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Mesa Subway Bass DI-Preamp

#161
Is there any "baked in" speaker emulation or inherent low pass filter-type effect with the Subway preamp/DI? Wondering how it would play with overdrive/dirt pedals directly into FOH. I have a Broughton HPF/LPF but would want to keep things "simple".

read- Will/could the Subway preamp/DI functionally replace my VT Bass DI?
 
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#162
Jeff Bonny said:
Why don't ALL these kinds of bass DI/preamps have a thru out like this one does? Isn't it obvious that a signal you've EQ'd for your stage sound isn't always going be the most usable signal for FOH? After reading through the manual the Subway DI-Preamp is in terms of pure versatile functionality head and shoulders above anything else in its class or price range.

Based on the flexibility of this thing and how much I dig the EQ on the D-800 amp I'm going to give it a try as soon as L&M has them in stock. I can see it replacing one or two or....three things I've got now. If nothing else it'll likely be the go-to on a regular low volume restaurant gig with an acoustic piano player where I run my bass through the house PA.

The simple fact that unlike almost every other bass DI/Pre it's not cluttered with an unnecessary on/off stompbox switch says a lot about the thought that went into who it's for and how they really use a tool like this.
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Exactly what I was considering. I've been using my D800 at the last couple of gigs and really have come to love it for its optimally designed preamp and power output. Just pure functionality. Truthfully, I was hesitant to leave my Noble at home but really wanted to give the D800 a try before considering selling it but it just slayed. It's not going anywhere.
 
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#163
taylor16 said:
Exactly what I was considering. I've been using my D800 at the last couple of gigs and really have come to love it for its optimally designed preamp and power output. Just pure functionality. Truthfully, I was hesitant to leave my Noble at home but really wanted to give the D800 a try before considering selling it but it just slayed. It's not going anywhere.
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This is why I keep my D800... I sometimes play with a country rock band.
It just , in your term, slays.
Such satisfying simplicity.. Fearless F210, Mesa on top, Bass, tuner, compressor.. done... The power and delicious tone from it is just perfect for a head.
My Noble is DI'd to FOH at church for a rigless set up, and it's perfection for that.
 
#164
taylor16 said:
Is there any "baked in" speaker emulation or inherent low pass filter-type effect with the Subway preamp/DI? Wondering how it would play with overdrive/dirt pedals directly into FOH. I have a Broughton HPF/LPF but would want to keep things "simple".

read- Will/could the Subway preamp/DI functionally replace my VT Bass DI?
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There is a fixed HPF, plus the high shelf eq can be used to emulate a variable low pass filter. The more the cut, the lower the effective frequency.
 
#167
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Just gonna chime in here. I just got my mesa subway di and first plugged it in to effects return on a traynor dynablock 400 first. Dialed in a nice tone, note that Deep switch was on and sounded fantastic and am really in love with this preamp. I next plugged into my XLX12P powered full range and the low end was way muddy. Turned off the Deep swithch and boosted the bass shelf and bam had exact tone as going through the Traynor. Really diggin this wonderful pedal and so easy to dial in a really nice tone.The Subway sounded amazing solely going through ZLX12P compared to other preamps I've plugged through it IMO. As for adding an overdrive pedal in front of the subway I'm anxious to see how it will work through the ZLX12P. I don't have any drive pedals atm and want to wait and see if darkglass comes out with the rumoured distortion pedal at NAMM 2017. Other wise gonna get a VMT or B3K.
 
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#168
taylor16 said:
Have many players been able to place overdrive/distortion pedals ahead of the Subway preamp/DI and go right into FOH and have good results?
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Me!!!! Sounds great!!! I actually run my into power amp (with 4x10) and another out to FOH and everybody (that is my typical dissatisfied bandmates) likes it. I use my all time fave Beta for spongy, swampy, motown-y OD.
 
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#169
taylor16 said:
Have many players been able to place overdrive/distortion pedals ahead of the Subway preamp/DI and go right into FOH and have good results?
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Should not be a problem, the preamp was designed to be OD pedal friendly.
 
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#171
MaHei said:
Agedhorse, I would like to velcro the DI to a powered cab. Can I safely unscrew the rubber feet, or will that detach any internal components?
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agedhorse said:
I don't recall, and don't have one here at my R&D lab to check out. You can call the customer service guys and have them actually look at one or check with the guy who designed the sheet metal.
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Just as a FYI for all: According to CS the rubber feet can be unscrewed, they are not attached to anything else.

