OK... here's my current setup. I have a Hartke HA3500 head with a 4x10 and a 1x15. The Hartke has a preamp on it and I had issues using my DI (preamping a preamp and such) but wanted to get the tone shaping of the M80 on stage soooo.... I ended up looping into the MXR using the effects send/return. All works fine. Now... I am looking to downsize (just size ) my rig for ease of setup and breakdown as well as fitting all my crap in my car. I'm in a Rush tribute band so I have 2 keyboards and footpedals also. My question (finally, right?) is... with no effects loop on the MB212-II, has anyone ever run this amp with a preamp DI box like the MXR M80? Any issues with it? My plan is to take the pedal to my local music store and test drive it but wondering if anyone already knows. Thanks!
You are probably going to have to turn the input gain way down on the combo and keep the eq flat so it wont overdrive the built in Preamp on the combo amp just my guess
For those interested, I brought my MXR pedal into GC and tried it with the MB212. Glorious. The minor grit on the M80 along with the boost on the MB212 produced an amazing growl. Now to financially make it happen.
Although I've not tried my M80 with a Hartke amp I've never had any issues going unto any other amp (Mesa, Trace, GK, SWR, etc.) What issues were you experiencing?
The Hartke has a preamp that maybe is hotter than most? Not sure really but Driving the M80 enough to get the board a good signal had me setting my preamp on the Hartke to about .25. Reeeeally low. I loop it now through my effects loop so I can dial in the return but still send a good hot signal to the FOH. I used the pedal with other amps too with no issue.
Update. I bought the MB212-II and gigged with it on Saturday. Loved it! Carried it in with one hand and it thumped! I still have some tone dialing to do but barely pushed it at all (gain on 3 or 4 and volume on 5 or 6?) and it was plenty on stage. Ran with a pretty flat EQ as well. My load in, set up, and load out are now a breeze!