Whether it’s and in-depth technical analysis, preamp comparison, tech tip, review, or just some inspiration that’s worth sharing, here it is!
Today we take a look at the HL-1 HAZard LAMPS Pedal, which is designed to give you that classic “Haz” tone on the floor. This pedal was designed for players using Spector® basses (with EQ dimed) who need to use a passive bass for a few songs. The HL-1 allows a passive bass to have the same EQ, dynamic feel, and signature high-frequency overtones as a USA Spector® bass. No, it will not make a Fender® sound like a Spector®!…
In this we will go through a few of the most common questions regarding the LHZ-03 bass preamp: What’s in the box? Will it fit in my bass? How do I take the liner off the 3M VHB tape? One of the joys of this project is talking to players of every experience level. Truly, there is no such thing as a dumb question! I enjoy sharing what I know and helping others on their tone journey, so if you…
One of the more common questions we receive are about how to solder the barrel jack. This can feel like a daunting task to players who’ve never soldered before or have limited electronics experience. Thankfully, it is not hard to do! This video walks through a couple concepts to make your barrel jack soldering simple:
In this video we take a look at two of the most common reasons for rapid battery drain in a bass with an LHZ preamp. A 9 volt battery should last 6-8 months of normal use. However, certain wiring issues can cause an active preamp and pickups to always be powered on and reduced battery life to only a few weeks. While this video specifies the LHZ preamp, the same issues and resolutions apply to almost all active preamps that…
In this video we’ll reveal the opamps that were used in the Blind Opamp Comparison video. This is a longish video, but it goes into a lot of the psychoacoustic challenges that make listening tests difficult (if not impossible) when the difference between the samples is small.
LHZ Preamps have transitioned from the vintage LF442CN opamps to new chips. The LF442CN has been out of production for many years, and Hazlabs have moved to modern surface-mount op-amps a few years ago, so it’s our time to turn the page as well! This video is a blind comparison between 3 opamps: the original LF442CN and two of the new opamps that have been selected as being sonically indistinguishable from the original. Although we are calling this a “blind”…
In this video we answer the question “What happens to my active preamp when my battery dies?” This is a common questions from players buying a bass with active electronics for the first time. The good news is this: your preamp will NOT just die in mid performance! Instead, failing batteries just slowly fade out over many months so you have plenty of advance notice.
We had the opportunity to compare the circuitry, components, EQ response, and audio artifacts between our LHZ-01 and LHZ-02 preamps and a vintage HazLabs preamp (serial number 2029). We also had a KHaz clone and ran the same comparisons as well.
This is a quick audio comparison of the direct output of a Spector® Rebop DLX 5 with a PJ pickup set (EMG 40P5 and EMG 40J) after switching from an EMG BQC preamp to the LHZ-01 HazLabs clone. Bass audio is recorded directly into a MOTU M4, with both samples with the Bass and Treble controls at maximum. No effects or processing was done to the bass audio.
