Clean tube preamp recommendation

[Lonnybass]

What sonic and feeling qualities do you associate with "best"?

Just plain old richness and warmth and fatness out of my Alembic F-1x. I've had it for 18 years now, and despite its lack of bells and whistles compared to a lot of the other stuff on the market, that's not what I use it for. It pairs really well with a secondary EQ, which adds a lot more flexibility on top of the built-in tone stack.

Lonnybass

 

[chadds]

Hey I love Monique and the preamp too.
The Summit TD-100 is your ticket. It's in your price choice. You can use it for other instruments if recording. It's a powerful DI. It fits I a padded tambourine bag. It is heavy duty!
It has that resistance knob that with a passive bass makes it like you brought 3-5 different basses to a session.
The sample on Basstasters sold me. It is completely clean yet has this harmonic richness you can hear at the last notes decay.
Eric and the folks at Summit are great people. They make very hi end studio gear. The TD-100 shouldn't cost as little as it does. Don't tell Eric!!

 

[BunchyMutt]

Your request is the perfect description of an Oxymoron.

If you want clean, you don't want tube.
Cleanliness is not what tubes are meant to do.

Good luck either way.
Dirk

I imagine it DOES depend on what I mean by clean. I imagine you're thinking of "perfect reproduction, with no slight distortion or harmonic boosting of any kind". In that case, sure, tube and clean are oxymoronic.

On the other hand, plenty hi-fi sound systems use tubes, and this thread sure has gotten lots of responses. Perhaps I should revise my op to read something like "I like what tubes bring, but I'm not lpoking for dirt or hair. Just clean as tube signal processing goes"

 

[Twocan]

I was on the same hunt and found what I was looking for in the EBS Multicomp (Tube Sim). It was nice to kill two birds with one stone!

 

[BunchyMutt]

I was on the same hunt and found what I was looking for in the EBS Multicomp (Tube Sim). It was nice to kill two birds with one stone!

Where do you put it in your chain?

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

The Demeter HBP-1 is a very clean preamp. I've owned an Alembic F1-X, and it was awesome, but I sold it after I bought a Read Purity tube preamp, which also is very clean, yet it offers added eq ability. Jack Read only made a small number of them, but from time to time, one will pop up for sale on the TB Classifieds.

The Read Purity is the "tubey-est" bass preamp I've played through.

 

[GreyBeard]

Another rout that players a few years back used with a power amp was a Tube Microphone pre-amp. They have no tone controls but make a dandi DI and some are pretty reasonable. I have no 1st hand experience with any of them so I can't make any specific recommendations but, maybe someone else could add to this.

 

[40Hz]

Good thing the Monique is mere pennies!

Yeah. There is that. But at least with a Monique you actually do get what you paid for. Truly lovely preamp. And it's not like you'll be buying several of them.

 

[DrumsAndBass]

I've searched through threads and they're either pretty old, not specifically about tube preamps, or not specifically about clean preamps.

I'm looking for a preamp that simply adds a harmonic depth, richness, je ne sais quoi while still retaining clarity. Something that takes pedals pretty well. I'm NOT looking for tube overdrive, or anything that adds hair.

I've tried the Tone Hammer DI, it wasn't what I was looking for. I'm wondering if I'm looking for a high voltage tube preamp. Any recommendations? I'm fine with a pedal format, though I'd prefer a 1U or 2U rackmount. Also no greater than ~$300-$350.

There a number of rack pre's for sale in the Classified Ads here on TB.

 

[Twocan]

Where do you put it in your chain?

At the end, only before my chorus (see my profile for full chain).

 

[chadds]

Yeah. But at least with a Monique you actually do get what you paid for. Truly lovely preamp. And it's not like you'll be buying several of them.

Uhhhhhhhhh, I, uhhh, well what if....., uh that dark stained Bamboo just looked so good and uh........or then someone might need a backup not because it'll fail but say you were playing two different rooms in a hotel at the same time and had to run between and didn't have time to disconnect.......

 

[BunchyMutt]

Uhhhhhhhhh, I, uhhh, well what if....., uh that dark stained Bamboo just looked so good and uh........or then someone might need a backup not because it'll fail but say you were playing two different rooms in a hotel at the same time and had to run between and didn't have time to disconnect.......

I'm actually envisioning one in each loop of a Boss ES-8, plus one at the front and another at the end of the chain. All running through a little Crate combo of course

 

[HeadWind]

Some folks over on the Greenboy forum recommend this:

ART Pro Audio
Amazon.com: ART Pro Channel II Microphone Preamp/Compressor/EQ Professional Tube Based Selectable VU Metering: Musical Instruments

Technically a mic pre-amp, but no matter. Is tube based, and supposedly pretty clean. And only $269.

Any thoughts?

 

[Bassheart365]

I had a Monique for awhile and did the pre-power amp thing. In the end I found my need for super fast response exceeded my love for tube goodness. Plus the hassle and weight of a rack system lost to the simplicity of a single class D amp (Genzler Magellan). And the Magellan has a "tube saturation mode" (emulated obviously) that sound fantastic.
So, not exactly answering your question, but I will offer this: there are so many amps and pedals these days with good tube emulation, that is something to consider also....

 

[40Hz]

Uhhhhhhhhh, I, uhhh, well what if....., uh that dark stained Bamboo just looked so good and uh........or then someone might need a backup not because it'll fail but say you were playing two different rooms in a hotel at the same time and had to run between and didn't have time to disconnect.......

Good point. I should have said I was only speaking for myself there...

I'm sure (if I had the resources) I could readily justify owning more than one. Purely for backup purposes you understand.

 

[MDBass]

Your request is the perfect description of an Oxymoron.

If you want clean, you don't want tube.
Cleanliness is not what tubes are meant to do.

Good luck either way.
Dirk

Not true at all; "tube" is not synonymous with "dirty", it depends entirely on the topology of the design.

 

[mvolfoni]

Ampeg SVT-IIP !

 

[BunchyMutt]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, tons of options. There are a number of preamps on the classifieds right now. Any opinions on what to snag? I play 6 string bass exclusively, with some chords. Switching between a lot of distortion, no fuzz and clear reverb.

- SVP-CL, newer, higher output version: $425
- Demeter VTBP-201: $400
- Peavey Max Preamp: $110 + shipping
- JohnK Blue Tube: $110 shipped
- Summit Audio TD-100: $220

Many thanks again for all the responses and shared experiences

 

[Jack]

For the longest time my rig was a Presonus Studio Channel into a QSC PLX1602. Clean and fat tone for days.

+1 for using a microphone preamp or channel strip.

 

[Dee-man]

There's a Demeter VTB-201 (his original 1.5 space rackable pre) for sale here on TB for $400. Pure clean tube tone. Jensen DI. Get this and call it a day. Or get the Summit TD-100 if you don't need the EQ.