Session 1 : stock Fender vs DiMarzio/Aguilar OBP-3

Tests
- stock Fender American Deluxe 1996 jazz bass preamp (bass-mid-treble active preamp)
- stock Fender American Deluxe 1996 jazz bass pickups
- pickups DiMarzio Ultra Jazz (Sadowsky pickups are customized versions of these : learn more about that in session 2 ...)
- pickups DiMarzio J
- preamp Aguilar OBP-3 (Preamps built in Sadowsky basses are based on Aguilar's design).

All these pickups/preamps were built in my Fender American Deluxe 1996 jazz bass.

Audio files

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My opinions

By "accoustic sound", I mean the sound I get when I play my bass unplugged.
By "direct sound", I mean the sound I get when recording my bass directly through a simple DI-box.
By "amplified sound", I mean the sound I get in my familiar carpeted rehearsal room from an Eden WT-500 head and a SWR Goliath III 4x10 cabinet, I have no recording of this sound since it depends on too many factors (volume, mic placement, cabinet orientation,...).
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Configuration 1 : stock Am. Deluxe pickups and stock Fender active preamp

I was really satisfied of this tone when I bought my bass. After 2 years I began to think that the amplified/direct sound didn't reproduce well the accoustic sound I had when I played my bass unplugged. I thought that some medium bass of the accoustic sound was missing in the amplified/direct sound. I also had the impression that my amplified/direct sound was too much compressed comparing it with sound of other basses (mostly passive basses or basses with custom active electronics). I thought about buying an higher-end bass but I finally decided to try to customize the bass I had learned to know for few years. I was afraid to put too much money in a very expensive bass (like a Sadowsky) without knowing if it would really satisfied me till I die !

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Configuration 2 : DiMarzio Ultra Jazz and stock Fender active preamp

It was the first time I experienced to change the pickups of one of my bass and I was really impressed ! A lot more dynamics than the standard Fender pickups (especially in "amplified sound" through my Eden head and my SWR 4x10 cabinet). I also felt that the sound was much more balanced between strings. I got a really good slap sound. I felt that the highs were less aggressive than with the Fender pickups and I felt I could hear less finger noise even with boosting high frequencies. I felt the sound was much richer in harmonics, boosting the middle or using more the bridge pickup didn't mask upper harmonics producing still a fat sound. I tried various wiring : both pickups in parallel, bridge parallel/neck serie, bridge serie/neck parallel,... But I found the standard serie/serie sound much more useful than others.

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Configuration 3 : DiMarzio J and stock Fender active preamp

After the Ultra J, I didn't wait for a very different sound from the J pickups (both are DiMarzio... no ?) but I was wrong. I was amazed by the massive sound these pickups produced !! A lot more medium bass (it was exactly the medium I was looking for!!) than the Ultra Jazz, a very good balance between strings, a lot of dynamic, and the best of all : a lot of presence with very smooth highs ! By now they are the only pickups I know that supports significative treble boost without becoming harsh and aggressive and almost without boosting the finger noises. It sounds very open but very warm. The amplified sound is very fat and massive. It fills the room and I feel that the sound is less influenced by accoustic of the room than with other pickups : I feel that the amplified sound change less when moving the cabinet or when changing listening location. I perhaps only prefer the slap sound of the Ultra Jazz, but I can get a good slap sound as well with the J (perhaps even better using a little EQ). I'm looking forward using these pickups for recording and also naturally to try them with the Aguilar preamp ! You understood : the DiMarzio J are my favourite ! The only thing I can complain about these pickups is that they are a little bit bigger than the UltraJazz : you may need to make pickup holes more profound to get pickups farther from the strings.

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Configuration 4 : DiMarzio J and Aguilar OBP-3 onboard preamp

I was very excited to install and to test the brand new Aguilar onboard preamp. Comparing to their previous preamp (OBP-1) the OBP-3 is much more compact (one of my goal was not to be forced to make holes in my bass !) and it has a 3-band EQ with variable mid. It works with two 9v batteries but unlike its predecessor it can also work with only one 9v (but with little less dynamic and headroom).

