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TC RH 450 users question

Fishheadjoe

Fishheadjoe

May 5, 2008
3,490
6,362
Toronto Canada
#1
I have a RH450 that I use almost exclusively for rehearsals, it's easier to schlep than my Marshall. This Xmas, Santa brought me a Tech 21 VT Bass pedal and I am wanting to use the pedal as my pre-amp, instead of the overly complicated pre in the 450.
After looking at TC's site, it looks like I can plug my bass cable into the Power Amp in, bypassing the Pre.
My question, has anyone else done this and to what degree would you describe it's success? I haven't had an opportunity to try it out as of yet and based on our rehearsal schedule, it will be a week or two before I get a chance.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Fishheadjoe
 
#2
Fishheadjoe said:
I have a RH450 that I use almost exclusively for rehearsals, it's easier to schlep than my Marshall. This Xmas, Santa brought me a Tech 21 VT Bass pedal and I am wanting to use the pedal as my pre-amp, instead of the overly complicated pre in the 450.
After looking at TC's site, it looks like I can plug my bass cable into the Power Amp in, bypassing the Pre.
My question, has anyone else done this and to what degree would you describe it's success? I haven't had an opportunity to try it out as of yet and based on our rehearsal schedule, it will be a week or two before I get a chance.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Fishheadjoe
Click to expand...

I've bypassed the preamp on my RH, using a Zoom B3, and it works fine.

As far as "success" goes, having the B3 led me to try a number of things that I wouldn't have necessarily sought to do if it weren't in my hands; things that seem counter-intuitive and redundant...some of them produced results that were surprising (to me) and what I'd term a higher level of success than running a pre into a power amp...although trying the various sims through a Crest ProLite was interesting.

Running an amp sim through through another pre isn't something I would have set out to do, but I found that the B3's SVT and LM3 sims were a fantastic pairing with certain heads. I've heard similar things about the VT. That wasn't so much the case with the RH, but I've found that the B3's SansAmp sim is a perfect sweetener for the RH.

You have it in your hands. I'd say don't avoid running it through the RH's pre because it seems counter-intuitive and/or redundant...try it. Try it through the return. See what shakes out.
 
#3
Thanks Dr P!
I did try running it through the 450's pre and I wasn't at all happy with my results. I am more than willing to admit that my eqing skills are limited at best, but I was challenged to get a tone that I like, even after much knob turning.
I am curious to find out if avoiding the 450 pre will also allow me to avoid the power management software the amp employs?
Thanks for your response.
Fishheadjoe
 

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