Configure Tube Pre w/compressor?

[ChasBass]

I'm getting an ART Tube Pre to "warm up" my SS Crate 440 head with an 810TX Peavey cab.
Currently running a passive Jazz into a Presonus Bluemax compressor to the Input. Just wondering what the best config would be - Tube Pre through the effects loop, in line with the compressor, ...?

BTW - I was spoiled on a 70's SVT but can't afford one right now.

Any suggestions?

[bongomania]

I would go:
bass --> ART --> Presonus --> fx loop return jack on amp.

This bypasses the Crate preamp, giving you the cleanest signal path (given those units in the chain). If you desperately want to keep the Crate preamp in the chain, then I'd go:
bass --> ART --> Crate --> Presonus in fx loop

...but again, that's not my first recommendation.

[Ryan Mohr]

Originally Posted by bongomania

I would go:
bass --> ART --> Presonus --> fx loop return jack on amp.

This bypasses the Crate preamp, giving you the cleanest signal path (given those units in the chain). If you desperately want to keep the Crate preamp in the chain, then I'd go:
bass --> ART --> Crate --> Presonus in fx loop

...but again, that's not my first recommendation.

Can you plug your bass into the effects loop return normally or do you need a preamp in pedal form?

[ChasBass]

The effects return works ok but sounds a little dirty. It makes the effects blend the input gain control. This bypasses the Gain Reduction/Boost, the overload LED's, the Contour section and 8 band EQ.

[bongomania]

Almost every part of that sounds about right to me. Again, different tastes for different purposes, but I would personally be glad to get the extra gain stage, the contour (AKA mid scoop), and the 8-band EQ out of my chain. The gain stage is totally unnecessary when the outboard units are added, and would then be nothing more than a source of noise. Mid scoop is bad, so good riddance to "contour". Whether you want the EQ is a less obvious decision.

The only part that doesn't sound right to me is the effects return sounding "dirty". If you mean there is hiss or crackle, then clean the jacks and pots. If you mean there is clipping, then adjust your gain staging (the levels going into and out of each component). It's more than likely one of those two things, which are "your fault" rather than "the amp's fault" or a fault with the concept of using the loop. If the loop is genuinely bad, i.e. the dirty sound is inherent to the loop regardless of cleaning and appropriate gain staging, then you wouldn't want to put anything in it.

BTW don't use the fx loop blend as a gain control- instead, use the input and output gain controls on the ART or the Presonus.

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by AqueousView11

Can you plug your bass into the effects loop return normally or do you need a preamp in pedal form?

Depends on the output levels of your bass and the operating levels of the fx loop, but generally you need some kind of preamp between the bass and the loop. Doesn't have to be a pedal.

[ChasBass]

The dirty sound was coming from my 30 year old Cobra cable - trashed.
Running through the effects loop still gives me the input overload lights and bypasses the contour and EQ. The Tube Pre warms the tone up nicely and the honky mids are no longer an issue.
Thanks for the advice.