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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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$320.00
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10.0
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Description:
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Single pickup - Volume, low pass filter with boost/cut, and high pass filter with boost/cut.
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Author
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kesslari
Groovin' Eskrimador
Registered: December 2007
Location: Santa Cruz Mtns, California
Posts: 6000
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Review Date: Mon September 1, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $320.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Great tones and incredible tonal flexibility
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Cons:
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None
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I wasn't happy with the Bartolini NTBT preamp in my Ibanez GWB1 (Gary Willis Fretless bass).
I love the passive sound of the bass, but for me the Bart preamp didn't really do full-range justice to that passive sound, and didn't give much tonal flexibility on its own, at least in the ranges that I like to work an EQ.
I wasn't entirely sure about a filter-based preamp. Installing the ACG, or any 3 band preamp, would necessitate drilling another hole in my bass, so to start I installed it into a project box and used it as an external preamp. My plan was to figure out how to use it, record some samples with the ACG, with the bass passive, and with the stock NTBT, and compare them. If I liked the ACG will enough, it would go into the bass.
Spending a little while getting used to using the filters quickly yielded some really good, really useful sounds.
With minor tweaks of the low pass filter, I got several kinds of really great, growly fretless tone. The upper registers really sing on the bass now, without artificiality. I can also dial in a very clear, deep, rootsy sound for country and blues.
Set flat, the preamp is extremely true to the passive sound of the bass. It's much more accurate than the NTBT.
After recording some samples and listening back, the decision to install the ACG was a no-brainer. It sounded THAT good.
Installation was very straightforward, and the no-soldering-required part is quite nice.
I installed the ACG on Friday, and gigged the fretless Saturday and Sunday.
I was delighted with the sounds I was getting out of the GWB. That bass has never sounded sweeter to me.
My bandmates (2 different bands) noticed were quite enthusiastic in their positive comments about the bass tone.
I really feel that I am just starting to scratch the surface of what this preamp is capable of doing, and look forward to making more time to experiment and explore with it. It's a sound investment I'm glad to have made.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KillianRussell
The best hat for metal, is the hat the dude, Kesslari wore the other day to open for The Ohio Players.
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Funkranomicon
Fretless Instrumentals: Folk in A
Zon, Genz Benz, BFM and LDS
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naetog
is.
Registered: May 2006
Location: Clovis, CA
Posts: 621
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Review Date: Wed June 1, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $320.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Realize the full potential of your bass' tone
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Cons:
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none
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I love my Streamer Stage 2.
Everything about it is amazing except the preamp.
For my use, the MEC pre has EQ points that aren't very versatile, especially since I have the bass tuned down a whole step: bass - 100 Hz, mid - 800 Hz & treble - 8.5 kHz. Even in standard tuning, there's only a couple good sounds available.
I figured I may as well go big and get something neat.
Installation was very easy, though the exact orientation of the ribbon plug-in was not super clear.
I found it very simple to get a number of useful tones right off the bat. It's massively versatile once you spend 10 minutes with it.
Even if I had one pickup I could still get many different useful sounds not possible with fixed EQ points. Two pickups? Amazing. Between the filters, pickup panning, and varied plucking positions you can go from full on lead guitar treble to funky midrange honk, to dub style, room shaking bass in a matter of seconds.
This is my first foray into a filter preamp, and I am 100% sold. This has transformed my bass into everything I knew it could be.
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Warwick Alliance #199 / U.S. Peavey Partners #249 / U.S. Cirrus Soldier #127 / Golden State Bassists #49
Streamer/Cirrus -> Demeter -> Acme = 
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