Audere 4 Band Classic Preamp

[PawleeP]

I talked with Dave at Audere and I mentioned how great the pickup blend control works. He told me since the blend is controlled by the circuit, there is no interaction, phasing, or impedance loading between the pickups. So, each one is acting independently but still together... if that makes sense. The same theory applies if you go Vol/Vol with their preamp too. It's amazing the thought, care and quality they've put into the design of their preamps. The battery status LED is now available for the Classic Preamp and it really works, a nice convenience feature.

Thoughts on a split or stacked coil pup mixed with a single coil?
Would the noise and EMI (hum) be any harder to shield out, than if running 2 single coils? running a JJ, PJ or JP (passive for now) may add an audere pre, later.. Anyone?

 

[laklandplayer]

Thoughts on a split or stacked coil pup mixed with a single coil?
Would the noise and EMI (hum) be any harder to shield out, than if running 2 single coils? running a JJ, PJ or JP (passive for now) may add an audere pre, later.. Anyone?

You have to understand how a typical pair of Jazz Bass single coils work.
Each is a single coil, subject to producing 60Hz hum (cheap J pickups add a lot of additional EMI and RFI noise too) But, due to the way they are wound, when used together they act as a parallel humbucker and eliminate the 60Hz hum. If you mix a single J with a P, only one of the P coils would "humbuck" when used with the single coil Jazz and you will still get 60Hz hum. All of my basses, except a stock Yamaha RXB5A2, have humbuckers installed. Personally, I would not mix single coil and humbuckers. I would use split coil Jazz pickups like the Nordstrand Hum Cancelling J series, Bartolini b axis, or the Duncan Apollo Split Coil. These maintain the Jazz sound without the hum or noise. Stacked coil Jazz pickups tend to have lower output and a darker sound, in my own experience. But they can be wired to be tapped single coil or switched to be Series or Parallel humbucking.

 

[PawleeP]

You have to understand how a typical pair of Jazz Bass single coils work.
Each is a single coil, subject to producing 60Hz hum (cheap J pickups add a lot of additional EMI and RFI noise too) But, due to the way they are wound, when used together they act as a parallel humbucker and eliminate the 60Hz hum. If you mix a single J with a P, only one of the P coils would "humbuck" when used with the single coil Jazz and you will still get 60Hz hum. All of my basses, except a stock Yamaha RXB5A2, have humbuckers installed. Personally, I would not mix single coil and humbuckers. I would use split coil Jazz pickups like the Nordstrand Hum Cancelling J series, Bartolini b axis, or the Duncan Apollo Split Coil. These maintain the Jazz sound without the hum or noise. Stacked coil Jazz pickups tend to have lower output and a darker sound, in my own experience. But they can be wired to be tapped single coil or switched to be Series or Parallel humbucking.

My research is mainly meant to be asking about a PJ or JP array.. (edit)

 

[PawleeP]

You have to understand how a typical pair of Jazz Bass single coils work.
Each is a single coil, subject to producing 60Hz hum (cheap J pickups add a lot of additional EMI and RFI noise too) But, due to the way they are wound, when used together they act as a parallel humbucker and eliminate the 60Hz hum. If you mix a single J with a P, only one of the P coils would "humbuck" when used with the single coil Jazz and you will still get 60Hz hum. All of my basses, except a stock Yamaha RXB5A2, have humbuckers installed. Personally, I would not mix single coil and humbuckers. I would use split coil Jazz pickups like the Nordstrand Hum Cancelling J series, Bartolini b axis, or the Duncan Apollo Split Coil. These maintain the Jazz sound without the hum or noise. Stacked coil Jazz pickups tend to have lower output and a darker sound, in my own experience. But they can be wired to be tapped single coil or switched to be Series or Parallel humbucking.

Do you know if Gen III<i think> (fender) noiseless pus have tapping lead(s)?
thanx, p

 

[laklandplayer]

I don't think so

 

[SgtHulka]

I talked with Dave at Audere and I mentioned how great the pickup blend control works. He told me since the blend is controlled by the circuit, there is no interaction, phasing, or impedance loading between the pickups. So, each one is acting independently but still together... if that makes sense. The same theory applies if you go Vol/Vol with their preamp too. It's amazing the thought, care and quality they've put into the design of their preamps. The battery status LED is now available for the Classic Preamp and it really works, a nice convenience feature.

Does this mean that on a jazz bass the pickups will be running in series? Independent but together?

 

[laklandplayer]

Does this mean that on a jazz bass the pickups will be running in series? Independent but together?

They will still work as single coils when soloed but as a humbucker when they are both are turned up fully

 

[IronSpatula]

Does this mean that on a jazz bass the pickups will be running in series? Independent but together?

Independent but together, yes. But in parallel, not series. Both series and parallel wiring can cancel hum, but series only gives you one output for both pickups (no blending, generally).

 

[SgtHulka]

They will still work as single coils when soloed but as a humbucker when they are both are turned up fully

I guess what I am trying to say is if you think it sounds like a series wiring when both are turned up.

 

[IronSpatula]

I guess what I am trying to say is if you think it sounds like a series wiring when both are turned up.

You can get in the ballpark by boosting the low mids on a 4 band. With the Z switch, low Z mode is another way to kick in a little oomph. On my Audere-equipped bass, I find this is especially apparent in single coil mode.

 

[SgtHulka]

You can get in the ballpark by boosting the low mids on a 4 band. With the Z switch, low Z mode is another way to kick in a little oomph. On my Audere-equipped bass, I find this is especially apparent in single coil mode.

