, but thats not a huge factor for right now, still doing research.
-nick

[RADUB1]

I would just swap out the pre...the pickups seem to be good

[aproud1]

Originally Posted by Nick Ioannucci

cool man, thats what i was leaning towards. any noticeable issues with output? ive read a couple posts saying that the aggies have relatively low output

As good if not better output than the original. More importantly theres a lot less noise. Front pickup is dead quiet and the rear pickup is very quiet.

According to the guys at Bestbassgear.com theres no direct replacement for that rear pickup.

Originally Posted by RADUB1

I would just swap out the pre...the pickups seem to be good

I very much agree with the above statement. And I'm glad you're enjoying that bass. It's a good one.

Andy

[68Goldfish]

I have an ADP and I really like the sound of it. It's smooth with just the neck pickup but with both pickups evened out and the mid knob turned up about half to 3/4 of the way the thing is grind city. That mid knob drives the boost function of my GK absolutely crazy. As far as the rear pickup thing goes I did see in the bass for sale section, while using "american deluxe" as the search words, a guy who had replaced his with another stingray style or something with now mods to the bass. He did make a custom bezel to go around the new pickup but it looked really clean.

[BigBassBob]

Hey guys, first post in the PU and Electronics section for me (I tend to lurk around and occasionally post in the effects board).

I've had an Am. Deluxe Pbass V for over 4 years now. I love the bass, it's like wearing a worn in glove for me <3 However, as others have said, the sound of the preamp leaves a bit to be desired. I haven't felt the NEED to replace it as such, but recently I got GAS for something a bit more hifi sounding and this resulted in some spontaneous shopping (Aggie OBP3). I'll report back my findings once it's fitted ^_^

[Dan1099]

If you don't like the preamp, or the bridge pickup (which is nearly impossible to replace) or the neck pickup, why on earth would you buy this bass??

Go the warmoth route. It'll save you money, and you'll end up more satisfied with what you get.

I only buy factory basses if I really like the factory bass.... I've ended up having my tasted change later and modded them, but to buy one with plans to mod? Especially a 1k$+ bass?! Lunacy!

[msquared]

Originally Posted by Dan1099

..to buy one with plans to mod? Especially a 1k$+ bass?! Lunacy!

I think that's stretching it a bit. When you have bass players spending in the $3k range for reproductions of Jazz and Precision basses, it's not entirely ridiculous to want to spend $150 on a new bass preamp for a bass that doesn't even cost $2k.

The bass itself is really nice and it's not worth discounting because Fender put some basement grade $40 preamp into it, especially when you consider that the stock electronics package as a whole is pretty great. The bridge pickup is a Bill Lawrence custom designed for the Roscoe Beck basses and sounds fantastic, both by itself and when blended with the neck pickup.

I've got an ADPV that I've been contemplating swapping the preamp on for a while now. It's a tough call between a U-Retro and an Audere. I'd love to hear from anyone who's done either swap.

[Dan1099]

Originally Posted by msquared

I think that's stretching it a bit. When you have bass players spending in the $3k range for reproductions of Jazz and Precision basses, it's not entirely ridiculous to want to spend $150 on a new bass preamp for a bass that doesn't even cost $2k.

The bass itself is really nice and it's not worth discounting because Fender put some basement grade $40 preamp into it, especially when you consider that the stock electronics package as a whole is pretty great. The bridge pickup is a Bill Lawrence custom designed for the Roscoe Beck basses and sounds fantastic, both by itself and when blended with the neck pickup.

I've got an ADPV that I've been contemplating swapping the preamp on for a while now. It's a tough call between a U-Retro and an Audere. I'd love to hear from anyone who's done either swap.

Ah, I don't disagree with you, but he's talking about replacing the preamp, and BOTH pickups. Your talking about living with the stock pre for a while, and debating whether or not you want to upgrade the preamp, because it doesn't meet your expectations.

Personally, I love these basses, just the way they are. I don't think there's anything wrong with the stock pre, and that Bill Lawrence humbucker is killer, especially when blended with the P.

If you want a 5-string, P-shape, with your choice of pups and preamp, I think putting together a warmoth makes more sense. Less money, more options, equal or better quality.

[msquared]

Originally Posted by Dan1099

Ah, I don't disagree with you, but he's talking about replacing the preamp, and BOTH pickups.

Oh, you were talking about the guy who was posting back in September and October, not the person who revived the thread months later. My bad.

