Fender Active Jazz preamp replacement?

krustwell · #1 03-30-2008, 05:46 PM

hey everyone.

i've got a 2000 active jazz and there is a lot i like about it: it's comfortable, easy to play, looks nice, etc. unfortunately, i find it to be extremely trebley...to the point that i play with the bass rolled all the way up, treble all the way off and mids around flat. even then, i'm not happy with the tone. i've tried different strings, amp settings, etc. i am to the point where i'm considering modifying the bass, or selling it outright and getting something else. i'd rather try a mod first.

the active Jazz has volume, pickup blend, stacked bass/mid and treble knobs. in my research, conducted entirely today, i see Seymour Duncan has a 3 band pre-amp for active basses (STC-3a). i'm sure there are others (Aguilar?).

i'm looking for info from anyone here who may be experiencing the same thing with their active Jazz, what (if anything) they did about it, recommendations, etc. What are your impressions of the SD preamp? i would also consider outboard preamp and/or DI...which is another thread a couple down from this one.

if there are any questions i can answer, let me know! thanks so much for your help.

lowendgenerator · #2 03-30-2008, 05:59 PM

If I remember correctly, the bass and treble are stacked, and the mids are on their own knob. At least that's how my Deluxe Jazz is set up. If you do end up selling the preamp, I call first dibs! I dig that preamp.

I usually run mine with the mids all the way up, bass and treble set around flat.

Mr_Dave · #3 03-31-2008, 03:10 AM

If you want to roll off a lot of treble, a passive tone control seems like the best option. The audere and the jretro are both avaliable with passive tone roll offs on their preamps. Otherwise just go passive

derrico1 · #4 03-31-2008, 07:35 AM

I have a Jazz Deluxe and don't find it as brittle as you do. (I typically gig it with on-board eq set flat, or else w/ a slight mid-boost.) Could there be something wrong w/ yours?

If you're going for more of an old school flats tone with it, you might try flats. If otherwise, +1 to Mr. Dave.

krustwell · #5 03-31-2008, 08:36 AM

thanks for the responses.

lowendgenerator, you are correct in your recollection: bass and treble are stacked, not bass/mid. my mistake.

i think i do prefer the sound of a passive bass, when talking about Fenders, anyway. but having already acquired this active Jazz, i'd like to try and make it work rather than sell or trade.

modifying it to where it had the capability to go passive would be sweet. although if i did that, i would also want the active tone to be beefier, too.

i put some flatwounds on it, which didn't really work for me. i do like the sound of flatwounds, but they fit much nicer on my P bass than this Jazz.

in terms of an outboard pre-amp, i guess getting something like a Tech 21 SansAmp DI would be nice to have in general, but not in an attempt to fix this issue.

man, i'm too wordy.

krustwell · #6 03-31-2008, 11:15 AM

the audere and j-retro both look very cool. i'm reading up on them now. only problem is the j-retro, with the Passive option, requires passive pickups and currently, my bass is Active only. so that would cost me a few extra bones. something to think about, for sure. decisions.

i will check out other threads specific to these pre-amps for more info, but if anybody has anything else to offer, i'm all ears.

lowendgenerator · #7 03-31-2008, 12:00 PM

If you have a Deluxe Jazz, you have passive noiseless pickups.

datbottom · #8 03-31-2008, 12:15 PM

Your best bet is to go with a bartolini preamp with a push-pull active passive switch. They go for aroung 120.00 or so. This way you have the best of both worlds. Active and passive. Check out www.thebassplace.com for the bartolini preamp. Make sure the preamp says active passive push\pull switch.

old_skul · #9 03-31-2008, 12:17 PM

I switched from passive to the Audere pre, with Bartolini pickups. The bass sounds like a million bucks now. I was impressed.

If you like a dark, midrangey tone the Audere can do it.

Mr_Dave · #10 03-31-2008, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by datbottom

Your best bet is to go with a bartolini preamp with a push-pull active passive switch. They go for aroung 120.00 or so. This way you have the best of both worlds. Active and passive. Check out www.thebassplace.com for the bartolini preamp. Make sure the preamp says active passive push\pull switch.

The problem is not so much active verse passive but that even with the treble control on the preamp all the way down, he's still finding it bright. A bypassed bart preamp is not going to have any treble roll-off and will actually be brighter than the existing pre the way he is running it.

Krustwell, as lowendgenerator said, i'm pretty sure you're bass will have passive pickups with an active eq - probably the fender 'noiseless' ones.

bassartist · #11 03-31-2008, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowendgenerator

If I remember correctly, the bass and treble are stacked, and the mids are on their own knob. At least that's how my Deluxe Jazz is set up. If you do end up selling the preamp, I call first dibs! I dig that preamp.

I usually run mine with the mids all the way up, bass and treble set around flat.

