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Post subject: Passive Tone on American Deluxe V versus American Standard
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 3:59 pm
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Hi. This is my first post/question. :)
I've been told by a few engineer friends to get the passive American standard bass, because it's going to be primarily used for recording and will always be going through nice pre-amps (UA 6176 mostly), making the active pickups in the Deluxe unnecessary.
I really prefer the body of the Deluxe, not to mention the extra 2 frets, and bridge inlay.
So my question:
Is the passive setting on the Deluxe bass the exact same as the always-passive tone of the Standard? If I was going to record with the Deluxe only using the Passive state, would I be losing anything to the quality of the Standard?
Thanks so much!


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Post subject: Re: Passive Tone on American Deluxe V versus American Standa
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:08 pm
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Hey fj, thanks for your thoughts. I use a Mesa Boogie 400+ head and a 4/10 Mesa cabinet. It's a beast to carry around but sounds great. I've been advised to get a small solid-state head to save the 3 to 5 nights a week workout, but that's where I figure I can save money instead. I figured I could splurge financially for the Deluxe, if only to get the thicker stripes on the neck. A lot of my motivation is aesthetic/superficial, I just want to know I won't be losing anything to the Standard. Why do you like your Standard more? Cheers


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Post subject: Re: Passive Tone on American Deluxe V versus American Standa
Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:44 am
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WeJa2 wrote:
not to mention the extra 2 frets


The current Deluxes feature 21 frets.

Only the older versions were 22-fretters. Both basses are different beasts on their own.


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Post subject: Re: Passive Tone on American Deluxe V versus American Standa
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 4:00 am
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WeJa2 wrote:
Hi. This is my first post/question. :)
I've been told by a few engineer friends to get the passive American standard bass, because it's going to be primarily used for recording and will always be going through nice pre-amps (UA 6176 mostly), making the active pickups in the Deluxe unnecessary.
I really prefer the body of the Deluxe, not to mention the extra 2 frets, and bridge inlay.
So my question:
Is the passive setting on the Deluxe bass the exact same as the always-passive tone of the Standard? If I was going to record with the Deluxe only using the Passive state, would I be losing anything to the quality of the Standard?
Thanks so much!


I do see there point with recording. Almost no battery driven preamplifier can compete with studio grade outboard equipment.

I think the Deluxe pickups are passive with active electronics. Either way you can bypass the on-board preamp. Since I am pretty certain the Deluxe can be run completely passive, here we go. :arrow:
http://www.fender.com/products/productC ... ion=basses
New N3 Noiseless Pickups, active/passive toggle switch with passive tone control for passive mode vs. Standard Jazz Bass Single-Coil pickups.
If you use the pickups individually form the Standard, you could gain some noise, although it should be to much of problem (worked fine for Jaco). on the flip-side, the Standard pickups will have the authentic single coil sound, because that is what they. are. But Fender claims that...
N3 NOISELESS PICKUPS deliver the dynamic range, response and landmark Fender tone of vintage single-coil pickups with virtually no hum. State-of-the-art design and classic sound make for our best bass pickups ever. I have not heard them.

Big price difference. I would fine tooth comb the other details. If you could personally compare them through a recording set-up or hi-fi rig, that would answer your concerns. One important final note with any passive instrument, make certain you use the best cable that is reasonably affordable. I think Fender discontinued them but the Bass Player Magazine's Editor's Pick Award winningFender Premium Platinum Instrument Cable Bass 12 ft. You can hit any search engine and find them heavily discounted. They are stiff but very nice. Having a high quality DI is also a plus. Passive basses sound awesome in the studio, but are much more sensitive to tonal changes (signal loss, loss of hi's, etc...) due to the hi-impedance nature of the pickups, hence me rambling on about cables & DI's.


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Post subject: Re: Passive Tone on American Deluxe V versus American Standa
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 7:32 am
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I've heard rumours saying Fender would replace the N3s with their Super 55 Split-coils sometime this year - but the exact date remains unknown and the project seems to be finally abandoned.


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Post subject: Re: Passive Tone on American Deluxe V versus American Standa
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:54 pm
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These days recording and gigging basses are most often two different animals. When recording it will probably be direct in. Sometimes they record two tracks of bass simultaneously with a miked amp (usually a house amp) on one track and a DI on the other and then mix the two, but more often it is one direct-in track. Usually on studio DI's an active output will be too hot because they were designed for passives, so while you may think you can just roll off the volume on the active to compensate and flatten the EQ to get by, this makes the engineer and producer nervous Nellies because they are out of their comfort zone, especially in mixing/EQ/compression/limiting process. If they get it wrong, the mastering house engineer can freak out at having to master something "out of the box" and then winds up overcompensating which leads to them cutting the bass EQ too much on the master.

