Double Bass EBS Stanley Clarke Acoustic Preamp

[ScotJam Bassie]

The more I use this preamp, the more I can comfortably say that it is fantastic and well worth the investment. I’m honestly surprised more people aren’t raving about it, and I wonder if it’s because Stanley’s name is on it. I can assure you that I sound NOTHING like the talented Mr. Clarke (who has a very distinct tone that might not be everyone’s cup o’ tea), and it was easy to dial in “my” ideal tone (which is more of a Wayne Hancock/early Hank III vibe).

I can’t see how Stan The Man’s name would put anyone off, he is a legend and plays all styles. There are other names that might put me off of some signature bass products, but if Stanley Clarke says it’s cool, I’m sure it’s cool! I’m looking forward to trying one some day with my Godin A5 fretless.

 

[shwashwa]

I can’t see how Stan The Man’s name would put anyone off, he is a legend and plays all styles. There are other names that might put me off of some signature bass products, but if Stanley Clarke says it’s cool, I’m sure it’s cool! I’m looking forward to trying one some day with my Godin A5 fretless.

I personally would not want Stanley Clarke's live tone. I actually go through great pains not to have that type of a sound. But if you don't have to sound like that with this box then that's a good thing

 

[Hoyt]

Spent last weekend really dialing this preamp in with fresh ears, and I have to say that it is absolutely fantastic. I ran it straight into my Crest Prolite 2.0 to feed my Greenboy F212 and was thrilled with the results. I haven’t been this happy with a preamp in a really long time.

 

[tombowlus]

View attachment 4257053 Spent last weekend really dialing this preamp in with fresh ears, and I have to say that it is absolutely fantastic. I ran it straight into my Crest Prolite 2.0 to feed my Greenboy F212 and was thrilled with the results. I haven’t been this happy with a preamp in a really long time.

What kind of bridge is that? I don't think I've seen one like that previously.

 

[ablumley]

Is there any way to invert the phase of the xlr channel with this preamp?
From the literature available online, it appears that this feature is assigned only to the A channel while the xlr input appears to be tied to the B channel...

 

[drwv]

Is there any way to invert the phase of the xlr channel with this preamp?

The phase inversion only affects channel A, which seems like a weird design choice to me. I've only tested it briefly on high-gain feedback with a combo amp at home, and - while it killed most of the feedback instantly, it also made for an unusable bass tone. I flipped it back to phase parity and have been using the filters instead; generally the HPF for channel A (piezo), and surprisingly-effective notch for channel B (XLR mic).

I wish there were a way to have it invert the phase of both channels with respect to the instrument.

 

[Hoyt]

What kind of bridge is that? I don't think I've seen one like that previously.

It’s a Deuce Bridge made by Jason Brown. We’re no longer “friends” on FB due to politics and whatnot, but he’s a fantastic luthier and I believe he occasionally still makes them.

On a side note, I genuinely like him as a person in person, but online I think tempers flared during the last few years. I would still highly recommend that anyone who wants an expert setup see him for any work they need done on their instruments.

 

[Hoyt]

The phase inversion only affects channel A, which seems like a weird design choice to me. I've only tested it briefly on high-gain feedback with a combo amp at home, and - while it killed most of the feedback instantly, it also made for an unusable bass tone. I flipped it back to phase parity and have been using the filters instead; generally the HPF for channel A (piezo), and surprisingly-effective notch for channel B (XLR mic).

I wish there were a way to have it invert the phase of both channels with respect to the instrument.

I noticed that Stanley’s bass tech had the phase switch in the “on” position in that video posted earlier, so I set my base tone for my bridge pickup with it engaged. I recommend setting it up this way and then switching it back to the normal position to make slight adjustments. The phase switch is much more of a drastic difference than on my FDeck HPF, but I found setting it up how I explained earlier minimizes that.
I agree that it makes sense to have a phase switch on both channels, but it’s probably more desirable to get the consistent tone of a piezo in line with a mic than to try and get a mic channel with all of the different variables in line with a piezo.

 

[ablumley]

I agree that it makes sense to have a phase switch on both channels, but it’s probably more desirable to get the consistent tone of a piezo in line with a mic than to try and get a mic channel with all of the different variables in line with a piezo.

Unfortunately this arrangement doesn't work so well for someone who is using only a mic and/or a contact mic. Thanks guys for clarifying this aspect of the preamp.

 

[drwv]

As far as I understand the physics, the only way to truly phase align a piezo and a microphone would be to delay the piezo signal by microseconds to compensate for the time it takes sound to travel from the instrument through the air to the microphone. You'd need a built-in digital delay for that.

Flipping the phase of one signal might help align some frequencies, but every frequency has a different wavelength, so it would also cancel other frequencies and lead to more phase alignment issues. (Sort of like a phaser pedal with the LFO stopped in one position.)

Maybe that's the reason this preamp only has a phase switch for one channel, because it seems like you'd want both out of phase with the instrument if it were to prevent feedback.

I haven't opened the case of this expensive preamp; did you say there's a dipswitch to enable the tuner-out as always on? Is there anything else you can tweak inside?

 

[Hoyt]

As far as I understand the physics, the only way to truly phase align a piezo and a microphone would be to delay the piezo signal by microseconds to compensate for the time it takes sound to travel from the instrument through the air to the microphone. You'd need a built-in digital delay for that.

Flipping the phase of one signal might help align some frequencies, but every frequency has a different wavelength, so it would also cancel other frequencies and lead to more phase alignment issues. (Sort of like a phaser pedal with the LFO stopped in one position.)

