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Fryette PS2 & preamp question

labeledbass

labeledbass

Supporting Member
May 24, 2015
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20,438
#1
Quick one, In the pursuit of tube preamp AND power amp characteristics, I'm looking for a setup that takes advance of BOTH preamp and poweramp down to a line out, preferably balanced into my interface. I'm looking into a PS2, I know if you run a full fledge amplifier into its AMP IN, that signal will in turn output the LINE OUT/XLR through the power amp, I also know if you run a signal in the LINE IN, and power a cabinet it will also utilize my preamp and the PS2 power amp. But combing the PS2 manual (link below) I can't tell if I run a preamp into the PS2 and then run a line OUT into my interface is it running the signal through the power stages as well, or just a transformer balanced out. I'm pretty sure this is possible, I see the Bassman 100T makes mention of "silent operation" for studio use. I know the PS2 is much more, reason I look into it now, I can use it like this now and utilize its other features later.

As always thanks for your time & post

Link Removed
 
#7
From what I'm seeing the line out has no choice but to run through the power amp
scematics.png
 
#8
That's what I'm reading from that block diagram yeah. Should be good plugging into the Line In if the diagram is to be trusted as well (which I don't have any reason to believe it wouldn't). Guess it's just a really clean power section &/or I just need to crank it up more to get some power section compression/break up :)
 
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#9
SidNitzerglobin said:
That's what I'm reading from that block diagram yeah. Should be good plugging into the Line In if the diagram is to be trusted as well (which I don't have any reason to believe it wouldn't). Guess it's just a really clean power section &/or I just need to crank it up more to get some power section compression/break up :)
Click to expand...
Have the amp yourself, does the depth and presence color your signal pretty well?
 
#10
labeledbass said:
Have the amp yourself, does the depth and presence color your signal pretty well?
Click to expand...
Hehe, your post just inspired me to plug this guy into my PF cab stack & my bass board into the FX return to see what it was doing for me on bass.

The EQ options seem a bit more subtle than some amp tone stacks but initial 15 minute spin seems like it works pretty well when you want it to & is really transparent when you don't. This maps pretty directly to my more extensive experience using it w/ my guitar stuff although maybe a bit less subtle there. My impression was they primarily designed the tone stack to offset the lower power pushed through the speaker(s) when used as an attenuator, but my brief spin w/ the bass board leads me to believe I could get by pretty darn well w/o an extensive EQ on the preamp/board & use just the PS2's tone shaping w/ highly satisfactory results. YMMV of course ;)
 
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#11
SidNitzerglobin said:
Hehe, your post just inspired me to plug this guy into my PF cab stack & my bass board into the FX return to see what it was doing for me on bass.

The EQ options seem a bit more subtle than some amp tone stacks but initial 15 minute spin seems like it works pretty well when you want it to & is really transparent when you don't. This maps pretty directly to my more extensive experience using it w/ my guitar stuff although maybe a bit less subtle there. My impression was they primarily designed the tone stack to offset the lower power pushed through the speaker(s) when used as an attenuator, but my brief spin w/ the bass board leads me to believe I could get by pretty darn well w/o an extensive EQ on the preamp/board & use just the PS2's tone shaping w/ highly satisfactory results. YMMV of course ;)
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Cool, yeah post if you would if it sounds like the power section is included. I know what you mean. I just sold a Valvulator GPDI, and it was nice but the passive EQ portion was pretty transparent, so was their SAG adjustment. I would really like this to work out, I like the versatility of this unit, and maybe paired with my Zephyr could produce some magic
 
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#12
Will do. It's been on my to do list to check it out w/ the bass stuff for a bit (mostly to use the post OT lead from my PF50T feeding it so I'd have an FX loop available), but just hadn't got around to it.

If it existed at the time & I had the foresight to know I'd want to use it for bass, I think I'd have gone for the 100w one they've got now, but it seems like the 50w PS2 is likely putting out enough volume to get by pretty well for me so far.
 
