Does the trim/clip Adjustment only lower the gain or can it boost as well? (Eg could I boost the signal of a low output passive bass into the rest of the preamp?)
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New GK Plex Preamp
- Thread starter fjadams
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- gallien-krueger preamp
My live performance preference is to be able to have a tuner active while playing. That's probably going to be the case for a number of live players, especially where set lists consist of long performance strings with few, if any, breaks to mute and tune. Having a tuner always on in order to assist with on-the-fly tuning really helps in that respect...that's my guess.
As an aside - I'm in the process of putting together a pedalboard but three of my pedals are higher current digital. Is there a power supply out there that has multiple truly isolated 500ma outputs? The cheaper ones have maybe one with the rest 100ma 
.
More on topic - I have a tuner/wireless pedal that gets really noisy when run on any switching PS I've tried, even if the only pedal on the PS.
.More on topic - I have a tuner/wireless pedal that gets really noisy when run on any switching PS I've tried, even if the only pedal on the PS.
My tuner is on all the time, it's never off..as is my compressor. With this it's either/or. Which is how most (probably all) multi function devices work, I was just hoping this one was different. Another reason I don't like multi function devices
As an aside - I'm in the process of putting together a pedalboard but three of my pedals are higher current digital. Is there a power supply out there that has multiple truly isolated 500ma outputs? The cheaper ones have maybe one with the rest 100ma
More on topic - I have a tuner/wireless pedal that gets really noisy when run on any switching PS I've tried, even if the only pedal on the PS.
The Trutone CS12 was about the only PS I could find that even has a 500ma output, but it just has the one.
Did you notice if the 1/4" output was stronger when the DI out was not connected? I've experienced that with other pre-amps.
Monday morning quarterback opinion here:
After reading and listening to the stuff on this thread, I think that the Plex is a good pedal, but I also think that it suffers from trying to do too many things while not doing enough of them well enough to justify the cost.
Preamp, DI, Compressor, Tuner, Drive/Boost, USB audio interface.
Of those things, I personally think they should have focused on any 3 of those items and really excelled at the implementation. Obviously, you want the Preamp and DI functions, and then next IMO would be the Drive/Boost. Audio interfacing can be handled in a number of ways outside of the box. Ditto for the Tuner and compressor - especially with the comp given how many flavors of comp pedal there are available, how picky individual players can be about where to put it in the chain, and how many bassists have difficulties with them (or don't like them at all).
As is, I think the GK has done well with the Preamp functions, voicings and tone controls. Ditto for DI implementation and the Boost/Drive function. Now, again, my personal preference would then have been to concentrate on the cabinet simulation side of the equation, and had a selector knob for a handful of different cab sim and output filter types, along with a mix/blend knob. IMO, for an all-in-one Preamp/DI, this would cover all of the bases for a majority of bassists, and with the most TONE flexibility first and foremost.
$299 isn't too bad of a price, but all things considered, I'd prefer to have that $299 on focused excellence in perhaps a simpler-to-operate pedal, than try to stuff 10 lbs of poop in a 5 lb bag and have to wade through a bunch of items that I don't necessarily care about, won't use, or might use if they worked better with respect to my preferences.
Think about it: if GK offered a $199 pedal that was simple, but nailed perhaps 2 or 3 iconic types of GK trademark preamp/cabinet tone combinations (GK800RB with Hartke 4x10 emulation, for example), and did NOTHING else, they'd probably fly off the shelves and be implemented at the end of a lot of stomp pedal boards. The key is that the proof has to be undeniable (starting with the roll-out of the product demo), so that the market felt confident from the get-go that this pedal 100% hits the mark.
All JMHO.
After reading and listening to the stuff on this thread, I think that the Plex is a good pedal, but I also think that it suffers from trying to do too many things while not doing enough of them well enough to justify the cost.
Preamp, DI, Compressor, Tuner, Drive/Boost, USB audio interface.
Of those things, I personally think they should have focused on any 3 of those items and really excelled at the implementation. Obviously, you want the Preamp and DI functions, and then next IMO would be the Drive/Boost. Audio interfacing can be handled in a number of ways outside of the box. Ditto for the Tuner and compressor - especially with the comp given how many flavors of comp pedal there are available, how picky individual players can be about where to put it in the chain, and how many bassists have difficulties with them (or don't like them at all).
