My preamp journey

[moon-bass]

So tube + transformer = tone. I'm convinced. I giving the Lightningboy 2020s a shot. A pair should be here Friday.

 

[moon-bass]

The 2020s came early. As confirmed - one of these added to a preamp pedal sounds really, really good, esp for a tubey one. Adds a little something that sounds really good!

 

[naetog]

Are you running the 2020s into the preamp, or the preamp into the 2020s?

 

[moon-bass]

Are you running the 2020s into the preamp, or the preamp into the 2020s?

I tried it three ways - both before the preamp, both after, and one on each end and I like them best before the preamp. They add a decent amount of weight and fullness to the tone. Some ppl say they are subtle, but when they are not in the chain I miss them.

Incidentally, I live very close to the wwoz broadcast towers and as such my gear can be noisy and even pick up the radio station. With the 2020s I find a lot less noise. Like, almost none.

 

[tylerwylie]

So tube + transformer = tone. I'm convinced. I giving the Lightningboy 2020s a shot. A pair should be here Friday.

I’m using my TT800’s pre-EQ tube DI to feed my Heritage Audio HA73-EQ Elite, so it’s like.. a tube DI feeding a transformer based preamp. I’m able to get that awesome direct fretless tone that’s reminiscent of a lot of contemporary fretless bass players.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

For my passive basses, I use the Source Audio EQ, it has 4 programable channels that covers all I want for the P, the J and the P/J because they are different in their own ways. This gives me all the flexibility I needed to adjust their volumes, tones and overall mix when playing them at the same event.

 

[moon-bass]

For my passive basses, I use the Source Audio EQ, it has 4 programable channels that covers all I want for the P, the J and the P/J because they are different in their own ways. This gives me all the flexibility I needed to adjust their volumes, tones and overall mix when playing them at the same event.

You know, I thought about this, but in the end I'm more of a knob tweaker than a button pusher, which is funny because I grew up around computers and I work in IT. I know I'm not using the full capacity of the Helix or my C4, and that's also partly why I have a few pedal boards and so many Preamps.

 

[moon-bass]

I'm stoked. I have a Sushibox SBVT coming shortly from @Sushi Box FX and @Sensei Tim at Master Effects has a preamp based on the Mesa 400+ on the drawing board.

Again, just when I thought my preamp GAS was over ..

 

[Kendescending]

I picked up a Meatsmoke preamp pedal last week, and it sounds fantastic! I'm comparing it to some of my other favorites.

 

[moon-bass]

I picked up a Meatsmoke preamp pedal last week, and it sounds fantastic! I'm comparing it to some of my other favorites. View attachment 4289619

Oh man I've always wanted to try one of those. Let me know how it sounds!!

 

[BurningSkies]

My preamp journey looks like this.

-Bought a Kern IP-777 from someone who was selling to buy a Jule Amps Monique.

-Bought a Jule Amps Monique, I've had two of 'em now. Jule sent me a new one after playing the first pretty hard and it had a few ghosts. It was one of the original pre-sale units. The one he built for me to replace it is a white-face Monique, one of only a few made.

-Had a Proto of the Jule Amps Simone for a bit, but that went back to him after a bit. I'll probably get another once they're really up and running again.


So to recap:

-Kern IP-777
-Jule Amps Monique

Have both, no need for much more.

 

[Kendescending]

Oh man I've always wanted to try one of those. Let me know how it sounds!!

I would be happy playing a show with just a Meatsmoke and tuner pedal, but I would also be just as happy with a tuner, Sushibox Particle Accelerator, Super 300 and Lightnboy Audio Thunderknob which probably take up less room.

 

[moon-bass]

My preamp journey looks like this.

-Bought a Kern IP-777 from someone who was selling to buy a Jule Amps Monique.

-Bought a Jule Amps Monique, I've had two of 'em now. Jule sent me a new one after playing the first pretty hard and it had a few ghosts. It was one of the original pre-sale units. The one he built for me to replace it is a white-face Monique, one of only a few made.

-Had a Proto of the Jule Amps Simone for a bit, but that went back to him after a bit. I'll probably get another once they're really up and running again.


So to recap:

-Kern IP-777
-Jule Amps Monique

Have both, no need for much more.

I had a Kern many moons ago. I've been thru so many phases, I sold the Kern when I went away from rack gear (and then years later I went back to rack gear).

I've always wanted to try a Simone. Thinking about ordering one once i get back to steady gigging.

 

[moon-bass]

I would be happy playing a show with just a Meatsmoke and tuner pedal, but I would also be just as happy with a tuner, Sushibox Particle Accelerator, Super 300 and Lightnboy Audio Thunderknob which probably take up less room.

I stack my Sushi PAX with my Noble. I'm thinking about picking up another to stack with my Super 300. Then again, with the Super 400 in the works, I might see how those stack up.

 

[moon-bass]

SBVT in the mail - I'll.post my thoughts here and in the Sushibox thread.

Current GAS is for the Master Effects Super 400, but that doesn't even exist yet.

And ... I decided to give amp and preamp modeling a try. I traded my Helix HX Effects for a Helix LT. I love the HX, I figured why not upgrade ...so the LT is on the way!

 

[jcburn]

My preamp journey looks like this.

-Bought a Kern IP-777 from someone who was selling to buy a Jule Amps Monique.

-Bought a Jule Amps Monique, I've had two of 'em now. Jule sent me a new one after playing the first pretty hard and it had a few ghosts. It was one of the original pre-sale units. The one he built for me to replace it is a white-face Monique, one of only a few made.

-Had a Proto of the Jule Amps Simone for a bit, but that went back to him after a bit. I'll probably get another once they're really up and running again.


So to recap:

-Kern IP-777
-Jule Amps Monique

Have both, no need for much more.

