does your amp clip a lot? mine does!

Simple. Turn down your input gain.

 

A outboard pre will make it worse. For maximum headroom set the master high, the pre gain low.

 

I see in your sig you play a Spector Euro 5. The fault lays with your bass, not your amp. Spector preamps are NOTORIOUSLY hot.
You also have to remember that the tone controls are BOOST ONLY. They are flat when turned all the way off. Boost your bass either zero, or very little. You could also use some sort of pad between your bass and your amp to cut down the gain a bit.

 

+1

That amp has an "active/passive" switch next to the input. Play with that and the Gain knob beside it. Adjust those to get a clean signal, and then adjust the overall volume with the master.

 

I wouldn't. Don't worry about swapping preamps, just don't boost your lows unnecessarily (A VERY common mistake amongst bass players). What sounds good at home, or while playing alone, doesn't necessarily sound good in a band mix.

 

An ART Tube MP (with meter) might help you control the levels.

 

Unless your power amp is overmatched to your speaker, don't be afraid of a little clipping.

Keep in mind that some amps have clip indicators that sort of stretch out longer than the actual clip event, and so with them, minuscule incidents of clipping may be made more visible than those of other amps.

 

The Max 700 uses Peavey's DDT circuitry...your speakers will be okay, but it does sound kinda gnarly when you are lightin' the lamp all the time. If your bass is hot, switch to the active input on the amp. IMHO, adding an outboard preamp is confusing the issue and, perhaps, a waste of money. The tone shaping ability of your Peavey is pretty good...you just need to pad the input (via the active/passive switch). Give that a go first.

Kim

 

+1 million. Those spector preamps are super hot, when playing a few spectors at gc I could clip every amp I played through with the onboard controls.
I wouldnt worry about buying new stuff personally, just mesin around with what you have.

 

Stick it on the active input, turn the master volume all the way up, then use the pre gain or the gain control on the other preamp to control volume, works for me

 

You want to have your input gain as high (hot) as possible without clipping or clipping only RARELY. Once you have established the correct input level you then control your overall volume with your master. There's a reason they call it the Master.

 

Well, it works for me, and no clipping lights have come on yet

 

Clipping is not the only issue to be considered. You also want to achieve the maximum signal to noise ratio.

By setting the master at max and adjusting your volume at the input gain you are getting the most noise out of the amp. I'm sure yours doesn't generate any noise but those are the facts.

 

To be honest i think everyone should try it either way, the way i do it is easier and there is no noticable difference

 

You apparently know something the electronics industry doesn't.

 

whats wrong with people trying the other way? or can you not comprehend that?

 

While you're at it hook your bass up to your amp using speaker wire - what's the difference.