jazz preamp? audere or aguilar or ?

[ZPQ]

Hi,

I'm going to fit a pre to my geddy lee jazz.

I'd like to keep the main tonal character or have the option to switch to passive.

I'm looking to be able to add some tonal depth and presence - not more bass but deeper bass if you get me.

So I might order an audere - getting great reviews and seems to fit the bill (in both ways at $100)

but I've also looked at an Aguilar obp3 - slightly more and more fiddly to fit but supposed to be good.


Any thoughts would be appreciated..

THanks
John

[Waldo]

I've got an Aggie OBP-1 in my Fleabass and I'd say that it just gives you a clean, totally uncoloured boost rather than adding or taking away from your tone. That's either a good or a bad thing, depending on what you want.

[neilb]

John East has a sponsored section on this very forum. I havent used Johns pre's but I know may people love them.

Edited September 30, 2007 by neilb

[ZPQ]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm sure the East preamp are very good but I've read a couple of reports that suggest the Aguilar or Audere might be more transparent and they are a lot cheaper so I was looking at them first.

Cheers
John

[largo]

Never tried the Audere but I've had the OBP-3 and the J-Retro Deluxe in similar basses
In my opinion the J-Retro does colour the sound more than the Aguilar preamp but in a good way. That's why I've settled for the J-Retro as my preamp of choice. I found the OBP-3 added a lot of boost to the bass volume so whenever I added bass I had to cut back on volume. The East circuit doesn't do that, it just add bass. Beautiful tone from it too.

[BassBod]

I'd suggest an external preamp (Sadowsky or Aguilar 924?). I own the Aguilar box and it sounds fantastic, but it is a more modern sound than a passive J bass (even "flat" with no eq boost added). Great for Marcus or Will Lee type sounds, but a bit hyped for a Jaco.

I guess it depends on the sound you're looking for, but I've never heard an active J bass that really retained its passive character - so the extra box is a good option for me.

BB

[Rumble]

I completely agree with BB. I used to have a j-retro in my Lakky JO5, but use the Sadowsky outboard now and, just as BB said, it really doesn't change the natural passive character or tone of the bass. Love it!

[deksawyer]

John was very kind to loan me a J-retro a few weeks ago (which I'll post back to you this week!!). I currently have a jazz with an Audere fited.

They're very different in terms of operation and sound.

The Audere has more tonal variation, sounds a bit more open and is slightly noisier (but we're not talking hiss city). The battery strength indicaor is nice, but it would have been nice to have a passive switch as well. The Z controls are very good, going from a very deep dubby sound (neck p'up) to a very good stingray sound (bridge p'up) at the flick of a switch.

The J-retro sounds just like how you'd expect an active jazz to sound, in that it just makes the instrument more 'beefy' for want of a better word. Less tonal variation, a bit more mellow and silent in operation. Passive switch is good. Overall, a bit more subtle.

Both are built very well, but the J-reto [i]just[/i] pips the Audere. I think the J-retro is a wee bit better looking as well.

I'm quite happy with the Audere, and currently have no plans to change it. If I bough another Jazz, i'd fit a J-retro, just to have some different tones (but I think the Wal could take care of everything I'll need).

D.

Edited September 30, 2007 by deksawyer

[bassbloke]

I love the sound of my Audere preamp. The Z-mode coontrol gives you loads of tonal variation. I also like the choice of 2EQwith 2 volumesor 3EQ with blend.

I just bought a second Audere JZ3D - just over £100 inc. priority USPS shipping plus I expect to pay another £30 duty and Parcel force admin fee. That's very, very cheap for such a piece of kit.

The Audere is a breeze to fit - no soldering.