Jazz single coils are inherently more noisy than a P-Bass, even the noiseless ones. So for recording I'd consider borrowing or renting a passive P-Bass and then get whatever bass you want for gigging. Passive P-Basses record well and seem to match up perfectly with most studio DI's because they were designed for a P-Bass. Passive Jazzes match up better than actives ones but still most engineers want to see the P-Bass in the studio. There is no need for you to worry about the DI as the engineer will have his own favorite bass DI. Real studios usually have a house P-Bass and it will almost certainly be made available to you if you show up with an active Jazz. Most studios have a gear list posted of the house axes and amps available to clients, some even publish it. Additionally some producers have their own personal instruments that they want you to use because they know how to make those particular ones sound exactly the way they want with a minimum of fuss. You bring your P-Bass and the producer says to play his P-Bass instead. What is the difference in them? Hardly any except the producer KNOWS that he can make his sound perfect to him. These house instruments and amps are the ones the engineers and producers are used to working with and they usually prefer you use the house axes. There is no shame is using a house P-Bass for a project. Frankly it happens everyday.


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Post subject: Re: Passive Tone on American Deluxe V versus American Standa
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 7:35 am
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Your question is correct, but the answers are terrible. Especially the one about using in-house P bass... I hope you don't take it serious.

The main issue here is not about passive mode on Deluxe. It's just that Deluxe and Standard are completely different instruments, with different feel, sound and hardware. Deluxe pickups do not sound like Standard pickups because they're simply different. Not better, not worse, just different. Try out and decide which sound you like.

Now if you have a Deluxe, a house engineer may ask you to go passive if he doesn't like what he gets. That's about it. And yes, it's good to have a passive option on your recording instrument. It does not mean you must go with a passive Precision or Danelectro Longhorn or whatever.

I was recording with both active and passive instruments at gazillions of different studios and was NEVER asked to switch to Precision. Because my own J always sounded better. And with both pickups 100% on passive Jazz with stock vintage pickups is as quiet as any other P.


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Post subject: Re: Passive Tone on American Deluxe V versus American Standa
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:20 pm
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WeJa2 wrote:
Hi. This is my first post/question. :)
I've been told by a few engineer friends to get the passive American standard bass, because it's going to be primarily used for recording and will always be going through nice pre-amps (UA 6176 mostly), making the active pickups in the Deluxe unnecessary.
I really prefer the body of the Deluxe, not to mention the extra 2 frets, and bridge inlay.
So my question:
Is the passive setting on the Deluxe bass the exact same as the always-passive tone of the Standard? If I was going to record with the Deluxe only using the Passive state, would I be losing anything to the quality of the Standard?
Th


The Deluxe 24 that you're reffering to was a made in Korea active bass that was discontinued a little over 2 yrs ago:
http://www.zzounds.com/item--FEN264500
The current American deluxe Jazz bass uses N3 noiseless active/Passive pickups, I have one of these basses & play it in passive mode most of the time,...... I love the tone & think it sounds great, I did have a bit of a buzz issue in active mode a year ago but it's been remedied by simply getting a well made expensive cable.
I think you could use an passive /active bass for recording,......... and actually while I was at a bass Clinic given by Marcus Miller last fall, he talked about when he was starting out as a session player in New York in the late 70's /early 80's he told the story were he had Sadowsky modify his passive Jazz bass with a 2 band EQ so that when he went to sessions he had the option to record in passive mode or record in active mode, & apparently he recorded in active mode often & still does.......but who knows, to each his own..
Dave is correct in his post regarding some studio's having house instruments & some producers & engineers having or insisting that certain instruments (bass, guitars, keyboards) be used like the P bass for instance when they're recording.

& with regard to the Super 55 pickups possibly replacing the N3 noiseless pickups....I don't see this happening in the near future .....it's fiction & I prefer to go with facts & not rumor's.
there was a bad batch of N3's that were out there in late 2011/early 2012 but I believe Fender has fixed the issue,... there was a recall recently & Fender replaced N3's at no charge for people with Current model American deluxe basses who were having issues with their N3 pickups . I believe the issue was often found in the Neck pickup...


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Post subject: Re: Passive Tone on American Deluxe V versus American Standa
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:57 pm
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James Coderre wrote:
I was at a bass Clinic given by Marcus Miller last fall, he talked about when he was starting out as a session player in New York in the late 70's /early 80's he told the story were he had Sadowsky modify his passive Jazz bass with a 2 band EQ


Roger built an exact replica of Marcus' modified 1977 Jazz Bass, with the only differences being the headstock shape and a 4-bolt neck plate.

Image



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