my favorite bass rig preamp

johnk_10 · #1 04-06-2010, 01:59 AM

as some of you that have followed my quest for the best preamp for a bass rig, i just had to make this post about the UA 6176 now that i've had it for about a month. while i love my Avalon VT737SP and Focusrite ISA 430 MKII (amongst the many other bass preamps that i have), the UA just stands out above all of them.

i've been searching my whole bass playing life (since 1967), for what i think, is the ultimate tone and response from a bass rig, and using the UA 6176 thru a Crown xti2000 into a EL Whappo Jr., i believe that i have finally acheived it.

i generally use passive vintage fender basses (with the exception of my Alembic and Stingray), and with this rig, the response, tone, punch, smoothness and clarity is beyond my expectations.

with most of my other preamps being alot more flexible, as far as eq goes, and while i can somewhat mimic the UA with them, there's still just a certain something missing. after a/b'ing with all of them a zillion times, i've determined that most of it is in the response, transparency and bloom of each note. the UA isn't known for being particularly 'colorless', but for some reason, to me, as a bass preamp, it actually is. and if its not, whatever its doing, its doing exactly what i want. and this is even without using the built-in 1176LN compressor, so alot of it is coming from its LA 610B preamp. however, i do always use the 1176LN in it too, as even if not using the compression, just running thru it makes it even better.

i've become so attached to it now, and i'm so addicted to the UA 610 preamp, that i just purchased a UA LA 610 MKII, just to get another one, albeit with a different compressor. i can't imagine the LA-2 type opto tube compressor in the LA 610 MKII being better than the 1176 (which has always been my favorite for bass in the studio), but thought, why not have one with a little different flavor. it should be arriving here later this week, so i'll try to post a sound clip of both units after it arrives.

i've played thru this rig every day for the last month, so this isn't just something that i love one day, and then with a 'different day's ears' think it could be better - its every time i plug into it, and with any bass i have, it has never left me wanting more. i mean, after every time i stop playing thru it, i say to myself ( and even sometimes out loud), 'now that's the shiznik."

since i'm still a vintage freak, i'm not going to be selling off my vintage Sunns, Ampegs, Fenders or Sound City since i do still love all of them too, but for me, the UA/xti2000/Whappo Jr. beats them all, and i NEVER in my wildest dreams thought that i would say that.

Jeff Scott · #2 04-06-2010, 06:02 PM

I am looking forward to your comparison of the LA-610 Mk II to your 6176; I am very much enamored with my LA-610 Mk II, it sounds fabulous with all my basses, primarily passive also, except for my Rick Turner RB4FL, which needs a buffer preamp for Rick's piezo pickup.

johnk_10 · #3 04-06-2010, 06:15 PM

Hi Jeff,
yeah, it should be interesting to hear the difference between the two compressors.
i was playing thru it again this afternoon, and the 1176 in it is just so good that i can't imagine me liking the LA-2 better, but i do like LA-2's so expect it to be on par. i know that the FET type 1176 comp is faster, but i really don't set the attack at the fastest setting on it (i set it at about half way).

the LA610B preamp is super nice by itself, but i justy love the way that the 1176 it makes all of the strings on my p bass have the same punch, volume and sustain.

Jeff Scott · #4 04-06-2010, 06:49 PM

I love the growl I get with my Rickenbacker basses with the Gain at +10 and running the Level around 8 - 8 1/2 and mild compression. I have not tried it yet with my '67 330 Rick guitar, maybe I'll do that tonight.

johnk_10 · #5 04-06-2010, 06:58 PM

yeah, it can do the growl thing really well. i run mine at the +10 setting and the gain at around 5 with my p bass and its right at the edge of just starting to growl (which is where i like it all my tube amps to be). the +10 setting seems to give the most tube 'personality' on these preamps.

naturalkinds · #6 04-06-2010, 08:15 PM

John:

Love the UA stuff. What is the weight of the channel strip and power amp with road cases? Just curious.

johnk_10 · #7 04-06-2010, 09:04 PM

i use them in individual 2U racks. the UA in a 2U rack is about 12lbs, and the xti2000 in a 2U rack is about 21lbs.

cripula · #8 04-06-2010, 09:11 PM

Very much looking forward to your comparison of the 6176/LA610 as well!

