Bass rig with a mic preamp.

[Thumbasse]

Could having a mic preamp or chanel strip in your bass rig be a good thing?
A API chanel strip is offered to me at a low price, i'm thinking if i plug it in the amp section of my head
could be cool, not just for studio, at home, in rehearsals and importent gigs.

What do you guys think about my idea and do you have experience with that subject?

 

[hieronymous]

Could having a mic preamp or chanel strip in your bass rig be a good thing?
A API chanel strip is offered to me at a low price, i'm thinking if i plug it in the amp section of my head
could be cool, not just for studio, at home, in rehearsals and importent gigs.

What do you guys think about my idea and do you have experience with that subject?

I think it could be fun and musical if you have the money to spend on experimentation. Especially if you record a lot. But I can also imagine a bunch of other stuff that might be "better" depending on your goals.

But I have to ask - how much is a "low" price? Those things look pretty expensive - unless you want to use it on a lot of different instruments/sound sources, I personally would rather spend money on something more bass-specific, and especially within the realm of what you are doing.

 

[poochiecheeks]

doesnt have to be bass specific really

 

[Chris Chong]

500 series lunch box

 

[Wasnex]

IME it can work fine although you may need to do some research and experiment a bit.

If the preamp only has a mic level input, then you need something like a line matching transformer to convert the output of your bass from unbalanced, high-Z, instrument level, to balanced, low-Z, mic-level. FYI, a line matching transformer is pretty much the same thing as a passive DI, except it doesn't have a Thru jack.

I like the Shure A95U. There are cheaper options but AFAIK this is pro level and provide a female 1/4" input and male XLR, which is exactly what you need to patch a bass into a mic input.

You could also use a passive DI.

I used to run an Ashly MX508 mixer as the front end of my touring rig. The reason for this choice was because I switched between bass guitar, upright bass, and electric upright bass. The MX508 does not have instrument level inputs and I used one Shure A95U for each bass.

The other thing to be mindful of is matching the output level of the preamp to the input level of whatever you plan to plug it into. For power amps look for the Sensitivity rating. Sensitivity is the signal level required to push the amp to full power.

The regular input on a bass amp works at instrument level. The don't work well with line level signals.

Most bass amp effects loops run at line level. You may be able to plug the output of the preamp into an Effects Return. A wired adapter may work to convert a balanced XLR output to the unbalanced 1/4" input on an the typical Effects Return. Unfortunately using a wired adapter may result in hum. If that occurs, some sort of isolation transformer like the Morley MHE-2 may be able to solve the problem. No guarantees though.

 

[Thumbasse]

Right now i'm using a ruper neve newton that i borrowed from a studio. It goes F bass or Sadowski into the amp in of a Bergantino head and two Berg 212t's.
The berg's pre and eq is keeping up with the newton ( meaning that berg heads are very serious stuff ) But that being said , the newton adds a girth and it glues the notes together somehow. I'm not going to buy one but i'm thinking a other chanel strip could be the holy grail. I'm in a temporary position to try a lot of gear and sell the ones i don't like. It is not worth the money since at this stage the gain in tone becomes incrementally and small but hey, I'm in a position right now that i can take a few risks Do you know of bass player ho have them in there live rigs? I know Sting does ( he is using a Avalon, but other than that are there other one's you have noticed.?

 

[Thumbasse]

IME it can work fine although you may need to do some research and experiment a bit.

If the preamp only has a mic level input, then you need something like a line matching transformer to convert the output of your bass from unbalanced, high-Z, instrument level, to balanced, low-Z, mic-level. FYI, a line matching transformer is pretty much the same thing as a passive DI, except it doesn't have a Thru jack.

I like the Shure A95U. There are cheaper options but AFAIK this is pro level and provide a female 1/4" input and male XLR, which is exactly what you need to patch a bass into a mic input.
View attachment 7471845
You could also use a passive DI.

I used to run an Ashly MX508 mixer as the front end of my touring rig. The reason for this choice was because I switched between bass guitar, upright bass, and electric upright bass. The MX508 does not have instrument level inputs and I used one Shure A95U for each bass.

The other thing to be mindful of is matching the output level of the preamp to the input level of whatever you plan to plug it into. For power amps look for the Sensitivity rating. Sensitivity is the signal level required to push the amp to full power.

The regular input on a bass amp works at instrument level. The don't work well with line level signals.

Most bass amp effects loops run at line level. You may be able to plug the output of the preamp into an Effects Return. A wired adapter may work to convert a balanced XLR output to the unbalanced 1/4" input on an the typical Effects Return. Unfortunately using a wired adapter may result in hum. If that occurs, some sort of isolation transformer like the Morley MHE-2 may be able to solve the problem. No guarantees though.
View attachment 7471846

Yes, thanks.