Maybe that's the reason this preamp only has a phase switch for one channel, because it seems like you'd want both out of phase with the instrument if it were to prevent feedback.

I haven't opened the case of this expensive preamp; did you say there's a dipswitch to enable the tuner-out as always on? Is there anything else you can tweak inside?

Honestly I haven’t had it open either, and the only reason I know about the tuner dipswitch is from the video where he mentions it. There isn’t anything in the manual about it at all that I saw.

 

[tombowlus]

It’s a Deuce Bridge made by Jason Brown. We’re no longer “friends” on FB due to politics and whatnot, but he’s a fantastic luthier and I believe he occasionally still makes them.

On a side note, I genuinely like him as a person in person, but online I think tempers flared during the last few years. I would still highly recommend that anyone who wants an expert setup see him for any work they need done on their instruments.

Thanks for the intel! And I agree with your thoughts on being able to genuinely like some people, but preferring to not hear/see what they say on social media...

Thanks again, Tom.

 

[Sam Reese]

I sent the preamp back to Sweetwater. Since I play out a lot, I thought this versatile preamp might help me, but quickly changed my mine. First, simple is better when going into "battle". 48v phantom power is a friend that powers my Fishman or LR Baggs preamp. The EBS is "ok", but so is the old Fishman. My Nadine mic sounds better straight into the mixer. The deal breakers for me were no phantom power AND my microphone sounds better straight into the mixing board. As for these phase issues you're speaking of, the digital delay would have to be set at ~1ms per foot and Euphonic Audio's Doubler has variable phase 0 to 180 degrees.

 

[Ric Vice]

Sam,
A couple of questions, if you’re willing. So you decided it’s easier to send the Nadine FOH, and the pickup to your amp, rather than use the EBS to mix them
and send the signals out to the P.A. Is that correct? Since I’m not as familiar with the EBS Stanley Clarke, does it allow you to send the two channels independently
FOH?

 

[Sam Reese]

Hi Ric, I'm not using Nadine at gigs. We run 2 column arrays behind us (acoustic trio w/vox, mostly these days) eliminating the need for monitors, not exactly FOH. The Allen & Heath mixer to Turbosound ip2000 spkrs. gives me better sound than any of my amps for upright bass, so I don't employ an amp (live). I don't think the EBS SCP allows independent, just blended. I like the Nadine for MBOL, but that is not a practicality for me due to many variables including the path of least headaches and stage/PA logistics. When I do run both Nadine & Lifeline, I have a special XLR and TS cable-two source cable. I got it from Gollihur. I run Lifeline into a preamp and send Nadine straight to the mixer. I hope that helps. The EBS just didn't fit in my musical world. I'm sure it's fine, but for me...not so much.

 

[Ric Vice]

Hi Ric, I'm not using Nadine at gigs. We run 2 column arrays behind us (acoustic trio w/vox, mostly these days) eliminating the need for monitors, not exactly FOH. The Allen & Heath mixer to Turbosound ip2000 spkrs. gives me better sound than any of my amps for upright bass, so I don't employ an amp (live). I don't think the EBS SCP allows independent, just blended. I like the Nadine for MBOL, but that is not a practicality for me due to many variables including the path of least headaches and stage/PA logistics. When I do run both Nadine & Lifeline, I have a special XLR and TS cable-two source cable. I got it from Gollihur. I run Lifeline into a preamp and send Nadine straight to the mixer. I hope that helps. The EBS just didn't fit in my musical world. I'm sure it's fine, but for me...not so much.

Sam,
That makes sense. That’s the one advantage of the Grace having line outs for each Channel. I only use a microphone FOH, so it goes from the Grace to the board.
Frankly, I rarely use a microphone at all.

 

[Sam Reese]

I tried, but must concede that we play too loud for any practical use of a mic on my bass. Some of my other projects (if they come back post-COVID) might allow for Nadine to get some action. So in the spirit of keep the SCpre thread on course, I auditioned the preamp for about an hour in my studio and kind of actually didn't like it. Speaking of Grace, the best blend of Nadine & Lifeline I have ever achieved is with two Grace 101 preamps. That might be how I handle the two sources in the future! The A&H has phase invert, EQ, HPF, etc.

 

[mrbaloo]

Honestly I haven’t had it open either, and the only reason I know about the tuner dipswitch is from the video where he mentions it. There isn’t anything in the manual about it at all that I saw.

Hi,

I have been using this pedal for a couple of weeks now and I can truly say it is fantastic. However, I wanted to have the tuner-output active at all times. Then I noticed that EBS Ralf talked about "By default the tuner output becomes active when you press the mute switch. If you prefer to have the tuner output active at all times, there is a dip-switch inside the pedal that you can use to change the default settings." in a Youtube video describing "Connecting a tuner".

So I tried to open up the unit by unscrewing the four bottom screws but had no success in opening the unit. The bottom plate was stuck. Then I asked the EBS support for a description to open up the unit. This is the answer I got:

In addition to the four screws under the pedal, the four screws holding the rear XLR connectors must also be unscrewed. Also push in the two switches next to the XLR connectors.
Then the chassis can be pushed back and the bottom part can be loosened.​

This made it possible to open up the pedal with ease. It is only this tuner-out-switch avaliable for me as a user to adjust. But with this adjustment, the pedal went from being a fantastic to completely superior!

/MrBaloo

 

[mrbaloo]

I put together a short review of the fantastic pedal. Sorry for Swedish text, but you could use Google Translate to read it. EBS Stanley Clarke Signature Acoustic Preamp

 

[Tom Bomb]

Preamp review. … Lots of warm 'n' cuddlys. "… a rare find."
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