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Best preamp D.I pedal

#61
swspiers said:
... just took the Hartke Bass Attack for a spin, and was thinking about selling it. After playing with the Shape control thoough, I think it's staying. It's just so cheap, it's hard for me to wrap my head around how good it is...
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+1 - thought it sounded great but, I don't know, it almost seemed like it was too good to be true (for what it did, how much it cost) and I soon sold it. I'm now considering buying another. FWIW, I also own the VT and the TH, and they all do great stuff their own way. I will say that if you've got an amp that you wish sounded better the VT is the thing for tone shaping. If you're looking for nice sounding OD at a great price, VXL. It is huge, though.
 
#62
Any updates on this now that it's 2018? Lots of new pre/DIs on the market, and I found myself in the position of needing some sort of pre-amp/overdrive pedal. I play passive basses through an MXR M87 into an Orange TB 1K (though the preamp tubes have been swapped for something less distortion-y).
My band is heavy alt/post rock, with the occasional need for some mild to moderate overdrive. I typically prefer organic/warm overdrive versus the sizzle style "harsh" overdrive. Any current advice? I had a BDDI a while back, and loved it, but would prefer something that had two buttons, one with the pre-amp bypass and another with additional distortion.

Budget is around $300.
 
#63
Hi, Band Mom.

Based on your description, and your positive experience with the BDDI, I would suggest the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. You can program in 3 different sounds, and call them up with a tap of the foot-switch. They go for ~$210, new.

Another really great pre-amp pedal is the Invalid Link Removed. Two channels, real tube warmth and over-drive; ~$300, new.

I'm sure there are many others; hopefully you'll get more recommendations.

Good luck!
 
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#65
MaddMann274 said:
I am looking for a Preamp pedal to use for live purposes, it will be used direct in the PA system. I mostly play metal, rock, and jazz.

I was planning to go for a MXR Bass D.I+
Or is there anything better?

Sorry for my terrible english. :oops:
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I'm guessing I am late to this, but Darkglass makes some great pedals and they participate actively in this forum. I have the B7K Ultra and it is wonderful. Lot's of folks swear by the Alpha Omega. I'd give them a look before you decide. @Darkglass will be more of a help than I. I can say, that I spent more than I want to admit on other pedals before buying the Darkglass pedals. Yes, the others were individually cheaper, but in the end, I was still chasing a tone.
 
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#66
esa372 said:
Hi, Band Mom.

Based on your description, and your positive experience with the BDDI, I would suggest the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. You can program in 3 different sounds, and call them up with a tap of the foot-switch. They go for ~$210, new.

Another really great pre-amp pedal is the Invalid Link Removed. Two channels, real tube warmth and over-drive; ~$300, new.

I'm sure there are many others; hopefully you'll get more recommendations.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

I had wondered about the programmable BDDI. I noticed that GC currently has them at the same price as the vanilla BDDI, and I was a bit confused as to why but I suppose the preset version is missing a pot or two vs the regular version. The Subway DI is a strong possibility as well, given my positive experiences with the D800+.

I've seen a lot of good things about the Darkglass stuff as well. So many different pedals to even consider. I would have guessed that something like the Vintage line would better serve my needs rather than the B7K, but they are pricey. Same with the ISP Beta Pre (I don't think anyone has mentioned this, but it caught my attention in other threads), which could probably be pricey unless any of these pedals might come down in a GC/MF/whatever sale.

Well, at least the GC return policy is friendly for me to try a few out. Thanks for the suggestions!
 
#67
If you like the Ampeg tone, their SCR/DI works well and sounds good. I’m not a big fan of the Scrambler half of the box. So I seldom use it on mine. But there’s many who do like it and find it useful.

I prefer the flexibility of a separate DI and preamp pedal. It’s not that much more work to pack two pedals instead of just one. So I use an inexpensive Countryman Type-85 DI and one of a handful of preamp pedals I own depending on the sound I want for what I’ll be playing. But that’s me. I’m promiscuous when it comes my electronic gear.
 
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#69
Any feelings regarding how well the presets work? I'm not sure how I would react to a sudden change in value if I needed to make a small tweak to the EQ or something. Or do you most of you guys more or less set it and forget it?
 
#70
Update: After much deliberation, I went with an ISP Beta Bass after selling off the M87. I'm super happy I did, because it does everything I want from a pedal. I was hesitant to lose the known quality of the M87 for a single knob compressor, but I'm thoroughly impressed by the unit. Plus it has a really great distortion effect which sounds really meaty instead of sizzling.

It even sounds great with my home rig (Peavey Minimax), so I'll call that a complete victory.
 
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#72
If you don't need distortion, the Tech21 Q\Strip is about the best there is (imho).

tech21_q_strip.jpg
 
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