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First pedal

Tsalpasnah

Tsalpasnah

Dec 17, 2023
16
16
Switzerland
#1
Hi,

I want to buy my first pedal and I figured, since I'm playing a passive bass, that a preamp / DI is the way to go. Money is kind of tight right now so I was looking at something like this:

​
It seems pretty good as long as features goes, plus it's in my budget. But maybe do you have some other propositions?

I'm also a cellist by trade and I'm hoping to buy a piezo pickup in a near future. Would this preamp work with an acoustic instrument?

Thank in advance,

Tsal
 
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#2
I am not familiar with this preamp. I tried to find the input impedance and did not see the info on the product page or in the user manual.

Unbuffered piezo pickups need to be loaded by 1Meg or more. The optimum impedance varies with the pickup design, and it often falls somewhere between 2 and 5Meg. 1Meg is pretty much the bare minimum.
 
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#5
i think that your choice is a good one.
Tsalpasnah said:
Hi,

I want to buy my first pedal and I figured, since I'm playing a passive bass, that a preamp / DI is the way to go. Money is kind of tight right now so I was looking at something like this:

It seems pretty good as long as features goes, plus it's in my budget. But maybe do you have some other propositions?

I'm also a cellist by trade and I'm hoping to buy a piezo pickup in a near future. Would this preamp work with an acoustic instrument?

Thank in advance,

Tsal
Click to expand...
i think that your choice is a good one.
 
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#16
Tsalpasnah said:
I want to be able shape my tone more, to practice without the need of a full amp when on a trip, the DI aspect could be usable in case I ever go public with the bass... Sorry for my poor engrish.
Click to expand...

I just glanced at the pedal you posted but from what I have seen it would be a good choice. The Tech21 VT wouldn't be my recommendation. No headphone out or aux in. Those are important when traveling. I travel several times/year and actually use a small Behringer mixer, that is powered by USB.

Dein Englisch ist doch gut. Ich hoffe mal, du kommst aus dem Schwizerdütschen Teil der Schweiz.
 
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#17
Tsalpasnah said:
May I ask why? Sorry if it's a dumb question...
Click to expand...
Compression is more of a tone shaping tool, rather than an effect, although it could, in extreme settings, be used as one(but that’s not a typical scenario). What compression does is to smooth/equal out your dynamics, however much you want or need. In other words, it contains electronically the level of how hard you play, while bringing up the level of softer playing, leveling the overall output. Only you can determine if you need it, or if it is appropriate for your playing context, but keep in mind that any bass you hear on any recording has been compressed to some extent.
Some bassists don’t use it live as it can inhibit their dynamic performance, some use it sparingly to contain spikes in that range, I use it at a minimal setting before an octave pedal(a true effect)due to the nature of how that pedal reads incoming notes, and how it processes those notes.
Also, while many may use a tuner in pedal form in their chain, that’s not really an “effect” either, other than it mutes your signal while tuning.
 
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#18
Thanks for all your answers!
Minimalist said:
I just glanced at the pedal you posted but from what I have seen it would be a good choice. The Tech21 VT wouldn't be my recommendation. No headphone out or aux in. Those are important when traveling. I travel several times/year and actually use a small Behringer mixer, that is powered by USB.

Dein Englisch ist doch gut. Ich hoffe mal, du kommst aus dem Schwizerdütschen Teil der Schweiz.
Click to expand...
Danke, ich bin etwas eingerostet, aber mein Englisch kommt zurück. Ich komme aus dem Kanton Neuchâtel!
Michedelic said:
Compression is more of a tone shaping tool, rather than an effect, although it could, in extreme settings, be used as one(but that’s not a typical scenario). What compression does is to smooth/equal out your dynamics, however much you want or need. In other words, it contains electronically the level of how hard you play, while bringing up the level of softer playing, leveling the overall output. Only you can determine if you need it, or if it is appropriate for your playing context, but keep in mind that any bass you hear on any recording has been compressed to some extent.
Some bassists don’t use it live as it can inhibit their dynamic performance, some use it sparingly to contain spikes in that range, I use it at a minimal setting before an octave pedal(a true effect)due to the nature of how that pedal reads incoming notes, and how it processes those notes.
Also, while many may use a tuner in pedal form in their chain, that’s not really an “effect” either, other than it mutes your signal while tuning.
Click to expand...
It's interesting, but for now, as I'm learning to play the instrument, I prefer leveling my dynamics by hand. Maybe in the future though. As for a tuner, I use my ears as I don't play in noisy places. Maybe later...
 
#20
Tsalpasnah said:
May I ask why? Sorry if it's a dumb question...
Click to expand...
I didn't have a compression pedal for a long time not really understanding its purpose. A compression pedal will even out the the whole sonic capability of your bass and ultimately make all of your notes more powerful or clear. Sometimes I forget to turn it on when I'm in a studio and listening back to the track just seems off. It's almost always that, for me. I don't know about anybody else, but primarily playing a Stingray it erased that feeling of having a weak G.
 
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