The Valenti Megathread Part III

[Chef]

I never liked the audere.
It never seemed very natural to me.

 

[jerry]

I never liked the audere.
It never seemed very natural to me.

+1, I was always underwhelmed with the Audere on my Valenti, I'm finally getting around to changing it out this week.

 

[gruuv]

Agreed on the Audere... I always felt as though I had to keep dialing and dialing to get a usable tone.

I'm so used to the Sadowsky now, I love it's simplicity. But I've never heard it with Aeros. I've had those same Aeros in two basses:

An Elrick fretless mated to a 9V Bart NTMB - sounded amazing.

A Fodera with the old Pope - sounded fantastic there as well.

I'd say jmain's suggestion of the Nordy might be worth checking out.

 

[needmoney]

It's funny reading about the Audere these days. Back in the day it was the cats nuts of preamps, and everyone raved about how neutral sounding it was. I've come to appreciate the simple, fat sound of the Aguilar preamps as well.

 

[Chef]

I didn't like them back in the day either
I like the Aguilar better, but, for "an active sounding preamp," I'd prefer the Ssdowsky.
For a "passive sounding preamp," I'd prefer the A/C or Nordstrand.

 

[BuffaloBass]

I liked the Aggie for a passive sounding preamp as Chef points out; but here I am looking for a modern sound, not simply a preamp. Trying to get the J bass closer to a Fodera or K Smith sound, for some modern stuff and Gospel I might be jumpin' into. Closer, I said, needn't be perfect.

The Sadowsky preamp will leave the beautiful, perfect to me, vintage J tone of the AEROs be in passive mode?

 

[Chef]

Either I wasn't clear, or you misunderstood: I definitely hear the Aguilar as an active sounding preamp, when you use it.
The Sadowsky, Norstrand, and Alleva all have passive tone, and true bypass modes.
The Aguilar can have those things, depending which one you get and how you wire it.

 

[Nino Valenti]

Either I wasn't clear, or you misunderstood: I definitely hear the Aguilar as an active sounding preamp, when you use it.
The Sadowsky, Norstrand, and Alleva all have passive tone, and true bypass modes.
The Aguilar can have those things, depending which one you get and how you wire it.

I'm not familiar with the AC preamp but you can also wire the Sadowsky and Nordstrand to not have the passive tone or the bypass. It all depends on your needs/wants.

 

[needmoney]

Yes the Sadowsky preamp is probably my favourite. With VTC it's perfect in all aspects.

 

[BuffaloBass]

Chef, I understood. While I had the Ag pre in Valenti #008, I was still working on "my voice" and wasn't experimenting much with it. It did go passive nicely. My voice is totally passive J , pref with AERO or Nordy pups.

The VTC thing sort of confuses me, it allows a three knob conifg, is that it? I get "vintage tone", or "my voice" running the Aeros wide open and unadulterated. As long as I can blend the pups, its all the control I need. For Vintage. Does VTC mean that I have a passive tone knob, and non VTC has none in passive mode?

It would seem to me that for the "Ken Smith/R&B/modern Gospel tone, I'd want a three band as mids seem to be the key to that tone? I realize this is not the right context for such a discussion, even though we're talking #67.

Would the Ag or the Sad give more tonal variation? I'm agnostic towards names, and want to soley focus on function, and ensuring its completely out of the way in passive mode. I am leaning towards a 3 way to ensure I can cop a KS or Fodera style tone if need be. I know I can make it a full blooded P bass with the Aggie!

The Sadowsky website says about shielding. Does this mean that shielding paint is not enough, and it requries a full foil job in the cavity?

 

[Chef]

well, this is probably best handled by calling nino direct and discussing your needs.

but, the sadowsky is a 4 knob payout, two band preamp, boost only.
vol/blend/passive tone/treb on bass stack.

the ag comes in several varieties, and at least one of which is boost/cut, and at least one has a mid control.

 

[BuffaloBass]

Yup, I think so. The bass, being as light as it is and using a ferro board, gives a slightly thumpier acoustic sound than my other J, a much heavier Lakland with maple f/b. Consequently, it should be able to cop a KS tone very easily, as its acoustically near there.

3 knob, 5 knob, no knob? I'd like it pure bypass with a traditional tone control AND to be able to move 3 bands around to get a few very specific voices out of it. It will be run pure passive 90% of the time, unless it becomes my go to RB/Gospel bass.

Nino, how about one friggin' micro swtich that puts it in KS mode one way, and that ubercutting EMGhz clank for some rock. To wit, 1.) RB Gospel, 2.) Geddy on steriods, and 3.) pure passive for the old BuffaloBass voice.


