What pre are you using with your realist, and why?

**Basschair** · #1 02-26-2007, 10:03 AM

It looks like I'll be picking up a realist as an alternative to my Bass Max, so I figured I should start looking into a pre for it.

I'm wondering what pre you've been using with your realist, and why you chose it. What preamps did you try out, and what made you go with the one you chose? Are you mainly a pizz player, or bow? If you would, please describe the control abilities that your pre provides you.

Thanks for your help!

Best regards

fingers · #2 02-26-2007, 10:28 AM

Realist. K&K mic. K&K blender. Sansamp.

I do very little eq. The blender has some eq and I'll sometimes roll the highs off a little to control feedback but that's about it. I chose the sansamp because I like the way it beefs up the sound. I have all the controls at 12 o'clock except the drive which I have totally off.

GK MB 150 S with no eq.

Watch the videos on my website to get a good idea of my sound.

ps You are going to have to try lots of combinations. Not every setup is going to work for every bass or for every player. You'll drive yourself a little nuts. That's why the amp forum is so popular.

Ed Fuqua · #3 02-26-2007, 10:38 AM

no pre amp. straight into the Woods.

**Basschair** · #4 02-26-2007, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fingers

ps You are going to have to try lots of combinations. Not every setup is going to work for every bass or for every player. You'll drive yourself a little nuts. That's why the amp forum is so popular.

I figured as much. Still, I'd like to start somewhere, and this thread will hopefully help to give me some concensus.

Thanks!

**Basschair** · #5 02-26-2007, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

no pre amp. straight into the Woods.

Now if I could just afford a Woods amp, I'd be set

Kam · #6 02-26-2007, 11:27 AM

I don't use a pre with my realist; I play both pizz and arco with it.

I guess I've never really tried one..I'm happy with the straight tone for now, I might try to drive myself crazy down the road.

bolo · #7 02-26-2007, 11:31 AM

New Realist, or old? I could be wrong, but somewhere I got the impression that there was a notable difference in the two, I think in signal level and perhaps tone. Not sure what the cutoff date was.

**Basschair** · #8 02-26-2007, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bolo

New Realist, or old? I could be wrong, but somewhere I got the impression that there was a notable difference in the two, I think in signal level and tone. Not sure what the cutoff date was.

I believe it's one of the newer ones with the brighter tone.

Jaromir · #9 02-26-2007, 01:31 PM

You don't need a buffering preamp for Realist. Actually, it sounds better without it, especially the new, brighter Realist with stronger signal. Of course, you might want one to somehow color the sound, but you don't need it for the impedance matching purposes - that's one of the great things about Realist.

**Basschair** · #10 02-26-2007, 01:40 PM

I'm glad to hear it: you've save me from making an expensive mistake

fingers · #11 02-26-2007, 02:03 PM

Jaromir is right on. The new Realist is higher output and pretty good without a pre straight into my GK.

I might not need to go through all the stuff I do. I'm currently very happy with my sound so I'm a little afraid to change anything. The pre also allows me to get a little more volume out of that little GK when I need to.

dar512 · #12 02-26-2007, 02:33 PM

I've got an Eminence with the stock Realist pickup. I don't know how old it is (I bought it used), but it definitely needs a preamp with most amps. It's much too bright and tinny without.

JeffKissell · #13 02-26-2007, 02:55 PM

Realist (older style I think) straight into an AI Clarus. I used to have a GK MB150S and I didn't use a pre for that amp either.
-J

seamonkey · #14 02-26-2007, 06:17 PM

Depends on the input impedance of your amp. Most modern heads seem to have high impedance inputs of at least 500k. Some don't.

In any case this works great with my realist for going into low impedance, or balanced mic inputs:
http://www.behringer.com/ADI21/index.cfm?lang=ENG
It's dead quiet and accurate.

stockbass · #15 02-28-2007, 06:50 AM

At least with the old realtist pu you will need a pre-amp in most situations. The behringer adi-21 works fine and is very cheap.

Keyser Soze · #16 02-28-2007, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stockbass

At least with the old realtist pu you will need a pre-amp in most situations. The behringer adi-21 works fine and is very cheap.

I have an old Realist and an old GM 200MB. The realist worked OK straight into the amp but lacked something; tonal control, warmth, "focus."

I have followed this forum, seeking opinions on preamps and thought that the Fishman Platinum Pro EQ sounded like it might be a good fit for my rig. I picked up a used one here on the For Sale forum and am very, very happy with it.

It makes for a "tighter" sound and the EQ and compression and "drive" pots/faders are really, really responsive. The phase switch makes a huge audible difference. I highly recommend it, whether you "need" it or not. (I thought that, if I didn't love it, I'd resell. No way: It's a keeper.)

Previously, I borrowed a friend's Behringer AD21, hoping to get results on the cheap. It did very little.

(I have a low-end carved Christopher with four-year-old Spirocore weiches.)

I'm finally happy with my amplified sound. Very happy.

musicman5string · #17 02-28-2007, 01:33 PM

+1 on the Fishman Platinum Pro. I use it with my Underwood into a GKMB150 and dig the sound at low to mid volumes.

Ale · #18 02-28-2007, 02:30 PM

I got my hands on one of the older small Fishman Model B Trancducers. And i really like it , both with the realist , Wilson and BP-100. Very small , flat sounding , great "EQ" (Bass , Treble). Great for slab to , just tape it on to your strap / quiver.
Does not realy project as good as the K&K or the D-Tar when playing Arco , but i use a condenser for that anyway.

Ric Vice · #19 02-28-2007, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Basschair

I
I'm wondering what pre you've been using with your realist, and why you chose it. What preamps did you try out, and what made you go with the one you chose? Are you mainly a pizz player, or bow? If you would, please describe the control abilities that your pre provides you.

Thanks for your help!

Best regards

Just as Ed stated above I don't need a preamp with the Walter Woods/Realist Combination. I tried the Fishman BP-100 and it actually sounded worse than the Realist by itself, so there must be a mismatch there. I use both Arco and Pizzicato in my playing, and the strings (Spirocore Weich's) actually effect the arco sound far more than the Realist dose.

Ric

Andy Allen · #20 02-28-2007, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaromir

You don't need a buffering preamp for Realist. Actually, it sounds better without it, especially the new, brighter Realist with stronger signal. Of course, you might want one to somehow color the sound, but you don't need it for the impedance matching purposes - that's one of the great things about Realist.

This is not my experience with the Realist. I have a new style one - I was able to compare it with Marco's old-style and it is definitely different. It has a high output, higher than the Bass-Max that it replaced. However, it needs a high impedance input to sound at all good.

When I first got it I plugged it into the Bass-Max's pre-amp and it sounded awful. This has a 1MegOhm or so impedance. When plugged directly into the Acoustic Image Clarus, it sounds fine, but only as long as it has the "Hi" button engaged. This sets the input at about 10MegOhms, I believe. Switch the "Hi" button off (~1Meg?) and it sounds nasal and horrid. It also sounds fine through my Solstice, which has a 10MegOhm input impedance.

So for my sample of one Realist and three pre-amps I conclude that the Realist does indeed need a high-impedance pre-amp (either in the amp, or externally).

ANdy