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How about the Laney Digbeth preamp pedal?

#81
I've been enjoying the Digbeth Pre, I wanted to share my settings and why I think it's special. It does have shortcomings and slight feature enhancements that could bring it to another level.

Reasons why it isn't perfect.
- The effects loop is nice but needs a Pre/Post switch. Currently the input going to the loop is controlled and affected by the FET/Tube/Drive controls. Don't get me wrong, this FX loop can make some of my other pedals sounds like they have a polish that didn't exist before. The ability to switch and change that signal path would be useful. Unfortunately it can be possible to overdrive pedals in the FX loop if raising the volume far beyond neutral.
- A switch to change the orientation of the 2 channels (FET, Tube) could also be great. Parallel/Series, Pre/Post

Brief view of settings.
There are a few sweet spots hidden between the 2 preamps in this unit. They do share EQ. The Lo-Mid has an EQ curve switch. I like to cut the Lo-Mid with the switch in either the up or middle positions.
The first is Setting the FET channel to 8 (I enjoyed maxing this knob but it controls the FX loop gain), Drive 8 or to taste, Tube 3/taste. Because the tube channel has more gain on tap than the FET, it's possible to set a baseline with FET then slowly dial in just enough tube to add brightness, harmonics, clarity, and all around juice combined with the FET channel. At precise settings the interaction between these 3 controls provides a certain richness to the sound I haven't heard. I've tried accomplishing this with different parallel splitters and loop pedals for years. This one just does it.

IMG_20240116_163942578~3.jpg

IMG_20240113_185306430_HDR~2.jpg
 
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#82
Jett Litt said:
I've been enjoying the Digbeth Pre, I wanted to share my settings and why I think it's special. It does have shortcomings and slight feature enhancements that could bring it to another level.

Reasons why it isn't perfect.
- The effects loop is nice but needs a Pre/Post switch. Currently the input going to the loop is controlled and affected by the FET/Tube/Drive controls. Don't get me wrong, this FX loop can make some of my other pedals sounds like they have a polish that didn't exist before. The ability to switch and change that signal path would be useful. Unfortunately it can be possible to overdrive pedals in the FX loop if raising the volume far beyond neutral.
- A switch to change the orientation of the 2 channels (FET, Tube) could also be great. Parallel/Series, Pre/Post

Brief view of settings.
There are a few sweet spots hidden between the 2 preamps in this unit. They do share EQ. The Lo-Mid has an EQ curve switch. I like to cut the Lo-Mid with the switch in either the up or middle positions.
The first is Setting the FET channel to 8 (I enjoyed maxing this knob but it controls the FX loop gain), Drive 8 or to taste, Tube 3/taste. Because the tube channel has more gain on tap than the FET, it's possible to set a baseline with FET then slowly dial in just enough tube to add brightness, harmonics, clarity, and all around juice combined with the FET channel. At precise settings the interaction between these 3 controls provides a certain richness to the sound I haven't heard. I've tried accomplishing this with different parallel splitters and loop pedals for years. This one just does it.

View attachment 5319764
Click to expand...


Thanks for the review and your settings. What music do you play?

I was deciding between this and the nux Melvin Lee Davis pedal. I opted for the nux but I don’t really like the tube sound.
 
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#83
Jett Litt said:
- The effects loop is nice but needs a Pre/Post switch. Currently the input going to the loop is controlled and affected by the FET/Tube/Drive controls. Don't get me wrong, this FX loop can make some of my other pedals sounds like they have a polish that didn't exist before. The ability to switch and change that signal path would be useful. Unfortunately it can be possible to overdrive pedals in the FX loop if raising the volume far beyond neutral.


View attachment 5319764
Click to expand...
This doesn't make sense. If you want it "pre" just put it before the pedal
 
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#87
TheArchitect said:
How would a switch help then if you have multiple pedals? Are you going to switch them all?
Click to expand...

They wouldn't all be on at the same time they have their own footswitches as well.

After spending quite a bit of time with this preamp and having the EQ and gain controls go into the FX loop I've come to find that can be detrimental to the signal chain and it would be nice to test the differences with a switch.
 
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#88
I got one of these last weekend and immediately giggled with it and I have to say how much it kicks ass. Straight up everything at 12 oclock just sounds great and well balanced. With an FX loop as well that is super handy to have. For the sound and features it's incredible how cheap it is. I paid £120.

My signal chain was C4> Digbeth (FX loop EQ2> Sushi More)
 
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#94
anyone know if it's possible to dial in the Digbeth preamp to have an SVT-ish overdriven sound but with a (Darkglass B3K/B7K style) 250-300-ish Hz notch? i'm currently running a Sansamp VT Bass DI with the drive at 3 o'clock and an EQ pedal before it to notch out 250Hz, but am hoping to find a single-pedal solution that can do both of those things.

if it seems like the Digbeth Pre could do that, what settings would you recommend?

bonus question:
on the Digbeth Pre, does anyone know which frequencies the Bass, Lo-Mid, Hi-Mid, and Treble controls affect, and which are peaking or shelving filters?
 
#95
blujosh said:
anyone know if it's possible to dial in the Digbeth preamp to have an SVT-ish overdriven sound but with a (Darkglass B3K/B7K style) 250-300-ish Hz notch? i'm currently running a Sansamp VT Bass DI with the drive at 3 o'clock and an EQ pedal before it to notch out 250Hz, but am hoping to find a single-pedal solution that can do both of those things.

if it seems like the Digbeth Pre could do that, what settings would you recommend?

bonus question:
on the Digbeth Pre, does anyone know which frequencies the Bass, Lo-Mid, Hi-Mid, and Treble controls affect, and which are peaking or shelving filters?
Click to expand...

On the frequencies, they don't reveal those in the manual. Found a thread on BassChat that says the Lows are at 50 Hz, Low Mids at 180-480-700 Hz depending on the switch setting, High Mids at 1.5 kHz, and Treble at 8 kHz. Bass and treble kind of look like shelving in graphs, but they weren't sure. The tilt appears to have a center at 850 Hz.
 
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#96
Parzival said:
On the frequencies, they don't reveal those in the manual. Found a thread on BassChat that says the Lows are at 50 Hz, Low Mids at 180-480-700 Hz depending on the switch setting, High Mids at 1.5 kHz, and Treble at 8 kHz. Bass and treble kind of look like shelving in graphs, but they weren't sure. The tilt appears to have a center at 850 Hz.
Click to expand...
found it. that's exactly the info i was looking for. thanks!
 
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#98
NotColinGrigson said:
Such a great pre.
Punches way above it’s price point.
Click to expand...
It really does. The most under rated feature on it is the pass through. It lets me pass a clean signal unaffected by the DigBeth to the OE Super Vintage to run them in parallel. That is extremely useful in the studio. The effects loop is the second most under rated feature. It by far the most flexible of the 3 options on my board and is likely what I would choose if I could only have one. I really dig the Super Vintage and the Sushibox so that is saying something.
 
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