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- Apr 14, 2022
- 371
- 2,082
- Disclosures
- Owner of LRWMedia, manufacturer of LHZ vintage bass preamps.
Ooo... I had an SR750 that I sold just before Covid hit. I loved the look and feel, but it felt sort of generic in tone so I let it go. If it was still here, I'd be trying the LHZ in it after hearing how it woke up my Fender Jazz! What preamp did you have in it before, and how would you describe the difference after the upgrade?
They will likely go on sale in mid-February. I've already been building them, but am just waiting on cables from my cable manufacturer. They have a 3 week lead-time on custom cables, so that puts me at about 2/14 or so!
The bass had it's original preamp, but the previous owner somehow managed to bypass the tone controls. The sound was...uninspiring. No depth or highs, just straight pickups into the amp.
The LHZ has added an amazing depth and clarity to the bass. I'm using the original active J pickups, and it so nice to be able to dial in bass and treble again. It's got a nice thick bottom and clear highs that aren't clanky. Honestly, this is the best sounding preamp of most of my active basses, and compares favorably to my Alembics and Steinberger with the HAZ preamp.
I've always loved how the old Ibanez necks felt, and now this one is back in rotation
The LHZ has added an amazing depth and clarity to the bass. I'm using the original active J pickups, and it so nice to be able to dial in bass and treble again. It's got a nice thick bottom and clear highs that aren't clanky. Honestly, this is the best sounding preamp of most of my active basses, and compares favorably to my Alembics and Steinberger with the HAZ preamp.
I've always loved how the old Ibanez necks felt, and now this one is back in rotation
I just got word that the Precious is ready to pick up after her EMGX/LHZ install!
In an O. Henry-esque ironic turn, I dug in way too hard playing the 2nd open mic set of the week on Wednesday night and got a blood blister on Radio Free Yurp that burst during Rockville, so I was only able to get a first impression of the new setup. And that impression is that it's HOT! Tried all of the HX Stomp presets I set up for my Ray34, and had to cut treble almost entirely and bass by 1/3 while also cutting volume to keep it from distorting and scooping like mad. Not scientific in any way, but I'm going to have to un-learn the heavy-handed ways I've adopted playing the Ray while the Precious was in the shop. Takes about 1/10 of the force to get an aggressive tone out of it, which reminds me of the first time I picked it up back in the winter of '90-91. Compared to my late 70s P-bass it almost plays itself. Seem to remember I never got another blister after that, too. I'd love to get off the callus - blister - open wound train!
Just put a set of EMG’s and a LHZ preamp in my Lull M4V. What an upgrade! Always despised the Batolini pre that was in it to begin with. Loved how it worked seamlessly with the EMG solderless plug and play system. Two thumbs up!
How different would the LHAZ pedal and a bass with active EMG's be, as compared to the pre built into the same bass.
I'm assuming nearly the same??
I'm assuming nearly the same??
- Apr 14, 2022
- 371
- 2,082
- Disclosures
- Owner of LRWMedia, manufacturer of LHZ vintage bass preamps.
It's nearly inaudibly the same. I'll put it this way, if you can hear the tone difference between a 3' cable and a 15' cable, then you'll notice that there'll be a tiny less bit of high frequencies hitting the LHZ. I'll stress that that difference is so small as to be inaudible to most listeners however.
My test rig at the shop is my trusty Fender Jazz with EMG X pickups and an onboard LHZ. The onboard LHZ is on a bypass so when I am testing pedals I can run the pickups direct to the pedal. If I flip between the onboard LHZ and the HL-1 the difference is so small I would not be able to tell you which is which in a blind test.
Thanks Lonnie,
That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for and good on you to have a bypass to actually check for a difference.
My NS2A is a little bit uncomfortable to play so being able to use another bass with active EMG's and get close to the NS2A sound is a big deal!
Can you describe what differences the LHAZ pedal makes on say a stock Fender bass?
- Apr 14, 2022
- 371
- 2,082
- Disclosures
- Owner of LRWMedia, manufacturer of LHZ vintage bass preamps.
I did post a couple videos that have some comparison in there. This is a longer video where I walk through the entire conversion process on the Jazz. Just scroll to the last couple minutes for an A/B audio comparison:
The other video is a bit of a long and meandering walkthrough of the HL-1 pedal with a side-by-side comparison somewhere in the middle:
To be fair, it probably does not sound like much difference via YouTube due to video compression and whatnot. What it does not capture is the difference in FEEL. I'd spent many years on a Spector, so having the Fender now running though the same preamp means that it responds to my playing dynamics in exactly the same way. Don't know how I'd quantify that in a way that I could show in a video, but all I can say is that the first time I ran the Jazz through the preamp I actually smiled... like "oh... THERE you are!" lol
What about an LHZ "Jazz plate" with volume, blend, bass/trebble pots and battery holding clip plus a jack? Or a "deluxe" version with 4 knobs, And of course the vol/vol options for those in need of that. And deluxe options. And knob options (chrome, fender style, or even spector style!), to make it a true myriad of options and a bigger logistics issue. 
- Apr 14, 2022
- 371
- 2,082
- Disclosures
- Owner of LRWMedia, manufacturer of LHZ vintage bass preamps.
You're killing me, Smalls!What about an LHZ "Jazz plate" with volume, blend, bass/trebble pots and battery holding clip plus a jack? Or a "deluxe" version with 4 knobs, And of course the vol/vol options for those in need of that. And deluxe options. And knob options (chrome, fender style, or even spector style!), to make it a true myriad of options and a bigger logistics issue.
lol
Hey, I'm considering ordering the LHZ preamp (with the blend knob). On the website it states that international orders are taken for the LHZ-04 but when I fill out the form a message says that "shipping is not available", "Your order cannot be shipped to the selected address". I'm located in Europe (France to be precise). Any particular thing that needs to be done? Puting this out here in case there's a workaround/solution that could help others too
And besides the form-factor, any differences (soundwise) with the LHZ-03?
And besides the form-factor, any differences (soundwise) with the LHZ-03?
- Apr 14, 2022
- 371
- 2,082
- Disclosures
- Owner of LRWMedia, manufacturer of LHZ vintage bass preamps.
Hello @RedNuk! I’m sorry that it’s giving you an issue. We ship worldwide and have a several clients in France.Hey, I'm considering ordering the LHZ preamp (with the blend knob). On the website it states that international orders are taken for the LHZ-04 but when I fill out the form a message says that "shipping is not available", "Your order cannot be shipped to the selected address". I'm located in Europe (France to be precise). Any particular thing that needs to be done? Puting this out here in case there's a workaround/solution that could help others too
And besides the form-factor, any differences (soundwise) with the LHZ-03?
There has been a lot of updates in the international shipping space, so this might just be an issue with backend system updating the rules.
If you’d like, just direct message me with your shipping address and a valid email address, and I’ll send you a Quotation invoice.
Cheers!
