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Recommend me a cheap bass preamp!
- Thread starter TuneSalad666
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- bass preamp cheap preamp recommend
I have and like the WTDI, but I'm not sure it's what you're looking for. I run it clean (EQ flat) with just a bit of compression and "enhance."
Maybe the cheapest solution would be a clean boost pedal & a bass EQ pedal plugged together.
I found that the Behringer BD121 didn't have enough signal to drive a power amp to hot levels on it's own.It's fine in front of a regular bass amp and drives a power amp fine with a boost pedal added.
Another cheap option is the Zoom B1on. It's a multi effect pedal & has a little bit(easy) of a learning curve but there are pretty good emulations of the MXR,Sansamp,Xotic,& Avalon preamps not to mention bass amp simulation that you can use as a preamp with the cabinet simulation turned off. Mine drove a power amp fine. Don't know what they are in Europe but in the US they are $59.95. Even cheaper used.
I found that the Behringer BD121 didn't have enough signal to drive a power amp to hot levels on it's own.It's fine in front of a regular bass amp and drives a power amp fine with a boost pedal added.
Another cheap option is the Zoom B1on. It's a multi effect pedal & has a little bit(easy) of a learning curve but there are pretty good emulations of the MXR,Sansamp,Xotic,& Avalon preamps not to mention bass amp simulation that you can use as a preamp with the cabinet simulation turned off. Mine drove a power amp fine. Don't know what they are in Europe but in the US they are $59.95. Even cheaper used.
TC Electronics Spectradrive. Preamp, buffer, compressor, overdrive/distortion/fuzz pedal. DI out, aux in, headphone jack. $199
@TuneSalad666
The Eden is a good pedal but so is the Hartke
I like the Harley Benton but it's only had home practise use.
My Dr J Sparrow suffers from tempremental pots so I won't comment
The Moen Bass Buffalo is a great bit of kit,think I was 45 euro for mine
Moen Buffalo Guitar Bass Equalizer Effects Pedal Speaker simulator with DI and Headphone Outputs BS BA-in Guitar Parts & Accessories from Sports & Entertainment on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
The folks suggesting a boost pedal coupled with an EQ one are talking sense. A Caline CP-24 gives +/-12 dB starting at 31 Hz up to 16K Hz. Pair that with a boost or drive and you've much more control than with most preamps, great unit to use with the Behringer. You may need to add a noise gate between EQ and boost
edit
Typed this reply couple of hours back. The Dr J performed great when I tried it earlier. The drive has more grit than the Moen. Ran through the Caline EQ first,when boosting the highs there was some hiss. To be expected I'd boosted from 4K and upwards.
Bass used - one of my T40's modded to 5 strings,strung with La Bella low tension flats. The EQ was great at pinpointing the freq I wanted .
Caline CP 24 10 Band EQ Guitar Effect Pedal Effect True Bypass Guitar Pedals Accessories Aluminium Alloy Guitar Parts-in Guitar Parts & Accessories from Sports & Entertainment on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
The Eden is a good pedal but so is the Hartke
I like the Harley Benton but it's only had home practise use.My Dr J Sparrow suffers from tempremental pots so I won't comment
The Moen Bass Buffalo is a great bit of kit,think I was 45 euro for mine
Moen Buffalo Guitar Bass Equalizer Effects Pedal Speaker simulator with DI and Headphone Outputs BS BA-in Guitar Parts & Accessories from Sports & Entertainment on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
The folks suggesting a boost pedal coupled with an EQ one are talking sense. A Caline CP-24 gives +/-12 dB starting at 31 Hz up to 16K Hz. Pair that with a boost or drive and you've much more control than with most preamps, great unit to use with the Behringer. You may need to add a noise gate between EQ and boost
edit
Typed this reply couple of hours back. The Dr J performed great when I tried it earlier. The drive has more grit than the Moen. Ran through the Caline EQ first,when boosting the highs there was some hiss. To be expected I'd boosted from 4K and upwards.
Bass used - one of my T40's modded to 5 strings,strung with La Bella low tension flats. The EQ was great at pinpointing the freq I wanted .
Caline CP 24 10 Band EQ Guitar Effect Pedal Effect True Bypass Guitar Pedals Accessories Aluminium Alloy Guitar Parts-in Guitar Parts & Accessories from Sports & Entertainment on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
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Ric5
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- Jan 29, 2008
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- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Behringer BDI 21 is hard to beat for a cheap Preamp. You can get one brand spanking new for like 25 bucks...
And check your local eBay. I got my Ampeg SCR-DI for $90! Deals are out there!
Diego
The OP did say in post #7 that he's not interested in the BDI21 because he wants something that will allow more control of the midrange. However, that said, the BDI21 could conceivably still fit the bill if one either a) turns the bass, treble, and blend controls down, thereby allowing more mids to come through, or b) uses an eq in conjunction with it.
I have (and I like) an Ampeg SCR-DI but if you're interested only in the preamp section then the Ampeg Classic Analog Bass Preamp is exactly that for a little more than half the cost of the SCR-DI.
I picked up a Hartke bass attack mk1 for $20 and was going to send it to somebody but shipping was rediculous.
It worked with phantom power from my board but didn’t seem to with my friends board.
Then one of the knobs fell off because the nut was loose. So now I have to open it up to try and make it work. Seems really poorly built and yet it weighs as much as a tank.....
It worked with phantom power from my board but didn’t seem to with my friends board.
Then one of the knobs fell off because the nut was loose. So now I have to open it up to try and make it work. Seems really poorly built and yet it weighs as much as a tank.....
I love my American Sound. It's hard to get a bad sound out of it, and it's surprisingly versatile. It doesn't do super heavy, but can get pretty aggressive. I love it just to add some warmth and maybe a little zing sometimes.
You can grab em for $25. If you're considering getting one, it's silly to not just give one a try at that price. But I doubt you'd regret it.
You can grab em for $25. If you're considering getting one, it's silly to not just give one a try at that price. But I doubt you'd regret it.
I’ve owned an Eden WTDI for years and I think it’s an excellent preamp pedal but it doesn’t really match what you are looking for. It gives a great clean tone and that’s it. If you want an agressive tone with a bit of tube grit it won’t perform.
Versatile it is. I've used it for both bass and guitar, live and on recordings. I've just bought a SansAmp BDDI, v2 to use with bass, but apart from the fact that the BDDI has a balanced XLR output and can run on phantom power, I'm not yet convinced that it provides a significant improvement over the American Sound for bass. Considering the price difference between the two pedals, that speaks well of the American Sound.
I went to Thomann's and found this under the Denmark location: I'm buying one of these to power my GK MB500 amp. I have a newfound fondness for the classic Ampeg tone.
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Not exactly
It's not got the highs cut of the SCR-DI, no XLR out, and it's a tad noisier. Between the two, I prefer the SCR-DI.Salad, the Bass Attack is a good pedal, but when you say you like midrangey tones, then maybe the Hartke thing isn't your thing. Hartke likes to use the Fender tone stack, which is boost only for bass and treble and cut only for midrange, and the Bass Attack only has bass and treble controls, making it difficult to get mid forward sounds. It's a very good pedal otherwise, and I wish I still had my original Bass Attack, which unfortunately got stolen out of my house during a party, because there are times when that mid scoopy thing it does so well is what I need. Oh well...not like I don't have other stuff. But it was really easy to get those types of sounds with the Bass Attack.
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