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New bass preamp DI pedal

Riccardo C

Riccardo C

Dec 4, 2013
34
41
Milan, Italy
#1
Greetings from Italy.
I'm searching for a new preamp DI to keep in my pedalboard. I use it for a light eq and some distortion/overdrive (vaguely Tool sound) and in rare occasions of playing live directly in ths PA. So it must have clean and od/distorted channel
It's a plus if I could connect it to headphones and play ampless at home, but not strictly necessary.

Problem is, I pretty much ruled out almost everything I know.
- Mxr M80: great but the distorted sound has the colour function (big scoop, sopay sound) always engaged. Sold it
- Darkglass B7k ultra: distortion too harsh, too pointy. Have it now, planning to sell
- Sansamp BBDI: mid scoop too big, even lowering bass and treble, and too fat. Sold it. (I guess other Tech 21 have te same taste)
- EHX Battalion: seems good but the distortion sound too fuzzy, remembers my Big Muff which I only use for fuzz
- Aguilar Tone Hammer DI: overdrive sounds unusable
- Ebs Microbass: I had a couple of Ebs pedals and didn't like it
- GK Plex: that would be my choice, on the clean channel it seems to have everything I want and I LOVE GK head sims, BUT the overdrive/distortion sound crappy from the vids I've seen

What other could you suggest?
Please no unknown artisanal brand. I know many of them are pretty good, but I often want to change and I need good chances of reselling.
Thanks guys
 
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#4
Welcome to the never ending quest for the perfect preamp.

I would suggest checking out the Two Notes Le Bass preamp. Plenty of demos kicking around, and should be easy enough to get hold of.
Versatile pedal capable of covering a wider range of playing situations. It's "cold fusion" mode is very useful, allowing you to blend the two channels in parallel. It isn't without it's quirks, and it can be tricky to balance the levels when going between a single preamp and the fusion mode, but some patience can help here.

Alternatively, pairing a separate overdrive/distortion pedal with one of the preamps that offers a clean tone you like (GK Plexiglas, MXR M80), is likely a much quicker route to what you are looking for, as there are unfortunantely very few preamp pedals that successfully implement an overdrive/distortion channel (IMHO), either through lack of sufficient/intuitive/flexible level control or insufficient EQ shaping/control between the two channels.
 
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#5
sifrancis said:
Alternatively, pairing a separate overdrive/distortion pedal with one of the preamps that offers a clean tone you like (GK Plexiglas, MXR M80), is likely a much quicker route to what you are looking for, as there are unfortunantely very few preamp pedals that successfully implement an overdrive/distortion channel (IMHO), either through lack of sufficient/intuitive/flexible level control or insufficient EQ shaping/control between the two channels.
Click to expand...

+1
 
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#7
Riccardo C said:
It's good advise but besides being expensive (and taking more space, which means I should buy another board because two more wouldn't fit, so more expense) I like the blend between clean and distortion
Click to expand...

Please note that some dirt pedals feature a blend knob. I am not aware of many preamps which have the same function.

I understand the space constraints though...

Not sure which way it would turn out being more expensive. I guess it depends on which particular pedals you end up with. Some preamps are more expensive than two or more regular pedals...
 
#9
Try the Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig. I seem to find myself recommending it every so often on here.

EQ is solid and there’s a boost for drive and a compressor which can add up to a decent bit of grit, plus a headphone amp and XLR out for going direct. I toured with it for a while and honestly never felt like I was missing anything.
 
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#10
Tekkers said:
Try the Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig. I seem to find myself recommending it every so often on here.

EQ is solid and there’s a boost for drive and a compressor which can add up to a decent bit of grit, plus a headphone amp and XLR out for going direct. I toured with it for a while and honestly never felt like I was missing anything.
Click to expand...
They did all that and NO separate dirt channel.
 
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#17
Tekkers said:
Try the Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig. I seem to find myself recommending it every so often on here.

EQ is solid and there’s a boost for drive and a compressor which can add up to a decent bit of grit, plus a headphone amp and XLR out for going direct. I toured with it for a while and honestly never felt like I was missing anything.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty good description. Just to clarify, the boost can be assigned to "Drive" (OD) or just used to kick-up the volume.

