Clean signal boost???

[passive pickup]

Plugging my bass (9v emg pups) straight into my power amp (Crown xti1000) gives me exactly the tone i want, but not quite enough signal to push the power amp to war volume. I much prefer this tone to using my Madamp tube pre, or my Ibanez head.

Is there a simple (cheap!) bit of kit that can boost the guitar's signal to the amp without significantly colouring the tone? Maybe some sort of active DI box or such like?

A high-end preamp is financially out of the question, and tbh i don't want anything but a slightly stronger signal. I've been trying to get to grips with voltage and impedance matching of inputs/outputs but now i'm more confused than ever...

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[dincz]

Art Cleanbox Pro?

[BassmanPaul]

Even one of the TubeMP line will do the job.

[Johnny Crab]

Experiement with the MXR 10 band EQ pedal if you can. It will take bass-level to line level on the input and output whatever you want it too without a lot of noise(IMO). This will also allow you the option of some signal shaping later if you want it.

[Floridabwoy]

BBE Boosta Grande... I got one for $40 on Amazon.

[ThisBass]

Originally Posted by passive pickup

Plugging my bass (9v emg pups) straight into my power amp (Crown xti1000) gives me exactly the tone i want, but not quite enough signal to push the power amp to war volume. I much prefer this tone to using my Madamp tube pre, or my Ibanez head.

Is there a simple (cheap!) bit of kit that can boost the guitar's signal to the amp without significantly colouring the tone? Maybe some sort of active DI box or such like?

A high-end preamp is financially out of the question, and tbh i don't want anything but a slightly stronger signal. I've been trying to get to grips with voltage and impedance matching of inputs/outputs but now i'm more confused than ever...

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Changing output resistance of the bass electronic from 10k to 1k increases the level to appro +6dB.

[CnB77]

You can pretty easily build a transparent boost pedal if you want to go the diy route.
I believe David from SGD has recommended the Alembic Stratoblaster for just the purpose you mention. I think it can have 22dB of gain.

[mjac28]

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

Even one of the TubeMP line will do the job.

+1 they really work well and are very cheap used.

[CnB77]

Originally Posted by mjac28

+1 they really work well and are very cheap used.

I feel like that might color the tone too much though

[morgansterne]

please bear in mind that plugging your bass straight into a power amp is doing it wrong. I'm no tech guru but there's impedance and level mismatching going on. Your power amp wants to see a line level signal and adding a (guitar level) pedal to the signal chain won't fix that.
A DI (use XLR out) or preamp is in order for you.

[RickenBoogie]

+1 what you need is a proper preamp.

[BeSharp]

I used to use a Seymour Duncan pickup booster with my vintage P Bass. They're all over eBay for about $50. True Bypass. Built like a tank. Definitely did exactly what you're looking to do.

[CL400Peavey]

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

Even one of the TubeMP line will do the job.

Originally Posted by mjac28

+1 they really work well and are very cheap used.

Originally Posted by CnB77

I feel like that might color the tone too much though

They are like $35 bucks new. You would be amazed at how clean they are, and will have all the boost you need to drive an amp.

[passive pickup]

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice, that's a great help! I'm not sure which way to go at the moment, i shall look into all of them. The Art mp sounds like the right thing, i'm just hesitant because i already have a tube pre. Having said that, for the cost there's little harm in trying it. Maybe because it's designed for mic rather than bass-specific it may be cleaner than what i have.
If i understand correctly, whatever i go for needs to accept a strong instrument level and output around 22dbu without colouring or distorting. That makes me think one of the suggested di or boost pedals may be the way to go.

[Arjank]

Originally Posted by CL400Peavey

They are like $35 bucks new. You would be amazed at how clean they are, and will have all the boost you need to drive an amp.

Years ago (+10) I used such an ART TubeMP for pre-amping my bass. It works well but IMO it does color the sound. Though the unit sounds warm it robs the signal a lot of detail....
Maybe when upgraded with a nice "hifi" kinda tube like a NOS Philips 5771 it may sound good.

[arai]

Fender>Ampeg>fEarful

[dincz]

Originally Posted by Arjank

Years ago (+10) I used such an ART TubeMP for pre-amping my bass. It works well but IMO it does color the sound. Though the unit sounds warm it robs the signal a lot of detail....

Just a thought. Were you using a passive bass? Could it have been an impedance problem - i.e. the Art's relatively low impedance inputs loading your pickups?

[CL400Peavey]

Originally Posted by arai

Fender>Ampeg>fEarful

Thats a pretty good signal chain. When I do haul out a 4 banger, I am always amazed at how clean my Jazz into my PF-500 and '66 can be.

[Arjank]

Originally Posted by dincz

Just a thought. Were you using a passive bass? Could it have been an impedance problem - i.e. the Art's relatively low impedance inputs loading your pickups?

Nope, EMG pups, 18volts.

[two fingers]

Originally Posted by ThisBass

Changing output resistance of the bass electronic from 10k to 1k increases the level to appro +6dB.

I didn't know the values but changing the resistor on the bass was my first thought as well. It's your bass only more.