Based on your first choice, I checked out other items at Thomann. What about this one? It actually looks kinda sweet.
Palmer Pocket Amp Bass
Palmer Pocket Amp Bass
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First pedal
- Thread starter Tsalpasnah
- Start date
That looks great, thanks! Anyone have tried both of those for sound quality differences?
I would actually save up for pedal power supply and quality tuner pedal first—either a Peterson or Sonic research pedal.
Strobe Tuners by Sonic Research - Turbo Tuner Home Page
one of the petersons on amazon
Everyone has different opinions on these things, but I've had perfectly good experiences with cheap power supplies.
And cheap tuner pedals are fine too...but it really is nice, I find, to use one of the super accurate tuners. I bought a regular, cheapish, Planet Waves pedal, and used it for years, bought a few clip on tuners over the years, then needed a smaller footprint pedal, and I bought a Daddario tuner (again, about the same accuracy as the Planet Waves, Snark tuners, Boss pedals, etc). On a whim, I decided to get a Peterson tuner for home (my justification being that it might be nice for setting intonation). I found that the Peterson was so much nicer that I bought a different Peterson simply because I wanted one on my board and the first didn't quite fit. I don't think I spent more than $100–150 over the course of 10 years on those other tuners. But now that I never use them, it still feels like a waste. That's why I think that buying one "expensive" $130 tuner seems like a good example of "buy once, cry once".
The preamp pedals people are talking about make sense to me if you have a need for a hyper-portable travel rig.
But—just in case you didn't actually realize—the DI on those pedals is not different from the XLR output on your amp. Your amp also has a headphone jack. You're wouldn't be gaining a lot of functionality with a preamp pedal—it just could be the case that the pedal you buy would be something that you prefer the flavor of tone compared to your amp. Or you may like it less..it's hard to say. That's why I'm thinking that if you need a bass+pedal kind of rig to make train trips easier, only then does a preamp makes sense. But if you're just thinking, "hey I have a $50 budget maybe I could get a pedal", then I'm not sure a preamp is the place to spend money.
In my opinion, also, a compressor pedal might wind up being kind of boring if you don't know what it's going to do, or don't know if you'll like it. I wouldn't buy a compressor unless either you or someone you're playing with is already saying, "hey, I think you need a compressor pedal". To me, that's a reason why I wouldn't personally recommend a compressor pedal as someone's first pedal, but at some point you probably should get one even before knowing what it does or if you need it (because they are pretty good to have).
My recommendation would be to get something that's fun and makes you happy to just pick up the bass and mess around with. Depending on the music you like, distortion/overdrive, chorus, octave, filter, fuzz..even wah, whammy, or delay could be fun for you. If no one effect sticks out to you, then I'd consider a looper pedal, or a start thinking about what ways to record yourself sound feasible to build towards.
Strobe Tuners by Sonic Research - Turbo Tuner Home Page
one of the petersons on amazon
Everyone has different opinions on these things, but I've had perfectly good experiences with cheap power supplies.
And cheap tuner pedals are fine too...but it really is nice, I find, to use one of the super accurate tuners. I bought a regular, cheapish, Planet Waves pedal, and used it for years, bought a few clip on tuners over the years, then needed a smaller footprint pedal, and I bought a Daddario tuner (again, about the same accuracy as the Planet Waves, Snark tuners, Boss pedals, etc). On a whim, I decided to get a Peterson tuner for home (my justification being that it might be nice for setting intonation). I found that the Peterson was so much nicer that I bought a different Peterson simply because I wanted one on my board and the first didn't quite fit. I don't think I spent more than $100–150 over the course of 10 years on those other tuners. But now that I never use them, it still feels like a waste. That's why I think that buying one "expensive" $130 tuner seems like a good example of "buy once, cry once".
The preamp pedals people are talking about make sense to me if you have a need for a hyper-portable travel rig.
But—just in case you didn't actually realize—the DI on those pedals is not different from the XLR output on your amp. Your amp also has a headphone jack. You're wouldn't be gaining a lot of functionality with a preamp pedal—it just could be the case that the pedal you buy would be something that you prefer the flavor of tone compared to your amp. Or you may like it less..it's hard to say. That's why I'm thinking that if you need a bass+pedal kind of rig to make train trips easier, only then does a preamp makes sense. But if you're just thinking, "hey I have a $50 budget maybe I could get a pedal", then I'm not sure a preamp is the place to spend money.
