Best onboard Preamp you have ever played

[ragetoca]

whats the best overall onboard bass preamp you have ever played?

 

[gtirard]

Define best? The warmest or the most transparent? The most versatile, or straightforward? Best bang for the buck or best in class?

I voted John East because it's super flexible and easy to tweak for my needs, but I also like the internal preamp of the G&L L2000 - for different reasons. I haven't tried a lot of others though.

 

[Passinwind]

whats the best overall onboard bass preamp you have ever played?

The next one I build…

 

[M-Mittlesteadt]

I've had a lot over the years, some stock and some separate install/mod and have come to prefer simple preamps that do just what I want/need with minimal tweaking required.

I gotta admit, when I bought my Ibanez GR206, I figured I may need to swap the preamp out for something else. Turns out it is great as is. Dead silent with just a simple volume for each pickup (bridge/neck) a tone control and a control they call PHAT II EQ, which is kind of like a bass boost mid contour control.

I have a ton of control over my tone without needing to fuss over it at all. I'm sure it would not be for everyone because many would prefer to buy a more elaborate preamp (and one that cost more than my bass did). I kind of wish they offered it as a separate option to put in other basses, I'm that pleased with it

So simple, even a caveman can use it.

 

[BassikBrad]

HAZ or LHZ

 

[Zooberwerx]

Audere. They’re interesting and I can find them occasionally on the secondhand market on-the-cheap.

Riis

 

[pepj]

I like Glock, Pope and Alleva Coppolo.

 

[winston]

None of the above - Xotic 3-band with passive tone, 2 switches for hi/mid frequencies, switch for and series/ parallel
Dragonfly 3-band
F-Bass 3-band, very transparent but very juicy
I find even Bart 2-bands to have enough treble range control that I don't totally miss passive treble

Worst by far - Ernie Ball/Music Man '90s 3-band

 

[Pdaddy1978]

Ive had 1, exactly 1 active bass in my life. It was a mid 70s MM Stingray.
Was that preamp something of their own?
As a guy who's been passive his whole life, I gotta say...I didnt hate it.
But it was a pretty small sample.

 

[Lo-E]

The list doesn’t have an “other” option.

I’ve played through all sorts of onboard pres and I’ve liked a lot of them for various reasons. I’m not sure I have a favorite.

I will say that I’ve never been a big fan of boost-only pres and that I tend to prefer a well-voiced 2-band over 3-band or more but neither of those things are written in stone.

I like the stock 2-band Stingray preamp and the 2-band MEC, each with their respective stock pickups.

I like Bart, John East and Nordy pres with a variety of pickups. I have a Noll that I haven’t used yet but the ones I’ve heard sound really good.

I think Auderes sound great with J-bass pickups but I don’t like their “Z-mode” very much.

I think some older pres like the early G&L L series and late ‘70s/early ‘80s Ibanez pres sound good even though they’re a little noisy by today’s standards.

…in other words, I’m all over the map.

 

[ragetoca]

Ive had 1, exactly 1 active ass in my life. It was a mid 70s MM Stingray.
Was that preamp something of their own?
As a guy who's been passive his whole life, I gotta say...I didnt hate it.
But it was a pretty small sample.

Might want to spell check your reply…

 

[Pdaddy1978]

Might want to spell check your reply…

Woah!.... geeze Louise!... Bass. sorry.
Fixed.

 

[JRA]

whats the best overall onboard bass preamp you have ever played?

i've played two: EMG and audere. i like 'em both!

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

I voted Glock….. the one is my Sandberg is sweet.
But I like EBMM Special Preamps just as much. Same goes for the original 2 band preamp for pre Ernie Ball MusicMans.


You need to add an option for the different MusicMan preamps .


Also , Spector players love those preamps . Your poll needs more options and an other option.

I suspect the Ken Smith players might chime in as well.

 

[ELG60]

I have 3 of them: Sadowsky w/VTC, Audere Z-mode, and John East. The latter is my favorite although the Audere, in an Adam Clayton Jazz sounds very good. I don't spend enough time with the Sadowsky to render a valid opinion, but my general impression is that it's too "polite."

 

[FatOwlBass]

I depends the bass. I had a spare EMG BQC preamp I didn't care for. I sold it to my friend and installed it in his G&L l2500. The stock pre was fried. That EMG preamp with the stock pickups was amazing! I didn't sound as good in the bass I originally had it paired to. So I believe a preamp is only as good as how well it serves the Bass you are dropping it in.

 

[scuzzy]

HAZ or LHZ

This thread is useless without HAZ.

 

[scuzzy]

I voted Glock….. the one is my Sandberg is sweet.
But I like EBMM Special Preamps just as much. Same goes for the original 2 band preamp for pre Ernie Ball MusicMans.


You need to add an option for the different MusicMan preamps .


Also , Spector players love those preamps . Your poll needs more options and an other option.

I suspect the Ken Smith players might chime in as well.

Yes, us Spector players love our haz preamps. Even when installed in Les Paul basses. Haz is the beez kneez.

 

[andvari7]

Basslab BassXX
HAZ

 

[TonyP-]

To me it all depends on the instrument and what pickups are being used.

I like several listed but for different reasons each.