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Searching for the perfect preamp pedal

PB2578

PB2578

Aug 18, 2018
53
152
#1
Hello! Long time lurker here - I am seeking advice on a new preamp pedal. I currently have the MXR bass DI+, which has a lot of what I'm looking for, but I'm not in love with the distortion nor the basic EQ

Specifically, I'm seeking a preamp pedal with
-Built-in distortion or overdrive with independent volume control
-High-pass filter (tried a Mesa WD800 head with this and loved it)
-More advanced mid control (sweepable mids ideally)

I have a mini pedalboard (room for 4-5 pedals) so space efficiency is paramount, hence the need for built in distortion or od

Any recommendations are welcome! (current pedalboard pictured below)
 

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#4
PB2578 said:
Hello! Long time lurker here - I am seeking advice on a new preamp pedal. I currently have the MXR bass DI+, which has a lot of what I'm looking for, but I'm not in love with the distortion nor the basic EQ

Specifically, I'm seeking a preamp pedal with
-Built-in distortion or overdrive with independent volume control
-High-pass filter (tried a Mesa WD800 head with this and loved it)
-More advanced mid control (sweepable mids ideally)

I have a mini pedalboard (room for 4-5 pedals) so space efficiency is paramount, hence the need for built in distortion or od

Any recommendations are welcome! (current pedalboard pictured below)
Click to expand...
The Booya Tube Preamp / Di is jaw dropping :

BOOYA! AMPLIFIERS

www.booyaamps.com www.booyaamps.com
 
#6
It will be difficult to find one unit incorporating both drive and (variable) HPF. I am not aware of any preamp featuring both.

It would be easier if you decide to get either drive or HPF as a separate unit-you would have more possibilities to choose from...

Edit: the width of your MXR Bass DI is 12.4 cm so you should be able to squeeze two pedals with top-mounted jacks like Broughton Scorpion and Broughton Messenger JR. on your pedalboard...

www.broughtonaudio.com

Scorpion | Broughton Audio

The Scorpion is a highly adaptive overdrive pedal designed specifically with bassists in mind. The Scorpion stands out by implementing a resonant feedback circuit, allowing the dynamics and punch of your clean signal to come through without the need for a clean blend. Unlike most overdrives that...
www.broughtonaudio.com www.broughtonaudio.com

www.broughtonaudio.com

Messenger Jr | Broughton Audio

IntroductionThe Messenger Jr captures the high quality features of its predecessors in the smallest format yet. The Messenger Jr is a high fidelity instrument preamplifier that is perfect for the studio and live performances. The preamp offers a wide array of features in a compact, easy to use...
www.broughtonaudio.com www.broughtonaudio.com
 
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#9
Zbysek said:
It will be difficult to find one unit incorporating both drive and (variable) HPF. I am not aware of any preamp featuring both.

It would be easier if you decide to get either drive or HPF as a separate unit-you would have more possibilities to choose from...

Edit: the width of your MXR Bass DI is 12.4 cm so you should be able to squeeze two pedals with top-mounted jacks like Broughton Scorpion and Broughton Messenger JR. on your pedalboard...

www.broughtonaudio.com

Scorpion | Broughton Audio

The Scorpion is a highly adaptive overdrive pedal designed specifically with bassists in mind. The Scorpion stands out by implementing a resonant feedback circuit, allowing the dynamics and punch of your clean signal to come through without the need for a clean blend. Unlike most overdrives that...
www.broughtonaudio.com www.broughtonaudio.com

www.broughtonaudio.com

Messenger Jr | Broughton Audio

IntroductionThe Messenger Jr captures the high quality features of its predecessors in the smallest format yet. The Messenger Jr is a high fidelity instrument preamplifier that is perfect for the studio and live performances. The preamp offers a wide array of features in a compact, easy to use...
www.broughtonaudio.com www.broughtonaudio.com
Click to expand...

Is there enough room under the pedalboard for the MXR Mini ISO? If not, simply add rubber feet to raise it up enough to fit and to give it some tilt This will give you room for another pedal and allow you to mount the comp pedal upright.. Also, pedals do not have to be placed on the board in order of signal flow. They only need to be wired that way.

That Broughton Messenger Jr pedal has the important DI features and fits the bill for that and it's compact. I just took a look at Broughton and it's out of stock right now and I had no luck finding on one the "Verb so good luck. If you ask they will notify you when it's in stock. However, it's made in Canada and they are a little reluctant to any ship goods to the US and I have no idea why...
 
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#14
I have the Radial Bassbone OD, nice pre but I never liked the OD.

It would be hard to find EQ, HPF and OD in one pedal, there are so many variations of drive pedals for a good reason, everyone wants something different in an OD. My recommendation would be a Broughton Messenger EQ, DI, HPF/LPF and then add an OD pedal.
 
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#15
It seems like those people who tried and tinkered a lot with preamps mostly agree:
It's hard to find a pedal that can do both.

-The EBS MicroBass 2 and 3 have two channels. I liked the clean channels, but did not like the OD.
-The Sansamp PBDDI has three presets, so you can dial in some dirt if you like and save that to one preset.
-The Jad Freer Capo is basically an OD pedal, but you can use it for preamp duties and set it up so you get dirt when you press the button.
-Since it is the same form factor and is capable of doing both OD and Preamp, I feel obliged to mention the HX Stomp.
 
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#16
Been using a Genlzer Magellan Pre since it came out, and have not had to think about other preamps since then! I enhance the sound a bit with a Sushi Box More 2 x tube pedal (which adds a subtle richness), but even without that it sounds great.
 
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#17
Something to put on your radar is the group of Genzler pedals. --after posting, I just saw that our pal @Mojo34 mentioned them, too-- Two of them are preamps, one is an OD, and the other is a distortion. All of them look like they have a HPF and LPF. While none of these alone give you everything on your wish list, you might get where you want to go using for example their Crash Box along with a micro graphic eq or who knows what. I don't really have a need for their re/Q pedal, but I want one anyway.

I've thought about putting together a small board like yours, but once I started thinking about a simple layout that I'd want, it became clear that I'd be better off with a "small-medium" sized board. And I'm not even an effects heavy. I just know that I could stand to add some special sauce to my band's material if I could add some funky synth, dirt, fuzz, etc. here and there.

One potential space saver to keep in mind: I recently picked up an HX One to help me with this endeavor of a assembling small-ish board. Although the HX One will only do "one pedal" at a time, it offers a lot of different pedals - useful pedals! - so this should be ideal for helping me with putting together a board. No need to get a fuzz for this song, a chorus for that one, and an envelope filter for another. They're all right there in one tidy box along with plenty of other stuff, it's easy to navigate and tweak without needing two weeks of intensive instruction, and it sounds really decent. Also having fun with it when I noodle on guitar at home.
 
#18
I’ll second the Genzler in terms of covering most of your check list. Similarly although it doesn’t have a HPF, the upcoming DSM Subatomic might be a good preamp + distortion channel pedal option. It has DI out as well.
 
#19
I was looking for something similar, and it's very hard to find HPF + mids + drive "channel" in the same unit.
I would probably go with something like what Zbysek mentioned: Broughton Messenger Jr (HPF + sweepable mids) and a small drive pedal (e.g. Nobels)
 
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#20
Good luck finding exactly what you are looking for. The best I have come up with is going with Tonex One with two primary sounds and an OD pedal in front. I have way too many preamp pedals, lol and none of them give me as close to what I want other than having one main preamp pedal with an OD pedal. The next best thing that worked for me is the Sansamp Programmable BDDI, which I still have as well.
 

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