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Alembic Club » Miscellaneous » Archive through November 11, 2010 » Archive: 2008 » Archive through February 14, 2008 » Pre-amps and Lane Poor Pickups « Previous Next »

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5stringho
Advanced Member
Username: 5stringho

Post Number: 228
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 9:00 am:   Edit Post

Hello, Oh knowledgeable ones...
I have a Precision Bass Special (yea, I know, uggh, ackkk, pttffttt)that I use mostly for outdoor gigs and at venues of questionable repute(so I actually use it quite a bit). I bought it specifically because I had a set of Lane Poor's P/J pickups laying around collecting dust. Used in conjunction with a Sadowsky Outboard Pre-amp/DI, it really sounds great. Not Series or anything, but a rather nice old-school tone. I am thinking of adding an on-board pre-amp, and would appreciate some input.
I'm looking at Sadowsky's on-board, Alleva-Coppolo, Aguilar, and a rather new player in the field, Audere Audio. I imagine the Sadowsky and Aguilar OBP-1 are pretty close, since Alex Aguilar designed the Sadowsky, and is quite a bit less than Roger's offering. I havn't had a chance to hear the Alleva-Coppolo, but it appears by spec to be quite similar. The Audere got a thumbs-up review from a magazine that shall remain nameless, and has some intriguing features, but I don't want the Lane Poor pickups artificially colored. They just need boosted.
Any of you had any experiences (good or bad) with these pre-amps or Lane Poor pickups? Ideas or suggestions? Other pre-amps to consider? Just being curious. It sounds really good with the Outboard pre-amp, but I'd rather just have it ready to go anytime without having to fool with hooking up the pedal.
I thank you for any info you may be able to provide!
Have Fun, Mike, tho =]
edwin
Advanced Member
Username: edwin

Post Number: 285
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 8:34 pm:   Edit Post

Well, I have a Lane Poor preamp lying around here somewhere. I used to have a set of his pickups which were very noisy. It's a great preamp, just clean, clear gain with two inputs and one output. Let me know if you are interested.

I had an Audere for a while and I liked it OK, but didn't really go for the impedance switch. I do like the Retro series of preamps, I have a J-Retro in my Lakland JO5 and it sounds really nice.

Edwin
dfung60
Advanced Member
Username: dfung60

Post Number: 304
Registered: 5-2002
Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2008 - 10:08 pm:   Edit Post

For what it's worth, if you're considering Aguilar preamps, I'd take a look at the OBP-2 instead of OBP-1. The OBP-1 is the original product (and I think the closest to the Sadowsky). It's designed in the style of the stock Stingray preamps and just boosts. The OBP-2 has boost and cut, so it's more like the more conventional active preamps such as EMG and Bartolini.

I put an OBP-1 in an old Warwick Streamer of mine who's active EQ had conked out. Warwick still sold the original circuit (this was a 1989 Streamer which I had bought in the mid 90s) but at a truly exhorbitant price. So I put the Aguilar in, given it's very positive reputation. The sound is good, but I determined very early on that boost-only is not happening for me - I regularly want to cut treble, especially on the bridge pickup so the OBP-1 was not a good match for me. It's also physically very large - two 9V batteries + the EQ board which is in a box that's considerably larger than a 9V battery.

I haven't picked up an OPB-2, but that does have boost and cut, so probably would work better for me.

In the Warwick, I ended up swapping out the OBP-1 for an EMG BT. I like the sound of the EMG too although it's not as natural sounding as the Aguilar. It's very compact and only needs one battery, too.

I've never been much of a fan of 3-band systems (Aguilar, EMG, etc.). The EMG 3-band has a sweepable mid filter and I still can't find any position that I like for it.

David Fung
5stringho
Advanced Member
Username: 5stringho

Post Number: 230
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 - 8:24 am:   Edit Post

Thanks, Edwin and David! I appreciate the input and info. You can always count on people to come thru here at the old AC! Looks like I may try to work something out with Edwin on his LP Preamp. I just never thought I could actually find one! I'm sorta thinking I may want to keep it as close to passive as possible, for that type of tone. These pickups really sound great by themselves. I have other basses with the 2 or 3-band boosts and cuts (Bartolini's and Warrior) and they sound good, but maybe not for this particular bass. And for me, I've been using the boost-only MusicMan for so long I've never even thought about it!
Edwin, look for an e-mail. If ya don't get it for some reason, shoot me one. Thanxxxx again, guys!
Have Fun, Mike, tho =]

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