#13
I've used with a Demeter bass preamp directly to the line in. Does not sound bad, Also I have a Frenzel preamp that has a 1 watt output using a 12AT7 as a power tube (not a typo) and that definitely is a less sterile sound. I plug it to the amp in. I have also done it with a THD univalve (both line and speaker) and an Emery bass baby (not mine). The amp in rather than the line in always sounds better. That's what it was designed for. If you are just going to do recording - I would use a TwoNotes Torpedo or an Apollo UAD unison plugin
 
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#14
labeledbass said:
Quick one, In the pursuit of tube preamp AND power amp characteristics, I'm looking for a setup that takes advance of BOTH preamp and poweramp down to a line out, preferably balanced into my interface. I'm looking into a PS2, I know if you run a full fledge amplifier into its AMP IN, that signal will in turn output the LINE OUT/XLR through the power amp, I also know if you run a signal in the LINE IN, and power a cabinet it will also utilize my preamp and the PS2 power amp. But combing the PS2 manual (link below) I can't tell if I run a preamp into the PS2 and then run a line OUT into my interface is it running the signal through the power stages as well, or just a transformer balanced out. I'm pretty sure this is possible, I see the Bassman 100T makes mention of "silent operation" for studio use. I know the PS2 is much more, reason I look into it now, I can use it like this now and utilize its other features later.

As always thanks for your time & post

Link Removed
Click to expand...
Wait, so with this little guy, you could turn a pf50t into an SVT? ...output wise?
 
#15
JeezyMcNuggles said:
Wait, so with this little guy, you could turn a pf50t into an SVT? ...output wise?
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Probably not, the PS2 only has 2 6L6 power tubes. The larger "Power Station" has 2 6550s, That and a SV Pre would probably sound closeish to a SVT (the PF50 already has 6L6s and pretty sure its modeled after a B-15?) I'm going for more of that sound, but looking for a decent tube power amp and at the same time this does so much more than just power.

If you're trying to change your PF50t maybe try a SV Pre, dialed in sounds very reminiscent of a SVT, but your not going to have the mid punch
 
#16
Finally mounted up my PS2 in a case today & spent some time playing around w/ it this afternoon through my Eden EX112 w/ this board hooked up to the line in & figured I'd report in:
ilvGcpI.jpg

Not the most representative test, but it seems like it'll have some pretty good potential so far at least & the bit of time I had it cranked to ~1:30 it seemed to be giving a pretty nice tube saturation & w/ a hint of breakup & delivering what strikes me as enough volume to keep up w/ a drummer that wasn't Captain Caveman, FWIW. The cab didn't seem to be up to much more than that, but from what I could tell, the PS2 might have been.

It's a bit round sounding, but I'm planning to swing some stuff around board-wise to further explore what I think w/ some other stuff in front of it, some more precise EQing, & going through my other cabs. I've liked the Tone Hammer a lot more than the B7K in the past so I'm excited to try it here. The Bass RC Booster seemed to do an excellent job by itself though for hot clean sound tone shaping & tube goosing though :)
 
#17
I have both the PS1 and the PS100. You can use the Line in or the effects return for a preamp in. The Amp in will not work properly for a preamp input. It is designed for the output stage of a tube amp. There is a self attenuation feature that allows for running the output of the unit into the amp in so you can run the PS power section hard and get that over driven sound at the line out of the amp. I've never tried it but there is a video of how to do it that Fryette has. The power section was designed to run cleaner and with as little color as possible for a tube amp. It's a great sounding power amp.
 
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#18
I also own a PS1 and a PS100. I foolishly did not employ them into two recent gigs with a full band and a loud drummer. My '65 Fender Showman struggled to keep up and fell short. The difference in clean power from the PS100 compared to my Showman (4 x 6L6) was surprisingly significant. Maybe my showman is showing its age or needs to be rebiased. Either way, the power station solution for more volume without compromising the tone of the amp was right under my nose, as confirmed AFTER the gigs.

I need to do more testing in that environment to fully capture the difference in output, but even at home, I could tell a difference in terms of the clarity, and headroom of the power station.
 

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