Is this a good idea?(Preamp question)

[Shmone]

Hey everyone,
Recently I started playing in a band and we don't have a permanent rehearsal room or something like that,
and I find myself not liking the tone I get with some of the amps in these places.
so I started to think about getting an amp but I'm not sure I need to get an amp,
my idea was to get a preamp and just hijack the power section and cabinets in these rooms with the FX loop return as a try to get a more consistent sound.
I know the cabs and power amp will affect my tone,
but will it be in a level that will render this idea useless?
I thought about simply getting a head but then theres a chance that the cabs in these places won't match my head and I'm not sure I want to enter into this and buy my own cabs.
I know I might sound a bit clueless to some of you (and thats because I am clueless) but I will appreciate any help.

Thanks,
Amit

[RickenBoogie]

It'll work fine, maybe not always the same way, but yeah, the preamp you buy will have a big impact on your tone.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

If you get a preamp that heavily colours your sound, like a Tech 21 BDDI or RBI or whatnot, that'll work a lot better than a transparent sounding preamp.

Mainly because the more transparent the preamp, the more the differences between the power amps and cabinets are going to become noticable. Even with a preamp that heavily colours your sound, they are still going to have a large impact on the sound and whatnot.

Why not pick a rehersal place that you like the most and stick with that?

[Shmone]

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

Why not pick a rehersal place that you like the most and stick with that?

Currently it's not an option since the other members sometimes have problem with certain locations.
Another problem that I see now is that in my country (Israel) I can pretty much choose between a Sansamp BDDI and a Sansamp BDDI.
My brother is going to be in the USA next month and I thought about ordering something to him,
but will the electricity be an issue?

[Son of Bovril]

yeah that will work nicely, get something like the sansamp VT pedal. Obviously the cab will affect the sound quite a lot but there is nothing you can do about that unfortunately

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by Shmone

Currently it's not an option since the other members sometimes have problem with certain locations.
Another problem that I see now is that in my country (Israel) I can pretty much choose between a Sansamp BDDI and a Sansamp BDDI.
My brother is going to be in the USA next month and I thought about ordering something to him,
but will the electricity be an issue?

What is the standard power line over in Israel?

It depends on the preamp. The BDDI for instance, you could just run off a battery. If you wanted to use the mains, you'd just need to make sure you got the right kind of power plug. This would also be true for any preamp where you have an external power transformer (as long as you could get an external one to the correct requirements).

If you got a preamp with an internal power transformer, that could be a bit more of an issue, if it doesn't have a switchable voltage. But, you could always just use an external step down or step up transformer.

[Shmone]

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

What is the standard power line over in Israel?

It's 220V 50Hz and it looks like the one over here:
http://img.zap.co.il/pics/5/5/1/7/27757155b.gif

I was looking at the BBE BMax preamp,
is it a valid option concerting the electricity issue?

[rovito]

If you got something like an Eden micro head you could use it as a pre or as a head depending on your situation. They can adapt voltage so power won't be a problem.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I'm not too familiar with that preamp. Try emailing BBE and asking.

As said tho, worst case scenario is you'd need to buy a step down transformer that'd take your line voltage of 220v and step it down to 120v. I'm not sure if you'd have any problems with the difference in frequency.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by rovito

If you got something like an Eden micro head you could use it as a pre or as a head depending on your situation. They can adapt voltage so power won't be a problem.

This is another good option, a lot of the micro heads are designed to work on multiple voltages.

[Son of Bovril]

or buy from somewhere that lets you specify what voltage you want... I think there are many countries using your same voltage

[gillento]

any pedal type device like the SansAmps / VT are running on 9 Volts batteries or from a 9V wall wart..... That is no problem at all wether you use it in Asia, Europe or the US

[Shmone]

I emailed BBE to ask them and they answered within a few hours saying they will send me all the parts and the diagrams!
Now I'll just have to wait until my brother will be in the USA.