Which Preamp for me?

[Bjazzman]

so i'm considering a pre/power amp setup. probably going to get a peavey ipr 3000

looking for a really warm sounding preamp that doesn't have a ton of controls as im not really a tweaker

im currently in a funk/reggae/soul/r & b group

what are your reccomendations?


here are some that i've thought about and it's really hard to try these out since most music stores don't carry pre's around here:

fender tbp-1
bbe bmax-t
ampeg svp-pro

are these good starting points?

[jacojbass]

look for input sensitivity, generally this is not a good idea and you won't get the full power of the amp this way. a preamps signal is to weak to power a power amp to full potential.

[Bjazzman]

also considering an eden navigator

[Blacksack]

subscribed i'm lookin into a decent preamp

[Plstrns]

IPR's have less than a volt input sensitivity, any preamp should work just fine.

[srxplayer]

BBE BMax-T

I use one and I don't like screwing around tweaking my knobs either. I pretty much set and forget unless a room forces me to make changes. The preamp sounds great. Controls are fairly simple but you have to get used to the weird passive tone stack. It's not complicated just different than what most of us are used to. Once that is figured out the tone is all warm and tubey. IMHO it's about the most tubey goodness you can get without a tube power section.

[Big B.]

The Eden Navigator is sweet but it has enough controls and dials to turn your T.V. on and off. If you want simple with great tone look for an Alembix F1-X. Great sounding tube preamp with minimal controls. Volume, Bass, Mid and Treble knobs with a low boost and high boost switch. I have had one for 15 years and it is solid as a rock. Super clean with a good D.I. send.

[pedulla1]

Originally Posted by srxplayer

BBE BMax-T

I use one and I don't like screwing around tweaking my knobs either. I pretty much set and forget unless a room forces me to make changes. The preamp sounds great. Controls are fairly simple but you have to get used to the weird passive tone stack. It's not complicated just different than what most of us are used to. Once that is figured out the tone is all warm and tubey. IMHO it's about the most tubey goodness you can get without a tube power section.

What's that thing in the top rack?

[Growly Lytes]

That looks like a mixer to me but a funny one !!

[edwinhurwitz]

I second the Alembic F1X, but I would also suggest you look at this:

http://www.sarnomusicsolutions.com/products/ctp.html

Brad let me check out the unit marked Demo A for a tour before these really hit the market in exchange for him hanging on to my F2B to run comparison tests and after two shows, I called him to find out what I had to do to keep it. It's similar to the Alembic pres in design philosophy, but is much clearer and punchier. As it has the classic Fender tone stack, it can do deep and warm easily. I love it! Don't let it's marketing as a guitar preamp distract you from its abilities on bass. Anyone in the Front Range of Colorado, feel free to get in touch to check mine out.

I like the Eden pres too, but they aren't as simple to operate. Amazon had the Navigator on sale cheap for a while ($365) but they seem to have gone up again.

[ErnieD]

I have a F-1X and BBE BMax (non-T). Been leaning more to the BBE pre for the more EQ it offers for the funk/soul band I help out. The F-1X gets the nod for my blues-rock band. Crown Coredrive XLS1500 amp makes this rig a breeze to haul around.

Local dude has a Yamaha PB-1 for a good price I plan to go check out. May pick that one up if its not too similar to my BBE pre.

I read here to set your Fender stack-style preez @ 2-10-2 to get as close to flat settings. Works well on my F-1X.

There's a Sarno in the TB classifieds right now. Pretty pricey, but cool looking pre.

[groovaholic]

"Warm" is a REALLY subjective term; can you maybe give us some tone examples to reference?

I've owned most of the preamps mentioned in this thread, and I'd describe most of them as clean and accurate, but I don't know if I'd call them "warm"...

Warm to me is an emphasis and thickness in the low mids coupled with a mild overdrive. Think Ampeg B15.

[Bjazzman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CPCs7vVz6s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjYg5Mw_qo0&feature=fvst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5O3OUjA00Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83_vo_m-T_A&feature=fvst


just some examples

[groovaholic]

A correction to my previous post; you asked about the Ampeg SVP.
The SVP is a very warm sounding pre, but you have to be careful how you use the Ultra Lo because it cuts out SO MUCH of the mids.

Also, it seems like a great preamp for 4-string rock.
I say this because I always loved mine with my 4-string basses, but when I started playing more 5, I always thought my B sounded like poop; it got very flubby on notes lower than D.

The other thing to consider is that the SVP is NOT "plug & play" -- between the pre and post gain controls, the tube drive control, the Ultra Lo & Hi switches, the graphic EQ, and the selectable mid frequencies; it takes a while to dial that thing in.

Concerning your YouTube samples, they all had fairly deep and dubby tones without a ton of highs.

For that, rather than the Ampeg SVP, I'd recommend the SVT model pre they came out with ca. 2005. It wasn't as rock & roll gainy as the SVP, but had more of this smooth, thick low end.

(Smooth and thick makes me think of the Kern pre, but good luck finding one of THOSE...)

[Son of Bovril]

I seem to always be saying this, but the Fender tbp-1 is an amazing piece of gear if vintage tube warmth is what you are after without getting a full on tube amp..