comming soon: audere audio in skyline 55-01

crusie · #1 03-03-2010, 11:07 AM

hiya,

I just ordered an Audere Audio preamp (3ZB2-VB) for my läkland skyline 55-01. personally I've not been able to find sound clips of the difference from the stock mk1 preamp to the audere one. I'll post clips here of the difference in sound.

bear in mind that I just ordered the preamp so it might take some time before the clips are here. of course I'll do a before/after clip.

anything else you guys want to know about making this switch ? let me know - I might be able to answer some questions - and even more so when I get the preamp.

crusie · #2 03-15-2010, 01:37 PM

just an update for you guys - I've just e-mailed with Audere Audio. it seems they use some kind of lead soldering - which isn't allowed in Denmark. This means they have to resolder the preamp for it to be legally imported to Denmark... Damn eco hippies I share country with! damn damn damn! I PITY THE F... ah well I just had to vent it.

crusie · #3 04-09-2010, 06:18 PM

after payinf a extra vat of 33% of the price of the preamp (yikes) it's now here - I've ordered with a passive/active switch and ofc want to install the z-zmode switch and the led too - just did a quick test tonight and everything seems to be fine - now I just have to drill 3 extra holes in my bass...

more later - if anyone is interested that is

Rockman · #4 04-09-2010, 06:22 PM

I'm interested, been thinking of doing this mod myself. Make some clips!

Nazarite0106 · #5 04-09-2010, 08:13 PM

I installled and audere 3ZB in my lakland 55-01 about a month ago. Check out the sound clip. Not the best but you can get a good idea. I swapped out the stock pickups as well for a US Bart MK5 and a Nordstrand fatstack. My controls are

volume, balance, bass, 3 band TC mids, treble,

z mode switch, coil tap switch to change the fatstack from humbucking to single coil, and mid freq selector switch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxWGaq8YFm4

crusie · #6 04-10-2010, 05:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nazarite0106

I installled and audere 3ZB in my lakland 55-01 about a month ago. Check out the sound clip. Not the best but you can get a good idea. I swapped out the stock pickups as well for a US Bart MK5 and a Nordstrand fatstack. My controls are

volume, balance, bass, 3 band TC mids, treble,

z mode switch, coil tap switch to change the fatstack from humbucking to single coil, and mid freq selector switch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxWGaq8YFm4

lovely playing - and godly sound

Rockman · #7 04-10-2010, 07:44 AM

See, I'd love to hear a direct comparison to it before the mod...

Nazarite0106 · #8 04-10-2010, 09:45 AM

thanks@crusie

@rockman--yeah I didn't get to do a comparison. I wanted to but, I didn't want to have to unsolder and resolder the mk1s to the audere. I assumed the mk5 sounded similar but better, when compared to the mk1 since essentially they're the same, just made in the US.

please post clips when you do the test

Emprov · #9 04-10-2010, 10:44 AM

Sounds great, thanks!

cipruk · #10 04-12-2010, 10:31 PM

@crusie: so how is it with your mod.. whats your personal opinion after installing the audere with the stock mk1 ?

@nazarite: apart from your video in youtube, whats your personal thought bout the different it takes you.. is it far better.. have you got any problms with bart-audere combination (compared to bart-bart which are made for each other).. or is it only slightly better...

im on btb with same mk1 pu and pre .. thinking of upgrading the preamp first.. i could live with the current one but if its significantly better id go for it..

crusie · #11 04-13-2010, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cipruk

@crusie: so how is it with your mod.. whats your personal opinion after installing the audere with the stock mk1 ?

