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Mesa Subway Bass DI-Preamp

#322
I carry the DI in my bag and if I'm running direct with no amp I'll put it on the floor next to my pedal board which has one extra power cable hanging off.

If you use a music stand, you could put it there as well. I hate carrying extra stuff so a separate holder would bug me but depends on how you roll.
 
#323
nostatic said:
I carry the DI in my bag and if I'm running direct with no amp I'll put it on the floor next to my pedal board which has one extra power cable hanging off.

If you use a music stand, you could put it there as well. I hate carrying extra stuff so a separate holder would bug me but depends on how you roll.
Click to expand...
+1 TOTALLY agree with that. Can’t count the coin I’ve spent to make the schlepp easier.

In my case, the Subway just goes into the camera bag I’m using for my IEM gear. I’m pretty set on whatever holder I find fitting in there as well; which is why I’m avoiding those plastic tray deals, they are too big.
 
#325
bucephylus said:
Bit of an update at my end:

Actual stomp boxes have shoved the Subway off the end of the pedal board; and so, I’m looking around for a different way to set the Preamp on stage.

Since there are actually no stomp switches, it seems to me that mounting the Subway Preamp on a mic stand clip widget might be pretty cool. So, I’ve been looking around for a portable mounting clip. I’ve ordered this one and will see this weekend if there are any cable access issues:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V3A5WRC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Anyone else mounting Subway Preamp on the mic stand or music stand? I’m all ears for other suggestions, and will post up after receiving the widget I ordered.

Edit: I had to cancel that original order and went with the one in the revised link above. You have to be careful with the specifications for sizing. The Subway is a bit smaller than an IPad Mini, but a little larger than the iPhone. Kind of an odd size. Again, will update when I get this widget.
Click to expand...
OK, just got this stand mount grip device, and mainly it works.

- easy to use and breaks down small enough to fit with the preamp in my IEM camera bag.
- clamp and gimbal are quite sturdy
- the grippers are plastic, and the spring mechanism is a large rubber band. We will see how long it lasts

Kind of cheap because of the gripper; but should work for now.
 
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#326
Just picked one up - love it. Made my current bass head sound MUCH better - the band noticed right away. They've always dug the sound of that bass head on its own, but when I unplugged the Subway preamp briefly after using it for a few songs, I was quickly told to plug it back in :)

Have some recording to do soon and looking forward to using this for that.

Great piece of gear.

J
 
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#327
Jamie_Funk said:
Just picked one up - love it. Made my current bass head sound MUCH better - the band noticed right away. They've always dug the sound of that bass head on its own, but when I unplugged the Subway preamp briefly after using it for a few songs, I was quickly told to plug it back in :)

Have some recording to do soon and looking forward to using this for that.

Great piece of gear.

J
Click to expand...
What is your current bass head and how do you have the Subway pedal hooked up?
 
#328
Ampslut said:
What is your current bass head and how do you have the Subway pedal hooked up?
Click to expand...

Howdy - I have a Traynor SB500 (500 watts into 4 ohms) - I use the Preamp Out on the Subway DI/Preamp (which is unbalanced line level) into my effects return jack on the back of the Traynor. Works great though now I have two "master" volumes to contend with :)

So only the Traynor's power amp is involved now - the Subway preamp bypasses the internal preamp in the Traynor completely - I recently had a Subway d800 head to try and this setup sounds VERY close, minus of course the Subway head's extra power and whatever extra mojo is going on in the Subway head's power section.

A very low cost (IMO) way to get great tone with an existing head - still considering getting the D800 head instead but likely will stick with my current setup.

Might put it on my pedalboard, but kind of dig it on top of the head - while not in any way heavy, it has enough weight and size to sit on top nicely without any worry it might blow away :)

Crappy low-light cell photo for perspective:

upload_2017-11-3_19-30-3.png
 
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#329
Jamie_Funk said:
Howdy - I have a Traynor SB500 (500 watts into 4 ohms) - I use the Preamp Out on the Subway DI/Preamp (which is unbalanced line level) into my effects return jack on the back of the Traynor. Works great though now I have two "master" volumes to contend with :)

So only the Traynor's power amp is involved now - the Subway preamp bypasses the internal preamp in the Traynor completely - I recently had a Subway d800 head to try and this setup sounds VERY close, minus of course the Subway head's extra power and whatever extra mojo is going on in the Subway head's power section.

A very low cost (IMO) way to get great tone with an existing head - still considering getting the D800 head instead but likely will stick with my current setup.

Might put it on my pedalboard, but kind of dig it on top of the head - while not in any way heavy, it has enough weight and size to sit on top nicely without any worry it might blow away :)

Crappy low-light cell photo for perspective:

View attachment 2802756
Click to expand...
I'm interested in doing something like this. How would you describe the improvement in tone?
 