In my opinion, also, a compressor pedal might wind up being kind of boring if you don't know what it's going to do, or don't know if you'll like it. I wouldn't buy a compressor unless either you or someone you're playing with is already saying, "hey, I think you need a compressor pedal". To me, that's a reason why I wouldn't personally recommend a compressor pedal as someone's first pedal, but at some point you probably should get one even before knowing what it does or if you need it (because they are pretty good to have).
My recommendation would be to get something that's fun and makes you happy to just pick up the bass and mess around with. Depending on the music you like, distortion/overdrive, chorus, octave, filter, fuzz..even wah, whammy, or delay could be fun for you. If no one effect sticks out to you, then I'd consider a looper pedal, or a start thinking about what ways to record yourself sound feasible to build towards.
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That is really good advice, thank you.
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I believe they mean the optimum load for the Copperhead is 10Meg. However, FYI,10Meg used to be claimed generically as the gold standard for piezo pickups. I believe optimal for the Copperhead is probably around 5Meg, perhaps bit lower.
Ref: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/impedance-matching-for-realist-pickup.1276234/page-2#post-22565012
I played the original Realist. The Copperhead is supposed to be an improved version. The original was fine at 1Meg and I believe it was designed to be less sensitive to the input impedance than the typical piezo pickup. I actually used the Realist plugged into a line matching transformer so I could run it into the mic input of a mixer. AFAIK the resulting load on the pickup was around 300K and it still sounded fine IMHO.
Still I would shoot for 1Meg minimum input impedance if buying a preamp intended for use with a piezo. Otherwise you may need a buffer for the pickup.
Buy a tuner. This should be your first pedal, Then, if you play life, buy a good quality transformer-based DI box.
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- Sep 26, 2005
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Considering the variables given in the op, either the palmer or nux would be perfect.
The laney digbeth also has a headphone out, and sounds incredible.
The laney digbeth also has a headphone out, and sounds incredible.
The old Fishman Platinum Bass might be a good option:
It’s a very useful clean pre/DI for electric bass, but has 10 MOhm input impedance for piezo pickups, can run on a battery, phantom or DC power, and has a useful EQ, HPF and compressor onboard. It’s plastic, but solidly built. These can be found second hand for reasonable money. I’ve had mine for many years, never caused an issue. The new model is pretty pricey and looks very nice, but may be out of your current budget.
It’s a very useful clean pre/DI for electric bass, but has 10 MOhm input impedance for piezo pickups, can run on a battery, phantom or DC power, and has a useful EQ, HPF and compressor onboard. It’s plastic, but solidly built. These can be found second hand for reasonable money. I’ve had mine for many years, never caused an issue. The new model is pretty pricey and looks very nice, but may be out of your current budget.
Sansamp BDDI was my first pedal. DI. Great pre/mild od to harsher drive. I would want something less subtle than compressions a first pedal.
The Spectradrive has a similar feature set:
www.tcelectronic.com
Input impedence >1Mohm. I believe that'll suffice for piezo's, might be wrong though.
TC Electronic | Product | SPECTRADRIVE
Unlike the other pedals suggested here the NUX got a build in IR cab sim loader, with 8 great stock IR cab simulations, as well as 3 different great amp emulations.
It's a great pedal, and the best of the ones suggested this far in the thread if you plan to use it with a FRFR or PA rather than a traditional amp/cab.
I own and use it myself, and it's a phenomenal pedal for the price.
Check out this thread: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/new-bass-preamp-pedal-from-nux.1442434/
Though if this is the kind of thing you are looking for, and money is not issue, I would spend the double and get the Two Notes Opus DI, Amp & Cab Sim instead.
It's a great pedal, and the best of the ones suggested this far in the thread if you plan to use it with a FRFR or PA rather than a traditional amp/cab.
I own and use it myself, and it's a phenomenal pedal for the price.
Check out this thread: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/new-bass-preamp-pedal-from-nux.1442434/
Though if this is the kind of thing you are looking for, and money is not issue, I would spend the double and get the Two Notes Opus DI, Amp & Cab Sim instead.
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