I've been toying around with this same issue and am considering replacing stock pups with either aeros or lakland pups. Larry at aero said that i could install and not even need a preamp which is something I've been leaning towards anyway. other than that, I was going to install a j-retro with the active/passive option.

krustwell · #12 03-31-2008, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowendgenerator

If you have a Deluxe Jazz, you have passive noiseless pickups.

man, i need to spend some time learning my equipment.

lowendgenerator · #13 03-31-2008, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krustwell

man, i need to spend some time learning my equipment.

Don't sweat it. I get corrected on TalkBass constantly.

xchristopherx · #14 03-31-2008, 09:37 PM

that sounds weird to me that with the high all the way down, you are finding your tone is still too bright. is it possible that the tweeter on your cab is up too high? (most cabinets have a control on the back to adjust that) just a suggestion. i actually like the stock active electronics on those fenders. good luck man.

krustwell · #15 04-01-2008, 10:34 AM

if i continue posting in here, you all will have plenty more opportunities to correct me.

i associated an "active bass" as using special pickups in addition to the onboard preamp, hence thinking i had "active pickups". but thinking about it, i guess that would be redundant. i'm going to assume there are active basses with battery powered active pickups and those with battery powered preamps (that use passive pickups). do any basses use both?

i will adjust the tweeter on my cab and see if that helps. my main rig (old Peavey head, 2x10 Ampeg and 1x15 Ampeg) sits at the church and i mainly play through a tiny 8" practice amp at home. i notice the high treble on both setups, not just just the little one.

thank you all for your input and suggestions. armed with the knowledge you have given me, i am now ready to go out there and start screwing with my bass!! if/when i make a move, i'll post back the results.

4Mal · #16 04-01-2008, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krustwell

man, i need to spend some time learning my equipment.

Yeah, well said... IMO - your basic approach is skewed. If you have to make really extreme tone adjustments on your bass - then you need to spend some time dialing in a sound with your rig.

Advice ? Set your bass back to flat, then get the sound you're looking for with the EQ on your amp. Use the bass for relatively minor adjustments to that ...

The other thought that comes to mind - you're not actually using this in a live environment and you're dialing in a really heavey bottom end that sounds great in a relatively small room... Don't sweat it - everybody does that at some point... The deal here is that the big 'bedroom' tone isn't one that actually works live. It just turns to mud in a large room, in the context of a band.

FWIW - I used that same pre in a custom I built up for quite a while. Bart 9J's and a BA II on a 1 pc Swamp Ash body - and it rocked! That was a great sounding bass. Mostly the pre stayed flat and I rocked the blend maybe an 1/8th turn either way for emphasis. Once in a while I'd bring up the mid's and the bass to ghet a little thicker thing happening - but only a scootch... like I mentioned - if your rig is doing it's job you should't need much...

normally I'd be thinking - hey scrap it and drop in an Audere. Ive got two and love 'em. In your case - yeah - get to know your existing stuff first - then think about swapping out your pre if you want to make a change...

4StringTheorist · #17 04-03-2008, 05:15 PM

To the krustwell:

Another thing to check is your battery. Put a fresh new battery in and see what that does.

The most dramatic example of almost-dead battery treble accentuation is the tune "Higher Law" on Victor Wooten's Soul Circus album. He recorded that song with the battery in his bass well on the way out, and the thin, semi-distorted tone definitely would sound like something has horribly wrong with your bass!

edit: Though, now that I re-read your post, it seems clear that this isn't a sudden problem, so scratch my theory.

breezeprz · #18 04-07-2008, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_Dave

The problem is not so much active verse passive but that even with the treble control on the preamp all the way down, he's still finding it bright. A bypassed bart preamp is not going to have any treble roll-off and will actually be brighter than the existing pre the way he is running it.

Krustwell, as lowendgenerator said, i'm pretty sure you're bass will have passive pickups with an active eq - probably the fender 'noiseless' ones.

This I can definitely attest to. I just put fender noiseless pickups in my MM4 and have noticed that it's especially bright in passive mode. Whereas with the original pups, the bass had a bit more punch and midrange growl, not to mention that the EQ had more impact in active mode...I'm tending to roll off my highs more now than before the mod.

sjb64 · #19 04-10-2008, 11:59 PM

To the OP,

On my Deluxe Active J-Bass V, I started by replacing the pickups and soon realized that the preamp was the bigger problem. Although, the new pickups did improve my B string quite a bit.

You're right, the Fender preamp is very trebley. The center frequency for the treble conrol is at 8k Hz. It's too bright and modern for my taste.

The Sadowsky preamp's center frequency for the treble is 4k Hz. It's not quite high enough for my taste and is almost harsh IMO.

I went with a two band preamp made by Aguilar and it has a center freqency of 6k Hz for the treble control. It sounds good to my ears and was easy to install. It also worked well with my Norstrand NJ5F pickups.

Davo-London · #20 04-11-2008, 06:45 AM

What is the unamplified tone of the bass? Is it maple bodied or ash - bodied? Is this the source of the problem?

I mean it could be the Fender pre-amp but in my experience the PUs and pre-amp should be trying to amplify the resonant sound of the instrument. If you don't like that, then you should sell it and buy a bass with a warmer toned-body wood.

Just saying
Davo