And the rest of the preamps that are not on the board right now. Not pictured - EBS Valvedrive
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That's the next on my wish list.I got the Sunday Drive X (we may have discussed this) and it is one hairy beast.
Would absolutely love to but I definitely gotta let the debit card cool down.I will keep tabs on it in the unlikely event it moves slow or my GAS becomes uncontrollable.
JeezyMcNuggles
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- Feb 23, 2018
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I've owned the:
Ampeg scr di - it's pretty nice. I actually used it as a headphone amp for in ears on stage quite a few times, but it gives off this weird twang to the bottom end that I don't like. Besides that, it's very nice.
Q-strip - I love this thing. Completely transparent. Great features. I put it in the effects loop at the end of everything as a final tweak. I also use it for studio purposes.
Sansamp BDDI v2 - hate it
Fender Downtown express - solid pedal. Very vintage tone stack. The drive is stupid crazy. And the compressor, while it sounds great, is very noisy. I had to place my hum de-bugger after it to control the buzz. Also, the pedal is very very quiet. But, still a usable volume.
I still have the q-strip, and I "open-ended" gave the scr to a buddy who has no amp. Q-strip for the win.
I love this thread! I just came across it recently and subscribed. I'll take time today to read all the posts here to date.
I'm doing a much lower-key exploration, than moon-bass is, of various preamp pedals to front my Quilter BB800. Swapping out pedals for different tonal needs for different gigs is a very smart way to go. Like Moon, I have a Mesa TT-800 to use as a one-box amp solution in place of the preamp/BB800 setup.
I currently am trying out these preamps in my home studio. Not able to play live currently due to a recent knee injury which is on the mend, so will hang on to all of these until I can use them out.
These are all nice, but I wanted to try the VT Bass DI and BDDI to combine overdrive with preamp and DI and take up less space on the Nano+ board.
Lots of good options and combination right there, so I'll probably hold off on trying anything else new until next year. I have thought about several of those pedals that moon-bass is trying out.
What a cool thread this is!
I'm doing a much lower-key exploration, than moon-bass is, of various preamp pedals to front my Quilter BB800. Swapping out pedals for different tonal needs for different gigs is a very smart way to go. Like Moon, I have a Mesa TT-800 to use as a one-box amp solution in place of the preamp/BB800 setup.
I currently am trying out these preamps in my home studio. Not able to play live currently due to a recent knee injury which is on the mend, so will hang on to all of these until I can use them out.
- Tech21 Q/Strip
- T21 VT Bass DI
- T21 Bass Driver DI (current version)
- EHX Nano Battalion
These are all nice, but I wanted to try the VT Bass DI and BDDI to combine overdrive with preamp and DI and take up less space on the Nano+ board.
Lots of good options and combination right there, so I'll probably hold off on trying anything else new until next year. I have thought about several of those pedals that moon-bass is trying out.
What a cool thread this is!
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Moon: I don't know if this is your thought process as well, but I like the idea of having accurate amp monitoring and listening to adjustments I make from the pedalboard in the amp, and relying on that as a guide to what I'm also sending to FOH. It's the FRFR idea, except with a BB800 and one of Acme B-1s, an EA Wizzy M-line, or my pre-Greenboy Dr.Bass 3-ways (all very accurate cabs). One of the Tech 21 DI's will send to FOH instead of the BB800 DI, although I could connect DI there as well, and it should be pretty much the same signal.
The BB800 tone controls can make any broad additional EQ changes as needed, bearing in mind that it won't be quite the same sound as the FOH at that point.
Is that what you are after with the pedal preamps into the BB800 setup? I believe it is.
The BB800 tone controls can make any broad additional EQ changes as needed, bearing in mind that it won't be quite the same sound as the FOH at that point.
Is that what you are after with the pedal preamps into the BB800 setup? I believe it is.
That's exactly what I am after and the BB800 delivers in spades
Just out of curiosity, what was it that you didn’t like about the SBVT?
It's not that I didn't like the SBVT - I actually really liked it. I have too many preamps though, and am trying to cull some. I've been running the PAX thru the SBVT which sounds really killer, but I bought these for my small pedal board, and I'm trying to stick to one preamp on that board. The SBVT tube OD is very smooth, and I was looking for something more grunty, for lack of a better term. I was thinking that I could use this for an SVT type OD, but what I was really looking for was grindy and heavier - so I bought a Damnation Audio MB2 lol.
I used to be all tubes, but lately I've been moving more towards MOSFET and the like. I like being able to mix the pure bass sound with the OD sound. All of the tube pedals that I have tried sound great, but the smoothness gets lost in the mix when I blend. Hence something heavier, almost fuzz territory, is what I am looking for.
Hope that helps, and lmk if I can clarify any more.
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Also, I've started running the PAX into my Noble and I really love that, which means I won't have the PAX on my small board to run into the SBVT
I totally understand that and thanks for clarifying. I had ordered an SBVT for an August slot but changed my mind as I continued to listen to audio samples. I feel like it could work really well as a DI like a Noble but I was just wanting some tube warmth at the end of my FX loop after my microsynth and Tone Hammer in my HX Stomp. I really like the grit of the Tone Hammer but it sounds a little synthetic and wanted to warm it up with a tube without smoothing it over too much. I definitely love having the grindiness for cutting through the mix a bit but mostly want that tube warmth for my in ears.
I hear ya, and if you're looking at adding some tube warmth, the SBVT might be your ticket, or the PAX (I haven't owned any other SB pedals, but I've heard that the Space Heater, et al might be worth a look). The SBVT added tube warmth and has a good EQ section - more responsive than a lot of other preamps I've tried. It might be overkill for what you are looking for.
However, it's worlds apart from the Noble. I really like adding something with a Fender tone stack to the Noble - tube on tube fattens it up.
But the SBVT has two tubes, and it is seriously a world of tubey goodness, with a good tone stack and EQ thrown in for good measure. On DI on it though. It does sound really good thru a Lightningboy TI DI.
I’ve got an Underground Accelerator coming this month that I’ll put after my tone hammer and a space heater next month so I’ll play around with both of them. Sushi Box has a DI coming around the end of this year/beginning of next so I’m looking forward to that. I’m currently using my stomp as a DI with the TRS to xlr cable and the SVT is pretty good on there especially if you run the bright and normal channels in parallel.
So, first of all, thanks @Sensei Tim
Got these two today and had a chance to mess with them and I am super impressed. The Mono was a complete surprise. There are aspects of an SVT in there, but punchier and more flexible with the EQ. Total sleeper and just killer. I can see this becoming a very well used preamp.
The Thespian might be the best pedal Fender TMB tone stack that I have played through. The mid boost switch is what does it, but also the bass response - sooooooo fat and juicy. I was thinking about pairing this up with my Noble, but it stands very well on its own. Very, very pleased.
Got these two today and had a chance to mess with them and I am super impressed. The Mono was a complete surprise. There are aspects of an SVT in there, but punchier and more flexible with the EQ. Total sleeper and just killer. I can see this becoming a very well used preamp.
The Thespian might be the best pedal Fender TMB tone stack that I have played through. The mid boost switch is what does it, but also the bass response - sooooooo fat and juicy. I was thinking about pairing this up with my Noble, but it stands very well on its own. Very, very pleased.
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So I gotta say, I've always had a certain kind of love for the Fender Tone Stack. It's probably because my very first amp was an old all tube Fender Bassman. I remember bass so punchy that you could literally feel it in your eardrums.
The Thespian does this. And it has a mid boost. It's really killer.
The Thespian does this. And it has a mid boost. It's really killer.
Sounds promising. It would great if @scubaduba could add this one to his list of tube preamps.
