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Audere JZ5D Jazz install

petch

petch

Gold Supporting Member
Mar 25, 2001
1,970
2,115
71
Medina, Ohio
#1
It's been one week since I put an Audere preamp in my Fender American Deluxe jazz. The bass is a 2002, 18 volt, with noiseless pickups. I have never modified any of my basses until now. Why now? Well the stellar comments about these preamps got my curiousity going. I had Christmas bonus money and Audere has a 10-day money back guarantee, so there's not much risk. :)
The package was superbly packed and explicit instructions with plenty of info was included. Even the shrink tubing and battery are included. The preamp looks great with a well polished plate and nice chrome knobs with a very smooth feel.
I'm not experienced at this sort of install, so my buddy rojo412 did it for me. There was some soldering of the battery wires involved, but he termed the whole process "relatively easy" I believe.
The knobs are volume, stacked mid/pickup balance, stacked treble/bass, and the 5-way Z-mode switch. You can check the Audere site for more Z-mode information. There is a mucho cool blue LED battery strenth indicator as well.
How does it sound? AWESOME! Like I said, I've never modded before so the results knocked me out. The standard AMDeluxe jazz is a terrific bass with the stock preamp, but this is most definitely a step up IMO. The mid control, for my setup (Eden WT-550, Berg HT/EX-112's) is voiced better and more usable. I didn't use the stock mid control much because it sounded unnatural to me when boosted and when cut the mids just disappeared. The Audere mid gives superb control over the mids and is in a good spot ergonomically.
The Z-mode switch gives 5 distinctly different voices. My fave is the Low/High setting (neck/bridge) which just rocks. Think jazz sound with extra beef. In this mode (and also Low/Low) when you balance toward the neck pickup or boost the bass (or both!) the low end is just incredible. You can dial in huge low end with this setup, all very clean. I am no slapper, but the brighter settings and the more traditional Medium/Medium rock as well. In short, the sound is terrific. Makes me want to play more, experiment more, learn more. Awesome. A turbocharged jazz bass!
Dave Meadows answers all questions rapidly and professionally. My only niggle is the audible click produced by the Z-mode knob when changing the setting. Dave explained that the choices for this type of knob are quite limited, and to keep his pricing where he wants to, this is, at the moment, the most viable device. My feeling is the sound of the preamp is just so good that I can overlook this.
Hope these comments are helpful. If you're on the fence about trying an Audere, just go for it! The results easily justify the price. :)
 
#5
How does cutting the Hi's on the pre compare to the passive roll off?

I wonder is the rotary five way can be replaced with a mini 5 way? ... Maybe there is not such thing, but I the thought of such a thing seems nice, vs. a knob.

Thanks for the mini review! I'm really temped to put one of these 3-band JZ5's in my Jazz bass.
 
#6
ibz said:
How does cutting the Hi's on the pre compare to the passive roll off?

Thanks for the mini review! I'm really temped to put one of these 3-band JZ5's in my Jazz bass.
Click to expand...

To my ears, a good passive treble roll-off usually seems to cut more over a wider range than the active treble control in any of the pre's I've tried (Audere, Bart, EMG, East). I may be wrong, but the pre's all seem to have their cut centered around a particular treble frequency (2k Hz, say) with less of a cut above and below that point, and you can never completely cut out the highs, whereas the passive roll-off is more of a "shelf" that cuts everything above a certain frequency. As a result, you can get a much deeper, darker tone with the passive cut than cutting the active treble.

That's my experience, anyway. There are filter-based active EQ's like the Wal and Alembic that do something similar to what the passive roll-off does, except they let you sweep the cut-off point, and those can also get very dark tones.

Mike
 
#7
mikezimmerman said:
To my ears, a good passive treble roll-off usually seems to cut more over a wider range than the active treble control in any of the pre's I've tried (Audere, Bart, EMG, East). I may be wrong, but the pre's all seem to have their cut centered around a particular treble frequency (2k Hz, say) with less of a cut above and below that point, and you can never completely cut out the highs, whereas the passive roll-off is more of a "shelf" that cuts everything above a certain frequency. As a result, you can get a much deeper, darker tone with the passive cut than cutting the active treble.

That's my experience, anyway. There are filter-based active EQ's like the Wal and Alembic that do something similar to what the passive roll-off does, except they let you sweep the cut-off point, and those can also get very dark tones.

Mike
Click to expand...

Well this makes a lot of sense. A passive cut certainly can cut a lot of signal when it's turned down all the way, dub sounds anyone?

