Subway+ Bass DI-Preamp II

[gstaats]

That is great. I love my TT-800 - but the band is going ampless more... Sound techs always give me props over the post-DI feed from the TT-800. Looking to get something similar enough in a pedal format to pack light for the ampless gigs. Does the boost function as post boost (like an increase in master volume) or a gain boost - pushing the preamp a little more? Thank you for all your help through the years!

 

[DJ Bebop]

Couldn't find a link to the manual on the site, otherwise I would have RTFM'd... Does the post-DI out include anykind of cabsim (like the TT-800)?

Yes, a very mild version of the Subway 115 cabinet.

I posted a draft copy of the manual in the Subway club thread (I think that’s where it is). The IT guys are working on getting the correct manual posted.

Post in thread 'Mesa Subway DI's, Gone For Good?'

Apr 14, 2026

Here's a copy of the owner's manual, everything should be live on the website tomorrow.

• agedhorse

• 

 

[agedhorse]

Post in thread 'Mesa Subway DI's, Gone For Good?'

Apr 14, 2026

Here's a copy of the owner's manual, everything should be live on the website tomorrow.

• agedhorse

• 

Thanks for the assist.

 

[Lowbrow]

Not a joke. I heard from many players (and in discussions here on TB) that the cost and size of the original Subway+ pre-DI made it a complete non-starter for them.

Because of this, we couldn’t continue to justify building them until we could find a way to solve those very significant issues. This is the result, now time will tell if it’s a success or not.

Wow. I’m going to order one out of sheer appreciation for your mindset and ingenuity. Thanks for this, Mesa.

 

[pisces_bass]

As someone who has been Mesa/Subway-curious for a long time, and a regular user of preamps, this is very interesting!

 

[Al Kraft]

Gus and I have been playing prototype versions for quite a while and it the real deal at a true value price. The size is surprisingly small for all the features and build quality is excellent. It is highly reminiscent of a D-800+ kind of voicing with just a little smoother, warmer edge to the notes, while still nicely articulate.

It works great with pedals/multi-effects, is a very convenient stand alone tool for practice with headphones, and is excellent for direct to PA with no amp or cab. What is especially cool is that it runs on a standard Boss type power supply input using anything from 9 to 18 volts and automatically adjusts to either polarity. Headroom is fine at 9 volts but even more is available if you want it with higher input voltages.

Andy and Mesa hit it out of the park with this latest design iteration of the Subway Bass DI-Preamp and the attractive price point is icing on the cake.

 

[GTHintz]

As someone who has been Mesa/Subway-curious for a long time, and a regular user of preamps, this is very interesting!

Unless the price for the og subway or gen1 plus drops due to the new release this will be your best chance to grab one. I love my original subway for the quality of di tone as well as the way it combines a smooth and warm type tone with the ability to get just edgy enough to sound perfect for most music. The mid range is very versatile and the deep switch is great for a quick low range boost. With it on you can still get enough brightness if you want which is special. Also the voicing knob is a great feature for fine tuning your tone. I found that when you eq your tone with the voicing all the way counter clockwise and roll it in it’ll boost the highs and lows slightly while changing the mids. I found a spot where it sounds best and just added a little more mids and it’s perfect. It’s kinda similar to enhance features that swr and eden had on some amp heads. Just a little bit extra to get your tone where you want it. If you want versatility, connectivity, something with its own character but not overwhelming to the point you can’t get in the ballpark of a different preamp, something that can sound smooth but punchy and thick with articulation in the overtones it’s going to be great for you. It’s not my brightest or most HiFi preamp but it’s not the warmest either. It’s kinda just right in the middle and gives you a great platform for tone shaping.

 

[pisces_bass]

Unless the price for the og subway or gen1 plus drops due to the new release this will be your best chance to grab one. I love my original subway for the quality of di tone as well as the way it combines a smooth and warm type tone with the ability to get just edgy enough to sound perfect for most music. The mid range is very versatile and the deep switch is great for a quick low range boost. With it on you can still get enough brightness if you want which is special. Also the voicing knob is a great feature for fine tuning your tone. I found that when you eq your tone with the voicing all the way counter clockwise and roll it in it’ll boost the highs and lows slightly while changing the mids. I found a spot where it sounds best and just added a little more mids and it’s perfect. It’s kinda similar to enhance features that swr and eden had on some amp heads. Just a little bit extra to get your tone where you want it. If you want versatility, connectivity, something with its own character but not overwhelming to the point you can’t get in the ballpark of a different preamp, something that can sound smooth but punchy and thick with articulation in the overtones it’s going to be great for you. It’s not my brightest or most HiFi preamp but it’s not the warmest either. It’s kinda just right in the middle and gives you a great platform for tone shaping.

