Advantages of preamp pedals

[mambo4]

The right amp can eliminate the desire for a lot of pedals. I rock a Genz Benz Streamliner 900 and the preamp is a dream. I feel no need for another piece of gear. I say this as the Proud owner of a few sans amps. If you do the bass/amp/cab right, you can skip a lot of kit.

 

[TOOL460002]

This made me think of something. If someone has a pedalboard already, then maybe the pedal preamp would be an easy thing to transition to. I have a compressor and a tuner on my board at the moment. I am not 100% sold on the compressor. I'm still learning the ins and outs. But, if I did keep it in the chain, a pedal preamp might be an easier decision.

Having MIDI in a preamp rocks. I also use the ZOIA as a blend and can do some pre stuff, but it's not like it has an XLR out or cab sim, so a preamp last in the chain is nice. A DI/hub setup would work as well. I do still have a rack compressor, but it doesn't really do much compressing. More nice to have something between a board and a power amp.

Building new board with another ZOIA and some other things in mind/on the way, but this does a crazy amount of tone shaping. If you were less into wild effects you could just sub in some other stuff.

But, ya, if I needed some more pre options I could snag another loop switcher or wire things a bit differently. I like having more, modular gear. Maybe more overall weight, but nothing individually heavy. This also works perfect into a DAW or in a headphones practice situation.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I've been considering a nice preamp pedal. It got me thinking though...should I be looking at other amps instead? I like my TH500, but I want to get a more 'wooly' tone out of it. I could be looking at a used DB750 instead. So, if anyone knows, it would be this forum...what are the advantages of having a preamp pedal, and why did you chose that format over a different head?

There are some obvious advantages...having multiple tones with less space, going ampless/in ears, or having something for recording. But, assuming none of those apply, would you still go the preamp pedal route?

I've tried a couple tone hammer amps. They all had a fairly wooly tone initially. Like Mark Bass amps. Girthy in the low mids, and lacking in the high end.

They require a fair amount of eq. Except that I can get what I want out of mark bass amps. I couldn't with the Aguilars. They're wierd amps. The eq section isn't exactly straight forward like it should be. Apparently.

Check out the mark bass pre. You'd like it.

 

[b_carville]

I do this a lot with a Zoom MS60. A SansAmp bass driver did a good job too, The Behringer knockoff(bdi21?) did an a decent job for this purpose too. Bypass the rental amplifier's preamp through the send of the effects loop(If it has one)

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

I do play upright. I use an Acoustic Image head, which works well with the impedance, eq, mic blend, etc...but I guess I can add another advantage to a pedal. I COULD use it on upright too. Hmm, I wonder how the Noble would sound on upright?

Some of the serious DB players on the DB side definitely say they use and love Nobles.

 

[MrClassicMetal]

There are some obvious advantages...having multiple tones with less space, going ampless/in ears, or having something for recording.

But, assuming none of those apply, would you still go the preamp pedal route?

I wouldn't.

 

[shai-ga]

Having a company signature tone without buying one of their amps, for price, space or weight reasons.

Different companies use different components and materials, along with unique signal processing and control design so it's not just about bass-mid-treble and power.

You can get the EBS Microbass II instead of buying the full HD 802 amp.

 

[Kerem Koseoglu]

I mostly play amp-less, which is why I prefer to shape my tone a bit and keeping a low impedance right before hitting my trusty passive JDI. My go-to method typically involves applying subtle low and high-frequency boosts on my Origin Bass DCX pedal. I find that this approach strikes a nice balance, allowing me to retain control over my fundamental tone while leaving the finer details of tone shaping in the capable hands of our engineer.

 

[butterfingers1]

I am not 100% sold on the compressor.

A compressor is hard to understand and link to what I hear, especially when tinkering with it by myself. But in a mix (don’t like that expression but it’s all I have) everything sounds better overall. I don’t need to fiddle constantly with eq to fix sound issues, it’s like there are no issues.

 

[gregmon79]

I've been considering a nice preamp pedal. It got me thinking though...should I be looking at other amps instead? I like my TH500, but I want to get a more 'wooly' tone out of it. I could be looking at a used DB750 instead. So, if anyone knows, it would be this forum...what are the advantages of having a preamp pedal, and why did you chose that format over a different head?

There are some obvious advantages...having multiple tones with less space, going ampless/in ears, or having something for recording. But, assuming none of those apply, would you still go the preamp pedal route?

I stacked a couple preamps for a years. Running them into an all tube head with somewhat limited EQ options (its a power unit). I know in my case, I ended up using a powerful EQ over a preamp. There are times I'll throw a pre into the mix, depending, via my Quad Cortex. But in my case, using OD and or dist a lot, I found out the hard way that I was compressing and adding gain to my signal that didn't need to be there. So it would cause other issues. Noise, couldn't stack dirt pedals. Then one day I turned the pre off (I'm thinking my B7K back in the day) and my signal came through so much more full and articulate. Not saying it was the B7K. It was the fact that I had too much going on. Too many gain stages in my chain.

So yeah, I love a good pre still. Still use a Rusty Box on one board and the Whirlwind X bass EQ on my main board. This really allows me to poke through when and where I want/need to. Especially the EQ. I love that EQ. Its an amazing piece of kit IMO. So in short, I support preamp usage if you just want a little more tonal options. But IME, my overuse of them for years, lead me to almost not use them more times than not, now. If that makes sense...

 

[NickyBass]

Thanks everyone. Great info. A lot of the reasons make sense. It's so personal. Each reason is specific to the individual needs. I've decided to try and find the right amp first, and then start thinking if a pedal would be beneficial for FOH applications, or some of the other stuff that was discussed. A lot of what I'm looking for is also in the cab choice, so I'm not sure my existing rig with a Noble or Origin pre would deliver everything I want. I know that the cabs won't provide the whole room with sound, but most amps have decent DIs that will work for FOH. But, for the future, I might consider a pre or a nice simple DI.

So, in short, in true TB fashion, the correct answer is "get both."

 

[frankie5string]

I see two main advantages:
1) A buffer, or even some kind of protection between your bass and an unknown input. Most preamps have some kind of protection built in.
2) Control. Additional active tone controls and drive options give you more colours to play with. You may not know exactly what your cohorts want from a bass tone. Anything that makes you more versatile is probably good as long as you can operate it.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I've been considering a nice preamp pedal. It got me thinking though...should I be looking at other amps instead? I like my TH500, but I want to get a more 'wooly' tone out of it. I could be looking at a used DB750 instead. So, if anyone knows, it would be this forum...what are the advantages of having a preamp pedal, and why did you chose that format over a different head?

There are some obvious advantages...having multiple tones with less space, going ampless/in ears, or having something for recording. But, assuming none of those apply, would you still go the preamp pedal route?

In fact, I've got an Ashdown pre amp that gets warm and wooly, and also does a great rock scoop, and whatever else you could want out of it.

I'd give you a good deal if you wanted it. PM me.

 

[NickyBass]

In fact, I've got an Ashdown pre amp that gets warm and wooly, and also does a great rock scoop, and whatever else you could want out of it.


I'd give you a good deal if you wanted it. PM me.

Thanks for the offer. If I were to go the preamp route, I would go with something with controls like the Noble...just Volume, Bass, Treble. I'm not sure if there are others out there with minimal controls, but that is the direction I would go.

 

[NickyBass]

Then, there's this:

 

[NickyBass]

So, as it turns out, I am doing a trade for a Noble preamp! It was the right trade at the right time, so I am going to spend some time with it, when it arrives, and see if it solves my issues. Thanks again for all the advise. I hope to have some additional advantages to add once I see what it can do.