What preamp improved your Ibanez?

[Wild_Cat]

Well, after an hour and a half of messing around with it, two things are clear:

- My bass needs new strings.

- The 3ZB is great. The EQ does its job well and the Z-mode switch allows me to inject more vintage grindiness in my sound (hi-Z , also great for slapping) or make it ultra-modern (low-Z). I'll have to test in a band context, but I think I'm not going to make much use of the mid-Z position

 

[miner49er11]

How about the Nordstrand 3B preamp? Anybody try it? Been playing my BTB455 passive for a while with the mk1's. Really like it with just a 4-way coil selector switch only and a 0.047mf cap, but got a need for a pre again. Didn't like the stock Ibanez pre.

 

[philtoler]

My SR505 doesn't sound thin at all and the the Bart MK1 with the stock pre sound pretty good.

I love the mahogany body actually and the bass has a warm sound too. I use rotosound rounds on it.

However I'm planning on upgrading to Bart MK5s and a NTMB 5.2 A/P to take it to the next level.

Plus all those new parts will fit all the existing routes and holes without any further modifications to the body, sweet.

Also while on the subject of preamps, Ibanez uses a wide variety of them with a variety of pickups so people may want to specify what kind of eq and pickups they have.

I like the pickups and preamp on my SR505 but there are other preamps Ibanez uses that I certainly don't like.

hip63

I agree. "Thin" is subjective. Like you I was very happy with my SR500 stock Mk1's and pre-amp. I changed the pickups to Mk4's but the bridge pickup has an almost identical sound to the Mk1 - maybe a tad less bright. The Mk4 neck is higher output with more bass/mid, which for me doesn't make it "better" - just different. As you say the Mk1 pre-amp sounds just fine.

 

[KingRazor]

I had no idea Audere offered the option of no EQ knobs.

I think I have some saving up to do.

 

[Mousekillaz]

I fitted a Bartolini NTMB 5.2 A/P to my SR500 along with MK4CBC pups and transformed the bass into a high end performer. I was unsure whether it would be a wise investment of £280 on top of the £265 I paid for the bass, but it now blows my £1k+ basses away.

In what way is it an improvement ? I am considering the same upgrades along with a new bridge and already installed Gotoh GB7 tuners.
These SR500 series bases are such a deal. And try to find a better neck than the older wenge/bubinga fitted units.

 

[Sparky Mark]

In what way is it an improvement ? I am considering the same upgrades along with a new bridge and already installed Gotoh GB7 tuners.
These SR500 series bases are such a deal. And try to find a better neck than the older wenge/bubinga fitted units.

I bought an older SR500 with the wenge/bubinga neck as it felt as good as my Thumb bass, but weighed half as much. The tone improved in that I was regularly tweeking the original tone controls, whilst the new pre/pups are pretty much perfect set flat with minor tweeks for venue variations. It's impossible to do an A/B when it takes a couple of hours to do the upgrade, but I now use this bass all the time. It may be that the pre is the more important part of the upgrade, but I upgraded both at the same time. It may also be that the new stock Ibby pre is better than the older ones.

 

[Jazz Ad]

All Bart MK1 equiped Ibanez that went through my hands sounded better passive, with the preamp removed and just a vvt.

 

[Ijtraista]

You save a lot of money by being a DIY'er. compared to the John Easts who want $300 for a filter preamp. I built mine for only $10 in parts (including wiring & pots) and I got the opamps as free samples. The great part is you can use any brand or type of parts you want and custom tweak the components to your ears

wow. would you have any schematics for such a thing, or a link to something that I could use as a guide?
I would surely like to try building one.
Thanks
Julian

 

[wyrmspawn]

In my srx 400 I replaced the Phat II with noll 2 band. No regrets yet

 

[Bassworship1]

Only preamp upgrades I've made is the Aguilar OBP-3 in 3 of my Premium and Prestige basses. Made a improvement for each but not a big enough for me to warrant a change. The new Custom Premium and Prestige preamps are great with the Active-Passive Tone control feature.

 

[chadhargis]

You save a lot of money by being a DIY'er. compared to the John Easts who want $300 for a filter preamp.

Correction....John East (any anyone else selling a solution) is not charging money for the parts. Electronic parts are cheap. They are charging for the knowledge and labor to create their products. You didn't wake up one morning and know how to make bass preamps. You had to study, learn, practice, screw up, fix, etc. Even if you valued your time at minimum wage, I am willing to bet you've "spent" more than $300. Time is money!

