Double Bass Preamp recommendation for Realist Lifeline

[Lehnerfam]

In search of an affordable but good PRE-amp to use with an upright bass and a Realist Lifeline pickup.

For now this preamp will connect to an upright Alto Pro Speaker.

Thanks for any help =)

Tara

 

[ctmullins]

First, welcome to TalkBass!

Second, could you be a bit more descriptive about what you have and what you’re looking for? I read your post about four times, and still couldn’t quite figure out what problem you’re trying to solve.

 

[Lehnerfam]

First, welcome to TalkBass!

Second, could you be a bit more descriptive about what you have and what you’re looking for? I read your post about four times, and still couldn’t quite figure out what problem you’re trying to solve.

Hi Todd! I edited the post.. It was kinda confusing, so hopefully it's easier to read now. I'm looking for a preamp to connect my upright bass to a speaker. I have a 3/4 double bass and a Realist Lifeline pickup on it. The speaker I have is an Alto upright Pro.

 

[Passinwind]

In search of an affordable but good PRE-amp to use with an upright bass and a Realist Lifeline pickup.

For now this preamp will connect to an upright Alto Pro Speaker.

Thanks for any help =)

Tara

You might get better results by posting this on the Double Bass (DB) side.

 

[Lehnerfam]

Thanks! I did. No response yet though.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

I guess that your speaker is a powered one, otherwise you need a power amplifier too or an ap that has both preamp and power amp in one.

The Lifeline is a passive piezo, so you need a high impedance input. Something between 1 and 10 MegOhms, the higher the better. The preamp should have a rather flat frequency response (bass guitar voiced preamps don’t have), a four band fixed EQ or a three band frequency variable mid EQ.

You will find several models in different price ranges if you browse through the topics of the Amps, Mics and Pickups [DB] forum here.

 

[Trivolis]

I guess that your speaker is a powered one, otherwise you need a power amplifier too or an ap that has both preamp and power amp in one.

The Lifeline is a passive piezo, so you need a high impedance input. Something between 1 and 10 MegOhms, the higher the better. The preamp should have a rather flat frequency response (bass guitar voiced preamps don’t have), a four band fixed EQ or a three band frequency variable mid EQ.

You will find several models in different price ranges if you browse through the topics of the Amps, Mics and Pickups [DB] forum here.

The Bix preamp from Grace Design works great with the Lifeline,is top quality and not too expensive .
The controls are very simple yet very effective. Before that I used the Fishman Platinun for bass but IMO the BIX produces a much more natural and high quality sound overall.

 

[John Chambliss]

The Red Eye Preamp works well with my Lifeline and Krutz carved bass.

 

[Jeff Kissell]

Best for me is/was Grace FELiX/ALiX at 1Mohm. My Acoustic Image amps also sound pretty great.

 

[Ric Vice]

The Grace Felix is my go to, the Headway EDB-2 H.E. is my less expensive alternative it works great
with a powered speaker, I used it
with a QSC K8.

 

[Ethan Eriksen]

I use a Fishman Platinum Stage and am very happy with it. It has 3-band EQ with sweepable mid and a low-cut filter as well as a DI out with a set volume so you can change the volume on the preamp without affecting the volume of the DI signal.

 

[Ric Vice]

In search of an affordable but good PRE-amp to use with an upright bass and a Realist Lifeline pickup.

For now this preamp will connect to an upright Alto Pro Speaker.

Thanks for any help =)

Tara

Tara,
I took a look at the Alto powered speakers. On the ones I’m looking at there doesn’t appear to be a 1/4” instrument input. All I can see is. microphone connector so whatever
preamp you choose will have to have
mic input since running a line transformer that converts a microphone out to a 1/4” phone jack isn’t ideal. Just my take of course.

 

[Happy Steve]

I think the Alto speakers have combo connectors which take XLR or 1/4 phone jack. I have been using a Headrush FRFR108 recently, it is essentially an Alto (but without the mic preamp). It has two combo jacks.

 

[SAlcott]

I've had a Lifeline since it came out and never felt the need for a preamp. It works fine straight into my own rig (AI Clarus SL/Arnopol Crazy 8) as well as whatever the provided backline has been at the places I play. The only outboard gear I carry is an FDeck HPF, which I have seldom needed except for the occasional sound tech who doesn't understand acoustic bass and insists on cranking the subs. For that situation, I just set the rolloff point around 40hz, which takes care of that issue.

 

[bassically_eli]

It's been almost 3 years since OP posted the question. I think Tara has probably found a solution by now

For everyone else, I think DoubleMidi pretty much summed it up. Any device with at least a 1 M-Ohm input impedance should work. For preamps without an XLR jack, I don't see any problem with using a passive DI between the preamp and the Alto speaker (although I, personally, would look for a one box solution). The Behringer ADI-21 is the absolute cheapest solution I know of. Has a ~4M-ohm input, 3-band EQ with adjustable mid-frequency, and a DI. Personally, the Headway EDB-2 H.E. is my favorite preamp that I've tried so far, but my Lifeline clips the HE circuit.