A-Installation
As I opened the package I was very happy regarding the really small size of the preamp, but disapointed regarding the giant size of the pots !! I think that Aguilar could send more compact pots with their tiny preamp : I was forced to get very small volume and blend pots and to enlarge a little bit the hole in my bass to get enough room for them ! If you need to make holes in your bass for pots or batteries, I strongly advice to bring your bass to a luthier and it can cost you some money. If you don't want to do the work twice, just ensure having enough room for electronics BEFORE connecting and soldering the preamp ! (don't forget room for pots and batteries!). It's quite easy to connect the preamp following the schematics that are provided (You can find other exotic schematics on the Aguilar website). If you have no experience in soldering, you can surely find someone among your friends or your family that could help you or you can again let this work to a luthier or an electronician. (don't forget to give them the schematics). By chance, except enlarging a little bit an existing hole, I didn't need to make any other modifications on my bass. I had already a hole for one 9v battery and I found just enough place near the preamp to place the second battery. It took me one afternoon to enlarge the hole (I went to a luthier) and to connect/solder the preamp.

Picture 1 : the tiny Aguilar OBP-3 preamp... I fixed it with two-sided adhesive tape. (Click the picture to enlarge)

Picture 2 : from left to right : pickup balance, passive/active switch, bass/treble boost (concentric), mid frequency selector (400Hz or 800Hz), middle boost, volume. The position of the controls is quite unusual : it was impossible to do otherwise regarding the big size of the middle and bass/treble pots ! (Click the picture to enlarge)

Picture 3 : the only modification done to my bass due to the size of the pots. Don't be afraid : it is not visible when the plate is screwed on ! (Click the picture to enlarge)

B-Opinion
I really appreciate to have control on my sound right on my bass that's why I like active preamps. The problem with the Fender preamp was that it made the sound unclear and muddy when boosting any frequency. I got much more punch setting the onboard preamp flat and EQing the bass on an external higher quality preamp. I wanted to find an onboard preamp I could really use ! I wasn't first very impressed by the sound I got through the Aguilar with flat EQ. In fact I've realized after a while that it was the true sound of my bass. When I switched off the preamp (passive) I got exactly the same sound than with the preamp with flat EQ. I didn't have switch with the Fender pre to compare directly the passive tone with the active one but I got the impression (after having listened to the sound files) that in reality the Fender pre was not neutral : treble and middle ranges were boosted even when letting the EQ flat. The Aguilar's sound seems to me much more transparent than the Fender's one. In comparison to the Fender, the Aguilar is extremely quiet. I can boost quite much treble and bass keeping original character and dynamic of the sound. It's a little bit the same difference between a 150W and a 600W bass amplifier : at same volume the sound is generally much more quiet and less aggressive with the 600W amp (more headroom). What I like with the bass boost of the Aguilar is that it add bottom while keeping a quite good balance between high and low registries. (The Fender pre emphasized too much the lower E-G and A when boosting bass) The treble boost gives more presence and transparency to the sound without the harshness of the Fender. Boosting the treble with quite new DR strings and you will perhaps realize which kind of preamp M. Miller uses in his Jazz basse...(In fact, Marcus Miller's preamp is a Bartolini which was installed by Roger Sadowsky. Roger Sadowsky then developed in collaboration with Aguilar its own preamp based on the Bartolini's preamp). I don't have a lot to say about the parametric middle boost unless that it does its job. When I need more bite, I usually prefer to get more from the bridge pickup than to boost middle.

C-Conclustion
Overally, this preamp gave my bass a really "modern active bass" sound with plenty of useable bass and treble but I preferred the Aguilar OBP-1. Even if the OBP-1 is not as versatile as the OBP-3, it offers just what it is needed for a jazzbass (learn more on OBP-1 in Session 4).

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