I have to decide between Aguilar OBP-3 or Sadowsky preamps ...

[bewater]

I'm new here, but a lot of years as bass player.
I'm from Barcelona (Spain)

Relating to the change of the preamp:
I want versatility of sound, clarity, punch, ..., I want all

One of my basses -5 strings- have a pair of Llindy Fralin pickups and I want to change the preamp.

At the end I would decide between Aguilar OBP-3 or maybe the Sadowsky preamp. But I'm not shure due to the pickups: Lindy fralin 5 strings are not humcancelling, and probably are one of the best options to enjoy the best "Sadowsky" sound, the vintage sound, etc.

But probably the OBP-3 will offer me a best "modern" sound.
Perhaps the U-retro is another good option ... I'm

Could someone help me with his/her experience ?

[luknfur]

FWIW:

In general I'd say if you're looking for lots of boost/cut then any of the Barts, Aguilar, EMG's (control not system) will get you there. If the Sad onboards are anything like the outboard unit I'd say unless you want a very subtle edge in addition to the sound you already have, probably not the pre of choice. In your face is the last thing the Sad was.

Never had a Retro.

Here's some of my exeperiences with pre's:

Dr. DIMENTO’S “ONBOARD” PREAMP & BOSS GEB-7 GRAPHIC EQ EXPERIMENT

[bewater]

Hi,

Actually the Sad onboard sounds like the outboard, it's the same preamp but in a external box and with a DI output.

In fact, I decided some days ago to install the OBP-3 -before reading your reply- and I will have always the moment to buy a Sadowsky outboard unit to enjoy the Sad sound. Aguilar doesn't have an outboard of the OBP-3, ... nowadays.

When I have installed the OBP-3 I will tell you my feelings with it.

Thanks and regards

[gimmeagig]

I have had both and I would go for the sadowsky or the OBP1 but not the OBP3.

[luknfur]

Originally Posted by bewater

Hi,

Actually the Sad onboard sounds like the outboard, it's the same preamp but in a external box and with a DI output.

In fact, I decided some days ago to install the OBP-3 -before reading your reply- and I will have always the moment to buy a Sadowsky outboard unit to enjoy the Sad sound. Aguilar doesn't have an outboard of the OBP-3, ... nowadays.

When I have installed the OBP-3 I will tell you my feelings with it.

Thanks and regards

FWIW:

you can pretty much take any onboard and make it into an outbaord by swapping a couple wires and adding a jack. See FAQ Dimento's "onboard" preamp experiment.

Did it with a OBP-3, NTMB, BQC, Alembic activator, and Fender Deluxe.

[bewater]

Originally Posted by gimmeagig

I have had both and I would go for the sadowsky or the OBP1 but not the OBP3.

Hello,

Why not the OBP-3 ?
Could you comment me your experience with the OBP-3 and why you prefer both the sadowsky and the OBP-1 instead of the OBP-3 ?

I bought already the OBP-3. Perhaps with Fralin pickups its not the best preamp, but nobody answer me before I asked that question in this forum.

I wanted to be sure before making the purchase. In my opinion Sadowsky preamp was a sure deal and a sound I love so much but, I like also the modern sound that OBP-3 delivers. The only problem was be sure about the combination OBP-3 + Fralin pickups.

If it doesn't go I will have to buy the sadowsky outboard preamp.

In any case, thanks for your comments.

[gimmeagig]

Reasons why I don't like the OBP 3 are:
I don't like to hav a mid control on the bass.It colors the sound of my bass and takes away clarity as far as I'm concerned.I control the mids from my amp and that works fine.
The second reason is that the treble center frequency is at
6.5 k as oppsed to the OBP1 and the sadowsky at 4 K.
At 6.5K the highs get really thin.
I still have a OBP3 mounted on a Jazz control plate if anybody here is interested I'll be happy to sell it.

[bewater]

Originally Posted by luknfur

FWIW:

you can pretty much take any onboard and make it into an outbaord by swapping a couple wires and adding a jack. See FAQ Dimento's "onboard" preamp experiment.

Did it with a OBP-3, NTMB, BQC, Alembic activator, and Fender Deluxe.

Hi,

I never used an outboard preamp before ...
A question please:

The best way to enjoy the preamp sound, is it putting the inboard preamp in pasive mode?

Thanks

[luknfur]

Originally Posted by bewater

Hi,

I never used an outboard preamp before ...
A question please:

The best way to enjoy the preamp sound, is it putting the inboard preamp in pasive mode?

Thanks

FWIW:

The advantage of outboard is it's plug and play (can be added or pulled from the chain) with any bass and you don't have to alter the bass at all. The disadvantage is that the control is not on the bass. For players who stand by their amps, it works fine. For front men it's not very practical unless adjusmtments are few and far between.

In passive mode you're skipping the preamp. For some players or some applications passive mode is just preferred. It's initial intended purpose was primarily for backup so you can still get sound if the battery goes bad.


See the Bass mod link in the first paragraph of this thread:

DIMENTO'S BASIC TROUBLE-SHOOTING GUIDE

[sincity]

Originally Posted by luknfur

FWIW:

The advantage of outboard is it's plug and play (can be added or pulled from the chain) with any bass and you don't have to alter the bass at all. The disadvantage is that the control is not on the bass. For players who stand by their amps, it works fine. For front men it's not very practical unless adjusmtments are few and far between.

In passive mode you're skipping the preamp. For some players or some applications passive mode is just preferred. It's initial intended purpose was primarily for backup so you can still get sound if the battery goes bad.


See the Bass mod link in the first paragraph of this thread:

DIMENTO'S BASIC TROUBLE-SHOOTING GUIDE

I would agree with this to a point. I've had some jazzes, and maybe some of you have as well, where you turn the pickup all the way, and the pickup's tone is complete dogshit. You have to back the volume off just a bit to get the tone back.