 

[Thumbasse]

I think it could be fun and musical if you have the money to spend on experimentation. Especially if you record a lot. But I can also imagine a bunch of other stuff that might be "better" depending on your goals.

But I have to ask - how much is a "low" price? Those things look pretty expensive - unless you want to use it on a lot of different instruments/sound sources, I personally would rather spend money on something more bass-specific, and especially within the realm of what you are doing.

About 1,900$ Canadian money. Like 1200$ US It is not the newer version that just came out.

 

[crazycloud]

About 1,900$ Canadian money. Like 1200$ US It is not the newer version that just came out.

Many expect these channel strip to perform some sort of sonic magic on signals, but it's my experience they don't. There's lots of other stuff is spend 1200 on in my rig before a channel strip.

 

[Meaculpa]

Get an Eden.

 

[pbass2]

I end up running through API's in studios frequently, love it on bass. Just did a session with a new 1608--killer on everything--bass, drums, guitars, etc.
For live? I wouldn't put that in my live bass rig. I mean, sure it could be..."cool", but there's a reason why you don't see the pros doing that.
Get your DI'd bass signal dialed to send to FOH just as you would to send in the studio whatever they're running for the front end.
If you're recording? Then by all means, I'd grab a good deal on that.
But ultimately, back to your live rig..... if it sounds good, it IS good, so., no rules......

 

[MHensleyJr]

I went down this rabbit hole years ago and bought a UA M610 in the early 2000s because I thought that kind of front end was going to be the missing link to my sound. It was cool gear, no doubt, but for bass the improvement ended up being more incremental than magical. Unless you already know you need that exact workflow and flavor, a Colour Box or similar seems like the smarter first experiment.

 

[logdrum]

I bought some 500 Series Pre, EQs and Comps from Lindel Audio 500 series format. And I have some ract ART tube pre - not so expensive. All work fine to great. for RECORDING. Just note , these pres will require other things to run your bass amp. Or you can get a TEAC reel to reel and use it as a free. Some old recording desk that are small like TASCAMs either have semi parametric or even 3 band baxandall which may be full of surprises

But why use it on a bass amps. . Overkill for live use , What's the EQ on these standard 2 band full parametric parametric and a high and low shelf? Get something bass specific or maybe something inflexible but cool like a tilt EQ if you must

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

I used one of these with a bass I used to have. It's pickups and electronics were originally designed to run on a 36v active preamp. The original pickups were all that it had left, and they sounded fantastic but the output was really low. This 'voiced' tube-pre was just the thing to boost that up before the front of the amp.

 

[J Wilson]

Generally, going to recording/professional sound gear results in cleaner, uncolored tone vis-a-vis conventional bass or guitar amp front ends. Whether or not this is for you is a personal taste decision.

 

[ravlin]

Find a recently discontinued Tech21 Q/Strip

 

[Thumbasse]

Many expect these channel strip to perform some sort of sonic magic on signals, but it's my experience they don't. There's lots of other stuff is spend 1200 on in my rig before a channel strip.

I hear you. You seam to have the answer I am looking for.

As a pure sound result, if you take let's say, the greatest Aguilar or Ampeg heads, Wouldn't using the best power amp you can find and that API chanel strip. Meaning you now have API compression, plus the API's EQ that is apparently great for bass. I know the price are not the same but wouldn't that surpasse the Aguilar or a Ampeg ext...? You plug it in a rather neutral sounding quality cabinet. Wouldn't that sound better and way more versatile? I think that's what i should base my opinion on.

 

[Wasnex]

I hear you. You seam to have the answer I am looking for.

As a pure sound result, if you take let's say, the greatest Aguilar or Ampeg heads, Wouldn't using the best power amp you can find and that API chanel strip. Meaning you now have API compression, plus the API's EQ that is apparently great for bass. I know the price are not the same but wouldn't that surpasse the Aguilar or a Ampeg ext...? You plug it in a rather neutral sounding quality cabinet. Wouldn't that sound better and way more versatile? I think that's what i should base my opinion on.

Only you can answer these questions. It really comes down to the specific tone and dynamic characteristics YOU want.

 

[ad9000]

I'm not saying that using a mic pre in a live bass rig isn't viable, but this was my experience: I went through a phase some years ago where I preamped with an Avalon 737 wth a Crest CA9 for power. Cabs were a Bergantino HT210 and HT115. The Avalon sounded very clean and hi-fi and it translated the sound of the bass with very little coloration, but somehow after a while I was missing the characteristics of a conventional bass amp. If I were to describe exactly what was lacking I suppose it would be midrange presence and low-end focus. When I abandoned that idea I went with a Kern preamp (everything else being the same) and it was much more on the money for my needs.