The EBS MB3 is another great choice and offers blended / interactive clean & OD channels.

Riis
 
#18
Riccardo C said:
Greetings from Italy.
I'm searching for a new preamp DI to keep in my pedalboard. I use it for a light eq and some distortion/overdrive (vaguely Tool sound) and in rare occasions of playing live directly in ths PA. So it must have clean and od/distorted channel
It's a plus if I could connect it to headphones and play ampless at home, but not strictly necessary.

Problem is, I pretty much ruled out almost everything I know.
- Mxr M80: great but the distorted sound has the colour function (big scoop, sopay sound) always engaged. Sold it
- Darkglass B7k ultra: distortion too harsh, too pointy. Have it now, planning to sell
- Sansamp BBDI: mid scoop too big, even lowering bass and treble, and too fat. Sold it. (I guess other Tech 21 have te same taste)
- EHX Battalion: seems good but the distortion sound too fuzzy, remembers my Big Muff which I only use for fuzz
- Aguilar Tone Hammer DI: overdrive sounds unusable
- Ebs Microbass: I had a couple of Ebs pedals and didn't like it
- GK Plex: that would be my choice, on the clean channel it seems to have everything I want and I LOVE GK head sims, BUT the overdrive/distortion sound crappy from the vids I've seen

What other could you suggest?
Please no unknown artisanal brand. I know many of them are pretty good, but I often want to change and I need good chances of reselling.
Thanks guys
Click to expand...

Overdriven bass DI'd is going to sound fizzy unless there's some kind of speaker simulation going on too.

I've been very pleasantly surprised by the cheap Joyo American Sound. Don't let the low cost fool you, it is GOOD. Great tonal shaping capability, and it sounds very realistic when DI'd. It takes up other dirt pedals before it very well too, which is great. It does not have a DI, but you can get a good but simple one for not a lot of money and combine both.
 
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#19
Riccardo C said:
Greetings from Italy.
I'm searching for a new preamp DI to keep in my pedalboard. I use it for a light eq and some distortion/overdrive (vaguely Tool sound) and in rare occasions of playing live directly in ths PA. So it must have clean and od/distorted channel
It's a plus if I could connect it to headphones and play ampless at home, but not strictly necessary.

Problem is, I pretty much ruled out almost everything I know.
- Mxr M80: great but the distorted sound has the colour function (big scoop, sopay sound) always engaged. Sold it
- Darkglass B7k ultra: distortion too harsh, too pointy. Have it now, planning to sell
- Sansamp BBDI: mid scoop too big, even lowering bass and treble, and too fat. Sold it. (I guess other Tech 21 have te same taste)
- EHX Battalion: seems good but the distortion sound too fuzzy, remembers my Big Muff which I only use for fuzz
- Aguilar Tone Hammer DI: overdrive sounds unusable
- Ebs Microbass: I had a couple of Ebs pedals and didn't like it
- GK Plex: that would be my choice, on the clean channel it seems to have everything I want and I LOVE GK head sims, BUT the overdrive/distortion sound crappy from the vids I've seen

What other could you suggest?
Please no unknown artisanal brand. I know many of them are pretty good, but I often want to change and I need good chances of reselling.
Thanks guys
Click to expand...
I would get separate od pedal. I had almost everything you listed and being one who doesn't use od, never had problems, but if that is what you looking for, none is designed for easy and comfortable use for that matter except darkglass but you said you dont like it.
EDIT: My Darkglass were Vintage Ultra, (The white one) not that one you have though.
 
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#20
mcnach said:
Overdriven bass DI'd is going to sound fizzy unless there's some kind of speaker simulation going on too.

I've been very pleasantly surprised by the cheap Joyo American Sound. Don't let the low cost fool you, it is GOOD. Great tonal shaping capability, and it sounds very realistic when DI'd. It takes up other dirt pedals before it very well too, which is great. It does not have a DI, but you can get a good but simple one for not a lot of money and combine both.
Click to expand...
I never had any problems with using dirt with no cab sim.
I have a ebs valve drive di and gk plex.
But I do only use mild overdrive.

So right about that joyo American it does sound good.

One more option is dark glass vintage,the newer ones should have cab sim if needed
 
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