Double Bass pre-amp suggestion? :)

[MiquelG]

Hello. I've an upright bass with a Fishman Full Circle, Gallien Krueger MB-150 III 112 and Thomastik Spirocore Jazz strings. I play mainly jazz... (I also play a bit of blues, funk, pop, classical too, etc. but mainly Jazz).

I'm finding a professional pre-amp, but i have no idea. Wich do you recommend personally?

Fishman PRO-EQ Platinium Acoustic?
Aguilar Tone Hammer?
other? i don't know any more...

Thanks

 

[Mark Perna]

Hands down, our own Fdeck's little preamp. Send him a PM.

mark

 

[IdealWay]

Hands down, our own Fdeck's little preamp. Send him a PM.

mark

+1, it's all you'll need.

 

[drurb]

+1!-- a real gem.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

The fdeck unit is great, but it's more of an impedance optimizer and hi pass filter than an actual preamp (I use mine in the effects loop of my combo amp to control the rumble, which it does brilliantly). If you want more features, the Headway EDB-1 is hard to beat. in addition to giving you a lot of functionality with your regular rig, it also has the unique ability to make lesser amps sound a lot better than they actually are, which can come in handy for touring or for rehearsals where the amp is already provided.

 

[drurb]

The fdeck unit is great, but it's more of an impedance optimizer and hi pass filter than an actual preamp (I use mine in the effects loop of my combo amp to control the rumble, which it does brilliantly). If you want more features, the Headway EDB-1 is hard to beat. in addition to giving you a lot of functionality with your regular rig, it also has the unique ability to make lesser amps sound a lot better than they actually are, which can come in handy for touring or for rehearsals where the amp is already provided.

Chris, the EDB-1 looks like quite a device. Thanks for the tip. I think it's important to note that the EDB-1 costs at least six times what fdeck's unit does. It all depends on what you need/want.

 

[Phil Rowan]

The fdeck unit is great, but it's more of an impedance optimizer and hi pass filter than an actual preamp (I use mine in the effects loop of my combo amp to control the rumble, which it does brilliantly). If you want more features, the Headway EDB-1 is hard to beat. in addition to giving you a lot of functionality with your regular rig, it also has the unique ability to make lesser amps sound a lot better than they actually are, which can come in handy for touring or for rehearsals where the amp is already provided.

Wow, that thing looks great. I've been pretty happy w/ my SansAmp ParaDriver DI and have found that it too does a fine job making so so amps sound way better.. but after doing some basic research on the EDB, I'd certainly be curious to A/B it w/ the SansAmp.

 

[Marc Piane]

Looks cool! For quite a bit less $ I'll throw in a vote (again) for the Fishman Platinum Pro. Not quite as cool as the Headway thing but with a few more features and a little bit more $ than F-decks gem. It really all depends on what features you need.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

What puts the Headway over the top for me is the blending ability. Although I choose to use it less and less these days, it's a great option to have in your pocket. The Headway also gives an extra gain stage and EQ options which can optimize your rig for "stoopid loud" situations.

 

[drurb]

...it's a great option to have in your pocket.

That line has gotten me into trouble.

 

[longfinger]

Has anyone tried an active D.I. such as this one?

http://leonaudio.biz/active.htm

(input impedance of 30 Megaohms)
With EQ and other tools on the amps, and house mixing board, seems like a simple quality active D.I. could be a useful tool without excessive redundancy.

 

[kmanley_29649]

I'll throw in my support for fdeck's HPF-Pre. I got it about two years ago when I first started on upright, and I have no need or desire to go for any of the more expensive ones. It's really the best $50 I've ever spent.

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

I was using one of the first ones Francis made with an AI Clarus and found it to be redundant so it went away. Flash forward to a different amp and I just got another one and love it. It really fattens up the bottom end and warms the tone up. The HPF is essential to tightening things up in loud boomy situations. It is now attached with velcro to the side of my LMII and will stay there!

 

[shwashwa]

i have to vote against the headway if we're talking about blenders and vote in favor of the radial PZ pre. i own both and feel the pz pre sounds much better. if you dont need 2 channels the fishman is very nice too.

i own all 3 as well as some others...

 

[jrlynch]

going back to the original post, if what you want is a pre to optimize a piezo pickup, nothing touches the summit DI. costs an extra zero over the fdeck box (which is wonderful), but the signal it spits out is magical.

 

[longfinger]

Does anyone have experience or preference between the Fishman BII, and the LR Baggs gig Pro pre-amps?

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They both have a 10 mega-ohm input impedance, and bass + treble EQ, while the LR baggs has additional Gain and Volume control, variable low cut trim and phase reversal, and Battery LED. (Unfortunately battery LED stays on, sucking power, till it flashes a warning.) 300 hours of use on a battery on the LR Baggs. The Fishman battery life is unclear, the PDF manual says 1400 hours of use, while other promo material says 400 hours of use. I think the manual may have the typo.

The $50 Fishman is marketed for double bassist, while the $90 LR Baggs is marketed for acoustic musicians of various instruments, but seems to have the right numbers for double bass.

I'd use it with a Full Circle p/u going into a whatever D.I. / P.A. / bass amp a venue already has on site.

Any thoughts?

 

[AMJBASS]

I have a BII and I tend to keep it in my gig bag at all times. It has been extremely valuable to me in many different situations(ie/when going into a PA system). It works very well with the Full Circle.

 

[Feral Feline]

Radial PZed-Pre

 

[hensonbass]

I just got a series 2 model to have for gigs where I just use a full circle p/u and I don't want to bring out my pedalboard. Or if on a show the pedalboard goes down. I'm very impressed how the fdeck pre takes all that sub-junk out and gives you more clarity. Definitely the way to go if you are a plug in and go player.

Hands down, our own Fdeck's little preamp. Send him a PM.

mark

 

[Ric Vice]

Hello. I've an upright bass with a Fishman Full Circle, Gallien Krueger MB-150 III 112 and Thomastik Spirocore Jazz strings. I play mainly jazz... (I also play a bit of blues, funk, pop, classical too, etc. but mainly Jazz).

I'm finding a professional pre-amp, but i have no idea. Wich do you recommend personally?

Fishman PRO-EQ Platinium Acoustic?
Aguilar Tone Hammer?
other? i don't know any more...

Thanks

Miguel.
If your only using a pick up then the Pro Platinum is very nice, though cost more than FDeck's HPF Pre amp. The Headway EDB-1 is very nice but again it costs 6x's what the HPF Pre costs. If you're not flush with cash or using a microphone in combination you probably don't need it. However, it's got a incredibly well voiced pre amp and dramatically improves the sound of any pickup that's run into it.

Ric