Read Custom Bass Purity preamp- the inside scoop

[Hman]

Yeah, I'm still loving mine...you can check out the sound of the Read pre with Nordstrand bass at Carey's site, cool stuff!

http://www.nordstrandguitars.com/new.htm

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

I got mine back at the weekend, with all the latest and greatest updates.

There's certainly a bucketload more gain available, and definitely more bass. I think it sounds much better now, it still has the clarity but a much better bottom end. It's a great preamp.

Hi Dave, mine came back today. I agree with you, it's got much more gain and bottom end. I also like the upgrade Jack did with the Bright switch. I know you won't have a hard time finding a buyer if you decide to sell it.

I know I'm keeping mine. I can really drive my QSC PLX amp now. In the past I had trouble getting the most out of my QSC regardless of which preamp I owned or tried. During the short time it was at Jack's I used my SWR I.O.D.. Now I can't complain about the sound of the I.O.D., but I really missed my Purity.

Man, I'm so glad it's home!

 

[Balor]

As anybody A/b'ed the Purity against other low noise preamp like Raven Labs pre? I'm looking for a lower noise floor then my Iamp800...

thanks
PL

 

[rickbass]

Would any of you Purity owners tell me what you paid for yours?

Also, it seems as though you owners are saying that the Bass Purity is a "work in progress".......it has bugs that Jack is still working out. I'd hate to spend big money on a preamp that has to go back to Jack to get the kinks worked out.

 

[Biker4Him]

Would any of you Purity owners tell me what you paid for yours?

Also, it seems as though you owners are saying that the Bass Purity is a "work in progress".......it has bugs that Jack is still working out. I'd hate to spend big money on a preamp that has to go back to Jack to get the kinks worked out.

Hey rickbass,

The price of the purity is listed on the website Link Removed at $795.00 for an indroductory price.

This was a quote from Jack in a email he sent to me when I ordered mine... "I am now building them with all of the official production parts"

He also offers a no-nonsense return policy. If you don't like.... send it back... you will only be out the shipping. When I ordered mine three weeks ago, there was a 3 week wait... I am expecting mine to ship any day now.

Jack is absolutely been awesome to deal with. He answered all my questions, quickly and politely. I can't wait to get it.

 

[rickbass]

Thanks a bunch, Henry!

One of the reasons I asked is because I got Jack's catalog the other day and every aspect of the Purity seemed so "buttoned-down."

I don't even understand/appreciate half of the info on the Purity, (e.g., "Solen audiophile coupling caps"), but the rest of the Purity info appealed to me.

The fact that Jack seems like a very straight-up guy concerned with top quality comes through in his catalog.

I may be ditching my lackluster Aguilar for one of these.

 

[Biker4Him]

Thanks a bunch, Henry!

You are welcome... and WOW, you know my name. I'm honored!

Jack is a great guy... give him a call, or send him an email. And if you do.. find out when mine is going to arrive .

 

[emjazz]

As anybody A/b'ed the Purity against other low noise preamp like Raven Labs pre? I'm looking for a lower noise floor then my Iamp800...

thanks
PL

I owned an Iamp800, noisy little bugger.

The Purity has absolutely, 100% no noise. None!!!! Nothing even shows up on an oscillator (is that the right tool???) anymore. And yes, Jack has settled on the final product. When I say settled on I mean that he's done tweaking the preamp. He could continue to always do more to it if he wasn't trying to market it. He loves to make things constantly better but he feels that the final product is at a point that he's very happy with.

 

[Balor]

I know... who do you think sold me mine...!

thanks for the info.
PL

 

[emjazz]

I know... who do you think sold me mine...!

thanks for the info.
PL

Ha, that's funny. I never remember who I've sold gear to. I don't have any way to try new gear usually other than buy it. If it's not for me I sell it pretty quickly. I've definately been through some gear.

How do you like the Iamp800 otherwise? I remember it being alright with noise unless you crank the output volume. If you really like the Iamp other than the noise than contact EA. I'm sure that they'll figure it out for you. I have a preamp/poweramp setup now with an Aguilar DB659 pre and Crest poweramp. Very different from the Iamp.

