Is the(rackmount)tubedriver a preamp?

[bassteban]

As always, I'm not sure this goes here, because I'm not exactly sure what this unit is- an effect? A processor? A preamp? I believe I have a bit of a grasp of what it does(a friend has the pedal), but I'm interested in hearing from experienced users. What do you do with yours?

[mike_v_s]

a) I'd think this goes in amps...because that's the use you're angling.

b) I believe tombowlus uses one of these as a pre.....

Mike

[bassteban]

a)How does one move a thread- short of deleting & starting over?
b)Tombowlus- yes, thank you.

[mike_v_s]

a) no idea...just trying to help.

b) If I remember correctly, Mr. Bowlus didn't find the use a pre to be all that bad, despite the unit's intended purpose.

Mike

[bassteban]

a)me neither; I appreciate the help.
b)Mm-hmm. I will now search via Mr. Bowlus. I do recall a thread raving about the results of using this piece, don't recall the poster.

[tombowlus]

Hey, it pays to do a search on your name every now and then, eh?

I have a Chandler Tube Driver and a Tube Works Blue Tube, both in rackmount form. IME, you can use either of them as a preamp, or you can use either of them as an "effect." Their setup and controls are pretty much identical, but I found the Blue Tube to be more well EQ'd for bass guitar, and the Chandler seems to be EQ's more with guitar in mind. However, I can dial in a very usable, clean, and fairly accurate tone on the Chandler, and it has enough gain to drive most of my power amps. It sounds pretty good, and responds strongly to tube changes. But, the overdrive is really where the Chandler shines, and as such, I tend to use it as an effect (generally in the effects loop of another preamp).

The Blue Tube, with more room for boosting lows and shaping your bass tone, overall, is more well suited for use as a preamp. In fact, for $100 used, I think it makes one heck of a nice preamp. It can do the overdrive thing, too, but I find it to be better at adding some warmth, grit and grind (as opposed to all out overdrive).

One tip for either unit is to first set the Bias knob to whatever position works best with the preamp tube you have in there (and then leave that knob set). The Bass, Mid and Treble EQ's are fairly straight forward (and on the Chandler, you're going to have to crank the Bass knob all the way up or close to it), but don't forget that the Contour knob can add a good bit of low end, too. Hitting the Boost control will kick in a whole new range of tones.

Does this help?

Tom.

[bassteban]

-yes, it does. I, like all *real* bassist/bassplayer/gasaholics, am searching for the ideal rig. My main gig is Church, where we do a huge variety of styles w/a varying mix of players. I play a semi-hollow Stambaugh 6 & Fender J-5 through an SVT-3pro/PR-410hlf(a great rig w/the Fender, but the Stammie likes a more hi-fi setup, IMO. I'm wondering about a generally 'clean' amp w/the option to dial in some tube tone, hence my question). Do you have any experience w/the blue tube pedal? A friend- who actually owns the aforementioned Ampeg rig- has one, but it seems to be very noisy. Bad tube, perhaps? He bought it in a scratch-n-dent, IIRC. I'll go search under bluetube/tube driver. Thanks, Tom.