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Pre + Pre + Pre??

#22
stringtapper said:
This is the only way I do it anymore if a pedalboard is involved. I could not believe the clarity I got once I started going from the Noble DI into my Mesa's effects return.
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Agree. But by the same token, adding a Noble DI is a major plus when placed in any signal chain IMO. It's one beautiful, albeit expensive, piece of gear.

Still, "buy once, cry once", right? Can't go wrong with a Noble. :thumbsup:
 
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#23
40Hz said:
You basically want to do all your EQing in one place to avoid overlaps and cancellations. Or so I think anyway. Just be aware this is my own personal opinion based on my experiences over the years with my own gear. So not one everyone will agree with me on this since a lot depends on your own equipment.

If you're playing an active bass you have two choices:
  • Use the EQ on the amplifier to set your core tone and use the EQ on the active bass to do minor tweaks or adjust for the specifics of the room you're playing. This is usually the most convenient way to do it.
  • Do the opposite. Do your main EQ on the active bass and do your final tweaking on the amp. Less convenient,. But if the preamp on the bass has a signature sound you identify with as "my sound" then this is your only option.
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  • This is how I roll with tone and control. The combo of the John East J Retro Deluxe preamp and the Nordstrand N5V 70s Vintage Wind is “my sound”, as it were. I leave the tone controls on the J Retro preamp at flat and do all tone adjustments at the amp (or monitor mixer input channel, whatever I’m listening to). I send the bass straight to a REDDI DI for the PA. I handle my passive P-style bass and my Stingray SR5 the same way.

  • (Don’t know what the dots are about…:eyebrow:)
 
#28
preamps are much more than just equalizers. they impart a certain tone and response to the signal. you may like how certain pre-amps interact with each other. it is very common in the studio to run a signal through a pre-amp/comp/eq/etc with no signal processing just to get the sound of the electronics in the device. this is probably less practical in a live situation, but some may find a use for this.

For me, I have two LBA transformers on my pedalboard that do nothing but add some dynamic saturation to the signal that comes across as more mid-range grit and a softer top-end. This is a tone that is impossible to emulate using eq.
 
#30
Active bass + eq pedal + amp’s eq section = a lot of eq! You definitely need to be careful overboosting some frequencies, as well as creating some weird frequency responses depending how each eq knob works. (Tone stack vs active eq shelving, etc.)

This is actually an issue with many multi-effects pedals. Each effect in the pedal might have 3 band eq adjustments (looking at you, Boss GT series!). You can end up with say too muddy a sound, but not know how or where to fix it.

Best thing is to keep your eq adjustments to one spot. In my example, I would set the amp “flat” (which could mean bass, mids, treb all at 5, or could mean some at 2 and the other at 10 - my one preamp has to be set like that for a flat response), and then use the eq pedal to sculpt your tone. Leave the active preamp on the bass off.

Just one way to do it. There are many ways.
 
#31
Of course you have to have pre+pre+pre+pre+pre !
How else are you going to get that sound of an old P-bass plugged straight into an Ampeg B-15? ;)

In all seriousness though... apparently, it really works well for some, but if I had one of these elaborate setups with my active bass going into a pre-pedal then into the pre-amp of my amp, I would probably spend so much time noodling with the sound it would drive me nuts. And then you go into a different environment/room and it's like "wait, something doesn't sound quite right..." and the noodling begins again. I honestly don't know where people find the time. Personally, my time would be better spent practicing my instrument. Impress 'em with your chops and people will tend to overlook that 'slight bump at around 452 hz'.
 
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#34
el murdoque said:
A bass pre is usually too weak to drive a poweramp, but if you wanna go that route - whatever floats your boat!
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Eden's WP-100 Navigator preamp has been more than enough to drive a poweramp for as long as Eden made them and I imagine their newer WTP-PRE can do the same.

Now pedals may be a horse of a different color. However, my WTDI (DI pedal with built-in Eden WT preamp) plugged into the effects in/return of just about any backline amp makes them sound like my Eden amps.
 
#36
Rip Van Dan said:
Eden's WP-100 Navigator preamp has been more than enough to drive a poweramp for as long as Eden made them and I imagine their newer WTP-PRE can do the same.

Now pedals may be a horse of a different color. However, my WTDI (DI pedal with built-in Eden WT preamp) plugged into the effects in/return of just about any backline amp makes them sound like my Eden amps.
Click to expand...

Well, yes of course they are, that is what they are designed to do.
When I wrote bass-pre, I meant the preamp circuit inside an active bass guitar.
 
#39
As long as you are happy with your sound and you have the soundtech happy with the signal he's receiving from the bass, what's the problem?

Both on-board and pedal preamps are for quick and rapid access changes on your sound, but the main difference is that, on a pedal preamp, it's really quick to "activate" the tonal changes you need, specially if we are talking to do it during a song (but you need stoop down to change settings).

For on-board preamps, in my opinion it's easier to do some small EQ changes between songs (it easier to change settings compared to a pedal, and an amp, specially on big stages), for example, boosting a bit the highs for an aggresive song, and cutting highs for some soft stuff, as long as it serves the song and don't mess with the final mix too much is fine.
But the active bass thing is way more complex than that, historically and technically, I'm talking about on-board preamp as well as active pickups (another preamp!) where you have a already buffered and low-Z output (being possible to run long instrument cables without the cable-capacitance thing, and almost "full-range" signal having more tonal options to mess with.

In other hand, the power amp EQ and most rackmount preamps can serve as the "core tone" of your bass rig and it has to be setted right in order to sit right on the general mix of the band.

Of course you can use any of those "pre" in other ways, as long as it works, there's no rules, you can even have an active bass just straight into a DI and then to the monitors/FOH and mess with the EQ "on board" depending of the song needs.
 

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