@nazarite: apart from your video in youtube, whats your personal thought bout the different it takes you.. is it far better.. have you got any problms with bart-audere combination (compared to bart-bart which are made for each other).. or is it only slightly better...

im on btb with same mk1 pu and pre .. thinking of upgrading the preamp first.. i could live with the current one but if its significantly better id go for it..

not having tested it in a studio or band situation yet - I still feel like it's a huge improvement. I had some issues installing it though.

after taking the old bart preamp out of the bass I soldered the pickups on the new one and instantly head a difference in sound. of course there was much noise as the preamp wasn't in the cavity and no ground was soldered to the pots yet.

so finally I got it all up and running and solderd in place. in the buttom of my bart pu's there os a copper plate which is connected to the copper tape at the buttom of the pickup cavity. it's then soldered to the ground.
I especially had some issued with the bridge pickup cutting out. thinking it was a bad soldering job ( yeah I'm no pro solder) I desoldered it and tried again with same results.

finally I looked at the pu's and it seems that the plastic cover on the pu's had been scratched and therefore made a connection from common to ground - and that's why the pickup cut out. this is pretty wierd because I didn't have this issue with the bart preamp - maybe it just don't care that the common is ground connected - and that would explain the battery drain better. (with the old preamp I went through a battery per week which is why I wanted to change in the first place)

seems like I still have a little more noise than before - this is comming from when touching the knobs but it's dead silent if I touch the bridge or strings at the same time. so I probably need to check my bridge connection again.

btw - just an FYI - when you drill the holes for the extra switches/led make sure you take a lower guage drill and work your way up to the correct size - else you'd probably tear the laquer off or chip the bass ( luckily I had a carpenter doing the drilling - else I'd probably just slam a 6,5 mm drill in there right away :P )

the sound it self seems much better - before I didn't like either pu singled out and almost always had the blend knob in mid position - already now I can tell you it's gonna actually serve its purpose more

- and I just love the 3 modes on the zb - I have some tunes where I play up the neck and it sometimes seems like it's drowning in the mix - I don't that it would be an issue with the low-z mode

I'll post more thoughts and perhaps some clips later this week - having band practise tonight and thursday

Eric Moesle · #12 04-13-2010, 10:34 AM

I thought "MK5" stood for "Made in Korea, 5 string". I don't think its a US model Bart.

mikezimmerman · #13 04-13-2010, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric Moesle

I thought "MK5" stood for "Made in Korea, 5 string". I don't think its a US model Bart.

"MK" is the shape for the "made in Korea" pickups, but the US replacements also have MK numbers to indicate that they're a direct replacement:

http://bestbassgear.com/bartolini-mk5-pickups.htm

ex-tension · #14 04-14-2010, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nazarite0106

...I assumed the mk5 sounded similar but better, when compared to the mk1 since essentially they're the same, just made in the US.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikezimmerman

"MK" is the shape for the "made in Korea" pickups, but the US replacements also have MK numbers to indicate that they're a direct replacement:

http://bestbassgear.com/bartolini-mk5-pickups.htm

Also, MK1 and MK5 are not essentially (or internally) same. MK1 is split coil humbucker and MK5 is dual coil.

Nazarite0106 · #15 04-14-2010, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cipruk

@crusie: so how is it with your mod.. whats your personal opinion after installing the audere with the stock mk1 ?

@nazarite: apart from your video in youtube, whats your personal thought bout the different it takes you.. is it far better.. have you got any problms with bart-audere combination (compared to bart-bart which are made for each other).. or is it only slightly better...

im on btb with same mk1 pu and pre .. thinking of upgrading the preamp first.. i could live with the current one but if its significantly better id go for it..

With this setup I have way more tonal options than before. Personally, I think it's far better because I can dial in tones similar to what I had with the mk1s and far more. But, better is very subjective, that's just my opinion. It would depend on what sound you are pursuing. I've not had any problems with the audere. I think it's one of the best preamps on the market. The sound sits perfectly in the mix. I play with, an organist, keys, guitar, drums, and saxophonist. I love the coil tap mode of the nordstrand fatstack. It gives it a really juiced up jazz bass tone. I have a switch that allows switching between single coil (coil tap) and humbucking. For the bart mk5 I just love the warmth and rich quality. So, to me mixing them together is like the best of both worlds.

I can dial in deep rich driving bass, crispy highs for chording, or crunchy music man like tone and anything in between.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ex-tension

Also, MK1 and MK5 are not essentially (or internally) same. MK1 is split coil humbucker and MK5 is dual coil.

Thanks for the clarification. Either way the mk5 sounds killer compared to the mk1 IMO.