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Best Bass preamp?

#81
bgavin said:
I'm not flaming you or your products, but only noting when a one-man shop becomes incapacitated, dies or goes bankrupt, so goes the support.
I fully understand leaving markets burdened by high production cost and low profit.
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I got that. What I'm saying is, whoever said MPD products are no longer in production didn't have the whole story.
 
#82
bgavin said:
I'm not flaming you or your products, but only noting when a one-man shop becomes incapacitated, dies or goes bankrupt, so goes the support.
I fully understand leaving markets burdened by high production cost and low profit.
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We are so glad SWR is still around.:)
My point, bigger companies die off too. Their gear is still in service more than a decade and is repairable.

I had to learn that everything isn't eternal, except Keith Richards. The intact company may not have parts anyway. Try GE for appliance parts!

In many musical components what often fails isn't some proprietary piece but a jack or switch. That would be an easy repair. Also if you fall in love with the sound buy everyone you find so you have backups and parts.

Lastly: no one here has turned down a Kern for that reason!!!!;)
Pontif, I'd buy your stuff on the used mkt in a second!
 
#83
I'm surprised no one has mentioned any of the Alembic stuff out there. I have been using an Alembic F1-X since 1998, and about 8 years ago added one of their Superfilter units (the SF-2) that I have been using in conjunction with the F1-X ever since. The combination of those two units together is phenomenal. It has more flexibility and tonal options than I could use in a lifetime. I also had an SWR Grand Prix in the past, which was nice but a little compressed sounding to my ear. I currently still own an Ampeg SVP-Pro, an early Trace Elliot Gp11 and a custom built tube preamp from Aric Audio (a small local shop), as well as various other full amp heads. Anthing I A/B against my current Alembic set-up seems to pale in comparison. As much as I love trying new gear and as sonically open-minded as I try to be, I think this Alembic setup will just always wind up being my favorite whether I like or not.
 
#87
DirkP said:
I know this is an old thread revived, but anyway: the best bass preamps aren't bass preamps, they are mic-preamps with huge transformators like the Neve and Api stuff.
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The transformers, overall component quality, assembly with component positioning to eliminate noise can make them excellent but the eq points can be wrong for bass. This can be very noticeable in live settings.
 
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#89
DirkP said:
Most classic mic-preamps don't have an EQ:)
I use a pultec clone for EQ when recording and prefer it to everything else, but don't use it for gigs (too much to carry).
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My son Robn designed, built and developed his own recording channel based on Eqp 1a + Meq 5 Pultec inductor based EQ with telefunken type tube pre amp with variable impedance, switchable to fet type if you like.
The compressor has a lot to do with a Urei 1176 and the limiter owes a lot to Neves diode designs like the 33609.
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This pair is being used for mastering which also benefits from the hand wound inductor type EQ.
The Polymath has got to be right up there with something Red hot like a DW Fearn VT15 which is a dream pre amp for just about any bass player I would think.:-)X
 
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#91


Ive been through a lot of pres over the last 30 years as an engineer producer studio owner my go to pre for the last 12 years has been hands down the UA6176. Not one player client has ever asked to hear another once they hear the 6176.
i purchased one just dedicated for bass di and then my other pair for stereo work.The 610 is great as well just chain it to a la3a or 1176 and it's all good. The step up is also using some NOS TELEFUNKEN tubes in either 6176 or 610 1176 but even with the stock jj or EH tubes its a great circuit and has served us well. before that, i was using racked Neve 1081 & 1073's. When i would go to Nashville or LA i would send ahead my Neves. And i still like the Neves and go back to them on occasion.
Oh! and another little gem that I use for fretless like the Mark Egan buzz bass hi-fi sound is the Invalid Link Removed STT-1 or the TD1 and 1176


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#94
Jim C said:
This thread motivated me to use my SVP-CL lastnight and now I remember why I haven't sold this pre and it's super heavy poweramp. It will go warm and clean and loud, which I like.

Edit: My pre has 4 tubes; making it 1 better!
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The SVPCL is also a great Preamp but it's pretty clean, I use mine for southern rock and blues, the SVP-PRO or the Sansamp for rock when I need a nice grind.
(SVP-PRO has 5 tubes ;) )
 

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