What about Preamps?

[spinnerrulz94]

A little confused about amps right now and hoping someone can clarify.

Right now I am using and 8x10 stack with a GK backline 600 head. A friend of mine has a bass preamp that he is trying to sell to me for cheap. I was poking around online about it because I never have seen a bassist use one. Most online articles say something about a Preamp/power amp combo and just using a standard head.

So I guess my questions here is these:

1: CAN I add a preamp to my rig?
2: What will a preamp do for me as far as my sound is concerned?
3: Is it a good idea to add a preamp to a bass head?

[Marginal Tom]

1) Yes. You can probably use it to drive your GK head, or you could use it with a power amp.

2) A good preamp can offer more control of your sound. If the preamp has tubes, you can overdrive it to your heart's content. You'll probably be better able to control your EQ levels at various frequencies, whether playing live or recording.

3) It depends on what you want. I've never owned or played with a separate preamp, and don't know anybody who has. Weekend warriors don't need them.

[spinnerrulz94]

The problem I am having is really just in the studio. I overdrive most of my lines for the band I'm in. The head itself (solid state) has overdrive built in, but it sounds bad with high gain. I already have enough pedals, I really hate to buy another one. I just figure it might be easier to have a little bit more growl already on board.

I was looking at the preamp today. It is a rack mount solid state Peavey. You mentioned tubes in your post, but what would a solid state preamp to for a solid state amp head?

[ric3xrt]

Tube preamp Vs soild state thats awhole new can of opinions.
A preamp will help you clean up some of that high gain "Bad"
I use a peavey TB Raxx preamp when I want that overdrive sound, its tube ,it old and they show up every now and then.
A preamp can open up a whole new world of tone control, and it can drive you mad trying to get "your sound"
as with anything else..only you can decide for yourself.

[groove pump]

It's a good idea to add a preamp to a head/cab rig if that preamp gives you a good tone that you don't get from the one in your head, if it gives you the eq control that you need, or also if it gives you flexible signal routing that you can put to good use. Sorry for mastering the obvious, but it just really depends on what you need and what a certain pre has to offer.

Your situation is interesting because it sounds like you just need some good "growl" from your rig for when you're in the studio. The best judge of that will be your own ears, but if you're interested in some sort of typical tube growl, I wouldn't expect that you'd find it from a solid state preamp unless it had some really good "tube emulation" in its design.

Although you mentioned that you've got enough pedals around, I'm curious whether you've sampled the Tech 21 VT Bass. Plenty of dedicated users around here with really good things to say about it - haven't had a go with one myself just yet, but it's on my short list.

You could also search around here for some input on getting more growl out of your head. Many G-K users look for a signature growl in their gear, but that's probably dependent on the gain settings you use with the clean channel of your amp. I don't know if it's as do-able with a Backline series head as with something like a 400rb or 700rb.

[steve_rolfeca]

Just going tube, doesn't really guarantee that you'll like the sound you get. A Marshall DSL head will give you a tight, buzzy "can full of bumblebees" distortion tone- totally different from the dark, woolly overdrive that the all-tube front end on my Genz Streamliner puts out. And if your dream tone is a blueline SVT set on stun, you need to remember that there's a big difference between preamp-only distortion, and the extra harmonic complexity that you get when a full-sized tube output stage is really cooking.

That goes for preamps in general. There are so many flavours out there- recording preamps (ART Tube Channel, etc.) that don't have much EQ or distortion capability built in, simple three-knob Fender Showman clones (Alembic F1-X), right on out to overstuffed parametric EQ'd "knob farms" (Eden Navigator).

Also, there's a big difference between the EQ you need for clean sounds, and what's needed to shape distortion.

If you're looking for the most control of distorted sounds, I would suggest that you hunt the used market for a rack-mount preamp that was specifically designed with that purpose in mind. The SansAmp RBI and SWR Interstellar Overdrive are good examples.

[Mcrelly]

I use to feed a sansamp RBI into the front of my SWR 350 head to warm up the sound and overdrive a little. I agree with groove pump. try it out with your amp either at the front (don't overload the input with too much volume) or in the effects loop. if it makes a favorable difference ... buy it.

[bongomania]

It's like having another color of paint. Sometimes that color looks nice by itself, but looks like mud when you put it with the other colors you're using. Sometimes it blends in nicely. Depends on the color, on the rest of the colors there, how you use them, and on your own tastes.