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Do I NEED a pre-amp pedal?

W

W Collins

Oct 17, 2013
70
54
#1
Ive never used a pre-amp pedal. I play a Jazz with flats. The first pedal it sees is an always on Cali 76 CB. The pre-amp sticky got me wondering what I'm missing out on.

While our obvious answer is always "yes" to MoArGeAr?, do I need a pre-amp pedal? The top rated pre-amps on the sticky are quite a spend. What will it do for me? Is it an eq fine tuning thing?
 
#8
Depends on your amp.

if o go straight into my old school tube amp and that’s the sound I want in good.
If im going into an SS amp it better have a good preamp section or I’m using a pedal preamp.

something like a Sansamp paradriver is really flexible and has a DI. I like it better than the baked in bass driver version. In any case you can spend 2x as much and get an origin which you make like better (I do) but you don’t have to have the best to get the job done. If it has parametric mids and can go from clean to a bit of overdrive I can work with it quickly.
 
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#10
klattman said:
Depends on your amp.

if o go straight into my old school tube amp and that’s the sound I want in good.
If im going into an SS amp it better have a good preamp section or I’m using a pedal preamp.

something like a Sansamp paradriver is really flexible and has a DI. I like it better than the baked in bass driver version. In any case you can spend 2x as much and get an origin which you make like better (I do) but you don’t have to have the best to get the job done. If it has parametric mids and can go from clean to a bit of overdrive I can work with it quickly.
Click to expand...

This is quite helpful. I play an Eden head that offers a solid foundation tone and use a Darkglass VMT to tweak the EQ/gain when I want a different tone.

So the use case in mind for a pre-amp isn't "tone sweetneing" but eq and gain shifting?
 
#11
Of COURSE you NEED a preamp pedal. A Noble tube preamp/DI is perfect. Always in my chain. Go for it!

NakedNoble.JPG
 
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#12
W Collins said:
Ive never used a pre-amp pedal. I play a Jazz with flats. The first pedal it sees is an always on Cali 76 CB. The pre-amp sticky got me wondering what I'm missing out on.

While our obvious answer is always "yes" to MoArGeAr?, do I need a pre-amp pedal? The top rated pre-amps on the sticky are quite a spend. What will it do for me? Is it an eq fine tuning thing?
Click to expand...
Is there anything lacking with your current sound in general? If you’re wanting a variety of specific EQ tweaks, the Source Audio EQ2 may be what you really need.
 
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#15
You don’t need a preamp, but definitely think about a Sadowsky SBP-1! It’s their onboard bass preamp in a pedal. 2 band, boost only eq, that has a DI out and it has latching bypass and mute footswitches. No weird power requirements or anything dumb. I’ve pretty much accepted at this point I can’t build a board without one at the end of the chain. Not only does it sweeten my tone, if not using effects, but giving a little bass boost also goes a long way in beefing up any effects that take away a little bass. Boosting the treble up a little past halfway up warrants a sheen to the top end that I immediately notice and miss if it’s off. These pedals are built like absolute tanks as well. There’s one in the classifieds for $160 right now I believe, not mine! I run a Diamond bass comp at the beginning of my board and the Sadowsky at the end, nowadays I actually have a SGT DI at the very end and the Sadowsky right before it, handy for a PRE/POST DI at the same time.
 
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