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Fender American Elite 5 - Preamp Swap?

phillipkregg

phillipkregg

Jun 8, 2010
3,681
5,824
Nashville, TN
#1
Over the weekend I purchased yet another Fender American Elite 5 string jazz bass. I sold my last one because it was too heavy. This one is a little lighter, but I'm still not entirely impressed by the preamp.

In my opinion, it colors the tone a little too brightly. In passive mode the bass sounds perfect, it has a beautiful, warm and punchy tone so I don't think the problem is the pickups.

I'd like to get the same tone in active mode that I'm getting from passive. So I'm looking for a preamp that is very transparent.

The Sadowsky preamp has traditionally been my favorite jazz bass preamp, so I'm considering that. I need a tone control that works in active mode, so the Sadowsky VTC will be perfect.

Has anyone here attempted to install a Sadowsky pre into a Fender Elite bass yet? Or do you have any other suggestions for a transparent preamp that has a tone control in active mode?
 
#2
The Sadowsky preamp should be a relatively straightforward install. That’s what I use in my Fender Parts 5.

19AF9E78-52F8-4CF5-9EFC-779A5F3C8584.jpeg
 
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#3
The Aguilar OBP-3 is pretty sweet. The tone knob works active or passive. When I flip the Active switch with everything set flat, It sounds almost identical to passive.
I assume that is how the Sadowsky would be as well. Truthfully all Pre's should be that way but maybe the Elite's Pre is an exception?
I love my Aguilar equipped bass like no other. But it does require lot of holes in the body. One less if you choose the Push/Pull pot for active but dig the mini toggle switch.
From left to right: Volume, Pickup Blend, Mid cut/boost,Bass, Treble Stack, Passive tone.

aguilar-slogan14-jpg.jpg
 
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#4
I can’t think of anything challenging about using a Sadowsky preamp in your bass.

But - I’m not so sure they’re the most transparent on the market. The ones I’ve used add a little gain and, even at zero boost, give the bass a bit of a “caffeinated” tone versus passive. The VTC helps; I roll mine off about 40%. Not sure the pot is linear.

I’ve heard very good things about the John East preamps in J basses. Also, I see Nordstrand has both 2- and 3- band preamps now that have tone controls also. If it were me, I’d check those out too.

Nothing wrong with Sadowsky preamps though.
 
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#6
SCT1422 said:
Why not just play it in passive ?? I played a few of these and agree, they sound great passive and I think the preamp sucks ass !! I also play most of my active basses passive though, with the rig I'm using I find I don't need to add any type of preamp in the mix..
Click to expand...

I don't know if I would go so far as to say that the preamp completely sucks. The bass sounds good in active mode, it just doesn't sound as good as the preamp on my Sadowsky and it doesn't sound as good as the passive mode does.

Just looking for options that will give me an active tone that I love without losing the already great passive tone that it has.
 
#8
FunkHead said:
The Aguilar OBP-3 is pretty sweet. The tone knob works active or passive. When I flip the Active switch with everything set flat, It sounds almost identical to passive.
I assume that is how the Sadowsky would be as well. Truthfully all Pre's should be that way but maybe the Elite's Pre is an exception?
I love my Aguilar equipped bass like no other. But it does require lot of holes in the body. One less if you choose the Push/Pull pot for active but dig the mini toggle switch.
From left to right: Volume, Pickup Blend, Mid cut/boost,Bass, Treble Stack, Passive tone.

View attachment 3310126
Click to expand...

I didn't realize the OBP-3 had a passive tone knob. Good to hear that it doesn't color the tone too.

A few years ago I put a John East JRetro into my Lakland Joe Osborn and it completely changed everything about the character of the bass. I've yet to ever hear a preamp that colored the tone more than that one.
 
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#9
When I had an American Elite, I changed the pups and the preamps, so it's hard for meto really comment one way or the other.

And I changed out the OEM parts, not because I thought they had shortcomings, but because I really like the sound of the Nord preamp and the Nord NJ5s Vintage Wind. No colorful metaphors for the original pups and pres, I was just looking for something different.
 
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#11
scubaduba said:
I might be in the minority but my favorite preamp in a jazz bass is the Audere. More transparent than other options but still extremely versatile. Easy to install too with no soldering.
Click to expand...
I was very happy with the Audere 4 band pres I installed in a pair of American Deluxe J 5’s a couple years ago.
 
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#13
Fairly recently I put a set of Aero pickups and a Bart preamp into a 5 string Jazz bass. It is a killer combo - the Aero pickups hold their own in passive mode, the preamp kicks it into overdrive. I got the plate mounted bart preamp on Reverb from Bassmods.
 
#14
MultiScaleMale said:
Fairly recently I put a set of Aero pickups and a Bart preamp into a 5 string Jazz bass. It is a killer combo - the Aero pickups hold their own in passive mode, the preamp kicks it into overdrive. I got the plate mounted bart preamp on Reverb from Bassmods.
Click to expand...
Does the Bart preamp have a passive tone control while it’s in active mode?

That’s a big selling point for me.
 
#17
phillipkregg said:
I didn't realize the OBP-3 had a passive tone knob. Good to hear that it doesn't color the tone too.

A few years ago I put a John East JRetro into my Lakland Joe Osborn and it completely changed everything about the character of the bass. I've yet to ever hear a preamp that colored the tone more than that one.
Click to expand...
Yes, but you can custom order a John East preamp with a flat response that doesn’t color the tone.
 
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#19
phillipkregg said:
Over the weekend I purchased yet another Fender American Elite 5 string jazz bass. I sold my last one because it was too heavy. This one is a little lighter, but I'm still not entirely impressed by the preamp.

In my opinion, it colors the tone a little too brightly. In passive mode the bass sounds perfect, it has a beautiful, warm and punchy tone so I don't think the problem is the pickups.

I'd like to get the same tone in active mode that I'm getting from passive. So I'm looking for a preamp that is very transparent.

The Sadowsky preamp has traditionally been my favorite jazz bass preamp, so I'm considering that. I need a tone control that works in active mode, so the Sadowsky VTC will be perfect.

Has anyone here attempted to install a Sadowsky pre into a Fender Elite bass yet? Or do you have any other suggestions for a transparent preamp that has a tone control in active mode?
Click to expand...

Silly question.

Why would you spend that much $$$ on a bass that you do not like the pre amp????

You could have just as easily spent that on a bass you are completely happy with.
 
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#20
Hounddog409 said:
Silly question.

Why would you spend that much $$$ on a bass that you do not like the pre amp????

You could have just as easily spent that on a bass you are completely happy with.
Click to expand...

There’s more to a bass than just its electronics. Like I said it doesn’t sound bad, I just preferred my Sadowsky preamps.

The neck on the Fender is amazing and I love the playability. It’s not uncommon to upgrade pickups and electronics on just about any instrument. The only bass I’ve ever owned that I thought was perfect right off the bat, was my Skjold, and those will run you 5 to $6000 brand new.

But all this is neither here nor there, who cares why I bought the instrument? I bought it because I wanted it. Now I’m talking about it because this is TalkBass and that’s what we do :thumbsup:
 
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