Evolver · #9 04-06-2010, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

I am looking forward to your comparison of the LA-610 Mk II to your 6176; I am very much enamored with my LA-610 Mk II, it sounds fabulous with all my basses, primarily passive also, except for my Rick Turner RB4FL, which needs a buffer preamp for Rick's piezo pickup.

+1 - I'd like to see your comparison as well - the LA 610 MKII is a little closer to realistic for me financially. Do you frequently gig the UA's or mainly just use them in the studio?

Jeff Scott · #10 04-06-2010, 09:25 PM

So far, I have just used it for rehearsal and some test recording. I do plan to gig with my LA-610 Mk II when the opportunity presents itself where I want to go light, with just the preamp into a PA.

JimmyM · #11 04-06-2010, 10:04 PM

can i have your castaway preamps?

johnk_10 · #12 04-06-2010, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evolver

+1 - I'd like to see your comparison as well - the LA 610 MKII is a little closer to realistic for me financially. Do you frequently gig the UA's or mainly just use them in the studio?

i've only been using it with my live rig, but if i were recording right now, i'd be using in the studio too.

johnk_10 · #13 04-07-2010, 12:06 AM

i was talking with another bass player the other day about the 6176, and i was trying to explain about they way that its tube preamp 'handles' or 'catches' a bass guitar's signal.

if some of you remember the old ARP synthesizers, they had adjustments for their ADSR settings (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release), well, the UA obviously doesn't have those settings, but it does react/capture it differently than any other preamp/amp that i've ever played thru. its kinda hard to explain, but it has this really nice and fast punch/attack right when you hit a note, without it being brittle or hard, then it immediately slightly softens, and then slightly blooms/swells, and this is without any compression. and when you do add a little compression, it just increases is fullness and levels everything out.

for me, the whole unit is as if i just pressed a 'magic' button to get my bass sound. and it amazes me even more that it's really ALL coming from the preamp, and i don't have to rely on a tube power section to deliver what its doing. it's not that tube power amps are unreliable at all, and i love what they do in my Sunns and Ampegs, but with the UA its completely unnecessary, since it makes the Crown xti2000 'sound' and 'feel' like i'm playing thru a 100% tube amp.

JimmyM · #14 04-07-2010, 12:38 AM

alright john, now that you've had some time with the 6176, it's time to ask the big question...

let's say you go insane one day and donate all your bass gear to the homeless except for one rig that you use for everything. which will you keep...the 6176/crown/whappo jr, or your favorite svt/810?

johnk_10 · #15 04-07-2010, 12:47 AM

i have to say, it would be the 6176/xti2000/el whappo.
the only thing that i don't like about it is that i think its a really ugly robotic looking rig, and while looks do matter to me, what its giving me in sound is just more important.

JimmyM · #16 04-07-2010, 12:53 AM

wow. that's all i can say. my foundations are shaken! my whole belief system is thrown out of whack. i gotta go have a drink.

phew!

johnk_10 · #17 04-07-2010, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

i gotta go have a drink.

i think that i'll join you.

the reason i chose the UA rig is because it gives me everything i've always looked for, and more....... and it can do it at every volume level, from whisper quiet to 2X louder and bigger/fuller/cleaner or dirtier, than than my SVT/810.

JimmyM · #18 04-07-2010, 01:28 AM

well, i guess i can't say much about it with these audio kinesis cabs i'm about to get. i could see me liking them better than my 810. the prototype was pretty amazing. i could never see me buying a $2400 pre, though. i'm not exactly cheap, but i'm too cheap for a 6176.

johnk_10 · #19 04-07-2010, 01:51 AM

hey, i don't blame you. one nice thing about it is though, if you're in the studio, you could use it there too.

and i've seen them go for as low as $1400-1500 used, in mint condition, which, which still is pretty pricey, but IMO, easily worth it.

i look at it this way, if you bought one used for $1500 and then bought a new xti2000 (or similar poweramp) for $450, you have $1950 into a spectacular 2000 watt bass head for live gigs, and IMO, the best bass channel strip/direct box in the world for studio work.

Jeff Scott · #20 04-07-2010, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnk_10

i have to say, it would be the 6176/xti2000/el whappo.
the only thing that i don't like about it is that i think its a really ugly robotic looking rig, and while looks do matter to me, what its giving me in sound is just more important.

Just put a paper bag over it's head.