 

[Balor]

Sorry to revive that old thread, but this preamp still calls to me. I was wondering if someone as had the chance to A/B some Demeter stuff against the Purity preamp? I'd like to get some feedback on both, but I'm mostly concerned about noise, EQ usability and versatility.

thanks
PL

 

[Biker4Him]

I received mine this week... but my wife has been in the hospital, and...... the Stewart 2.1 I ordered with it, has not arrived yet.. so I don't have any power!! Hopefully next week my life will get back to normal...and I can play with my new toy.

Sorry to revive that old thread, but this preamp still calls to me. I was wondering if someone as had the chance to A/B some Demeter stuff against the Purity preamp? I'd like to get some feedback on both, but I'm mostly concerned about noise, EQ usability and versatility.

thanks
PL

 

[GRoberts]

I received mine this week... but my wife has been in the hospital, and...... the Stewart 2.1 I ordered with it, has not arrived yet.. so I don't have any power!! Hopefully next week my life will get back to normal...and I can play with my new toy.

Hi Biker - My Prayers go out to your wife and your family. I hope everything Is OK and that her healing is swift. Looking forward to your review. Sounds like quite an awesome Pre/Power set-up you will have.

Any reason you chose the Stewart 2.1 versis another fine option such as the QSC PLX2402?

 

[Biker4Him]

Thanks Roscoe5 (wait... shouldn't that be BN5 ) the wife is doing well, after a three day vacation staying at the 1/2 star hotel/hospital!!

I went with the Stewart over the QSC for one reason. Jack made me a decent deal on it, buying it from him along with the Purity preamp. I really liked the PLX 1602 I had (kinda wish I hadn't sold it... but) I think the Stewart will do me just fine. I'm hoping this set up will be my last. I got an email from Jack a little while ago, and the Stewart 2.1 was shipped to me directly from Stewart. It will arrive Tuesday. So.. hopefully Wednesday I can post more. (Or... I'm going to see if I can borrow someone's power to run it this weekend!!)

Thanks again for the prayer's Brother!!

 

[RAM]

I received mine this week... but my wife has been in the hospital, and...... the Stewart 2.1 I ordered with it, has not arrived yet.. so I don't have any power!! Hopefully next week my life will get back to normal...and I can play with my new toy.

AHHHH!!!! I have the same exact thing on order...just placed the order last week, so I have another 3-5 weeks until I get mine.

I'm also getting an Epifani 4x10 UL, which should be a pretty cool rig.

 

[Biker4Him]

Jack gave me a supa sweet deal on my 2.1 too. I wanted to give the "little guy" the business anyways, and from what I've seen online I got a great deal.

Yep... being a small business owner... I try to always help out the "little guy".

Unfortunately my 3-5 week wait turned into 8 to 10. I had made some custom footswitch requests, and it turned out not to be do-able. Apparently it caused some signal and gain loss in the low end, which was unacceptable to Jack.... and would have been to me as well.

It's no fun having a new toy sitting at my office, and no way to power it. UGH!!!

 

[Biker4Him]

If we all don't help the "little guy", there won't be one!

So you have to wait 8-10 weeks for your 2.1? My memory isn't crystal clear, but I would swear mine arrived quicker than that.

I don't have my records here at home, but it seems like I ordered my Purity and Stewart 2.1 right around Feb 1.

The Pre arrived at my office Monday or Tuesday (this week has been more than a little strange) the Stewart was to have shipped Monday, but apparently the person who's responsibility it was to ship it, was out sick or something, and it didn't get shipped until Wednesday, and will arrive Tuesday. It's a good thing all the businesses around mine close up and go home at 5:00 to 5:30.. because that night it's likely to get a little LOUD. I just hope the Purity lives up to it's claim. It ought to make for a pretty good rig...purity/stewart/el whappo !! Next purchase will be a 2x10 or maybe 1x12 for smaller venues.