I feel that with my Aguilar OPB-2 tone all the way down it feels like the first quarter turn of a passive tone control and does a nice job of taming harsh sounds, while still leaving a lot of the character. Short of trying a filter based system, I havn't come across a preamp that gives me the great amount of overall treble cut a passive tone control has.

Do any shelving active treble-cuts exist that simulate passive roll-off, besides a filter? Am I confusing too many terms? :p
 
#8
ibz said:
Do any shelving active treble-cuts exist that simulate passive roll-off, besides a filter? Am I confusing too many terms? :p
Click to expand...

It's all about where you put that treble cut frequency point. As mentioned above, it tends to be pretty high. I have used Bartolini pres in the past that have external components that set the frequency point. It was pretty nice in that you have a lot of options and can even put the different caps on a switch so you could have a low frequency for rolloff and a higher frequency for boosts.

However, I am really sold on the AGC "filter based" preamp. Doing something like this is a piece of cake and is way more versatile than either a passive rolloff or a traditional bass/middle/treble eq. Alembics can work like this, but don't go as low in frequency for true dub tones. It might take a little more knob twiddling to get from one extreme to another, but it quickly becomes second nature. Eventually all my other pres will probably hit the auction block!

Edwin
 
#9
petch - thanks for doing a review and the generous comments...

mikezimmerman said:
To my ears, a good passive treble roll-off usually seems to cut more over a wider range than the active treble control in any of the pre's I've tried (Audere, Bart, EMG, East).
Click to expand...

This is correct - passive roll off controls cut over a wider range than active treble cuts.

mikezimmerman said:
There are filter-based active EQ's like the Wal and Alembic that do something similar to what the passive roll-off does, except they let you sweep the cut-off point, and those can also get very dark tones.
Click to expand...

Passive roll offs work by sweeping down the point at which roll off starts. When the control is "off" the cut off just starts at a frequency which is very high – as you engage the control the starting cut frequency is just reduced.

In the slight roll off region you can get some mid roll off also which interestingly goes away again as the frequency is moved down.

Mods – delete this if it violates CUP to far…
With the JZ5D preamp - try using the Low/High setting (neck/bridge) and roll the balance (or vols) to just use just the neck pickup - this is a lower yet Z-Mode with very little top end remaining in the signal…
 
#10
mikezimmerman said:
To my ears, a good passive treble roll-off usually seems to cut more over a wider range than the active treble control in any of the pre's I've tried (Audere, Bart, EMG, East). I may be wrong, but the pre's all seem to have their cut centered around a particular treble frequency (2k Hz, say) with less of a cut above and below that point, and you can never completely cut out the highs,
Mike
Click to expand...

This isn't true about the Retro, and just so's your understanding is clear on this one. The boost and cut frequencies are different:

TREBLE BOOST
* Shelving at around 3kHz.

TREBLE CUT
* Starts as shelving as you back it off, but is non-shelving cut which goes all the way down, when fully backed off. The spec states 1kHz in cut. (But in fact it's a lot lower and I need to change the spec!)

The point of this is that, if the frequencies of cut and boost are the same, it may be a compromise in that to use a frequency that is mellow enough in cut, may be too harsh as a boost frequency. So you probably have to go somewhere inbetween.

So I set them differently in order (ideally) not to be harsh in boost, and be very mellow in cut.
 
#11
Dave and John, your comments are much appreciated. I learn something new here all the time, which is what makes TB so cool. Your products rock! :) Dave, the setting you describe is exactly what I've been using to get that big smooth bottom. One of the best things about this pre is that it turns the sometimes-ignored neck pickup into a thundering beast!
 
#15
John East said:
This isn't true about the Retro, and just so's your understanding is clear on this one. The boost and cut frequencies are different:

TREBLE BOOST
* Shelving at around 3kHz.

TREBLE CUT
* Starts as shelving as you back it off, but is non-shelving cut which goes all the way down, when fully backed off. The spec states 1kHz in cut. (But in fact it's a lot lower and I need to change the spec!)

The point of this is that, if the frequencies of cut and boost are the same, it may be a compromise in that to use a frequency that is mellow enough in cut, may be too harsh as a boost frequency. So you probably have to go somewhere inbetween.

So I set them differently in order (ideally) not to be harsh in boost, and be very mellow in cut.
Click to expand...

Thanks, John. I'd forgotten that the J-Retro was more sophisticated than most EQs in having different frequencies for cut vs. boost.

Mike
 

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