Mesa Subway Bass DI Preamp

[Fangry]

How do you find the subway compared to the vt di? I'm not really digging the baked in tone of mine anymore, and the separate low mid and hid mid controls of the subway look incredibly useful.

Well, for one the Subway doesn't emulate a saturated tube Ampeg This thread (and the other one in the amps forum) probably has plenty of people more experienced with the pre describing the tone, but I guess it's... the kind of clean that just sits well in the mix. I'm looking forward to proper band rehearsals, right now we're in this sort of broken, drawn out process of writing new material.

And yeah, the mid controls rock! Really well implemented.

 

[Rivoli]

Has anyone tried this pre with the Quilter Bass Block 800?

I'm wondering which XLR output on the MESA I should use with the Quilter's LINE INPUT: XLR 10K balanced, 1V full scale.

 

[agedhorse]

Has anyone tried this pre with the Quilter Bass Block 800?

I'm wondering which XLR output on the MESA I should use with the Quilter's LINE INPUT: XLR 10K balanced, 1V full scale.

Use the preamp out, it will match both the level and provide proper drive impedance.

 

[bucephylus]

One of my current gigs has gone ampless. I am going through the gyrations of putting together a pedal board to be able to send a little more than just a dry signal to the board, since that is now my ONLY sound for that gig.

I'm using a Pedaltrain Nano with a Cioks5 mounted underneath. The Subway preamp/DI is anchoring the left side of the board for the send. From right to left, the upstream pedals are the TC Polytune Mini, the TC Corona SCF, and the Fairfield Barbershop. I'm not much of an effects player, and the chorus is the only major "effect-ish" thing going on, the rest being intended to provide a relatively useful classic amplifier emulation. I've never been high on compressors for bass guitar, preferring to control what I do with my hands. So, that's not there.

The Subway's sound seems pretty much designed for this kind of use. Clean makes a good platform. I suspect this is pretty much the kind of use Andy (@agedhorse) had in mind.

 

[fclefgeoff]

One of my current gigs has gone ampless. I am going through the gyrations of putting together a pedal board to be able to send a little more than just a dry signal to the board, since that is now my ONLY sound for that gig.

I'm using a Pedaltrain Nano with a Cioks5 mounted underneath. The Subway preamp/DI is anchoring the left side of the board for the send. From right to left, the upstream pedals are the TC Polytune Mini, the TC Corona SCF, and the Fairfield Barbershop. I'm not much of an effects player, and the chorus is the only major "effect-ish" thing going on, the rest being intended to provide a relatively useful classic amplifier emulation. I've never been high on compressors for bass guitar, preferring to control what I do with my hands. So, that's not there.

The Subway's sound seems pretty much designed for this kind of use. Clean makes a good platform. I suspect this is pretty much the kind of use Andy (@agedhorse) had in mind.

I have a similar set-up and I call it the back line buster. Not only does it sound great through IEM, no matter what crappy amp set-up I encounter at a venue, I can easily get my tone by jacking straight into the effects return.

 

[bucephylus]

I have a similar set-up and I call it the back line buster. Not only does it sound great through IEM, no matter what crappy amp set-up I encounter at a venue, I can easily get my tone by jacking straight into the effects return.
View attachment 1153998

Nice! That is exactly the same reason I am headed that direction. Too many different situations on the gig now. This approach has a lot going for it.

And, at least for me, it isn't so much about getting my sound as it is about getting what I intend as the right sound on a reliable basis.

 

[Crabz87]

I have the Mesa Boogie Bass DI that I bought for recording and it has a noise issue with a strong narrow peak around 19khz. This is 100% not a metering issue (the noise is still 19khz if i record at higher sample rates than 44.1) and not related to soundcard etc. I have to use a steep lowpass filter to get it away when mixing/using modulation/pitch effects etc where it can sometimes appear.

The noise is also present on the bypass output and there's no difference if run on battery or power supply.

Other than this it works fine, especially the EQ is great.

 

[danieleacerbi]

HI, can i connected the Headphones in Thru-Output?

 

[Crabz87]

HI, can i connected the Headphones in Thru-Output?

No, this will produce the same result as plugging your headphones directly into your bass.

 

[Daniel Piper]

I'm thinking about picking up a GFI Cabzeus cabinet simulator (with aux in and headphone out) to go with a mesa subway preamp - would running a cab sim before the subway be a waste of time?

 

[Bassique]

I'm thinking about picking up a GFI Cabzeus cabinet simulator (with aux in and headphone out) to go with a mesa subway preamp - would running a cab sim before the subway be a waste of time?

Why would you wanna run it before the subway? I would use cabsim always after pedals and preamp. Would it be waste of time...I dont think so, especially if you are using distortion the cabsim tames the lows and highs nicely.

