Do you recall how long it took from the day you shipped it to them to when you got it back?
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MXR M281 Thump Bass Preamp
- Thread starter realmacaroni
- Start date
Do you recall how long it took from the day you shipped it to them to when you got it back?
I sold it. It's cool, but honestly, with my Warrior and Radal Bassbone OD, I really have all the EQ I need, and the Echoplex preamp really didn't sound like it was doing much to me.
Mine went back too, and the M81 is getting returned or sold as well. While the M81 is a great pedal and I'd still recommend it heartily, I ended up not really using its EQ section at all -I've been leaving it "off" at the end of my chain as a DI to my recording interface. I feel for my purposes a dedicated box like a Radial or Neve is a better investment.
It's perplexing to me why the Thump was trying to pass off its preamp as being based on, or even sounding like, an Echoplex. I don't have an original vintage unit to test it against, but see my video I posted a while back to see what I mean. At least within the Dunlop/MXR family of pedals, the Thump sounds nothing like their Echoplex Preamp pedal (EP101), which is supposedly identically or nearly as identical as possible in pedalboard form to the original unit's front end. Maybe that audible difference is because of the Thump's weird and frankly nonsensical baked-in mid-bump and low cut? However that still wouldn't explain the unacceptable-at-any-setting distortion I and others have experienced. To me, whatever "Echoplex" tone the Thump is attempting to put forth comes across as a totally unusable caricature compared to the EP101.
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This is a great echoplex style preamp and they are on sale!!! No affiliation just stating my opinion
Secret Preamp
Secret Preamp
Woah, this thing looks cool. The three way EQ shift is a genius idea and one that would probably go a long way to make these kinds of pedals more versatile across different basses. Thanks for posting this!
Note that Xotic's EP Booster, which Janek Gwizdalahas been praising lately on his YouTube channel, has internal dip switches to alter the EQ.
Nice, thanks for the info! I'm really loving what the EP101 is doing for my tone and will have to give the more boutique options a try as soon as I can. I know a lot of people swear by the EP, guitarists and bassists alike. It's by no means a deal breaker but I'm rather annoyed by "micro" format pedals like the EP and the Thump with internal knobs or switches. Just make the darn thing a little bigger if you have to and put it on those controls on the front!
jacoby75
Supporting Member
- Mar 11, 2010
- 5,661
- 10,716
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Mike Lull Custom Guitars, DR Strings
Intriguing. I'd love to hear what this can do for a bass. (As in living vicariously through someone else's sound clips without having to actually buy one for myself first onacounta I'm broke).
I have one, an ep booster and an ep booster clone with the switches moved to the exterior. The Secret preamp is better for me than the other options...
jacoby75
Supporting Member
- Mar 11, 2010
- 5,661
- 10,716
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Mike Lull Custom Guitars, DR Strings
Have you had the opportunity to try Broughton Solarian? I realize they're different, but that's probably the spot on my board that something like the Secret Preamp would occupy. I wonder if they actually compare at all.
Hi i just discovered this pedal; i cant believe i missed it when it came out. I really love mxr and have been using them pedals since the beginning of time. Currently i have a mxr booster mini and dynacomp mini. I use a passive japanese p bass w very low output pickups and i have never experienced any farting. As a preamp i was using a tech 21 vt bass that was replaced by the similar geddy lee preamp. Honestly i love both preamps but the geddy lee has less tone shaping options as it doesn't have the precious character knob of the VT. I always thought I couldn't live wo it but the GL seems to do just fine. Also this one has a built compressor so one less pedal on board is always great news to me. Plus the ability to blend in a clean sound (preset by mr lee himself) is prob the best feature for a preamp pedal, which is the reason i favor it when playing live.
Has anybody compared the thump w the mxr mini booster? I dont hear a lot about this great pedal. It combines the aforementioned ep preamp with my favorite pedal (to put in front of a Svt) the Mxr Micro Amp. I just use a little gain and a little boost via the internal trim pot, and it just gives it an aggressive rock tone. I would love to compare both pedals. Maybe i can live with out the gain character of the micro amp in exchange for Thump eq options.
Has anybody compared the thump w the mxr mini booster? I dont hear a lot about this great pedal. It combines the aforementioned ep preamp with my favorite pedal (to put in front of a Svt) the Mxr Micro Amp. I just use a little gain and a little boost via the internal trim pot, and it just gives it an aggressive rock tone. I would love to compare both pedals. Maybe i can live with out the gain character of the micro amp in exchange for Thump eq options.
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Yeah... don't buy this if your bass has anything in the ballpark of "hot" pickups.
I play a passive Fano JM4 with Gibson Thunderbird pickups and with nothing else in the signal chain it clipped regardless of how I set it. Turned the internal trimpot to zero just to see and it still clipped.
Had the same problem with the Dyna Comp Bass compressor. Will definitely be sending the Thump back.
Can't say I'll be risking another MXR purchase any time soon...