As is, I think the GK has done well with the Preamp functions, voicings and tone controls. Ditto for DI implementation and the Boost/Drive function. Now, again, my personal preference would then have been to concentrate on the cabinet simulation side of the equation, and had a selector knob for a handful of different cab sim and output filter types, along with a mix/blend knob. IMO, for an all-in-one Preamp/DI, this would cover all of the bases for a majority of bassists, and with the most TONE flexibility first and foremost.
$299 isn't too bad of a price, but all things considered, I'd prefer to have that $299 on focused excellence in perhaps a simpler-to-operate pedal, than try to stuff 10 lbs of poop in a 5 lb bag and have to wade through a bunch of items that I don't necessarily care about, won't use, or might use if they worked better with respect to my preferences.
Think about it: if GK offered a $199 pedal that was simple, but nailed perhaps 2 or 3 iconic types of GK trademark preamp/cabinet tone combinations (GK800RB with Hartke 4x10 emulation, for example), and did NOTHING else, they'd probably fly off the shelves and be implemented at the end of a lot of stomp pedal boards. The key is that the proof has to be undeniable (starting with the roll-out of the product demo), so that the market felt confident from the get-go that this pedal 100% hits the mark.
All JMHO.
No, you just tried to "debunk the issue" with a singular example.
My tuner is on all the time, it's never off..as is my compressor. With this it's either/or. Which is how most (probably all) multi function devices work, I was just hoping this one was different. Another reason I don't like multi function devices
Interesting. For most of us (that only tune at certain times and choose to do so silently) that shouldn't be much of an issue.
True enough if on-the-fly tuning during a song/set never becomes an issue. However, sometimes the need to re-tune is thrust upon you mid-song and you simply cannot pick and choose when to address the issue. Between crowded stages and bandmates bumping your headstock, audience drunks who bum-rush the stage having way too much fun, and indoor/outdoor humidity fluctuations (playing through a change of cold/warm front), I regularly find myself wanting to check my tuning as I'm playing.
That's interesting. That's not an issue I face, and what I play in my bands wouldn't leave me the opportunity to hang on any note long enough to tune. The limitation we're discussing here would apply to most pedal tuners as well.
I have a mute pedal if I want to tune silently. Part of wanting my tuner on all the times comes from my lack of skill. If we're working on something at practice and I play a note on the 17th fret of the 3rd string, I have no idea what that note is..but I can glance down at my TC Polytune and it will tell me instantly. Get up above the 5th fret and I start to get lost as far as instantly knowing the notes
I have a mute pedal if I want to tune silently. Part of wanting my tuner on all the times comes from my lack of skill. If we're working on something at practice and I play a note on the 17th fret of the 3rd string, I have no idea what that note is..but I can glance down at my TC Polytune and it will tell me instantly. Get up above the 5th fret and I start to get lost as far as instantly knowing the notes
Novel approach. I'd never have considered that.
It's not that I can't mute and silently tune, either, but that I want to be able to tune whenever and however I please as the situation dictates. To each their own, no worries.
I have a mute pedal if I want to tune silently. Part of wanting my tuner on all the times comes from my lack of skill. If we're working on something at practice and I play a note on the 17th fret of the 3rd string, I have no idea what that note is..but I can glance down at my TC Polytune and it will tell me instantly. Get up above the 5th fret and I start to get lost as far as instantly knowing the notes
My knowledge of the fretboard up high is muscle memory and an ear to confirm. I've been planning to do the same with my board.
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My Plex is going back. I'm experiencing lots of noise issues with the compressor which really doesn't sound all that great anyway. Turns of the knobs result in crackles. Also hearing artifacts while playing with it off. At first I thought it was me e.g. pick/fingernail but it is not me.
Apart from all that some sounds are good. I liked the bump function. Mostly the unit is just ok IMHO. I think I'll wait for the next rev.
Apart from all that some sounds are good. I liked the bump function. Mostly the unit is just ok IMHO. I think I'll wait for the next rev.
Just to clarify...noise when what is off, the compressor or the whole pedal?
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