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Best bass preamp?

#64
cosmicevan said:
So much this ---^

I had an M81 and although it did the job, it never got me excited about my tone. I ran it right into a power cab and to me, it sounded stale. Many of the suggestions in this thread are not "stale" and color your sound.

I'd suggest taking a trip with YOUR bass (and your M81) down to your local music shop and trying anything else and doing some side-by-sides. I'd think that you can find either the aguilar, mesa, or something mentioned in this thread locally to try...from there, you should see what we mean about coloring your tone. You will either never go back to the M81 or you will get another M81. I can't really see there being any middle ground.
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Adam Wright said:
I've owned a bunch and my favorite is the MXR M-80. I broke down and ordered a Noble and am still waiting on it but if you're looking to for something reasonably priced, the M-80 is hard to beat. Currently using it in conjunction with the Omnicabsim deluxe and it's awesome. My soundman loves it and he was mixing for a much bigger touring act(they did a few arena tours as an opener) before going on the road with us. It also records really well too.
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I had an M81 before, and while it was decent, it didn't really do anything for me, and I ended up selling it. It didn't seem to have enough "oomph" under the hood. I had looked at and considered the M80. Outside of the distortion part, is the circuitry the same as the M81? I wouldn't want to get the M80 and have the same disappointment as the M81.
 
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#66
I've owned the Mesa Subway Plus, Noble and the new Nordstrand Starlifter in the last 3-4 months and by far my favorite no matter the cost is the Starlifter. It is the single best bass gear purchase I've ever had.
IMG_1766.jpg
 
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#71
Turn Em Loose said:
I need to ban you or somehow block your posts from my TB feed. You going to cost me some money. :help:
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I'm pretty sure you and I have some of the same gear with the Gebzler gear. You know how much I love Genzler but this preamp DI pedal has made my Genzler heads another level better. I use the preamp of this and the power amp features of the Genzler to power my Arrays now. Best DI signal I've ever heard and best on-stage tone also.
 
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#72
I also have a Mesa Subway+ Bass DI preamp, which is great. I’ve had the regular Subway preamp and the Mesa Rosette preamp, and the Subway+ is the best of both worlds. Also, if I have the input knob at 3:00 there’s a nice edge of breakup going on, and with the input knob at full it’s a great overdriven sound. This is a feature Mesa needs to talk about more because it truly does act like an amp front end.
 
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#73
I'm currently trying to decide between Starlifter, Mesa Subway+, Aguilar Tonehammer, Darkglass Vintage Ultra v2, and the Broughton Messenger.

I'm going for a more motown/blues/R&B/soul tone, so I feel like that kind of cuts out the Darkglass. Broughton Messenger - everybody raves, but I feel weird buying stuff on faith as I haven't really found anywhere to hear a demo. Thought, feature wise, it's pretty amazing. The other three sound really great. I'm just not sure what to pull the trigger on.

The problem is that most places don't have these in stock for me to A/B them and I definitely can't afford to buy them all. lol
 
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#74
Low84 said:
I recommend...

Henretta Emerald Prince = easy one button for on/off... internal controls for additional settings. This simply makes the tone you already have sound better. I love it.

DSM OmniCabSim Deluxe = it's a preamp, direct box and cabinet simulator all in one box. Tweaking options for DAYS! Tons of variety and capability with this one.

Run both of those with your current MXR and you'll be unstoppable. :smug:
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I liked the emerald prince but I felt like there wasn’t enough gain in it for my tastes
 
#77
chadhargis said:
I love most things Nordstrand and I’d love to try the Starlifter. I have owned lots of preamps looking for that sound in my head. The Noble was the be all end all until I had the chance to compare it side by side with the Shaw Tube Injection.

View attachment 3511054
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Thanks for posting. This "sounds" very interesting. There are a few really good demo videos online that show off the tone and versatility of the Tube Injection. Really sounds great!

By the way, nice pedalboard layout. What board is that?
 
#78
porterbass said:
Thanks for posting. This "sounds" very interesting. There are a few really good demo videos online that show off the tone and versatility of the Tube Injection. Really sounds great!

By the way, nice pedalboard layout. What board is that?
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The best video is Ben Shaw, son of Kevin Shaw, who makes the preamps. Good guys!

That’s a Templeboard. I ditched the little plates they use and just went back with Velcro.

There is a Ciocks DC-5 and a microThumpinator under the board.
 
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