I play a passive Fano JM4 with Gibson Thunderbird pickups and with nothing else in the signal chain it clipped regardless of how I set it. Turned the internal trimpot to zero just to see and it still clipped.
Had the same problem with the Dyna Comp Bass compressor. Will definitely be sending the Thump back.
Can't say I'll be risking another MXR purchase any time soon...
Such a shame from mxr. I have and use both mini boost and dynacomp mini (red one) and i guess they where the first one to come out as they are both great. I also use the sugar drive in my guitar board and its amazing, specially love that buffer, i think it's probably the best mini od available. With that in mind i bought the carbon copy mini and returned immediately cause it changed my tone too drastically. I emailed customer support and their response: the carbon copy mini DOES NOT change the tone. So i guess my ears are not working.
im very interested in this pedal plus the vintage octave mini and bass dynacomp mini. Hopefully they dont suck
This was exactly my experience too, with a passive Epiphone Jack Casady. Tried it at different points in the signal chain, trim pot to zero, even with a buffered tuner right before it. Nothing would prevent the clipping.
I wouldn't count out all of MXR/Dunlop's stuff, though, it seems like these problems are specific to some of the smaller-format bass pedals. I really like the "Echoplex front-end with EQ" concept and after returning my Thump have found exceptional success with a Dunlop Echoplex preamp into a MXR Micro Amp + (the one with active bass and treble).
Sounds good! You should try the mini booster. It's supposed to be both of your pedals in one mini housing that hopefully wont clip lol. It also has a very effective tone knob. The only reason im gasing the thump is because of that mid freq knob. Same reason i was after the ews bass mid control which i tried on guitar and didn't like...
I also got the mini fuzz from Monoprice for about $30 and wow im impressed but thats for another post
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the m81 wont work like a sansamp bass driver. the m81 tone is more transparent if you like clean tones and just want a boost or pair it with a fuzz sounds awesome but it wont give you overdrive tones if you're looking for that.
Late to the party, but wanted to put in my 2 cents since this thread is what convinced me to give the Thump a try... hopefully my input will help inform someone's decision.
I'm fairly new to pedals and effects; for the longest time I didn't use anything. Some of you have said that the Thump is just a mimic of another pedal. Others have said that the baked-in tone is too much. My experience has been pretty positive.
I bought the thump because I was unhappy with the output and lack of onboard EQ with my passive basses. My current work horse (well, atleast when gigs existed) is a Stingray Special. After gigging that 18v preamp my passive Js and Ps started to sound flat.
My Thump arrived and I've been practicing with it. So far I am very impressed by the db cut and boost range. The mid+frequency knobs have been the most helpful. On my Fender Ps I can get a really nice scooped EQ and in rehearsal the mid boost really helps cut the mix. With my Stingray it works best as a boost pedal, simply leaving the EQ flat and dime-ing the output. I'm looking forward to gigging with this someday. My amp head is a Thunderfunk 800B with semi-parametric... I hate fiddling with that EQ on stage, so the Thump should really help when I'm playing on a passive.
My only real complaint is the size. I wish MXR just made it a full size pre-amp pedal with 18v power. I'm not a fan of the tiny box and minuscule EQ knobs.
Yes, I'm noticing 'baked in' tonal characteristics, but it's really not that bad. The bass still sounds like the same bass, only with a hotter output. The Thump has been sounding super natural, like an extension of the bass I'm playing. I'm sure there are other pedals that many of you can list off which do the same thing and better... but from a cover-band playing hobbiest, very satisfied.
I'm fairly new to pedals and effects; for the longest time I didn't use anything. Some of you have said that the Thump is just a mimic of another pedal. Others have said that the baked-in tone is too much. My experience has been pretty positive.
I bought the thump because I was unhappy with the output and lack of onboard EQ with my passive basses. My current work horse (well, atleast when gigs existed) is a Stingray Special. After gigging that 18v preamp my passive Js and Ps started to sound flat.
My Thump arrived and I've been practicing with it. So far I am very impressed by the db cut and boost range. The mid+frequency knobs have been the most helpful. On my Fender Ps I can get a really nice scooped EQ and in rehearsal the mid boost really helps cut the mix. With my Stingray it works best as a boost pedal, simply leaving the EQ flat and dime-ing the output. I'm looking forward to gigging with this someday. My amp head is a Thunderfunk 800B with semi-parametric... I hate fiddling with that EQ on stage, so the Thump should really help when I'm playing on a passive.
My only real complaint is the size. I wish MXR just made it a full size pre-amp pedal with 18v power. I'm not a fan of the tiny box and minuscule EQ knobs.
Yes, I'm noticing 'baked in' tonal characteristics, but it's really not that bad. The bass still sounds like the same bass, only with a hotter output. The Thump has been sounding super natural, like an extension of the bass I'm playing. I'm sure there are other pedals that many of you can list off which do the same thing and better... but from a cover-band playing hobbiest, very satisfied.
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