That, to me is a problem with the pots, which, with a new inboard preamp like an Aguilar, you would, hopefully, be getting better quality pots and electronics.

[bewater]

Originally Posted by luknfur

FWIW:

The advantage of outboard is it's plug and play (can be added or pulled from the chain) with any bass and you don't have to alter the bass at all. The disadvantage is that the control is not on the bass. For players who stand by their amps, it works fine. For front men it's not very practical unless adjusmtments are few and far between.

In passive mode you're skipping the preamp. For some players or some applications passive mode is just preferred. It's initial intended purpose was primarily for backup so you can still get sound if the battery goes bad.


See the Bass mod link in the first paragraph of this thread:

DIMENTO'S BASIC TROUBLE-SHOOTING GUIDE

My sentence was wrong built.

Really I wanted to ask: "the best way to enjoy the outboard preamp, is it with the inboard in pasive mode?"

Thanks

[luknfur]

Originally Posted by bewater

My sentence was wrong built.

Really I wanted to ask: "the best way to enjoy the outboard preamp, is it with the inboard in pasive mode?"

Thanks

FWIW:

That’s relative to your need and taste so something only you can determine. I like active and passive tone, it just depends on what I’m using and want at the time. The plus of the outboard pre is that you have full control of both. There would be no point in having the pre period if passive mode was all you used.

A few other advantages to an outboard is that you have full passive onboard controls. In as much, you can do a side by side with your bass in it’s original state compared to with the preamp, especially if you run a by-pass circuit in outboard form. Even without the by-pass, plug/unplug and play would only amount to seconds and if you can’t tell the difference in that time frame then it’s not of much significance. Also an onboard pre in passive mode will typically only have volume control and maybe a blend or tone at most otherwise there’s a slew of pots in the bass, so you have more passive control in passive mode with an outboard. You don’t have to mess with batteries onboard either. Also you don't have to deal with space limitations in the outboard pre so you can pretty much whatever you want in it. You can also compare various pre's to each other using the same bass - which I did in those experiments.

Also often pre’s don’t have a true by-pass so there’s still one leg of the pre connected. That can suck tone depending on the pre. Some it can make a big difference, some not much. A passive harness can suck tone as well so that’s splitting hairs.

Every component between the pups and jack degrade the signal some though. Some pups REALLY open up when ran straight to the jack. Some it doesn’t make much difference. Although you don’t have a signal loss per se’ with preamps, most pre’s add a compressed sort of dullness to tone as opposed to ran passive, which I mostly noticed on single coils. On the other hand, pre’s tend to reduce hum some. In my experience, pretty much anything that cuts hum in singles also cuts tone though. I just got in the habit of adjusting technique to maintain contact with strings to kill it. And in case your wondering, the pre ran outboard sounds the same as onboard.

Most late model amps have boost/cut in the preamp circuit so unless you go for a more advance onboard pre with a tone filter, parametric eq, whatever, then you already have an outboard pre in your amp - and probably of higher quality in a decent amp than the aftermarket pre would be. Still a Sad is a different animal though and an enhance or presence control on an amp is probably the closest thing.

[bewater]

Thanks for comments.

In your opinion and, relating to your comments about some preamps with a not clear passive "effective" switch,

what's the passive tone quality (as true passive) delivered for the OBP-3 ?

Does it change the natural passive sound of the bass with the switch in "passive mode" ?

[gimmeagig]

Ultimately there is no substitute for actually spending the money and actually trying stuff out for yourself.There's only so much to be able to explain verbally.Everybody's ears are different tastes are different.Technique amps speakers roomacoustics.....everything is a factor.
Spend the money, experiment and if you don't like your current setup move on and try something else.Enjoy the process!

[luknfur]

Originally Posted by bewater

Thanks for comments.

In your opinion and, relating to your comments about some preamps with a not clear passive "effective" switch,

what's the passive tone quality (as true passive) delivered for the OBP-3 ?

Does it change the natural passive sound of the bass with the switch in "passive mode" ?

FWIW:

the passive switch is a trial and error thing that you can only know by doing cause only you can decide. What I've mentioned has been my experience, which may not be yours. None of the Bart, EMG, or Aguilar preamps altered the tone of my basses to any significance, they just gave more control over the tone onbaord due to the band separation and/or mid switching.

As Gimmeagig has addressed, gathering information to narrow a search is useful, once you've got it down to two or three it's time to just pick one and check it out. You won't KNOW for YOU until you DO.

[bewater]

Originally Posted by luknfur

FWIW:

As Gimmeagig has addressed, gathering information to narrow a search is useful, once you've got it down to two or three it's time to just pick one and check it out. You won't KNOW for YOU until you DO.

Totally agree. The reason I'm asking about OBP-3 is because I'm not sure relating to its compatibility with Fralin "alnico magnet" pickups.
But you specially have confirmed me my initial impressions about to Sad outboard: it will be my next purchase and with the benefit of use it with all my basses.

Thanks everybody for comments. Best regards.

[luknfur]

Originally Posted by bewater

Totally agree. The reason I'm asking about OBP-3 is because I'm not sure relating to its compatibility with Fralin "alnico magnet" pickups.
But you specially have confirmed me my initial impressions about to Sad outboard: it will be my next purchase and with the benefit of use it with all my basses.

Thanks everybody for comments. Best regards.

Don't know how available these items are in Barcelona but I know Aguilar makes the OBP-1 in outboard form - DB759 or something like that. Don't know about the OBP-3. Some shop there make actually have one you can check out first. I'm guessing that's unlikely for the Sad. Sadowsky is also supposed to be coming out with a new 3 band version - due about now from what I recall.