Whether it’s and in-depth technical analysis, preamp comparison, tech tip, review, or just some inspiration that’s worth sharing, here it is!
Matt Baldwin is an independent recording artist at Mind’s Eye Recording Studios and bassist for the blues-rock band Teskey. He purchased the LHZ-04 to upgrade the stock preamp in his custom Spector and took it into the studio to record tracks for Teskey’s 2025 album “White Wolf.” Matt completely surprised us by recording a video review of the LHZ-04 preamp, which we are proud to share here! This video had us grinning ear-to-ear about halfway through when we got to…
The LHZ-04 preamp is a physical re-design of our current LHZ-03 model. It is the same circuit, same components, and same sound. Improvements for 2025 were driven by a significant number of clients using the LHZ in non-Spector basses with very confined control cavities. With smaller board dimensions and extremely low vertical clearance requirements, the LHZ-04 is THE choice for challenging installations.
This video walks you though the differences between the LHZ versions.
This video walkthru from 3 Random Monkeys takes us through the process of solderless installation of an LHZ preamp. Here’s the wiring diagram for an Active pickup setup using dual modular EMG volume pots used for the install.
This video is a walk-thru of the process of upgrading a American Fender Jazz Deluxe 5 String bass from the EMG BTS to the LHZ-03 preamp. This is NOT a typical installation because it as a custom modification to use a DPDT bypass switch. This allows the LHZ preamp to be bypassed for those times where I want just the un-EQ’d pickup outputs.
This video is created by, and property of, the Gorilla Repair Shop but we think it is a perfect and concise overview of the process of removing the stock TonePump from a Spector® Euro and installing the LHZ-03 preamp.
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.