Nino, what say ye? If you have time, I'd like to send it down for the fit, maybe full sheidling. You can play with those AERO J5s a bit and see how your ears like 'em. Add me a 24 fret neck, and I'll drop the Lakland J5 like a hand grenade with the pin pulled!

I'm stripping the Lakland down sometime after hunting season, shooting it with PPG Deep Amythyst Pearl. I'd like to have the Valenti done by then so I always have a gig bass at the ready.

 

[grayta]

Late to the party, but I'll put a good word in for the Audere. I like the Auderes in my J basses as much or more than the Aguilar OBP-2 in my Valenti P. I've even toyed with the idea of swapping out the Aguilar for another Audere. For what I do-rock to blues in a bar band-the Audere is a "set-it-and-forget-it" pre. Kick it in Low Z, detente everything and roll. With the Aguilar, I seem to fiddle with all night. I think part of that is that the cut and -especially- boost ranges for the Aguilar are SO wide that a tiny move of the knob can make a HUGE change in the sound. So, if you don't hit it just right or, gawd forbid, bump it, off you go searching for the "just right" setting again. The Auderes are not as sensitive and, to my ears, sound much better flat. They also have a nice battery level indicator feature.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[MikeBass]

Hey Nino, is it against CUP if I asked how much the basses on your site are?
Pre-owned and the new ones?

 

[BuffaloBass]

Tim, I'm broke over here; I'll take those 2 cents! Thank you.

And for Nino, I bet it's electronically impossible to put one of those micro switches in that's 3 ways, neck pup single coil, both pups in parallel ( big humbucker mode) and normal mode upstream of the preamp, isnt it?

Had something like on on Chef's Reverend BH5 which I was blessed to play for a bit. ( that axe was so clean it scared me to play it) I'm guessing that the "humbucker mode" and a good preamp will get me near Fodera type bliss.

 

[Jim Carr]

Okay, so here's a new topic of discussion. How many Talkbass cats own a Valenti fretless? I know Nicky had one made and it ended up selling at a GC not too long ago....Anyone else here have a fretless Valenti? Any soundclips?

Hi Erich-

Let the Valenti Fretless Love Flow! My #019 is a joy to me—strung EADGC as I got it from the original owner, Drew Felder, (TBer Fretless5verfan). The neck and body are Warmoth. Here are the features:

-J-style Alder Body
-Solid black finish on back of neck and face of headstock
-Unlined Ebony fingerboard
-Nordstrand Fat Stack Pickups w/Coil taps
-Aggie 3-band pre-amp
-TI Jazz Flat nickel strings
-Low action set-up.
-Contoured Heel Joint
-Black Hardware
-HipShot UltraLite Gears
-Hipshot A Style Bridge

Obligatory Pics:

 

[Chef]

This is best done by contacting Nino directly.

Hey Nino, is it against CUP if I asked how much the basses on your site are?
Pre-owned and the new ones?

 

[Nino Valenti]

Hey Nino, is it against CUP if I asked how much the basses on your site are?
Pre-owned and the new ones?

Hey Mike, You'll have to email or call me. I currently have a few new things that'll be up on the site in a week or so and also a new site design.

 

[Nino Valenti]

The VTC thing sort of confuses me, it allows a three knob conifg, is that it? I get "vintage tone", or "my voice" running the Aeros wide open and unadulterated. As long as I can blend the pups, its all the control I need. For Vintage. Does VTC mean that I have a passive tone knob, and non VTC has none in passive mode?

A VTC added to an on-board preamp is simply a passive tone control.

It would seem to me that for the "Ken Smith/R&B/modern Gospel tone, I'd want a three band as mids seem to be the key to that tone? I realize this is not the right context for such a discussion, even though we're talking #67.

I'm not very familiar with Ken Smith/Fodera tones and being a Rock bassist that plays with a pick, I am not very familiar with the R&B/Gospel tone. I know that Roger Sadowsky's Gospel clientel are very fond of the 24 Fret 5 with the Soapbars.

The Sadowsky website says about shielding. Does this mean that shielding paint is not enough, and it requries a full foil job in the cavity?

What does it say about shielding? Sadowsky basses have paint, not foil.

 

[Nino Valenti]

Tim, I'm broke over here; I'll take those 2 cents! Thank you.

Those 2 cents belong to me, theme them alone!!!

And for Nino, I bet it's electronically impossible to put one of those micro switches in that's 3 ways, neck pup single coil, both pups in parallel ( big humbucker mode) and normal mode upstream of the preamp, isnt it?

I'm not quite following here. You have a blend or volume know that can put the "neck Single coil" soloed. I'm also not sure what you mean by "normal mode upstream of the preamp"

Adding a series/parallel switch is not a problem.