Hey man - I'm interested to know - do you use these within a live rig, recording rig, both? What is your full set up?
I'm interested in feedback from most from this forum. I started as a bass player as a bass straight into amp live rig guy but over the last few years have evolved into having a pedalboard full of preamps and tone shaping so that my direct to PA/DAW sound is made from the pedalboard - my live rig is almost an after thought.

 

[BurningSkies]

Hey man - I'm interested to know - do you use these within a live rig, recording rig, both? What is your full set up?
I'm interested in feedback from most from this forum. I started as a bass player as a bass straight into amp live rig guy but over the last few years have evolved into having a pedalboard full of preamps and tone shaping so that my direct to PA/DAW sound is made from the pedalboard - my live rig is almost an after thought.

I use the Kern & the Monique both live and in the studio...they both have studio quality signal paths and DIs on board. I actually double tracked a full album with the Monique and a U5; the Monique won and we erased the U5 tracks!

Live I pair a preamp (95% of the time the Monique) with a Jule Amps M2500 that is a one-off that Jule built for me. It's 2500wRMS and based on a Hypex class D power amp and a SMPS that's well over-spec'ed (could run three of the amp modules). I run them into a pair of fEarful cabs, a 15/6 and a 15sub, so a three way speaker system (sub/woofer/mid, no tweeter).

I DI directly from the preamp and that goes to a set of splits, one split to our IEM stage mixer, the other to the FOH.

I also have a pretty extensive pedalboard, but the only consideration for FOH (and my amp setup) is that I run a HPF that's always on, somewhere around 35-40hz. I also have a LPF under my board that pulls a bit of the treble down so my ears match closer to what my amp is presenting.

We've always liked having good tone and sound representation on stage, even with the IEMs, so having what amounts to a bass only studio/reference quality amp on stage at volume works for me.

 

[zon6c-f]

This came up in another thread about preamps and I didn't want to hijack that thread so I posted a new one.

I did this because I decided that I wanted to get the flexibility from different preamps - I literally couldn't decide what I liked more, the Fender tone stack, the Ampeg, the Eden .. So I decided to find a solution to my desires. It's worth note that I used to use huge stacks (Mesa 400+ with a pair of 4x10 powerhouse cabs for a long time, also Eden and Trace Elliot) but over the years my needs have changed and I've gotten older and I needed smaller and more portable stuff. -I did modular rack gear for awhile as well, but recently sold all of my rack gear. My ultimate goal was to find a portable rig that sounded great that could also be extremely flexible. I needed grab and go capabilities, but also needed to be able to play everything from small coffeehouse gigs to large outdoor festivals. I also needed the capability to have a small enough set up so that I could bike and walk to gigs. Also, I'm a gear junkie and a tone junkie.

FWIW, the Quilter BB800 became my amp of choice. Small, light, loud, simple preamp, and has the ability to bypass the preamp altogether. Absolute killer dynamic power section and transparent DI. Also, I have two stand alone DI boxes, a Radial JDI and a Lightning Boy TI, depending if i want to go really transparent or if I want to thicken my tone a bit.

Now to the preamps, and my thoughts. All of these were fine preamps, not a loser in the bunch.

Here's what I currently own, only because I can't make up my mind to narrow it down:

Master Effects Super 300 - SVT in a pedal. Killer tone, great dirt and clean tone. Can't get a bad tone out of this once.

SIB! Fatdrive - FAT. Fat, thick, sweet, tone, tubey goodness. It's not overly flexible but it sounds crazy good

Trace Elliot TE7 (?) Graphic EQ pedal - while not technically a preamp, it's a good portion of the TE preamps of old, and really gets that killer TE sound.

Eden WTDI - nails the Eden tone. NAILS it. Small, cheap, light - what's not to love?

Noble pre - my #1. I've never heard my basses sounds so alive and 3D. the hype is real, folks.

EBS ValveDrive - Fender tone stack chewy goodness, real tube, and two modes - one gives you a cleaner sound, the other just a hint of dirt.

Tech21 Geddy Lee - Everyone raves about the distortion, which I agree is top notch (and that alone would make this pedal worth it) but that DEEP? Heaven. And hey - instant Geddy!

i also have an Arkham Oracle in the mail, and SushiBox PA and SBVT on order.

Next post - what I've owned

Furman PQE 3?

 

[jcburn]

I use the Kern & the Monique both live and in the studio...they both have studio quality signal paths and DIs on board. I actually double tracked a full album with the Monique and a U5; the Monique won and we erased the U5 tracks!

Live I pair a preamp (95% of the time the Monique) with a Jule Amps M2500 that is a one-off that Jule built for me. It's 2500wRMS and based on a Hypex class D power amp and a SMPS that's well over-spec'ed (could run three of the amp modules). I run them into a pair of fEarful cabs, a 15/6 and a 15sub, so a three way speaker system (sub/woofer/mid, no tweeter).

I DI directly from the preamp and that goes to a set of splits, one split to our IEM stage mixer, the other to the FOH.

I also have a pretty extensive pedalboard, but the only consideration for FOH (and my amp setup) is that I run a HPF that's always on, somewhere around 35-40hz. I also have a LPF under my board that pulls a bit of the treble down so my ears match closer to what my amp is presenting.

We've always liked having good tone and sound representation on stage, even with the IEMs, so having what amounts to a bass only studio/reference quality amp on stage at volume works for me.

Great answer man, thank you. Great set up.

 

[BurningSkies]

Great answer man, thank you. Great set up.

Really important to have a stage tone that inspires you and hopefully others in your band. It took me a long time to really love my setup, but I haven't bought another cab since my fF's were built (what, something like 2008?) and I really love using high quality high voltage tube preamps with transfomers, etc. I haven't amp shopped since.