EBS MicroBass II - 2-Channel Preamp/DI-box? or a similar box?

jebo · #1 07-26-2011, 04:17 PM

I double on acoustic upright bass and have been looking for an acoustic pre-amp to use before an amp...This box seems awesome! it would do that plus iI could bennifit from the dual inputs for gigs where I have to double!...the only thing is I have no use for the overdrive on one of the channels...

I have 2 questions..

1) Has anyone used this box? likes/dislikes?

2) Is there anything else on the market that is exactly like this, but with no overdrive on one of the inputs/channels??

Pickebass · #2 07-26-2011, 04:50 PM

Try the radial bassbone. Two channels... one with EQ the other flat

jebo · #3 07-26-2011, 05:03 PM

The bassbone looks cool... Im just not crazy about the fact that it does not have a mute switch.

I was checking out the basswitch just now... It looks really cool but expensive and not available in north America I think??

Juan Count · #4 07-26-2011, 05:16 PM

BassWitch looks good... I don't play double bass... but it can run a double bass signal (has a db boost)... I love my BassWitch... the EQ and DI functions are fantastic...

Check it out here... ‪The Basswitch IQ DI presentation‬&rlm; - YouTube

NeroJazz · #5 07-26-2011, 11:16 PM

The MicroBass is a great unit, although it can be tricky to get unity gain on both channels.
Channel B is usually just a tad louder than channel A.

HalfManHalfBass · #6 07-27-2011, 12:58 AM

I have used this pedal for 8 years and sold it this week.

It is a good pedal but, just like you, the distortion wasn't anything I ever needed or used. I also found that channel A when set flat always sounded different (scooped a little in the mids) compared to the flat setting of channel B. When both channels were connected together this scooped effect was even more noticable.

With its headphone out socket it was handy for practicing sometimes around the house, but most practice amplifiers have a headphone jack these days anyway. To balance two the two channels is very difficult (as already mentioned) and the effects loop never seemed to work properly with any of the pedals I tried it with either.

In all, I discovered it to be a very expensive one channel preamp, with only a bass and treble control! The deal breaker for me was recently I turned all my pedals off and listened hard. This unit was the worst that produced a hissing noise -which when coupled with other non true-bypass, buffered pedals, made things even worse! I've sold it and all my buffered pedals and only use true bypass now.

Maybe it was my just my unit, but this hiss was unacceptable once I had discovered it. I'm now looking into maybe a Sadowsky preamp pedal (although this has only one channel and wouldnt be useful for you).

If you don't need the eq options don't forget a simple Boss Line Selector (LS-2) will give you two inputs (or even 3!) to one output and with independent volume controls......

marijn van gils · #7 07-27-2011, 02:09 AM

I have used mine for about three years now, and I am really happy with it.

I use it as a dual channel switchable pre-amp for one bass: channel B with extra mids (freq at 800, middle at 3 o'clock) and channel A for a scooped slaptone: bass and treble boosted and enhance filter on.

The drive knob has a huge impact on the volume of channel B, but as long as I don't use it as a real distortion (which I don't like the tone of anyway on the microbass), the boost knob of channel A is sufficiënt for getting unity gain easily.
I just add some mild drive (drive at about 9:00) and I get unity gain with the boost at about 10:30. I feel balancing both channels is only difficult if you turn the drive up. So not having any use for the overdrive would actually be a good thing!

You can also close the drive completely if you like and still have the channel functioning perfectly.

The microbass works great great for home practice: I put my pedalboard anywhere, plug in my ipod (in the FX-return) and headphones, and I can practice with full pedalboard without bothering anyone or having to hook up an amp.

I didn't experience the hiss problem mentioned above at all, my unit is very silent. I never tried the effects loop (only FX-return for plugging in Ipod, and FX-mix to blend Ipod signal with the bass, which work great), as I run all effects in front of it.

The only thing I that would make it even greater would be to have all eq-controls on both channels instead of only parametric mids (although the freq starts at 50h) on B and bass and treble on A. Of course, you can use all by A+B-ing the channels, but then you lose the two-channel aspect...
Anyway, for my use at the moment, the eq certainly suffices.

All in all a great box that I would recommend!

Jacques · #8 07-28-2011, 05:06 AM

Hello,

It is. Contact Dan Lenard at Luthiers Access Group

Regards

Jacques

Quote:

Originally Posted by jebo

The bassbone looks cool... Im just not crazy about the fact that it does not have a mute switch.

I was checking out the basswitch just now... It looks really cool but expensive and not available in north America I think??

bearhart74 · #9 07-28-2011, 05:13 AM

ive heard nothing but good things about the eden WTDI

One Bad Monkey · #10 08-15-2011, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jebo

The bassbone looks cool... Im just not crazy about the fact that it does not have a mute switch.

I was checking out the basswitch just now... It looks really cool but expensive and not available in north America I think??

If you put a 1/4" to 1/8" adaptor into the effect jack on the Bassbone, you can essentially turn the boost/effect knob into a mute switch. It's a silly workaround, especially if you want to use either the boost function or the effect loop.

I just bought an EBS Micro Bass II after a couple years using the Bassbone (used it with electric, upright, electric-upright and even uke) and it works fine. For me however, I found that I was needing more. Having a standalone mute switch, effect blend knob and a couple of other things sweetened the deal. I see what people are saying about unity gain, but I honestly didn't find any issue with it.

alec · #11 11-30-2011, 02:40 AM

I just won a MBII on eBay. I don't need it and didn't expect to win, but for $280 I'll give it a shot when it arrives.

A question - some people diss the overdrive on it. Can it be modded with a different circuit?

Jacques · #12 11-30-2011, 03:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juan Count

BassWitch looks good... I don't play double bass... but it can run a double bass signal (has a db boost)... I love my BassWitch... the EQ and DI functions are fantastic...

Check it out here... ‪The Basswitch IQ DI presentation‬&rlm; - YouTube

I suggest to go here to have a look at the basswitch :

Homepage - Ruppert Musical Instruments

Regards

Jacques