Thanks for your comments on the Subway sound. the organic saturation and grit from Tech21 and Aguilar preamps are central to my sound. I’m keen to add other flavors, if only for variety.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Would this work?

WD tuner out into Subway Pre +.

Pre+ into A/B switcher A.

WD line out into A/B switcher B.

A/B switcher out into the WD power amp in.

A/B switcher used to select between Pre+ and WD pre.

With something as basic as this or similar.

Amazon.com

 

[GTHintz]

Thanks for your comments on the Subway sound. the organic saturation and grit from Tech21 and Aguilar preamps are central to my sound. I’m keen to add other flavors, if only for variety.

I want to say that if you like the tone hammer the subway will definitely work. If the tone hammer had a low and high mid it would get super close to the subway. I hear a resemblance in the overall tone. Both are great but both have some differences. I like the tightness of the tone hammer and I think the treble is a little more transparent. I like the subway for having a wider mid range control and its rich punchy tone. I think between them it comes down to a few frequency points that differ which creates the difference in tone. I have both pedals and have been a tone hammer fan for years. I used to like how close I could get to some of the mesa sounds with it. Now that I have a mesa I haven’t been using the tone hammer much. I still like having it around in case I want to combine them in the signal. I don’t really care for the ags feature but I can tell you that if you engage it and turn the gain to zero it sounds close to the mesa due to how it smooths out the sound somehow. Like I mentioned earlier on the mesa the voicing knob really ads something as you turn it so that can actually get it closer to the tone hammer set to the normal setting. Non ags. I’ve spent way too much time playing with all the dials but hopefully it’s helpful to others.

 

[TomB]

Would this work?

WD tuner out into Subway Pre +.

Pre+ into A/B switcher A.

WD line out into A/B switcher B.

A/B switcher out into the WD power amp in.

A/B switcher used to select between Pre+ and WD pre.

With something as basic as this or similar.

Amazon.com

Yes it should pass the signals ok but are WD tuner out and MkII line out at the same level? Would headphone out be closer? I suspect you’d need to juggle to match the volumes but you’d have a single master volume on the WD when you’re done. S/N ratio differences might show up in headphones, but all this gear is pretty quiet, IME. Let us know!

 

[DJ Bebop]

Yes it should pass the signals ok but are WD tuner out and MkII line out at the same level? Would headphone out be closer? I suspect you’d need to juggle to match the volumes but you’d have a single master volume on the WD when you’re done. S/N ratio differences might show up in headphones, but all this gear is pretty quiet, IME. Let us know!

The tuner out is like a pass-through from the WD instrument in. That's what I need to go from the WD instrument in with my bass, into the instrument in of the Subway Pre. I would think the line out of the Subway Pre and the line out of the WD would be at the same level, not counting the differences between tone, gain, and master volume settings on each one. It is those individual outputs that would go into the switcher and the single switcher output goes into the WD power amp. At least that is my theory

 

[TomB]

The tuner out is like a pass-through from the WD instrument in. That's what I need to go from the WD instrument in with my bass, into the instrument in of the Subway Pre. I would think the line out of the Subway Pre and the line out of the WD would be at the same level, not counting the differences between tone, gain, and master volume settings on each one. It is those individual outputs that would go into the switcher and the single switcher output goes into the WD power amp. At least that is my theory

Yeah, sounds good. I didn’t know tuner out was inst level but of course it makes sense.

 

[TonH]

Would this work?

WD tuner out into Subway Pre +.

Pre+ into A/B switcher A.

WD line out into A/B switcher B.

A/B switcher out into the WD power amp in.

A/B switcher used to select between Pre+ and WD pre.

With something as basic as this or similar.

Amazon.com

I am not shure this is going to work.