I regularly buy basses with the mindset that I'll probably end up replacing the stock pickups. It doesn't seem like a big deal to me, but I love electronics work and I feel that most of the stock pickups you can get nowadays tend to cut corners compared to some of the high end options coming from Nordstrand, Delano, Aero, etc. I would love to be able to just pick something off the shelf that hits the ball out of the park with no mods but I just find it really hard for that to be a reality. The closest I have come to that is the Laklands I've had but with the exception of the JO5, even those weren't 100% across the board.

Regarding this particular bass though, I don't think anyone with an ounce of sense would end up taking the pickups out after giving them a fair shake. I think that the preamp could even stay if you didn't care about the noise issues, because it's kind of like single coil jazz pickups.. the noise is part of the overall character, and it's a good character.

Regarding the repeated Warmoth references: The steel reinforcement bars (versus the graphite in the ADP) and the lack of resale value if I decide a year later that I don't like it are both deal killers for me.

[Dan1099]

Originally Posted by msquared

Oh, you were talking about the guy who was posting back in September and October, not the person who revived the thread months later. My bad.

I regularly buy basses with the mindset that I'll probably end up replacing the stock pickups. It doesn't seem like a big deal to me, but I love electronics work and I feel that most of the stock pickups you can get nowadays tend to cut corners compared to some of the high end options coming from Nordstrand, Delano, Aero, etc. I would love to be able to just pick something off the shelf that hits the ball out of the park with no mods but I just find it really hard for that to be a reality. The closest I have come to that is the Laklands I've had but with the exception of the JO5, even those weren't 100% across the board.

Regarding this particular bass though, I don't think anyone with an ounce of sense would end up taking the pickups out after giving them a fair shake. I think that the preamp could even stay if you didn't care about the noise issues, because it's kind of like single coil jazz pickups.. the noise is part of the overall character, and it's a good character.

Regarding the repeated Warmoth references: The steel reinforcement bars (versus the graphite in the ADP) and the lack of resale value if I decide a year later that I don't like it are both deal killers for me.

I understand where you're coming from. It doesn't seem as big a deal to me with more "standard" instruments, but to take an instrument as unique as the ADPV and then strip it to a body and neck seems silly to me.

This is, however, coming from a guy who plays a Marcus Miller Jazz Bass that is now passive, with Aero pickups in it. But I had it for a year, and though I liked it, I got a hankering for a passive, seventies style jazz with Aeros after playing a Lakland for a bit. It was a good bass before, it smokes now. So take my complaints with a grain of salt.

I see the ADPV as one hell of a cool, unique bass, and once you remove the pickups and pre, I see it as a nice P-bass body and neck that cost you too much money. That's all I'm saying.

[BigBassBob]

Hey guys, I've had my US Dlx PbassV back for a while now. My thoughts of the Aguilar vs. the stock preamp (coming from a man who doesn't really know alot in regards to active preamps):

In general, the bass sounds more alive. The sound is definately more agressive and "growly" now.

The treble control is at 6.5khz rather than the Fender preamp's 8khz. The treble control gives the bass more snap and growl wheras the stock preamp added more snap but with more of a "tinny" edge. I believe this may be what you guys refer to as "sizzle"

The bass control is a tad boomy and it is easy for it to become overpowering, but with a delicate touch, it really adds balls to the overall sound. IMHO, I think that it is bassy but with definition whereas the stock preamp was bassy, but sort of muddied the tone a tad.

The mid control is very punchy (I got mine with a push/pull knob for 400hz and 800hz). I find that if I roll the blend over towards the bridge side a bit, boost the treble, a tiny bit of bass and the mids at 800hz, I can get a surprisingly convincing stingray impression out of this Fender I honestly feel that the mids on this preamp are more defined and punchy in comparison to the Fender preamp.

The only things that irritated me about the Aguilar preamp were the shafts and the 50k pots for the bass control. This is because my old knobs wouldn't fit on the new pot shafts so I had to order some more. The bass control is a bit sudden in that you can go from nothing to boom with a slight turn although as said previously, you get used to this.

The Fender preamp looked suprisingly cheap as it was just a small circuit board inside the bass, with one of the pots mounted directly to the board and some very uneven soldering. The guts of my bass now look far neater, with a decent soldering job and proper shielding. The bass used to have a touch of hum before, but now, it is dead silent.

I liked the bass before with the stock preamp, but I wanted something a bit more hifi (I was even looking into the Spector Euro LX basses to cure this...) This preamp has done the job. I love my bass even more now, and if I'd have known how much energy a preamp upgrade would've given it, I'd have taken the stock preamp out years ago.

[JGR]

check out the BTB-01 from East - i have one for a 51 P I'm building. dont have all the parts yet, so it will be a while before i can report, but i like it's simplicity and it seems like a good match for a P.


JR