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Double Bass Suggestions for a Preamp?

#24
Hey Guy's
Im totally new here at the Talkbass forum and just switched to playing UB after 8 years of Electric.
I play in a 4piece band playing songs "the Paladins"-style. We're quite louder than you would think. So I definitly aint hoping to find a "my UB but louder" sound. Big question for me is:
.1
I need a pre-amp!
My local music store sold me an Fishman Bp-100 piezo with an output impedance of 10M Ohm. (after reading this forum 'bout the Bp-100 im not so happy.. but its already paid for!)
I don't have the option to test Pre-amps or anything so i'll go for what you guys tell me.
Im planning on using a Direct out on the pre so i can go balanced to a PA power amp i use to power my speakers
what I found on Pre amps for URB is very limited.
- $259 D-TAR Equinox Three Band Parametric Equalizer with Notch Filter inp= 4.7M^
$169,- Fishman pro eq platinum bass outinst jack= 1k^ XLR=600^ inp= 10m^
$159,- LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI bass sweep notch sweep mid high eq's inp 10M^

For wich the Equinox is rated a 2Mohm input on Bob's site an 4.7 at the spec's on the Dtar-site
(Anyone using a Equinox and Bp100 for his UB?)
Big advantage in the spec's of this pre are the 2 Notch filters to fight feedback. (remember my high volume band)
Will i need a Buffer to match the 10Megohm out to the 2Meg input?
The Fishman pre gets bad revieuws by the Jazz playing people here, but i kinda like the spec's provided especially the Compressor function

Third was the baggs wich actually is made for guitar. and has his EQ points based on that. (anyone experience with this?)

Does anyone know of a better Preamp?

2.
Has anyone Ever made a accoustic Freq graph of a UB and posted it on the net?

That will be all for today..
 
#25
Hey Touch --

Saw from your profile you also have an iamp 500 combo.

How does this combo amp compare to the power amp/cab rig in your opinion...do you still need more power than the iamp can provide???

Jason
previously from (and soon to be again) Fort Collins
 
#30
I've been using a Summit Audio TD-100 preamp and it has taken the sound of my uprights and electrics to a whole new level. I rarely use eq anymore on my amp. That honky and biting piezo pu characteristic that you try in vain to eq out on your amp is automatically eliminated. My latest steady gig involves playing an Eminence EUB straight into the TD-100 and di'ed out to the PA (we use in-ear monitors) and it just sounds great. To be honest a few months ago I contemplated selling the Eminence 'cause the sound was bummin' me out compared to my full size db, but since I've run it through the Summit, I'm in love again!

I've used an AI Focus, a K&K preamp, Fishman preamp, Epifani UL502 amp, Kern IP-777 preamp. Great gear, but the Summit seems to get to the heart of the matter the best and easiest. I would suggest trying one out through Sweetwater, Musicians Friend, ect. and find out what your instrument REALLY sounds like. I would have saved so much money had I started with one of these units.
 
#31
hensonbass said:
I've been using a Summit Audio TD-100 preamp and it has taken the sound of my uprights and electrics to a whole new level. I rarely use eq anymore on my amp. That honky and biting piezo pu characteristic that you try in vain to eq out on your amp is automatically eliminated. My latest steady gig involves playing an Eminence EUB straight into the TD-100 and di'ed out to the PA (we use in-ear monitors) and it just sounds great. To be honest a few months ago I contemplated selling the Eminence 'cause the sound was bummin' me out compared to my full size db, but since I've run it through the Summit, I'm in love again!

I've used an AI Focus, a K&K preamp, Fishman preamp, Epifani UL502 amp, Kern IP-777 preamp. Great gear, but the Summit seems to get to the heart of the matter the best and easiest. I would suggest trying one out through Sweetwater, Musicians Friend, ect. and find out what your instrument REALLY sounds like. I would have saved so much money had I started with one of these units.
Click to expand...

Did you ever play your Prescott thru it?
BG
 
#33
Rickske said:
thanx for all the responses so far, does anyone have an SPL/Freq graph for an upright?
The Summit TD-100 is a little more expensive i see.. also i think im gonna miss having EQ controll.

