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New East designed ACG preamp

#22
Just wanted to revive this thread. I just got to try the new version of the preamp at Brian Ristola's place (www.bestbassgear.com). Brian's going to be carrying this pre in the States. I wrote to Alan because I was really, really impressed with it. I didn't think that I'd be into the filter based preamp idea but this one was so well done. One thing that Brian and I noticed was that no matter how you changed the tone of your bass there wasn't a gain increase like with every other preamp. I loved that. We tried the preamp with a beat up MIM J bass and it really made that bass shine. You can really alter the natural character of the tone with this preamp where you can't really do that with any other. With any other preamp the sound of the bass is the sound of the bass, you're just adjusting the bass, mid or treble. With this one you can change the inherent tone. I was very impressed indeed.
 
#23
Andy, out of curiosity what were you playing the MIM J bass through?

Which version did you try out? I assume it was either the 3 or 4 knob jazz plate version. How did you find navigating the controls?

This really gives new meaning to the word "versatile". Genius.
 
#24
ErikP.Bass said:
Andy, out of curiosity what were you playing the MIM J bass through?

Which version did you try out? I assume it was either the 3 or 4 knob jazz plate version. How did you find navigating the controls?

This really gives new meaning to the word "versatile". Genius.
Click to expand...

Erik, we tried the J bass through some old 115 combo (just a test amp), an Ashdown EVO 500II into two Berg112's and a sansamp preamp into a Stewart 2.1 to the Bergs. All sounded great.

We were testing the 4 knob jazz plate. In my opinion the tone knob is a must have. It's the best tone rolloff I've heard. I'd modify my Fender to have a side jack to get that tone knob in there in a heartbeat.

Navigating the controls for me, as a first time user, was something that was easy as long as I relied on what I was hearing. My only slight concern will be how to find the tones that I like repeatedly. I think that after some time with the preamp it'll become natural....which brings me to.....

I called Brian today and bought the 5 knob version (volume, balance, low filter, high filter, tone) for my Ristola 6 string bass. I can't wait to get it. After some time with it, if I really like what it offers me, than I'll look into getting one of the jazz plates for my Fender J. I'll keep you updated. Apparently someone had already called Brian to order one of the preamps from him...he doesn' even have it up on the site yet.
 
#25
emjazz said:
We were testing the 4 knob jazz plate. In my opinion the tone knob is a must have. It's the best tone rolloff I've heard. I'd modify my Fender to have a side jack to get that tone knob in there in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...

I've been very interested in these preamps, and I'm a little curious why you say that. I've owned several Wal basses with filter-based preamps, and I always sort of thought of them as a "supercharged" version of a simple passive treble roll-off tone control. What do you get from the tone control that you don't get from the filter?

emjazz said:
...My only slight concern will be how to find the tones that I like repeatedly. I think that after some time with the preamp it'll become natural....
Click to expand...

That is indeed the tough thing with a filter-based preamp, and one of the reasons I always appreciated the Wal's well-marked knobs!

emjazz said:
I called Brian today and bought the 5 knob version (volume, balance, low filter, high filter, tone) for my Ristola 6 string bass. I can't wait to get it.
Click to expand...

You really might look at Alan's original 2-filter version. Having the ability to have separate filter settings on each pickup made a huge difference on the Wal.

Mike
 
#26
emjazz said:
We were testing the 4 knob jazz plate. In my opinion the tone knob is a must have. It's the best tone rolloff I've heard. I'd modify my Fender to have a side jack to get that tone knob in there in a heartbeat.

Navigating the controls for me, as a first time user, was something that was easy as long as I relied on what I was hearing. My only slight concern will be how to find the tones that I like repeatedly. I think that after some time with the preamp it'll become natural....which brings me to.....
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input Andy. I agree the tone knob is a must have.

My concern with the controls is exactly what you stated. Using your ears as a guide when testing it out is one thing, being able to navigate to the desired tone between songs on a gig is another. As musicians though, we know with practice all is possible.

Looking forward to hearing your impressions once you get the preamp in and spend some time with it. I noticed you had the Nordstrands for sale did you change back to Bartolinis?
 
#27
ErikP.Bass said:
Thanks for the input Andy. I agree the tone knob is a must have.

