So I got an old Univox 1246 bass amp. sounds nice, gets pretty crunchy when I crank it, but doesn't have enough juice for live applications (60 watts RMS). Since I love the sound I was thinking about using it as a preamp to keep the crunchy tube sound. Now the problem is that this amp doesn't have a line out, only speaker line outs. If I hook it up to the return on my bigger solid state bass amp through the speaker line out on the univox, will this cause any problems. or will I need to create a line out converter? Without causing any damage to the solid state head that is.
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Pre-amp
- Thread starter kr3w1664
- Start date
bongomania
Commercial User
If you connect the speaker out of the Univox into the line in of the other amp, you will literally kill the second amp. Fire, sparks, smoke, big repair bill.
You can either have a tech create a line out from the Univox, or you can use a DI box that is specifically designed to handle speaker-level power to bring the signal down to line level, and then a second (passive) DI box backwards to convert the balanced DI signal to an unbalanced signal for insertion into the second amp.
You can either have a tech create a line out from the Univox, or you can use a DI box that is specifically designed to handle speaker-level power to bring the signal down to line level, and then a second (passive) DI box backwards to convert the balanced DI signal to an unbalanced signal for insertion into the second amp.
bongomania
Commercial User
bongomania
Commercial User
What the professional you take it to will need to do is pop the Univox open and determine where the preamp section connects to the power amplification section, and run wires from there to a jack they could easily install on the back.
Google this:
Speaker to line level converter.
make sure that it has enough power handling so as not to blow it.
Or you could mic the Univox, run the mic into a mic pre and into either a power amp or a full head.
Here's what I'd do ... get a DI box run you guitar signal to it then use the pass through portion of the DI box ( assuming it has one ) to the Univox then take the Low-Z signal and use that with second amp ...but you will need to get a quality low-z to high-z matching transformer ( these can be bought at radio shack ) .... you might like the sound you might not ...but it will work
pablomigraine
Commercial User
First off, as usual, I concur with Bongo. What would honestly be the best thing, provided you're unwilling to swap the univox for another tube pre such as the ampeg svp-cl, is to either just buy more speakers ( 60 real tube watts thru two Berg or other hi-end 410's would be pretty loud ) or have it professionally modded.
Some good advice, but here's my take. First, I assume you like the tone because it's a tube amp, not because that particular Univox is the bees knees itself. So, what I'd do, is keep the Univox as is, and use it for recording. Then to get some tube tone from your big amp, buy a used tube preamp of some sort, even a pedal, and run that into your big amp. Probably wouldn't cost any more than having the conversion done to the Univox, anyway.
