art tube mp...incredible!!!!

[misterCRUSH]

So I play an esp passive fretless into a zoom b3 and a hartke combo. Not traditional I know, but hey it works for me. I recently bought an art tube mp. I stuck a Mullard Russian tube in it and plugged in my bass. All I can say is wow. They market these for vocals and acoustic guitars. It rounds out and fillls in the low end without losing clarity, and makes my whole rig sound like an old tube fliptop or something. It's awesome...and inexpensive...

 

[seanm]

The tube MP is a must have. I have used it for vocals, guitar, and bass. For a while I used it to go from bass to a very insensitive power amp.

Tons of gain on tap and very flexible.

 

[bassbrad]

The Art Tube MP is a very cool piece, I have several. I have one that has an NOS JAN tube that gets used for all sorts of things right now it is on my electric piano to add gain and warmth. I have an Art TPS II in my studio rack,also with a pair of NOS JAN tubes, that I use for drum overheads with some inexpensive condenser mics, makes them sound about 10x more expensive.

 

[boomertech]

These ART tube designs are said to be a "starved plate design". Which means that the plates of the tube are powered with a supply voltage much lower than the high voltage necessary for a more linear amplification (less distortion). This lower voltage makes the tube circuit have distortions with smaller amplitude signals... tube warmth.

I have owned some of these ART tube designs and I really loved what they did for single channel bass and piano. They also sounded great on full mix playback and vocal tracks. I kept reading about how "starved plate designs" are just awful or fake sounding and that wasn't even close to what I was experiencing.

-Frank

 

[Bassmike62]

A friend turned me on the MP a few months ago and since, I bought a second MP, a Studio V3 that will be tested on my pedalboard Wednesday and a MP/C for my little home studio. Impressive products, affordable and almost game changers for me. If a tube pops, I'll give OP's mod a shot.

 

[jdaunt]

I got one of these about a month ago and love it! I'm actually running it into the effects return of my amp, i have the signal split on the board with one channel going straight to the amp (Ampeg BA-115) and the other going through a BassBigMuff then into the ART and i ran a cable out of the effects send and have a Y-cable putting both channels into the return. So i keep the clean Ampeg sound, and have a tube-warmed with a little dirt (or a lot with the fuzz engaged) mixed in. I'm very happy with it so far!

 

[hondo4life]

I was thinking of getting a tube preamp in a pedal-size. Maybe one of these. I see they go for $55, used. Hmm ...

 

[Roland GR 88]

Art gear can be the biggest bang for buck stuff around. I use an old Pro Channel in the studio and an even older Tube Leveler for piezo equipped guitars. They can get noisy and the power supplies aren't the most robust - I'm on my 3rd for the Leveler but it's at least 20yrs old so no complaints.
I miss the Rochester days of Art when they made or tried to make almost everything you could think of that could take a 1/4 inch jack. Now that they're a Yorkville company and made in China the imagination is gone but the prices are very good and the quality is acceptable.

 

[BadExample]

I might get a rack unit if I can decide which one. Otherwise, a pair of MP's.

 

[jdaunt]

I was thinking of getting a tube preamp in a pedal-size. Maybe one of these. I see they go for $55, used. Hmm ...

I just bought mine new for $50.

 

[mrufino1]

I had one, I didn't like it on bass, which was disappointing. It was fine as a clean mic preamp but I got very unpleasant distortion on bass. I did buy it used very inexpensively, so it's possible that the tube had issues. I sold it though, didn't really need it.

I'm glad it's working for others though.

 

[hondo4life]

I just bought mine new for $50.

And you're not going to say where or how!?


edit... I think I am dumb at shopping on the web. I see they are actually $55 new.

 

[Mushroo]

Similar experiences to @mrufino1 with my basic-model ART Tube MP. The distortion/dirty sounds are not that pleasant to my ear, but the clean sounds are warm and wonderful.

My most recent recording project, the engineer put me through a rackmount ART MPA II into a Urei 1176 compressor. Wow was that a nice bass tone!

 

[Pbassmanca]

So I play an esp passive fretless into a zoom b3 and a hartke combo. Not traditional I know, but hey it works for me. I recently bought an art tube mp. I stuck a Mullard Russian tube in it and plugged in my bass. All I can say is wow. They market these for vocals and acoustic guitars. It rounds out and fillls in the low end without losing clarity, and makes my whole rig sound like an old tube fliptop or something. It's awesome...and inexpensive...

Okay, this an interesting thread. I bought a tube MP DI 2 years ago for my practice rig at home. I just have a Mackie 5 Channel phantom power module that I plug into with my headphones. For some reason I've never bothered to plug the tube MP into the board and run my bass into that. This thread is reminding me that I need to try it!

 

[bassbrad]

These ART tube designs are said to be a "starved plate design". Which means that the plates of the tube are powered with a supply voltage much lower than the high voltage necessary for a more linear amplification (less distortion). This lower voltage makes the tube circuit have distortions with smaller amplitude signals... tube warmth.

I have owned some of these ART tube designs and I really loved what they did for single channel bass and piano. They also sounded great on full mix playback and vocal tracks. I kept reading about how "starved plate designs" are just awful or fake sounding and that wasn't even close to what I was experiencing.

-Frank

Funny how these buzz hot topics go, I tend to agree that some of the "starved plate designs" or intentionally low voltage designs still have their place and sound.

One of my favorite guitar amp mic tricks is to run a 57 thru the Tube MP, or run it thru an MP when mixing.

 

[And I]

I find them to be a little noisy at high gain. Also not terribly reliable, I've had two of them die on me. But they definitely are useful. The starved plate tube voltage thing is a real thing, and you will DEFINITELY be able to tell the difference between this mic preamp and a high-quality tube mic preamp on almost any source. But without a microphone in front of it, it matters less... And if you've got one in your signal path and the results are good, that is all the proof you need that it's the right tool for you!

 

[Slough Feg Bass]

Yup, those things react well to various types of tubes you put in there.
I found some interesting artifacts in the signal when I put an old tube that sounded terrible on the guitar amp, it actually sounded pretty cool in the ART MP. Not hi-fi cool, but had some interesting effects on a keyboard that was just too clean. Kinda wipes off some of the sparkle and adds grit using worn out tubes.

I swear by the ART VLA units. I have 2 of those now and use them on just about every session. Replacing the stock tubes with a Mullard or something really brightens those things up and creates many useful sounds.

 

[PunkRocker33133]

I have two or three of these and they're great. Pretty much always used as a preamp for my practice rig, and they work well with just about everything. Also fantastic as a mic pre for recording guitars and such

 

[electracoyote]

lol, I have a couple of these in my effects closet, never tried one on bass. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Meghans Dad]

I have two or three of these and they're great. Pretty much always used as a preamp for my practice rig, and they work well with just about everything. Also fantastic as a mic pre for recording guitars and such

Had one for years, I run it in front of my Fender Rumble 500 head or Rumble 150 combo. Gives me just a bit of tube feel that I sometimes want without lugging a 65 pound head.

 

[misterCRUSH]

It's great for recording. I can run the xlr out into my board, and the 1/4 out to any effects I want. I'm then free to blend the two signals into the mix for everything from simple to complex sounds..