Electro Harmonix BASS preacher

[javi_bassist]

I know that this post is relatively old, but I want to clarify that I've been using the Bass Preacher since June and the noise I was talking about, is gone. It was one of the cables. So, a summary of my experience with this tiny pedal:

Really simple to use. Two knobs (volume and sustain) and one switch (for the attack). It's true that I add only a little bit of compression (9-9.30) and the volume a little bit hotter (around 1 o'clock). The attack is on "Slow" if I'm playing with a pick and in the middle position if I'm playing with my fingers. Always on and at the end of the chain.

Overall, I think it's a nice pedal (especially for the price). A little bit noisy, but you cannot tell while playing in a live situation. When you Turn it on and off, it makes noise when you push it. Since I have it always on, it is not a problem to me, but it may be a problem for others. The Attack modes are nice. You have only three prositions, but they sound good to me. Nice settings. It is also very transparent. If you want a simple and a cheap compressor, for the price I think it is one of the best options.

 

[spovril]

I just bought one of these, even though some of the reviews say they can be a bit noisy if the level is dialled up too high.

However, on first impression I was pretty disappointed.... it was REALLY noisy with my active bass to the point of being unusable, and with either the level or sustain control past about 10 o clock, it just made an awful racket.

I was on the verge of sending it back when I stumbled across a thread on another forum that mentions the fact that there's a tiny trim pot inside the pedal that you can use to tame it. I set the level and sustain to 12 o clock, took the back off, and tried adjusting the trim pot to get the "on" level closer to the "off" level.
Weirdly you have to turn it clockwise to reduce the gain which is the other way around to what you'd expect, and I only had to turn it a tiny amount to get it to a reasonable level.

Noise is massively reduced now... pretty much gone, and it's made the controls have a much more usable spread.

Weird that EHX don't think to put any mention of the interior gain pot in the pedal instructions at all. It saved me from returning what I thought was a useless pedal. I really like it now!

 

[Jay604]

I just bought one of these, even though some of the reviews say they can be a bit noisy if the level is dialled up too high.

However, on first impression I was pretty disappointed.... it was REALLY noisy with my active bass to the point of being unusable, and with either the level or sustain control past about 10 o clock, it just made an awful racket.

I was on the verge of sending it back when I stumbled across a thread on another forum that mentions the fact that there's a tiny trim pot inside the pedal that you can use to tame it. I set the level and sustain to 12 o clock, took the back off, and tried adjusting the trim pot to get the "on" level closer to the "off" level.
Weirdly you have to turn it clockwise to reduce the gain which is the other way around to what you'd expect, and I only had to turn it a tiny amount to get it to a reasonable level.

Noise is massively reduced now... pretty much gone, and it's made the controls have a much more usable spread.

Weird that EHX don't think to put any mention of the interior gain pot in the pedal instructions at all. It saved me from returning what I thought was a useless pedal. I really like it now!

Where is the trim pot you mention? Do I need to open the pedalup and dial something in that way?

 

[mannysilvers]

Where is the trim pot you mention? Do I need to open the pedalup and dial something in that way?

Yes you need to open it up. When you open it up and look in the back it's in the top-right corner.

 

[Jay604]

Yes you need to open it up. When you open it up and look in the back it's in the top-right corner.

Ok. I will have a look. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[wpward]

I know that this post is relatively old, but I want to clarify that I've been using the Bass Preacher since June and the noise I was talking about, is gone. It was one of the cables.

Just to resurrect an old resurrection of an old thread... I just got the EHX Bass Preacher and was getting awful noise. This post helped me identify that it was actually my power cable introducing it. I have two cheapie Donner daisy chain power supplies, one for my guitar pedals and one for my bass pedals. Well, having the Bass Preacher and tuner pedal on the same daisy chain was what was introducing the noise. I swapped so my bass preacher is on the guitar daisy chain and the noise is gone.

I know I know, I should get a proper power brick. Just thought I'd post this up in case it helps someone else that doesn't have "all the things" yet.