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Does make sense? Three effective preamps??

dirtychinchilla

dirtychinchilla

Dec 23, 2007
659
670
London, UK
#1
Evening all,

I just ordered a Mesa Boogie Subway preamp thinking it might help me achieve my tone goals, which is really some tube tone without having a tube amp.

Then I sat here thinking…I’ve got a Sire V7 which I use in active mode, which has a preamp, and I have a Darkglass Microtubes 500 V2 which has its on tone controls of course. (I’m using the other channel of the amp as drive)

Does it make any sense to introduce the Mesa preamp into this? Aside from just getting a tube amp, which I don’t want to do right now, would my best bet be to buy a tube preamp instead?

Thanks in advance for your input,

dirtychinchilla
 
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#6

It's like the Star Wars saga of pre-amplification.

giphy.gif


May the forces be with you.
​
 
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#7
Tom Bomb said:
It's like the Star Wars saga of pre-amplification.

giphy.gif


May the forces be with you.
​
Click to expand...

exactly!!

Thanks for your feedback, people. What I might do is upgrade the old SolidGoldFx Beta MK2 to the current version. I really like the MK2 but it’s a bit too sort of thick sounding. I wonder if the newer version would solve that.
I appreciate it’s still a preamp, but it would just be throwing in some vintage character.
 
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#9

Experiment, you do. Get there, you will:wacky: I've had some fun with a microbass II as a backstop for a series of muddying and enlivening circuits, both inside and outside various combos, heads, and stomp-boxes. Ya never know if ya never glo. Good things come to those who create.​
 
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#10
I often use a Capo along with my Handbox WB100, used to throw in my EAE Model Fet too and sounded excellent. See what sounds good and go with it.

For me the WB100 gets the perfect valve amp feel I’m after. The capo gives some more surgical EQ and some really nice grit and drive options. The Model Fet just does something magical with high gain sounds, makes everything feel kind of velvety.

You could always try bypassing the amps preamp by going in to the amps return.
 
#11
MrDinsdale said:
I often use a Capo along with my Handbox WB100, used to throw in my EAE Model Fet too and sounded excellent. See what sounds good and go with it.

For me the WB100 gets the perfect valve amp feel I’m after. The capo gives some more surgical EQ and some really nice grit and drive options. The Model Fet just does something magical with high gain sounds, makes everything feel kind of velvety.

You could always try bypassing the amps preamp by going in to the amps return.
Click to expand...

The Capo looks great, but I can't get a used one in the UK so it's pretty expensive!
 
#13
el murdoque said:
This is the important question. What do you want out of a tube preamp? Subtle grit, with added harmonics?
A sound that is generally described as 'Fat, warm round' ?
Click to expand...

Good point. I'm looking for a bit more warmth and grit, but not a lot. I (obviously) love Timmy C's tone, but it's a bit too old school for me. I think I'm trying to achieve something inbetween that and the sort of hifi effect you get from a Darkglass amp, which I have. I think Kade Turner does a great job of it:

 
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#14
I'd have a look at:
-Capo
-JPTR FX Jive
-Sushi Box FX Pedals
-RMI Lehle Sonic Spark
-Maybe even the Fairfield Barbershop
-Broughton P15

You can, of course run multiple preamps into each other as much as you like, because maybe one preamp does some special thing you like and another makes the entire signal chain sound better just by being plugged in ... the possible reasons are endless, and at the end of the day, whatever floats your personal boat is the right thing.
 
#16
Your onboard preamp isn't contributing much gain; I don't really see much point in onboard EQ but horses for courses. Your Darkglass drive pedal (which is essentially a preamp) is contributing dirt. Then you have your amp's preamp. Yes, having more electronics rather than less will mean more noise, potentially more distortion. It might not be an issue. I've just recorded bass the following way: Boss TU-3 (for its buffer), passive DI, parallel out to a Markbass Compressore (which adds a bit of noise, as all compressors inevitably do), into my 800RB (not the quietest amp). DI on its power amp, + two microphones. If you hear the track, once mixed, it's a bit noisy. It completely becomes a non-issue in the mix.
 
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#18
I've spent a lot of time with Pre-Amp's... my conclusion is that, without using a modeler, using today's technology, you can't really get the tube sound without a tube.
The Mesa has a lot of other uses - like a DI, final eq, HPF, and it's own tone coloring. But if you are looking for the tube sound... it's not your huckleberry.

Personally - I run a Khan at the very end of my signal chain, before the amp / DI to FOH. For the record, my amp is a Mesa 800+ which has the same preamp as the one you are buying. Outstanding head, probably the best 'working-man's' amp on the market. And the tube warmth/bloom sound isn't there.
 
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#20
dirtychinchilla said:
Evening all,

I just ordered a Mesa Boogie Subway preamp thinking it might help me achieve my tone goals, which is really some tube tone without having a tube amp.

Then I sat here thinking…I’ve got a Sire V7 which I use in active mode, which has a preamp, and I have a Darkglass Microtubes 500 V2 which has its on tone controls of course. (I’m using the other channel of the amp as drive)

Does it make any sense to introduce the Mesa preamp into this? Aside from just getting a tube amp, which I don’t want to do right now, would my best bet be to buy a tube preamp instead?

Thanks in advance for your input,

dirtychinchilla
Click to expand...
V4b
 
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