I would try this:

WD tuner into subway Pre+
Pre+ preamp out into A/B switcher A
WD effect send to A/B switcher B (this is a signal after the WD preamp)
A/B switcher out into effect return of the WD


A jack plug into the effects return switches off the connection between the WD preamp and the power amp.

Edit: I just ordered a A/B switch that will arrive tomorrow. I let you know if it works with my Subway Preamp + Mk I.

 

[pisces_bass]

I want to say that if you like the tone hammer the subway will definitely work. If the tone hammer had a low and high mid it would get super close to the subway. I hear a resemblance in the overall tone. Both are great but both have some differences. I like the tightness of the tone hammer and I think the treble is a little more transparent. I like the subway for having a wider mid range control and its rich punchy tone. I think between them it comes down to a few frequency points that differ which creates the difference in tone. I have both pedals and have been a tone hammer fan for years. I used to like how close I could get to some of the mesa sounds with it. Now that I have a mesa I haven’t been using the tone hammer much. I still like having it around in case I want to combine them in the signal. I don’t really care for the ags feature but I can tell you that if you engage it and turn the gain to zero it sounds close to the mesa due to how it smooths out the sound somehow. Like I mentioned earlier on the mesa the voicing knob really ads something as you turn it so that can actually get it closer to the tone hammer set to the normal setting. Non ags. I’ve spent way too much time playing with all the dials but hopefully it’s helpful to others.

This is good stuff! I appreciate the comparisons. I use both modes of the tone hammer depending on the gig. If drums are involved, I turn AGS on. The baked in HPF/LPF keeps me centered in the mix. I don’t shy away from boosting gain and turning the EQ knobs. For my bands, a thick, gritty low end fits. Both Aguilar and Tech21 do it well, without adding mud to the mix.

In the long ago, I gravitated towards Trace Elliot and SWR amps for their very punchy clean sounds. I’m thinking this approach to bass sounds is probably closer to what I’ll get with the Subway.

 

[agedhorse]

Would this work?

WD tuner out into Subway Pre +.

Pre+ into A/B switcher A.

WD line out into A/B switcher B.

A/B switcher out into the WD power amp in.

A/B switcher used to select between Pre+ and WD pre.

With something as basic as this or similar.

Amazon.com

Yes, this should work fine. I assume you mean WD effects send, which is a line level output.

I am not shure this is going to work.

I would try this:

WD tuner into subway Pre+
Pre+ preamp out into A/B switcher A
WD effect send to A/B switcher B (this is a signal after the WD preamp)
A/B switcher out into effect return of the WD


A jack plug into the effects return switches off the connection between the WD preamp and the power amp.

Edit: I just ordered a A/B switch that will arrive tomorrow. I let you know if it works with my Subway Preamp + Mk I.

Yes this will work,

The Tuner output is a non-inverting instrument level output, I believe the only control that affects this output is the active/passive gain scaling.

 

[TonH]

Yes, this should work fine. I assume you mean WD effects send, which is a line level output.


Yes this will work,

The Tuner output is a non-inverting instrument level output, I believe the only control that affects this output is the active/passive gain scaling.

The block diagram says it all:

 

[DustyBottom]

Is there a way to use the A/B switch on the D350 or limited to only being able to use the Aux In to bypass the D350 preamp with the Subway Pre+ since there is no effects send/return option? Not that I have a need to do this, mostly just curious since this topic came up…

 

[agedhorse]

Is there a way to use the A/B switch on the D350 or limited to only being able to use the Aux In to bypass the D350 preamp with the Subway Pre+ since there is no effects send/return option? Not that I have a need to do this, mostly just curious since this topic came up…

Need to use the aux input with a 1/4” tip-sleeve cable (not TRS). Turn the input gain control down on the amp to use the preamp, the master volume becomes the power amp volume.

 

[Richard Lindsey]

I have an OG Subway Pre DI+ that I picked up used, but at this new price for the Mk II, it's tempting to pick up a backup. I may be one of the few who might miss the second XLR output. My usual way of using the DI+ live has been to run one XLR output to the Amp In connection on a Quilter BB800 (which is XLR) and reserve the other XLR out for the house. But from the sound of it, a TRS-to-XLR connection from the balanced 1/4" Mesa output to the Quilter amp input would work just as well, in which case I could just use the Mk II the same way, with a different cable.