Preamp pedals, and power amps. The age-old dilemma.

Okay, so as you may or may not know (and likely do not care), I have decided to go the separate pre/power amp route. Nobody is talking me down from this, so let that be immediately known.

My question is simple.

In this massive selection of preamp pedals, and just as many power amps for under $500, it would seem like everything is golden and magical and wonderful.

Except, it's not. Many pre pedals don't have the juevos to drive power amps, and since power amps all seem the have differing sensitivities, I really have a hard time knowing what works with what.

Which is why I now defer to the TB Amps forum for knowledge! It boils down to two different questions:

1. Which pedals have an output voltage of at least 1.0+ volts sustained? Of these pedals, which are known to drive a power amp comfortably?

2. What power amps are known to be "pedal friendly" in terms of input sensitivity? Is there any real rule of thumb for determining what works and what doesn't?

Let's discuss!

 

Just so you know, the list of pedals I planned on using/trying are as follows:
ALL Tech 21 products for bass, including EVERY (even the guitar-centric) member of the character series
Hartke VXL pedal
Eden WTDI
Darkglass products
Viva Analog 360+

There were more, but I'm currently forgetting a few :-/

 

Oh yes, I also planned on trying the newer Line6 Pod products, to see if they were any better than my bean unit.

 

Tell me, is the bridging cable for the Peavey hard to make, or inherently risky to use?

 

On that note, when is the IPR II going to hit shelves? I like the looks of it, and it might make getting the MK I IPR all the more affordable

 

Man, my threads die so fast. I guess I should say things that get responses.

AMPEG SUCKS

BEHRINGER RULES

DIGITAL EMULATORS ARE BETTER THAN TUBES

IEM IS BETTER THAN HAVING A RIG

PEAVEY GEAR IS DUMB

PUTTING A 115 UNDER A 410 GIVES YOU THE LOWS OF A 15 WITH THE PUNCH OF 4 10'S

CLASS D AMPS ARE DIGITAL AND SOUND FAKE BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO LOWS

 

Also want to try the Tone Hammer pedal, as well as the MXR unit.
We NEED a pedal pre + power amp megathread/sticky!

 

Do you find that the Carvin has a sensitive enough input to accommodate a wide variety of pre pedals?

 

Well, perhaps I should explain why I am so set on having a preamp pedal. I am currently assembling the funds to build my first "real" rig. Among the other components I'll be buying, I plan on having some effects. This means I will need a pedal board. Since I planned on a separates/modular/component amplifier anyways, I figured it would be easiest to have my pre on the pedal board itself. This is in part due to the fact that I will be building my own speaker cab (whatever I finally choose to build is another issue yet ). Since I'm building my own, I figured I could create a rather elegant solution by building a 2RU rack right into the speaker cab. That way, when it comes time for me to load my rig out/in, all I have to schlep aside from the bass would be a pedal board, and my speaker. And when it comes time to fire it up, I just plug my bass into the fx chain, and the pre into the amp.

I rather liked the idea of having things simplified in this manner. This is why I am so hellbent on using a preamp pedal.

 

Also, if I wind up putting a plate amp into my speaker cab (a more feasible solution with each passing day!), I'd like to have nothing sitting atop my speaker, so I can have a very very minimal aesthetic going on.

Silly, perhaps, but I see people on TB spending way more money on much less reasonable things, lol.

 

Well, Mr. Escher, you certainly make a VERY strong point.

BTW, is there any relation to M.C.? I see a resemblance in the beard...

 

I'm not big on active basses, but I do desire a similar thing.

Oh, what a lovely time it is to be a bassist.