My concern with the controls is exactly what you stated. Using your ears as a guide when testing it out is one thing, being able to navigate to the desired tone between songs on a gig is another. As musicians though, we know with practice all is possible.

Looking forward to hearing your impressions once you get the preamp in and spend some time with it. I noticed you had the Nordstrands for sale did you change back to Bartolinis?
Click to expand...

I just got some Delano dual coils put in. Nice pickups. I just got them so no comments as of yet beyond that.
 
#28
mikezimmerman said:
I've been very interested in these preamps, and I'm a little curious why you say that. I've owned several Wal basses with filter-based preamps, and I always sort of thought of them as a "supercharged" version of a simple passive treble roll-off tone control. What do you get from the tone control that you don't get from the filter?



That is indeed the tough thing with a filter-based preamp, and one of the reasons I always appreciated the Wal's well-marked knobs!



You really might look at Alan's original 2-filter version. Having the ability to have separate filter settings on each pickup made a huge difference on the Wal.

Mike
Click to expand...

For me Mike, I just need a preamp where I can get basically one great tone where I can adjust from there with my fingers, right hand placement, pickup pan and a passive tone. Also, I love the sound you get by backing off the neck pickup and rolling back the tone a bit.

The one-filter-per-pickup is fabulous I'm sure but it's getting into the "more than I'll ever need" camp. I already have too much with my Audere 4 band preamp. I assume I'll be able to get more tones than I know what to do with between having series/parallel switching on the pickups and this filter based preamp.
 
#31
Well, I popped the preamp in on Thursday and gigged it last night. I was skeptical that this preamp was going to work for me even when I put it in. I'm not a tinkerer and I don't like to mess with my bass to gets lots of different sounds on the gig. I was really just looking to liven up my basses tone. My bass has a swamp ash body and I don't care for swamp ash. I've found that it's too soft sounding. Soooo, I went to the gig with an open mind not knowing what to expect.

My bass has never sounded so good. It was much more authoritive than it's ever been. It had a really commanding tone that sat perfectly in the mix. The bass still sounded like the same bass but with more balls. I'm very impressed. There is certainly a learning curve with this preamp but I feel that's it's quite worth the time. It's an expensive preamp but it's so well put together and sounds so good that I feel it's greatly worth the cost. Oh, I will say I was disapointed to find out how expensive the knobs were for this thing. I'll still probably shell out the money for them because of the indicators but they're not cheap.

I will never use the full range of this preamp but it gave me exactly what I was needing tone wise and that's greatly worth it to me. This is one serious tone shaping tool.
 
#33
Oreomeister365 said:
These things sound perfect, I'll probably be picking up one of them in the future.

Question though: is it still possible to get the model with a filter for each pickup?
Click to expand...

I think you can get that one directly from Alan.

I still can't say enough about how this preamp changed my perception of the bass that I'm playing. I knew it was a really well made bass but the sound just wasn't there for me. I had tried three different brands of pickups and nothing.....now I love playing this bass. I only make small adjustments with the preamp while I'm playing, if any at all, but I can honestly say that this preamp made all the difference for me. Also, I've gotten quite used to the controls to make adjustments. It really didn't take long at all. I do find it important to have indicators on the knobs so you can find your way back.

Great preamp!
 
#34
1 more question:

What exactly does that passive tone control do? The manual at their website seems sorta cryptic.

heck, 2 more:

When having a filter control for each pickup, are they both the exact same lower frequency controller, whilst the treble controller remains constant off to the side for both pickups?
 
#36
Oreomeister365 said:
1 more question:

What exactly does that passive tone control do? The manual at their website seems sorta cryptic.

heck, 2 more:

When having a filter control for each pickup, are they both the exact same lower frequency controller, whilst the treble controller remains constant off to the side for both pickups?
Click to expand...

I agree. I am totally lost with the one I have. See following question.
 
#37
Hi
The pre-amp can be used with passive or active pickups I know of several people using the pre-amp with active EMG pickups.

The passive tone works directly on the pickups before the signal goes into the active stages. Think normal passive tone on a passive bass and that is what it does. You can roll of the top end etc.

Alan
 

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