#330
Ampslut said:
I'm interested in doing something like this. How would you describe the improvement in tone?
Click to expand...

OK - I'll give it a go.

I was quite happy with the tone of my Traynor head, as was my band. That being said, sometimes I found I needed more "oomph" and EQ wasn't really getting me there. I considered I might not have enough power, but suspected it was more the overall tonality of the head that might be the issue. Or maybe my cabs were the issue. Or both.

So....tried out a Subway D800 head last week - heard so many good things about these on Talkbass + the descriptions of the tone profile were pretty much what I was after - plugged the head into my cabs and almost instantly found what I was looking for - simply adjusted the Voicing to where it sounded good, boosted a little treble. I'm a plug and play guy so easily finding the tone is always appreciated.

Wasn't ready to commit right now to a $1000-ish Canadian new bass gear purchase (and these are impossible to find used here), so the option of the pedal into my existing head seemed like something to explore. Pedal was $302 + tax Canadian and is doing everything I hoped.

Back to tone - I would say deeper, punchier, THICKER - but not muddy in any way. Clear but girthy/hefty. Overall more punch throughout the lows to highs.

My guitar player summed it up best - "I can hear you better/it sounds more substantial without cranking volume" - basically we can hear you better without you simply getting louder in volume. Exactly what I was after.

Hope this helps - describing tone isn't easy.

J
 
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#331
Jamie_Funk said:
OK - I'll give it a go.

I was quite happy with the tone of my Traynor head, as was my band. That being said, sometimes I found I needed more "oomph" and EQ wasn't really getting me there. I considered I might not have enough power, but suspected it was more the overall tonality of the head that might be the issue. Or maybe my cabs were the issue. Or both.

So....tried out a Subway D800 head last week - heard so many good things about these on Talkbass + the descriptions of the tone profile were pretty much what I was after - plugged the head into my cabs and almost instantly found what I was looking for - simply adjusted the Voicing to where it sounded good, boosted a little treble. I'm a plug and play guy so easily finding the tone is always appreciated.

Wasn't ready to commit right now to a $1000-ish Canadian new bass gear purchase (and these are impossible to find used here), so the option of the pedal into my existing head seemed like something to explore. Pedal was $302 + tax Canadian and is doing everything I hoped.

Back to tone - I would say deeper, punchier, THICKER - but not muddy in any way. Clear but girthy/hefty. Overall more punch throughout the lows to highs.

My guitar player summed it up best - "I can hear you better/it sounds more substantial without cranking volume" - basically we can hear you better without you simply getting louder in volume. Exactly what I was after.

Hope this helps - describing tone isn't easy.

J
Click to expand...
Thanks, it will be on my Christmas list to myself.
 
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#332
Ampslut said:
One of these with a Crown xls 1002 would give you 1100 watts at 4 ohms of Mesa tone for around $550. Tough to beat.
Click to expand...

This is my new setup, as I just received my Mesa Subway Preamp DI this morning. WOW! I had been using Behringer BDI21 to drive the XLS 1002. Needless to say, the Mesa is a pro piece of gear, and is many order of magnitude better. I love the deep switch. The simple fixed EQ frequencies work great... I don't know that having a couple of parametric EQ would make things any better.

This Mesa preamp / Crown XLS power amp is studio quiet... no fan noise! (I really like everything about my Peavey minimax except it's fan jet noise. It's my backup amp now.)

It's a beautiful piece of engineering design Andy!
 
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#333
b-b-b-bass said:
This is my new setup, as I just received my Mesa Subway Preamp DI this morning. WOW! I had been using Behringer BDI21 to drive the XLS 1002. Needless to say, the Mesa is a pro piece of gear, and is many order of magnitude better. I love the deep switch. The simple fixed EQ frequencies work great... I don't know that having a couple of parametric EQ would make things any better.

This Mesa preamp / Crown XLS power amp is studio quiet... no fan noise! I really like everything about my Peavey minimax except it's fan jet noise. It's my backup amp now.

It's a beautiful piece of engineering design Andy!
Click to expand...
Keep the BD121 as your overdrive pedal.
 
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#337
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#338
bucephylus said:
Absolutely terrific little box. Not expensive. Studio quiet. Flexible and appropriate tone controls.

Great job, Andy (@agedhorse)!

BTW, this is the mic stand holder I’ve gone with, FWIW.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AKW1ZLK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Click to expand...


I fully agree. I'm not using mine a ton these days since I got the d800 head but when I need it it does a great job. Most recently it was a festival stage where our whole band was on in ears. I just patched and ran, which was a good choice since the supplied rig was really on its last legs.
 
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#340
Thanks.

If I could run a cab sim signal to everywhere possible and still have a parallel out it would be perfect. A Mesa DI signal with cab sim to the recording board (live or studio) , my power amp/cab for stage volume and a parallel "dry" signal to the board (live or studio).

Yes, that would cover it with style.

Tx
 
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