I just purchased a brand new Fender active deluxe V about 2 months ago, beautiful sunburst sexy beast, flawless workmanship but has no audio balls. Lowest output preamp I ever encountered. I dropped in my audere JZ3 preamp from my other jazz bass sounds great of course. I purchased a couple of the ming 9030 preamps ( 9.99 ) a piece. For the price you should try one. I put it in my new fender and besides the lack of midrange adjustable tones and almost clipping at max volume, it makes the fender preamp that came with the bass sound peony and anemic. Forget what all the so called purist's and status snobbs on TB say, try one first and see for yourself. I'll post my pics a little later, at work now.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
expensive onboard preamps vs cheap
- Thread starter Alexdeth89
- Start date
Couple of weeks back I put a Belcat 2 band ( £5.69 ) in my Peavey Zephyr 5. Sounds real good.
Zephyrs were European release only basses very similar to the Grind,pickups were swapped for Warman ones.
Warman are a UK seller who source their pickups in China. Whole package came to £32 (about $45).
I wouldn't think twice about repeating the job.
Zephyrs were European release only basses very similar to the Grind,pickups were swapped for Warman ones.
Warman are a UK seller who source their pickups in China. Whole package came to £32 (about $45).
I wouldn't think twice about repeating the job.
Schecter Stiletto DLX sounds really good. One the best basses i ever played.
It has a chinese preamp.
It has a chinese preamp.
I shopped for a preamp this week for the first time, and was blown away at the prices. How can anyone justify $100-300 for a device that costs $2.00 or less to manufacture.
@Bob-I
I totally agree: despite the opinions of the purists, nowadays chinese-oriental electronic stuff is more than good.
Sincerely i don't trust who tells "you have what you pay for": i know for sure that a lot of branded electronic circuits are made in China, then massively imported and labeled. Boorish, unfair marketing.
I totally agree: despite the opinions of the purists, nowadays chinese-oriental electronic stuff is more than good.
Sincerely i don't trust who tells "you have what you pay for": i know for sure that a lot of branded electronic circuits are made in China, then massively imported and labeled. Boorish, unfair marketing.
Jimmy, seeking informed opinion on what the best preamp for the Fender Super 55 split coil jazz bass pickups would be ... Nordstrand? Pope? Sadowsky? SD?
I bought a cheap Ibanez 205 five string as a (another) mod platform. I fitted a Very cheap Belcat 3 band to it £10 UK inc post from China. Before modding she sounded real muddy (as the Ibanez Phat 2 boost does) with very little change between neck and bridge pickups. The Belcat preamp totally transformed the instrument, pickup differential is really strong and can be blended between the two pickups. Turn the bass up a bit she is thunderous, rattles the room. With bass at centre detent turning mid and treble up she is warm and mellow, not unlike my Yamaha BB424 which I love. Installation was real straightforward as pots supplied and prewired. Only I had to change the Belcats jack to the Ibanez one, different types. The transformation of the Ibanez is incredible I too would do it again. Without any hesitation..
I still want an active 5 string Yamaha tho.
Laurence
I have a Dean Sledgehammer 5 that has some sort of Korean- or Chinese-made no-name 2-band preamp. Sounds great in that bass with MM-style pickups. Huge and tons of growl. I actually like how it sounds in that bass over the 3-band Bartolini I had tried in it.
I actually have a 2nd of the same preamp from another Dean I had in 2010. The Bartolini actually sounded better in that one...
Anyway, I put that 2nd preamp into a Jazz bass and it was horrible. It actually scooped out the mids when it was powered (via A/P switch). Also, the wiring harness was low-quality. The wires broke at the solder joints very often in the tight Jazz bass compartment. The dime-size 50k pots also gave up the ghost after some time.
This made me appreciate quality preamps with good pots and quality wire harnesses. Aguilar preamps have beautifully fine and flexible wires.
IIRC, those Ming preamps have odd-ball pots like 20k or something, hard to find in good-quality versions if you need...
I actually have a 2nd of the same preamp from another Dean I had in 2010. The Bartolini actually sounded better in that one...
Anyway, I put that 2nd preamp into a Jazz bass and it was horrible. It actually scooped out the mids when it was powered (via A/P switch). Also, the wiring harness was low-quality. The wires broke at the solder joints very often in the tight Jazz bass compartment. The dime-size 50k pots also gave up the ghost after some time.
This made me appreciate quality preamps with good pots and quality wire harnesses. Aguilar preamps have beautifully fine and flexible wires.
IIRC, those Ming preamps have odd-ball pots like 20k or something, hard to find in good-quality versions if you need...
Last edited:
I make my own preamps. when you buy those cheap 5 dollar chinese preamps some of them leak DC current through the output and don't have input and output impedance resistors. thats when a multimeter comes in handy
I have no clue, my friend. Onboard preamps aren't much of a specialty of mine. I have a couple in basses I have with active EMG's and that's it. But if I were into them, I don't think I'd have any problems with any of those as they're all high quality.