Hmmmm. I was considering the 2 band. I never seem to do well with a mid control. It's going to be paired with Bartolini's in a PJ. At first I was thinking about a jazz bass for this upgrade but I've decided my pj is more important right now.

I suppose I could leave both mid controls flat, would that mean that I'm essentially left with a two band when both mid controls are set flat?

I have four pots available. It sounds to me like a low mid control might be nice to have in a p Bass.

 

[IronSpatula]

Hmmmm. I was considering the 2 band. I never seem to do well with a mid control. It's going to be paired with Bartolini's in a PJ. At first I was thinking about a jazz bass for this upgrade but I've decided my pj is more important right now.

I suppose I could leave both mid controls flat, would that mean that I'm essentially left with a two band when both mid controls are set flat?

I have four pots available. It sounds to me like a low mid control might be nice to have in a p Bass.

If you left both mid controls flat, you would effectively have a two band, although the shelf frequencies for the bass and treble knobs might be farther apart than on an actual two band eq. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, depending on what you like. That info would be on their site.

I for one find myself using the mid knobs in the four band format much more often than I would on a 3 band. For fingerstyle it’s nice to be able to boost the low mids independently of the high mids, and for slap I like being able to cut the high mids independently of the treble. The “mid mids” center frequency on most of my other basses sounds too nasal boosted and weakens my presence in the mix when cut.

I have never wanted for a low mid control on a P. Really I boost those frequencies with my other basses to make them fill out the mix the way a P would naturally. I could see it being very useful with the J pickup soloed, though.

 

[SgtHulka]

If you left both mid controls flat, you would effectively have a two band, although the shelf frequencies for the bass and treble knobs might be farther apart than on an actual two band eq. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, depending on what you like. That info would be on their site.

I for one find myself using the mid knobs in the four band format much more often than I would on a 3 band. For fingerstyle it’s nice to be able to boost the low mids independently of the high mids, and for slap I like being able to cut the high mids independently of the treble. The “mid mids” center frequency on most of my other basses sounds too nasal boosted and weakens my presence in the mix when cut.

I have never wanted for a low mid control on a P. Really I boost those frequencies with my other basses to make them fill out the mix the way a P would naturally. I could see it being very useful with the J pickup soloed, though.

Thank you.

 

[SgtHulka]

If you left both mid controls flat, you would effectively have a two band, although the shelf frequencies for the bass and treble knobs might be farther apart than on an actual two band eq. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, depending on what you like. That info would be on their site.

I for one find myself using the mid knobs in the four band format much more often than I would on a 3 band. For fingerstyle it’s nice to be able to boost the low mids independently of the high mids, and for slap I like being able to cut the high mids independently of the treble. The “mid mids” center frequency on most of my other basses sounds too nasal boosted and weakens my presence in the mix when cut.

I have never wanted for a low mid control on a P. Really I boost those frequencies with my other basses to make them fill out the mix the way a P would naturally. I could see it being very useful with the J pickup soloed, though.

How do you think the 3 band would be with a single mid control on a jazz bass? (500hz) as compared to the 4 band? Especially for the low mid bump fingerstyle you mentioned. I only play fingerstyle.

 

[ummies]

I have an Ibanez Cerro single cut 5 and I just love the instrument. I replaced the stock MK-1's with Nordstrand Big Splits and it was an immediate improvement. But, after a while I'm thinking, these Big Splits just aren't sounding as good as I hoped they would. I've always liked the stock Ibanez preamps and I've had experience with Bart and Demeter preamps but I wanted to try something new in this bass.
Enter the Audere 4 Band Classic. I ordered it with the battery status led and had it in 3 days. Audere's customer service is beyond outstanding too, they answer the phone and are a wealth of information and assistance.
The preamp was a breeze to install and all I can say is WOW, the bass sounds like someone took a blanket off of the speaker cabinet. The pickups just exploded with frequency range and clarity. The preamp is dead quiet and the 4 EQ pots are Low (180), Low Mid (250), High Mid (750), and Treble (3.2K). The Audere Classic has really opened this bass up. I used the Cerro in the pit of "Newsies" over the weekend (I'd been using my stock BTB33) and the drummer told me how great it sounded and that the definition was incredible. (this drummer has great ears and I trust him) There is always a struggle playing in the pit where the Keyboard 1 book is written to double a lot of the bass parts. The challenge is making the bass guitar EQ not fight with the piano and bass drum for the low end space. It can get muddy and sound terrible really fast.
With the Audere, I was able to dial it in perfectly. I reduced the 250Hz Low Mid and boosted the 750 Hi Mid to give it some point and the sound just popped. I actually had to roll off some high end. The Audere is a very well made and well thought out musical sounding preamp. It works great with Nordstrand pickups and I couldn't be happier.
I was so impressed that yesterday, I ordered their 3 band classic preamp with the (250, 500, 750) mid frequency switch for my BTB33. This preamp is voiced differently than the 4 band and it will be interesting to see how it works with the stock Ibanez "bartolini" BH2 pickups. I'll do a follow up after I get it installed.

I also really like the stock preamp in the Ibanez (I have a mid sdgr model). Like you, I swapped out the stock pups for the big singles and recently installed a Bart pre but its a bit too muddy for me.

How does the Audere compare to the stock preamp that came with your Ibanez?
Does the Audere give you growl?

 

[JamAdd85]

I know this is a relatively old thread, but I would also like to know how an Audere compares to stock Ibanez preamps. I am considering putting one in my 1987 Ibanez SR1000E that currently has the original "active Power Curve" electronics. I am not so fond of the stock so far, I think a lot of the EQ curves on the active settings are not very useful. I would like to have normal (to me anyway) bass and treble knobs.