What kind of onboard?

I have a fender jazz deluxe. While it sounded great with the stock fender pre amp, I put an OBP-3 in there. The 4 knobs are : volume, blend, mid (pull up for 800hz, down for 400hz), stacked bass & treble.

I've played the bartolini, & the aguilar suits my tastes much better. It sounds like I put a tube preamp in my bass. Its so fat!

 

None of the above.

 

I like the U-Retro for ease of installation and great sound:


www.j-retro.co.uk

 

^Aren't these just for J-basses?

Check out this to find which bartolini setup is right for you...
Bartolini electronics choices

 

The J-Retro is, the U-Retro isn't. U-Retro is the universal version which doesn't come mounted on a control plate. Comes in normal 3 knob version, and deluxe 4 knob version (with passive tone control)

 

jivetkr,

What's the difference in tone to your ears between the Aggie & Bart 3 freq pre's? Which is warmer, deeper, brighter, etc.

Has anyone here ever used the Bart system in the Zon Studio Sonus?


~S~

 

I used the Sonus Studio system for a little bit. It's basically the same as the system in the old Tobias Growler, too. That is, a stacked bass/treble control and a 3-way mid boost/cut switch for each pickup.

To be honest, I didn't find separate B/T controls for each pickup to be all that useful on the Zon (in contrast to the lowpass filters on the Wal). It would have been nicer to have a single 3-band setup. YMMV, of course!

Mike

 

Hey Mike,

Thanks for answering my question again. I couldn't find the other thread that we spoke about this on so I just re-asked the question here.

I'm up in the air between an Aggie OB3 & the Zon Studio electronics. Which one has a stronger output(both are 18V) and which would have a better low-end? I'm gonna run this setup through a custom Zon I'm having built & wonder which would have the edge running clean & through distortion? Would the Aggie be too clean & not dark enough for the Zon's inherent character(graphite b/o neck w/solid maple body)or would it accent & cover all the lows to highs better than the Bart Studio system?

Sorry to ramble & go off topic a bit here but I'm trying to nail the favorable pre the first time & not go through trial & error.


thanks,
~S~

 

You're welcome. I remembered talking about the Studio a little while ago, but couldn't remember who had asked about it.

My general impression is that the Bart stuff is a little darker overall, which might be a good thing on the Zon. Now, with distortion, I can imagine that the dual EQ setup for the Studio might possibly be an advantage--even more so if you're thinking about running stereo (one channel per pickup) and applying distortion to one channel or the other. That kind of thing gets complicated, though.

Can't really say much about the Aggie system, since I don't yet own one, but maybe someone else can comment.

Mike

 

Mike,
I'm gonna go with the Studio elecs. Should suit what I'm aiming for better. Stay tuned & thanks!


later,
~S~

 

Cool! Definately keep me posted on how it works out.

Mike

 

Too late, but just wanted to second the U-Retro vote!

 

Alembic Activator (a complete filtering circuit with pickups). After hankering after one of these for 3 years, I finally scored one (PJ) on eBay. Very different; the circuit gives a resonant peak before a sharp high-frequency rolloff, and the "tone" knob adjusts the frequency of that peak and accompanying rolloff. The height of the peak (called Q by Alembic) is controlled on more expensive Alembics by a three-way switch or by a knob, however I find the pre-set Q just right.

 

I also vote U Retro.

 

All:

I'm ready to hit the studio after returning from a successful tour with my new Zon that has the "Studio" pre-amp by Bartolini. All I can say is that they are the most versatile & un-compromising elecs. I have used/own. Crystal clear, noise free, lows to searing highs. Amazing...

~S~

 

Well, let's see. Of the ones you mentioned (the poll choices), here are some factors to consider:

1. If you're going with a Bartolini, you should only use it with Bartolini pickups. It isn't going to sound right with anything else. Unless you get "extremely" lucky.

2. The Seymour is not a true DIAP, it's just a gain stage. Don't buy this if you're looking for any improvement in hum/noise.

3. The Aguilar's are great, but again they're not true DIAP's. But they do tend to work with other peoples' pickups, which is more than I can say for the Bartolini's.

In case you didn't know, a DIAP is a "differential input" active preamp. The point is to isolate the pickups COMPLETELY from ground. (Most manufacturers ground one side of the pickup, which is absolutely the worst way in the world to wire a pickup, you're just begging for ground loops if you do it that way). The only ground connection to the pickup should be the one to the case. The pickups leads themselves should be left "floating". A DIAP is a "floater", and for that reason will virtually eliminate any hum and noise problems that you may be having with your pickups (even single coils)!

 

when i get my conklin gt-7, i'm gonna put the Aguilar OBP-3 in it.

 

I'm not sure I agree with this. I've used a bartolini 2-band pre-amp with both a lane poor and a seymour duncan and it sounded fine. I'm sure the Bartolini pre-amp sounds better with bartolini pickups b/c they are made with bart pickups in mind. However, that doesn't mean they will sound bad with other pickups. I'm actually leaning very heavily toward a bart 5.3 preamp (5 knobs, 3-way mid selection) to go with 2 lane poors for the bass I'm building.

If anyone has a better suggestion than the bartolini 5.3, I'm really interested in learning more. I'm looking for flexibility and ability to enhance tone over a very broad range.

 

jivetkr,

Where'd you find the pot to do this? If I recall correctly, the OBP-3 mid-control requires a 50K pot, and I looked all OVER the place for one when I had the OBP-3 installed in my Stingray 5... I could never find a push-pull, (whatever)-taper, 50K pot with a center detent.

The closest I found was a Mouser pot that Aguilar's tech support guy, Geoff, steered me to... except it has no center detent. I also checked AllParts, WDMusic, Warmoth, Warwick (sometimes have odd-value pots), asked Rick Turner, and checked with several other electronics mfrs without luck.

Basically, I wanted the be able to pull 'up' on the mid-control for 800Hz, while the 'down' position is 400Hz, and the boost/cut of course worked regardless of whether it was up or down. I ended up having my tech install a separate toggle switch to go between 400 and 800.

So... any insight into a 50K push-pull pot with center detent would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Greg