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Double Bass Pedal-Sized Pre/DI

Count Bassie

Count Bassie

Supporting Member
Jun 10, 2006
16,809
64,611
Smithfield, RI
#1
I'd just like to start by mentioning that I had something of a poor start here a while back. After a minor epsiode with a couple of the locals, I sort of had to go back to my corner, sit down and get my thing together. This is not 'my neighborhood', so to speak (I play electric), but I came around because of an interest in something I'd like to pursue. I got a little careless with my personal attitude towards certain politics, and we all know how that kind of thing can go...

So, having said all that, I'm taking another shot at it, hopeful that those I offended will not mind too much forgiving my unpopular (at the time) forwardness of expression, and that those who are reading this with a scratch of the head and a cocked eyebrow will graciously leave a rough old dog to die quietly... Thanks in advance, and 'nuff said...

And now, if I may, to business... I'm looking for a pedal-sized device that can act as a preamp for things like acoustic upright bass, as an outboard DI for live use (electric, etc.)- in case my amp's DI gets noisy, for instance... or a nice clean general-utility recording DI. Simplicity and quiet operation will do. Cheep would be a real bang.

For upright use, I'm running a Barcus-Berry pickup- a 3150M that I bought without the accompanying pre- into a small mixer, but it's a noisy match. I'm accompanying my 9-year-old daughter at her violin recital (we're playing "Summertime", by Gershwin and Heyward), and I'd like to come up with something very affordable pretty quickly. Something I could pick up at GC, for instance. Again, an all-around utility-type box'd be great.

I realize the 3150M is not the most popular piece around here, but I've got my bass amp eq'd pretty well to get the job done (AMP BH-420, or Trace-Elliot 250SMX, into a single Bag End S15-D cab). It'll do until I get a few more steps into this.

Thanks for reading.
 
#2
The Sansamp Paradriver, took the place of the Acoustic DI,
but its very similar to it. It has a fairly high input impedance,
so it works well with piezo pickups. It has great eq points with
sweepable mids. Its a killer DI, can drive a poweramp if you
need it to, and sounds great for electric bass too.
Its kind of a "Swiss Army Knife" piece of gear.
 
#3
B String said:
The Sansamp Paradriver, took the place of the Acoustic DI,
but its very similar to it. It has a fairly high input impedance,
so it works well with piezo pickups. It has great eq points with
sweepable mids. Its a killer DI, can drive a poweramp if you
need it to, and sounds great for electric bass too.
Its kind of a "Swiss Army Knife" piece of gear.
Click to expand...

This +1. Needs a *LITTLE* bit of figuring out; not a lot but don't buy it on the way to the gig... (If you do try one, start with the Drive and Blend all the way off).
 
#6
Count Bassie said:
Oops... It's no longer around :scowl:. Time to update my gear-mess I s'pose.

Thanks for the rec' though folks.

Quick one: Just curiously, will a passive DI do this? I'm asking some questions one would think I know after playing electric all these years...
Click to expand...

I don't think a passive DI is what you're looking for, although
a 10 megohm pre will help. Fdeck's HPF, or Countryman DI,etc.
Also, the BDDI will NOT work as well. Sansamp made the
Para DI to work with acoustic instruments better than the
BBDI. And yes, turn the blend and drive off.
 
#8
Count Bassie said:
I'm accompanying my 9-year-old daughter at her violin recital (we're playing "Summertime", by Gershwin and Heyward), and I'd like to come up with something very affordable pretty quickly. Something I could pick up at GC, for instance. Again, an all-around utility-type box'd be great.

.
Click to expand...

B String said:
Also, the BDDI will NOT work as well.
Click to expand...

Since Bassie said he needs something AFFORDABLE and QUICKLY, and he listed the BDDI in his profile, I was just trying to help, B Strung.:) And the BDDI WILL an can work very well IMO.
 
#10
MR PC said:
Since Bassie said he needs something AFFORDABLE and QUICKLY, and he listed the BDDI in his profile, I was just trying to help, B Strung.:) And the BDDI WILL an can work very well IMO.
Click to expand...

I'm certainly not trying to argue. I'm just repeating what was
told to me by Sansamp. (Tech21)
Yes the BDDI will work, as will almost any eq, but the higher
the input impedance, the better it usually works for Piezo's,
and the Paradriver DI is made with a higher input (8 megs?)
than the BDDI.
 
#11
The BDDI has a 1Mohm input impedance, which works just fine for most piezo pickups.

The Para Driver has a 4.7Mohm input impedance - which may be viewed as "better" depending on who you ask. The advantage over the BDDI is primarily the semi-parametric mid control, IMO.
 

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