 

[Crater]

I have (and will admit to owning) a "composite" Ergodyne 5-string. It came with passive electronics but with the horrid "Phat II" slap contour preamp. I removed that and installed an EMG BQC (I think) preamp - 3 band with adjustable mid frequency. Clean and quiet, but pretty "vanilla" sounding at moderate settings. It's OK, I like vanilla.

 

[Basehead]

I'm REALLY digging the Pope Flexcore pre I put in my Ibanez Cerro. Expensive yes, High quality, super flexible...very happy with it

 

[Passinwind]

wow. would you have any schematics for such a thing, or a link to something that I could use as a guide?
I would surely like to try building one.

It's not an ACG, Wal, or Alembic, by a long shot, and will cost quite a bit more than ten dollars but...

The Passinwind Open Source Preamp

Please be sure to read the older TB thread linked in the first post too, as there many other ways to skin felis catus.

 

[Ijtraista]

It's not an ACG, Wal, or Alembic, by a long shot, and will cost quite a bit more than ten dollars but...

The Passinwind Open Source Preamp

Please be sure to read the older TB thread linked in the first post too, as there many other ways to skin felis catus.

it's not about the money, rather its about playing/building one.
Tanks though.

 

[Passinwind]

it's not about the money, rather its about playing/building one.
Thanks though.

No worries. If you follow the links in my first post in that thread you'll find several other viable options besides my freebie design.

 

[Ijtraista]

No worries. If you follow the links in my first post in that thread you'll find several other viable options besides my freebie design.

Thanks so much bro. I made and tweaked my own instruments trying to get and feel the vibe of different wood options. And that put me on the camp that wood choice does matter, and quite a lot actually; all the subtle nuances and colors that I liked and awe me came from the woods and not so much from the preamps, or so my ears are telling me
Still, the right pre that would tweak 'that raw sound' in a way that it doeasn't change it into something else is essential. Tried the glocks, obp's, J East, audere, Pope etc, all good stuff but I never tried these ones. And maybe if I try to build one, I might get to understand the whole process better. Electronic chemistry however, while it intrigues me, I never got deep enough to understand its working.
Much thanks for your help.
Julian
PS. These are some of my builds:

 

[phillybass101]

I have a Budget Ibby GSR206SM. Cost $349 new. Found a deal for a set of Aggie DCB's and an OBP3 Pre for only $100. It is not the same Bass LOL!!!! To answer your question Aggie OBP3

 

[foothilla]

Thanks so much bro. I made and tweaked my own instruments trying to get and feel the vibe of different wood options. And that put me on the camp that wood choice does matter, and quite a lot actually; all the subtle nuances and colors that I liked and awe me came from the woods and not so much from the preamps, or so my ears are telling me
Still, the right pre that would tweak 'that raw sound' in a way that it doeasn't change it into something else is essential. Tried the glocks, obp's, J East, audere, Pope etc, all good stuff but I never tried these ones. And maybe if I try to build one, I might get to understand the whole process better. Electronic chemistry however, while it intrigues me, I never got deep enough to understand its working.
Much thanks for your help.
Julian
PS. These are some of my builds:

It's funny how much perception varies. I have drawn the complete opposite conclusions regarding woods choices in electric basses. In an acoustic instrument, there is no doubt that wood matters, because the wood is your "amplifier". But, in an electric bass the energy from the strings is instantaneously transferred to the pickups, and out your amplifier. The wood doesn't have time to color that string energy, unless you are letting a bunch of notes sustain (which most bass players do not do). Pickups clearly have a huge impact, electronics have a huge impact, amplification and speakers have a huge impact, strings have a huge impact, action has a huge impact, even the bridge and nut impact that initial string energy. But, wood needs time to absorb string energy, before it can alter it. And in the case of an electric bass, that time really only exists in the context of long, sustained notes. The average staccato/muted bass note is transferred to your pickup and out your amplifier instantaneously,.....long before the wood has had a chance to alter the string energy.

I would agree that fretless players will get some noticeable coloration from wood, because they tend to let notes sustain, and the strings make direct contact with the fingerboard (which has big impact on the initial attack). But to your average, fretted, muted/staccato, electric bassist - wood in your least important factor, in my experience.

 

[larrygs]

For my SR505, Nordstrand 3b preamp and in January of this year I installed Nordstrand Big Blades, now it sounds super amazing, is totally another bass sound now.