My Bass DI is now velcroed to a powered monitor - Works very well!
 
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#172
Well I just got my power amp back. Played with the Subway DI about 10 minutes at low up to semi-high volume. 10 minutes in, the magic smoke releases from my power amp, then nothing........:banghead::banghead::banghead:
In fairness it did sound FN awesome.:bassist: I could definately see using this as the building block of my board. I didn't get much of a chance to use dirt before the amp blew, but the Mesa DI definately had no problems driving my power amp. Luckily my amp is under warranty, but it still sucks not having it. My chain as of tonight was Spector>wireless>Tuner>Smoothie>Neo Clone>Pike Vulcan>Mesa DI>Carvin DCML2000>fEARful 66
 
#174
cableguy said:
Well I just got my power amp back. Played with the Subway DI about 10 minutes at low up to semi-high volume. 10 minutes in, the magic smoke releases from my power amp, then nothing........:banghead::banghead::banghead:
In fairness it did sound FN awesome.:bassist: I could definately see using this as the building block of my board. I didn't get much of a chance to use dirt before the amp blew, but the Mesa DI definately had no problems driving my power amp. Luckily my amp is under warranty, but it still sucks not having it. My chain as of tonight was Spector>wireless>Tuner>Smoothie>Neo Clone>Pike Vulcan>Mesa DI>Carvin DCML2000>fEARful 66
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Perhaps you might want to find out what amps other folks on the forum are using with the preamp/DI and are happy with and see if maybe there's a better option for you?
 
#176
agedhorse said:
Perhaps you might want to find out what amps other folks on the forum are using with the preamp/DI and are happy with and see if maybe there's a better option for you?
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I've always been happy with Carvin power amps. Since it's under warranty I'll give it another shot. Like I said, it sounded good before the issue. If I haveany more trouble with it after repair, I'll move on... And thanks for all your work AH, the Mesa DI is awesome.
 
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#177
cableguy said:
Well I just got my power amp back. Played with the Subway DI about 10 minutes at low up to semi-high volume. 10 minutes in, the magic smoke releases from my power amp, then nothing........:banghead::banghead::banghead:
In fairness it did sound FN awesome.:bassist: I could definately see using this as the building block of my board. I didn't get much of a chance to use dirt before the amp blew, but the Mesa DI definately had no problems driving my power amp. Luckily my amp is under warranty, but it still sucks not having it. My chain as of tonight was Spector>wireless>Tuner>Smoothie>Neo Clone>Pike Vulcan>Mesa DI>Carvin DCML2000>fEARful 66
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That is very unfortunate, and I would NOT have expected that from the DCML2000. I owned and gigged one of those for a while with zero issues. I highly doubt the failure was the result of the signal chain you described. Carvin has been good with their product support. Please keep us posted.
 
#178
bucephylus said:
That is very unfortunate, and I would NOT have expected that from the DCML2000. I owned and gigged one of those for a while with zero issues. I highly doubt the failure was the result of the signal chain you described. Carvin has been good with their product support. Please keep us posted.
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This is my 3rd Carvin Power amp over the years. Never any issues. It's under warranty so unless Carvin gives me a reason, I'm not worried. I'm sure they'll take care of me.
 
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#179
Well unfortunately my subway di broke last night mid practice with my jam band. I was playing and everything sounded lovely. We took a break and i turned my rig off. When i came back i turned it on and started playing. It seemed to be lacking the volume i was getting out of it previous to our break. So i go to turn it up and noticed my master was at 0 and my input was at zero, yet sound was still coming out at an ok volume. So befuddled, i turned up my input back to normal levels but the adjustment had no effect. In fact none of my knobs work anymore. The only thing that works is the active/passive switch. Luckily mesa boogie is only 10 mins away so i will go see them tomorrow and see what's up
 
#180
boamedt said:
Well unfortunately my subway di broke last night mid practice with my jam band. I was playing and everything sounded lovely. We took a break and i turned my rig off. When i came back i turned it on and started playing. It seemed to be lacking the volume i was getting out of it previous to our break. So i go to turn it up and noticed my master was at 0 and my input was at zero, yet sound was still coming out at an ok volume. So befuddled, i turned up my input back to normal levels but the adjustment had no effect. In fact none of my knobs work anymore. The only thing that works is the active/passive switch. Luckily mesa boogie is only 10 mins away so i will go see them tomorrow and see what's up
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That's an odd one. They will take care of you, no worries.
 
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