I'm using an Ear Trumpet Labs Nadine mic for amplification (and I'm not blending with another pickup). And I'm playing into an amp, a Walter Woods MI100-8 to be specific.
To make this happen, I until very recently relied on two extra boxes with their corresponding wall-warts and cables between them. A Rolls phantom power supply and a Broughton Audio HPF-DI. The sound is great, but the signal chain is cluttered and prone to errors like cable failure, insufficient amount of mains outlets near to the bass amp, or most likely forgetting one of the parts at home.
I tried an EA Doubler Mk2- no clutter, the mic plugs directly into the amp, but I didn't like the sounds I could get.
Desperately, I called my amp technician for suggestions. He came up with an ART Tube MP. Interesting suggestion. The thing contains a 12AX7 tube and is powered by a 9v-wall-wart. There are users reporting pretty noticeable noise, and somehow the combination of tube and 9v power supply, and for only 50 euros, doesn't really gel for me.
But the type of device was interesting- I'm not after a ton of knobs and nifty tone shaping, all I need is phantom power and gain. And a DI.
Enter this:
On the back, it's got xlr and jack inputs and outputs. This thing doesn't seem to get a lot of attention here, so in short: it's a clone of a legendary studio preamp by Rupert Neve (the 1073, I suppose), usually found in older studio mixers of the highest standard. It's an old fashioned design with discrete transistors and no ICs, and with transformers on both input and output. It provides phantom power, between 20 and 70dB gain, and has a phase reversal switch. By the company's own account, it's not the most neutral or distortion-free design, but it's supposed to sound super musical. And it costs 230 euros, which is considerably less than, say, the here-beloved Grace Felix.
I have tried the 73 jr as a preamp into my amplifier, both standalone and using the xlr out as a DI into a rehearsal power mixer/foh, and as DI only without the amp. I can attest to it sounding very musical, ballsy and "warm" with the Nadine mic.
Since there are with this setup 3 gain stages before master volume (input/output gain on the preamp, and input gain on the Woods), there are many options as to how "dirty" or colored one wants to sound. I went the way that seemed the cleanest (as per the preamp's manual), keeping it modest on the input gain (30dB), output gain about 2 o'clock, and Woods input gain like I am used to (11 o'clock on the hot input). That sounded great to my ears, just as I had been used to with my setup . Maybe not totally accurately clean, but very musical and "real".
Using the preamp as a "split" DI to send signals to both foh and amplifier, worked great as well.
And using the Golden Age as DI box solely into foh, at least with the mixer we have at my rehearsal space, all settings equal, the sound was more pleasant and "warmer" than plugging the mic into the mixer directly, although that difference probably is not huge and wouldn't warrant using the preamp- it's not day/night different, plus if there's someone operating the foh equalizer, all bets are off anyways.
So here it is, a pretty unorthodox preamp for everyone using a microphone for db amplification. There's the theoretical possibility of sending a pickup signal in as well, into the jack insert on the rpeamp, however, the input impedance is too low for piezo pickups and that input might be more useful for electric bass. I haven't tried, though, so I don't know anything about that.
To make this happen, I until very recently relied on two extra boxes with their corresponding wall-warts and cables between them. A Rolls phantom power supply and a Broughton Audio HPF-DI. The sound is great, but the signal chain is cluttered and prone to errors like cable failure, insufficient amount of mains outlets near to the bass amp, or most likely forgetting one of the parts at home.
I tried an EA Doubler Mk2- no clutter, the mic plugs directly into the amp, but I didn't like the sounds I could get.
Desperately, I called my amp technician for suggestions. He came up with an ART Tube MP. Interesting suggestion. The thing contains a 12AX7 tube and is powered by a 9v-wall-wart. There are users reporting pretty noticeable noise, and somehow the combination of tube and 9v power supply, and for only 50 euros, doesn't really gel for me.
But the type of device was interesting- I'm not after a ton of knobs and nifty tone shaping, all I need is phantom power and gain. And a DI.
Enter this:
On the back, it's got xlr and jack inputs and outputs. This thing doesn't seem to get a lot of attention here, so in short: it's a clone of a legendary studio preamp by Rupert Neve (the 1073, I suppose), usually found in older studio mixers of the highest standard. It's an old fashioned design with discrete transistors and no ICs, and with transformers on both input and output. It provides phantom power, between 20 and 70dB gain, and has a phase reversal switch. By the company's own account, it's not the most neutral or distortion-free design, but it's supposed to sound super musical. And it costs 230 euros, which is considerably less than, say, the here-beloved Grace Felix.
I have tried the 73 jr as a preamp into my amplifier, both standalone and using the xlr out as a DI into a rehearsal power mixer/foh, and as DI only without the amp. I can attest to it sounding very musical, ballsy and "warm" with the Nadine mic.
Since there are with this setup 3 gain stages before master volume (input/output gain on the preamp, and input gain on the Woods), there are many options as to how "dirty" or colored one wants to sound. I went the way that seemed the cleanest (as per the preamp's manual), keeping it modest on the input gain (30dB), output gain about 2 o'clock, and Woods input gain like I am used to (11 o'clock on the hot input). That sounded great to my ears, just as I had been used to with my setup . Maybe not totally accurately clean, but very musical and "real".
Using the preamp as a "split" DI to send signals to both foh and amplifier, worked great as well.
And using the Golden Age as DI box solely into foh, at least with the mixer we have at my rehearsal space, all settings equal, the sound was more pleasant and "warmer" than plugging the mic into the mixer directly, although that difference probably is not huge and wouldn't warrant using the preamp- it's not day/night different, plus if there's someone operating the foh equalizer, all bets are off anyways.
So here it is, a pretty unorthodox preamp for everyone using a microphone for db amplification. There's the theoretical possibility of sending a pickup signal in as well, into the jack insert on the rpeamp, however, the input impedance is too low for piezo pickups and that input might be more useful for electric bass. I haven't tried, though, so I don't know anything about that.
all the more, if you start to combine it with EQ's, compressors and so on, which are available for lunch boxes... not really cheap, but a real great playground, if you like...
and the Vintage Revolution II came post Grace, it wouldn't make sense for 
