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Preamp / DI choices . .

Ron Berenato

Ron Berenato

Mar 26, 2017
680
1,212
Memphis Tennessee
#1
I'm playing a small jam with my old bandmates in June. Back in the day myself and the guitarist both had Mesa Boogie stacks. Now, 27 years later that Boogie 400+ is long gone and I will be using my '77 Peavey TNT 100. Yes, the 65 watt wonder. For the small room we'll be playing it will do just fine. Now for my real point - I'm considering a Mesa DI preamp to warm up (Boogie up) the tone through the Peavey (I'm not ready to buy another amp right now). I'm also considering contenders like the Tone Hammer or a Sans Amp or something I'm not yet aware of so I'm asking my TB peeps to give me their opinions. I'd like to keep this purchase under $500.00. I'm one of those guys who can get a useable tone through almost anything so I don't have a particular sound in mind although I like a tubey-warm tone with clarity. No dirt.

GO!
 
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#2
Ron Berenato said:
I'm playing a small jam with my old bandmates in June. Back in the day myself and the guitarist both had Mesa Boogie stacks. Now, 27 years later that Boogie 400+ is long gone and I will be using my '77 Peavey TNT 100. Yes, the 65 watt wonder. For the small room we'll be playing it will do just fine. Now for my real point - I'm considering a Mesa DI preamp to warm up (Boogie up) the tone through the Peavey (I'm not ready to buy another amp right now). I'm also considering contenders like the Tone Hammer or a Sans Amp or something I'm not yet aware of so I'm asking my TB peeps to give me their opinions. I'd like to keep this purchase under $500.00. I'm one of those guys who can get a useable tone through almost anything so I don't have a particular sound in mind although I like a tubey-warm tone with clarity. No dirt.

GO!
Click to expand...

Sushibox FX makes many great tube pedals for bass.

Sushibox FX Website

Talkbass Sushibox thread

Great vendor, great pedals
 
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#3
Ron Berenato said:
I'm playing a small jam with my old bandmates in June. Back in the day myself and the guitarist both had Mesa Boogie stacks. Now, 27 years later that Boogie 400+ is long gone and I will be using my '77 Peavey TNT 100. Yes, the 65 watt wonder. For the small room we'll be playing it will do just fine. Now for my real point - I'm considering a Mesa DI preamp to warm up (Boogie up) the tone through the Peavey (I'm not ready to buy another amp right now). I'm also considering contenders like the Tone Hammer or a Sans Amp or something I'm not yet aware of so I'm asking my TB peeps to give me their opinions. I'd like to keep this purchase under $500.00. I'm one of those guys who can get a useable tone through almost anything so I don't have a particular sound in mind although I like a tubey-warm tone with clarity. No dirt.

GO!
Click to expand...

Of the stuff you mentioned...
  • Mesa Subway(+) DI - Will be punchy and articulate/clean, with lots of ability to push the sound around if you so desire. They run well flat, and the voicing knob alone goes a long way in quick sculpting.
  • Tone Hammer is cool if you want 'that sound', which is tube-ish, wooly, and fairly mid-focused. I liked it for a very specific Aggie-type sound, but didn't think it was crazy versatile or neutral. The AGS feature is cool, but it's a boost - so you can't really switch between clean/AGS at unity.
  • Sansamp - Tried and true with options that you presumably know about depending on whether you want their take on an SVT, their classic Bass Driver, or something a touch more flexible like the para-driver.
  • Also, if you don't want additional EQ on the DI, you could also just get something more simple with a tube or transformer for a bit of warmth and little/no tweaking involved.
People are going to recommend all of the boutique and hard-to-find stuff at some point, but there are plenty of other options way under $500 that are readily available if you aren't looking to get crazy. (Ampeg Bass Scrambler, EBS Microbass, MXR M80 & M81, Two Notes Le Bass, or the simple Radial boxes...)
 
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#5
Ron Berenato said:
I'm playing a small jam with my old bandmates in June. Back in the day myself and the guitarist both had Mesa Boogie stacks. Now, 27 years later that Boogie 400+ is long gone and I will be using my '77 Peavey TNT 100. Yes, the 65 watt wonder. For the small room we'll be playing it will do just fine. Now for my real point - I'm considering a Mesa DI preamp to warm up (Boogie up) the tone through the Peavey (I'm not ready to buy another amp right now). I'm also considering contenders like the Tone Hammer or a Sans Amp or something I'm not yet aware of so I'm asking my TB peeps to give me their opinions. I'd like to keep this purchase under $500.00. I'm one of those guys who can get a useable tone through almost anything so I don't have a particular sound in mind although I like a tubey-warm tone with clarity. No dirt.

GO!
Click to expand...

$500? You'll do well for $200 or less. I'd go SansAmp...didn't care for the ToneHammer. You can do a BDDI, Para Driver, or a programmable if you're really brave. My hands-down favorite is the Fairfields Barbershop but it doesn't have a DI out. As your tastes / needs develop a greater level of sophistication, then start looking at the top-tier options and flip the SansAmp. I'm at the halfway point: a SansAmp Fly Rig which has the desired embellishments (comp, tuner, OD) which keeps me functional...still well-below your $500 budget but possibly overkill given your stated requirements.