 

[Biker4Him]

All right!! I apologize up front for what will probably be a long and boring post.

Last year I got tired of my Navigator. Even set flat, it just didn't seem to let the true voice of my Roscoe's come out. I found an SVP-pro, and was suprised I liked it. So I got a deal on an SVT-4pro, and sold the Eden, the SVP, and the PLX 1602. Used the extra money from the sale, added some to it, and finally ended up ordering the Purity along with a 2.1. (thanks Jack!!) The band is on hiatus while my wife recovers from her operation and our drummer's wife has a baby. So I loaned my SVT out, and was without any sort of power when my Purity arrived Monday.. the Stewart won't arrive until this coming Tuesday.

I went and confiscated my SVT-4Pro this morning, and plugged the Purity into the power amp of the SVT, plugged in my Benavente first, and WOW...First I noticed the gain was up only at 9 o'clock, and the master volume was barely on, and I was clipping my El Whappo.. So... I remembered the rule... new toy.. so set EVERYTHING flat. Tried it again, and was instantly gratified. (don't new toys always do that!) The response was lighting fast. And after bumping up the bass and backing of the highs, the Bennie sounded better than it ever had before. crisp, clear, sharp attack, with thundering, pumping fingerstyle lows.!! (wait this is a preamp review!) O.K. now for the real test.

I wanted the Purity because I loved sending my Roscoe's directly into a power amp. Unfortunately the signal was not quite enough for the pa to run it correctly, so a pre was needed. The Eden was good, but it just wasn't "clean". No matter what, I could tell I was running through an Eden. Jack assured me, that the Purity would offer me the PURE voice of my bass. So.. plug in the Roscoe (set everything flat) and ... viola' it was perfect. My Roscoe sounded like an un-adultrated, but amplified Roscoe. Every little nuance of my playing came out (good and bad), and the responsiveness of the pre is soooo fast. I never realized before that the other pre's weren't this fast. WOW. The bass knob is boost only. That's exactly what I wanted. The mid's and treble are boost/cut. They offer slight adjustments. If you are wanting to make your bass sound like something it is not... this isn't for you. If you want the sound of the bass... this is perfect. (o.k... add a little tube warmth for fun) . With my bass flat, I could boost the gain all the way without overdriving.... then I flipped the impedence switch to "high imp" and could easily get a nice tube overdrive going if I wanted. The "emphasis" knob is a lot of fun. I think it will come in handy when playing live. Just by myself, it wasn't needed. But as we all know, everything sounds different on the stage, then it does in our practice room. The "emphasis" really accenuated the mids/upper end, so I'm sure it will truly make it cut through anything.!

Next... the "EQ Bypass". With everything set flat, and the emphasis knob all the way counterclockwise...I hit the EQ bypass. When bypassed I notice slight signal loss. The volume was just a little less. So, maybe 12:00 is not exactly flat, or the signal is amplified slightly when running through the eq. Tone seemed the same, just a slight volume loss. Anyway... this was awesome. And... even with the EQ bypassed, the emphasis knob still works.. how handy it that tool!!!

Now.. if he just had a footswitch for the mute, and the eq bypass... that would be SUPER!!

Oh... I forgot one thing, the "deep" and "bright" switches. I left the deep on most of the time, and I am not sure which I like better yet. I turned off the bright with the Benavente, and back on with Roscoe's. I think it will stay off most of the time, and if I need the "sparkle" in the high end, I can just dial it up on my bass!!

Well, there you have it. The initial review/lovefest. I can't wait for the Stewart to arrive, so I can load it all into my rack, and sell the SVT4. I'm gonna go play around with it some more. I haven't spent any quality time with my basses in a week, so I'm itching to play. Besides, I always need to work on my skills. Someday I hope to be as good as all this cool gear I have.

 

[RAM]

Okay...now I'm getting REALLY excited!

 

[fullsizedog]

What ever happened to Jack Reed? I have a Read Purity on the way and came across this old tread seems he and his business just disappeared? Anyone know what happened to him? Or am I not looking in the right places?