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Reverse engineering vintage Haz Labs pre

#441
Arthur U. Poon said:
Hi, Lonnie! I just received an HL-1 pedal for Christmas, and I’m going to be using it mostly with my Spector NS4CRFM, which has Original Recipe active EMG PJs with an EMG BTS, and with my Spector Euro 6LT, which has active EMG X-Series PJs with an EMG BTS.

I see that you recommend the EMG ABC or ABCX. Even though both basses have BTS’ and active EMGs, do I still need an ABC or ABCX?
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Happy New Year, Arthur!

If you are using the HL-1 pedal, the only thing you need to remember is to set your onboard EMG BTS EQ to flat (center detent) EQ. This way you are not driving the HL-1 with a signal that already has the EQ boosted.

Beyond that, the pedal doesn't care about where the signal comes from. You can have active or passive pickups, dual volume or blend pots, or any number of control combination.

The recommendation for using an ABC or ABCX blend pot is only for folks who are replacing their internal preamps with the LHZ and wanting to change from dual volume pots to a volume & blend pot.

Cheers!
 
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#442
AgingEngineer said:
Happy New Year, Arthur!

If you are using the HL-1 pedal, the only thing you need to remember is to set your onboard EMG BTS EQ to flat (center detent) EQ. This way you are not driving the HL-1 with a signal that already has the EQ boosted.

Beyond that, the pedal doesn't care about where the signal comes from. You can have active or passive pickups, dual volume or blend pots, or any number of control combination.

The recommendation for using an ABC or ABCX blend pot is only for folks who are replacing their internal preamps with the LHZ and wanting to change from dual volume pots to a volume & blend pot.

Cheers!
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply, Lonnie.
 
#445
Just finished a build - LHZ3 and nordstrand big singes. I love the sound, thank you for making such an awesome preamp!
 

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#446
Hillie said:
If I recall correctly, Lonnie sells a stacked knob on his site too, might even get it connected to the pre if you ask nicely and he's willing to do so of course.
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You are correct: I do have concentric pots listed on the LHZPreamps website! When they are ordered with a preamp it automatically triggers an assembly flag so the preamp is assembled with the concentric pot instead of the standard separate bass and treble pots.
 
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#447
BGroovy said:
If anyone wants to drop an LHZ in their stacked treble/bass knob bass I just posted a custom configured LHZ 3 Lonnie put together for my Spector Bantam. It’s awesome, sounds fantastic, and easy install.

The Bantam is getting sold so taking it back to stock with the EMG BTC.
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Looking to try it in m
AgingEngineer said:
Good evening @PeaveyPlayer!

I know there is a difference in how the circuits are tuned, but I've not played through them or profiled the EQ response yet. The LHZ (preamp that I manufacture) is based on a pre-Kramer Spector Haz Labs preamp and works at both 9volts and 18volts.

At a high level, these preamps appear to have a common core design so I assume they run at 9volts or 18volts as well. Once I get the comparison completed, I'll share the results here.
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have you had a chance ? 😄😄
 
#448
PeaveyPlayer said:
have you had a chance ? 😄😄
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No, unfortunately! I have both a Ken Smith and Steinberger on the bench that I need to trace, and I feel like they're mocking me at this point. Just when I think I've got some time to dig into them, another project takes priority. For the last two months I've been working like mad to finish designs and start manufacturing for our new Active Blend control and the 2025 update to the LHZ, as well as finally being able to source those bevel-top Spector knobs.

Maybe in February!
 
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#449
AgingEngineer said:
No, unfortunately! I have both a Ken Smith and Steinberger on the bench that I need to trace, and I feel like they're mocking me at this point. Just when I think I've got some time to dig into them, another project takes priority. For the last two months I've been working like mad to finish designs and start manufacturing for our new Active Blend control and the 2025 update to the LHZ, as well as finally being able to source those bevel-top Spector knobs.

Maybe in February!
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Wait what
New active blend?! :) I’d like to order please for passive pickups!
 
#450
PeaveyPlayer said:
Wait what
New active blend?! :) I’d like to order please for passive pickups!
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Yessir! We'll start selling these in February: LBCA-02 Active Blend Control, 25K: $40 USD – LHZ Vintage Bass Preamps

I've got boards and components in the shop now, and am just waiting on the cable sets to arrive from manufacturing. Pricing will be $40 for the LBCA-02 by itself, or it'll be available for $25 if purchased with a LHZ preamp.

I am still finalizing the passive pickup model... DM me if you'd like to beta test an early version.
 
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#451
That's much better priced than the $79 EMG charged me for their ABCX. Which I felt is overpriced, but it has better power numbers than their cheaper ABC variant. (Which was due to the single vs double buffer design I understood, if I'm not mistaken)
 
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#452
Hillie said:
That's much better priced than the $79 EMG charged me for their ABCX. Which I felt is overpriced, but it has better power numbers than their cheaper ABC variant. (Which was due to the single vs double buffer design I understood, if I'm not mistaken)
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I didn’t know that
I thought it had to do with pot value as the abc is for there active or passive
And abcx was for the active models (with lower noise floor)
 
#458
jonthebass said:
Hey @AgingEngineer, I got my HL-1 from Bass Direct here in the UK and finalized this small but powerful board.
I'm currently using a Fender Mark Hoppus Mk.2 through it and it sounds glorious!

Cheer, Jon

View attachment 7123137
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Awesome!!! And I see that it's dialed right into the "fun zone" too!
Hope you are enjoying it!
 
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