Rick
Click to expand...
An instrument doesn't really have a frequency response per se, like one would expect from something like an amp or speaker. With those devices, the "input" is well defined, and can be modeled by a sum of sine waves.

There are ways to characterize the response of instrument, such as a well defined input provided by a device called a force hammer -- sort of an engineering approach to analyzing structural vibrations. It's not musically useful in any way that I can think of.
 
#34
I've never heard a better sounding preamp than the Avalon U5--it sounds greta with everything. I had a jazz gig not long ago where I did some doubling on guitar, and I just plugged the guitar into the avalon and used the same Epifani cab I was using for the bass. The U5 just plain sounds good. It has some eq options which are effectoive, but to be honest I almost always just use it flat, and don't really miss the eq
 
#35
Three high-end units that come to mind, for me, are the Summit Audio TD-100, the Avalon U5, and the REDDI (review at [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]). Admittedly out of those I have only tried the U5 myself. It's a great piece of equipment, but I have no reason to doubt the TD-100 or the REDDI is any less impressive. One thing I will say, is that in terms of inputs/outputs the TD-100 seems to offer the most flexibility, but in terms of EQ, the Avalon appears to offer the most. The REDDI, from what I have read, is a simple unit that does one thing, and does it really well.
 
#37
fdeck said:
An instrument doesn't really have a frequency response per se, like one would expect from something like an amp or speaker. With those devices, the "input" is well defined, and can be modeled by a sum of sine waves.
Click to expand...

Okay but you can say that the low E is 41hz and when playing a 5string Ebass your lowB is like 30hz? So did U ever record a UB track and took a freq graph from your bass (thru the pre-amp-DI-and/or whatever kind of dynamic's)
Would sure be cool to see differences between a Kay and my cheap multiplex hoffman for instance and using the same bass/equipment/settings and player u could form a really nice set of graph's to read as bedtime stories ;) Using a mesuring mic to first record the un amplified bass.
Not to mention design and eq a bass rig to really make the amplified signal "your bass but louder"

I am very curious for comparing SPL- charts for upright players who use a highpass to see what it does over the amplified spectrum.

Rick
 
#38
Rickske said:
Not to mention design and eq a bass rig to really make the amplified signal "your bass but louder"
Click to expand...
That's really a touchy subject.... Personally I'm not convinced that I want my amp to sound just like my bass does acoustically. In a live situation, something that can cut into the mix a bit without making the group sound muddy is more useful. On the other hand, it is obviously nice to have an amp whose EQ is well-voiced for our instrument. At the moment, I think Walter Woods has done the best job of that. He undoubtedly knows about the important frequency ranges for the Double Bass. Otherwise, his preamp wouldn't sound so nice! So I think the type of study that you described has already been done. Unfortunately, every bass is different....
 
#39
Rickske said:
Okay but you can say that the low E is 41hz and when playing a 5string Ebass your lowB is like 30hz?
Click to expand...
Yes, that's definitely true.
So did U ever record a UB track and took a freq graph from your bass (thru the pre-amp-DI-and/or whatever kind of dynamic's)
Would sure be cool to see differences between a Kay and my cheap multiplex hoffman for instance and using the same bass/equipment/settings and player u could form a really nice set of graph's to read as bedtime stories ;) Using a mesuring mic to first record the un amplified bass.
Not to mention design and eq a bass rig to really make the amplified signal "your bass but louder"

I am very curious for comparing SPL- charts for upright players who use a highpass to see what it does over the amplified spectrum.

Rick
Click to expand...
Those are definitely interesting thoughts. I have looked at waveforms, mainly to figure out what is getting fed into a speaker from a power handling standpoint, but an actual analysis of tone might uncover some useful results.
 
#40
Does anyone have any experience with this unit as a preamp for DB? [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I'm looking for a pre and a sound guy I work with said he had recently worked with a bassist who used one and that it was great. I'd love to get a player's perspective though, and he didn't have the number of the guy who used it.

I found lots of great info on other pres (Fishman, K&K, Raven Labs, etc.) on the forum, but nothing on the BBE.

Oh, and I'm using it with a Fishman Full Circle pickup,

Thanks
-b
 

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