Riis
 
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#6
The Nordy Starlifter set in vintage mode could be worth a look. A little hard to come by. Below the price point. Not tube-y but pretty nice. Can send a DI pre/post. Can send the EQ tone or use the tuner-out to pass through without effect. Semi para mid.

Mine just arrived and I’ve been impressed.
B5E61453-3CE7-4155-9188-CF008B81E597.jpeg
 
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#8
Grahams Groove said:
Of the stuff you mentioned...
  • Mesa Subway(+) DI - Will be punchy and articulate/clean, with lots of ability to push the sound around if you so desire. They run well flat, and the voicing knob alone goes a long way in quick sculpting.
  • Tone Hammer is cool if you want 'that sound', which is tube-ish, wooly, and fairly mid-focused. I liked it for a very specific Aggie-type sound, but didn't think it was crazy versatile or neutral. The AGS feature is cool, but it's a boost - so you can't really switch between clean/AGS at unity.
  • Sansamp - Tried and true with options that you presumably know about depending on whether you want their take on an SVT, their classic Bass Driver, or something a touch more flexible like the para-driver.
  • Also, if you don't want additional EQ on the DI, you could also just get something more simple with a tube or transformer for a bit of warmth and little/no tweaking involved.
People are going to recommend all of the boutique and hard-to-find stuff at some point, but there are plenty of other options way under $500 that are readily available if you aren't looking to get crazy. (Ampeg Bass Scrambler, EBS Microbass, MXR M80 & M81, Two Notes Le Bass, or the simple Radial boxes...)
Click to expand...
Thanks. This is exactly the kind of feedback I need. I’ve been reading thru the responses and there is a lot of stuff to check out. I appreciate all Of you who’ve responded. Maybe later I’ll make the plunge on a powered Bag End 15” cab to go with the pre amp pedal I choose. But that’s another thread.
 
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#10
Well, I had a TC spectra drive. It was really nice, but it died. Before that tho, I really did enjoy it. It has the same intelligent eq that they put in their amps. Super easy to get a nice tone without a lot of effort. I recommend highly for how they sound, but worry about how they hold up. I stumbled upon a deal for an eq2 while i was looking for a replacement.

Not what you asked for, bu this is what I do:
Source Audio EQ2
https://www.sourceaudio.net/eq2_programmable_equalizer.html
Gets you tone shaping that includes hpf and lpf. Also it’s a tuner, but I use a separate pedal because I already had one. I also like a little compression, so have that in the chain as well, but very off topic at this point but I monitor myself with my combo,amp that has a perfectly fine DI so, that kinda makes this technically a di recommendation, albeit a sorta sideways one. Hope this helps in some way!
 
#13
The Peavey TNT 100 was my first amp. What a workhorse. This was from back in the day with no PA, originals band. I don’t have any insight about modernization for you. Just wanted to say that that is an awesome combo amp. I think the vocals were combined through a 4 channel mixer into a single combo amp as part of a back line. Feedback? Hell yeah. Crazy good times though….
 
#16
Rolling Thunder said:
I'll have one with a XLR out as well, please & thank you....
Click to expand...

I used one in conjunction with a Tech 21 Q Strip which carries the DI. Should be sold taped-together as a kit, it's that good. For that fact, the Barbershop would be a stellar platform for a fly-rig (tuner, comp, EQ, DI).

Jazz Ad said:
A complete loss of time IMHO. The TNT has a very colored tone, with a lot of mids and lows cut pretty high, all in the aim of getting you heard fine with very little power.
Using any kind of preamp to reshape this tone will result in the lack of power showing. TNT works fine as is.
Click to expand...

I appreciate your candor...I did not know that! Let's help the OP spend some dough on a jam-worthy amp.

Riis
 
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#20
Ron Berenato said:
I'm playing a small jam with my old bandmates in June. Back in the day myself and the guitarist both had Mesa Boogie stacks. Now, 27 years later that Boogie 400+ is long gone and I will be using my '77 Peavey TNT 100. Yes, the 65 watt wonder. For the small room we'll be playing it will do just fine. Now for my real point - I'm considering a Mesa DI preamp to warm up (Boogie up) the tone through the Peavey (I'm not ready to buy another amp right now). I'm also considering contenders like the Tone Hammer or a Sans Amp or something I'm not yet aware of so I'm asking my TB peeps to give me their opinions. I'd like to keep this purchase under $500.00. I'm one of those guys who can get a useable tone through almost anything so I don't have a particular sound in mind although I like a tubey-warm tone with clarity. No dirt.

GO!
Click to expand...
I have a Mesa head with the same preamp channel as their DI. It is nice and clean with a little tubey tone. The HPF is a great feature for boomy stages and rooms and a must have in my opinion. If you go with another preamp, you can add a Broughton HPF easily. The other big bonus of having a preamp/di with you is that if you have amp issues unexpectedly, your backup can be straight into the PA with a nice sound. I had an amp cut out half way through a show but I was running through my Sansamp as well. I just kept playing and asked for more bass in the monitors. I don’t have the Mesa pre simply because I already have that built into my amp (TT800). I’ve gone back and forth on using the Tech 21 Q strip (which is totally neutral sounding) and the Tech 21 VT, which emulates Ampeg tones and adds some drive if you want it. Both are great versatile pedals that can be found used for way under your budget. They can also be powered via phantom if needed.
 

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