 

[Daniel Piper]

You would run it before the subway if it didn't have an xlr/balanced out - but needed the di on the subway.

Why would you wanna run it before the subway? I would use cabsim always after pedals and preamp. Would it be waste of time...I dont think so, especially if you are using distortion the cabsim tames the lows and highs nicely.

But yeah, I get where you are coming from.

 

[TheSlenderman]

New Gear Day! Stoked to integrate this into the tonal arsenal for some upcoming recordings. Planning to run the thru output to my pedalboard/amp(400+)/mic'd cab, and then use the preamp/DI for my clean signal to the console.

 

[fclefgeoff]

New Gear Day! Stoked to integrate this into the tonal arsenal for some upcoming recordings. Planning to run the thru output to my pedalboard/amp(400+)/mic'd cab, and then use the preamp/DI for my clean signal to the console. View attachment 1196525

I have been using mine into the effects return of my Prodigy 4:88 when I want a tighter, more focused tone. Try bypassing the preamp on the 400+, you may be surprised by what you find.

 

[TheSlenderman]

I have been using mine into the effects return of my Prodigy 4:88 when I want a tighter, more focused tone. Try bypassing the preamp on the 400+, you may be surprised by what you find.

I will definitely be experimenting with that before hitting the studio, at least to get a feel for the tone shaping options of the preamp.

 

[Ethereal Thorn]

Sorry to high jack how do you like that vulcan overdrive paired with the subway im looking into either that or the darkglass vintage to pair with my subway di

 

[fclefgeoff]

Sorry to high jack how do you like that vulcan overdrive paired with the subway im looking into either that or the darkglass vintage to pair with my subway di

I love it. I had a Vulcan XL that I liked quite a bit but I preferred the features of the Subway so I traded the XL for the standard Vulcan and have been very happy with my tone. The Vulcan does some sweet magic to the mids even on the lowest gain setting.

 

[lermgalieu]

Sorry to high jack how do you like that vulcan overdrive paired with the subway im looking into either that or the darkglass vintage to pair with my subway di

I haven't used the darkglass, but I do have a Vulcan XL I use with my D-800. I haven't used it a ton, but at the same time I really like the tone of the pedal and also feel that combined with the Mesa it can be too much of a good thing. The Vulcan might actually be better than the XL combined with the D-800 preamp - I think I am getting bogged down with the XL's eq, which is a bit redundant.

 

[DanielSkilberg]

Hi guys and girls
I play fulltime in a couple of bands. Pop, rock, soul, countryrock etc. Plus some freelance work both studio and live.

I am thinking of getting this pedal. In my mainbands I'm going ampless with iem.
Bass-Preamp-FOH.

I was thinking that this preamp/di would suit my needs concidering the music we play and it would be something I would use both ampless, with amp and in studio.

What do you think? Would it suit my needs?

I don't have any experience with Mesa Boogie but friends recommended me to try this pedal. Only I can't try it first. I have to order it untried.

As it is now it's either this or the Ampeg SCR-DI. My main amp is an Ampeg SVT so I know that sound. But it would be nice with something else too.

Best regards/Daniel

 

[bucephylus]

Hi guys and girls
I play fulltime in a couple of bands. Pop, rock, soul, countryrock etc. Plus some freelance work both studio and live.

I am thinking of getting this pedal. In my mainbands I'm going ampless with iem.
Bass-Preamp-FOH.

I was thinking that this preamp/di would suit my needs concidering the music we play and it would be something I would use both ampless, with amp and in studio.

What do you think? Would it suit my needs?

I don't have any experience with Mesa Boogie but friends recommended me to try this pedal. Only I can't try it first. I have to order it untried.

As it is now it's either this or the Ampeg SCR-DI. My main amp is an Ampeg SVT so I know that sound. But it would be nice with something else too.

Best regards/Daniel

I'm doing the same thing, and the Subway is working extremely well for that use. Here is my updated board:

Regarding the characteristics of the preamp/DI in thinking about one vs another, here are my $0.019:

We've ve become accustomed to picking amps with particular voicings. But, when you take this approach, my preference is to go with the most flexible clean preamp, and then address the voicing/character tonal issues with other pedals before the preamp. So, on this simple board, I've got the tuner, then the chorus, then the Barbershop which gives a semblance of power tube sag, then finally a boost upstream of the preamp.

If you get a preamp that has distortion or something built into it, that could work; but you need to be able to kick any effects like that in or out so they aren't getting in the way of upstream effects. A knob wouldn't cut it for me.

I find the Subways tone stack perfect for the job it needs to do. I'm still looking at other tube emulation pedals; but, the Barbershop is hanging in there because it physically fits and sounds quite respectable if I don't over drive it.

My work in progress; but, in any case, the Subway so far seems pretty well dialed in for this use.