Got a high gain Mullard 12AX7 swapped into the Oracle. Mummm....such a nice round bottom end.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
The Great Bass Preamp/DI Comparison
- Thread starter chadhargis
- Start date
@Regis Rocha uses a Genalex GoldLion in his Zephyr
Arkham Zephyr Tube Bass Preamp
I haven't tried anything different yet, although it sounds like the Oracle is real easy to swap tubes.
Last edited:
Ok...so I have to say that maybe I am experiencing some placebo effect or something, but the Mullard tube REALLY sounds good. I had a tested and verified Mullard in my SLO and it sounded great. When I got the Oracle it sounded good, but not leaps and bounds better than the SLO. But on equal footing, with the same tube....the Oracle slays! Tube Depot will test tubes and find you a high gain example with low microphonics for a few bucks. They sent me a good one because I was astounded at how much what better it sounds.
Like I said, maybe it's placebo effect, but the guy who got my SLO swapped the Mullard I put in out for another tube, didn't like it, and put the Mullard back in. For a new tube, the Mullards work great. Something about them I really dig.
Like I said, maybe it's placebo effect, but the guy who got my SLO swapped the Mullard I put in out for another tube, didn't like it, and put the Mullard back in. For a new tube, the Mullards work great. Something about them I really dig.
So you are using a new Mullard?
If you think that sounds good find a good specimen from the 60's.
If you think that sounds good find a good specimen from the 60's.
`
Keep me posted on your tube experiments. I think I'm going to be picking up an Oracle next month at some point!
Keep me posted on your tube experiments. I think I'm going to be picking up an Oracle next month at some point!
So for tube pedal-board friendly pre's there's the Noble, Oracle and SLO that I'm familiar with. Which of those (or what others) do you guys know of that actually get a little "squishy" with an old-school, round bottom end? Or do you need a tube rectifier and the whole tube compliment to get that sort of thing?
Yes..the $20 price tag interested me more than the $100+ price tag for a NOS. I'm sure the NOS sounds great, but it's sort of a "don't know what your missing" thing.
I could always spring for the $550 "Black Sable" Mullard. Well, $550 is for a matched pair, so I could find a buddy to split it and only cost $225.
BLACK SABLE Mullard ECC83 / 12AX7
But maybe not!
I really want an Oracle. The remarks above make me think that when I can finally afford one I should take advantage of their thing where you pay an extra $25 and they select an NOS tube for you.
I need to record a clip of the Oracle with the $20 Mullard. I'll find a really mellow song with nice long notes in it so you can hear the bass. It's hard to imagine things getting much better in a mix that what I am running now. I was really happy with the SLO, and the Oracle is playing in the Noble and Shaw space for tone.
Best analogy I can give you is the SLO is like a Ford Expedition. Rides well, tows well, and has lots of comfort and luxury goodies. You'd be perfectly happy with one until you took a Lincoln Navigator for a spin. Suddenly the Expedition feels cheap. The Oracle (Noble or Shaw) is the Navigator .
Ok...here's a good old mellow Gordon Lightfoot tune that has a great bass part. Not as simple to play as one might imagine. I kept pushing time on it. Sorry about that, but it's just a demo.
Here's the signal chain:
Bluesman Vintage P/J (passive) --> All Things Equal buffer --> FEA Labs DE-CL compressor --> [sfx]microThumpinator --> Arkham Oracle --> RNDI --> Allen & Heath Zedi10 Mixer --> GarageBand
The track had low end cut sloping steeply from 500hz down. Poor Gord's vocals got thinned out too...sorry. Still got a little bleed through of the bass on the track at the beginning.
I recorded this with no effects in GarageBand. Just the signal from my board. What you are hearing is a VERY small amount of compression (if any as I was not digging in on this tune) and the Oracle.
Dropbox - Oracle Demo - If you could read my mind.wav - Simplify your life
Here's the signal chain:
Bluesman Vintage P/J (passive) --> All Things Equal buffer --> FEA Labs DE-CL compressor --> [sfx]microThumpinator --> Arkham Oracle --> RNDI --> Allen & Heath Zedi10 Mixer --> GarageBand
The track had low end cut sloping steeply from 500hz down. Poor Gord's vocals got thinned out too...sorry. Still got a little bleed through of the bass on the track at the beginning.
I recorded this with no effects in GarageBand. Just the signal from my board. What you are hearing is a VERY small amount of compression (if any as I was not digging in on this tune) and the Oracle.
Dropbox - Oracle Demo - If you could read my mind.wav - Simplify your life
Last edited:
I love that warmth you're getting on the Gordon Lightfoot tune ... Really rich sounds. It makes me want the Oracle even more!
It was very, very nice. I love the head I had him work on, but I was wishing I was leaving with that B150 instead. Plus he was a very cool and nice person to deal with, in addition to his obvious talent in building and design.
Cool. I've never played through the Shaw preamp. I've played his B150 tube head before though, when he first created it. I got him to do some work on an amp when I was living in Nashville, and he had it set up in the shop. He asked if I wanted to try it, and of course yes, I did.
It was very, very nice. I love the head I had him work on, but I was wishing I was leaving with that B150 instead. Plus he was a very cool and nice person to deal with, in addition to his obvious talent in building and design.
After all this time and all this good reading, I still can't find a reason to even look for another preamp. I'm really happy with my SLO Mk3S for a number of reasons we already discussed here.
The only other preamp that caught my attention is the Trickfish Minnow. I find its EQ way more versatile than the SLO and it sounds very, very good imho. The lack of a tube doesn't bother me as long as the tone is good.
The only reason why I didn' buy one yet is the lack of IRs, which I use all the time with my SLO. I find IRs essential when going direct and/or when practicing at home, the overall tone is always much more balanced and pleasant to my ears, especially when using distortion and effects in general. I'm perfectly able to get a decent tone with any preamp, even without IRs, but they usually make things easier for me.
BUT... I see a lot of people here that don't use IRs at all, even people who perform live a lot more often than me, so I'm curious to hear from you guys why do you prefer to send a raw signal to PA instead of using IRs.
I also have the impression that built-in IRs are not a standard for new bass preamps. I was sure that this function was about to become the new industry standard, but apparently I was wrong. I see tons of new bass preamps on the market witout this function, and I'm sure there's a reason.
The only other preamp that caught my attention is the Trickfish Minnow. I find its EQ way more versatile than the SLO and it sounds very, very good imho. The lack of a tube doesn't bother me as long as the tone is good.
The only reason why I didn' buy one yet is the lack of IRs, which I use all the time with my SLO. I find IRs essential when going direct and/or when practicing at home, the overall tone is always much more balanced and pleasant to my ears, especially when using distortion and effects in general. I'm perfectly able to get a decent tone with any preamp, even without IRs, but they usually make things easier for me.
BUT... I see a lot of people here that don't use IRs at all, even people who perform live a lot more often than me, so I'm curious to hear from you guys why do you prefer to send a raw signal to PA instead of using IRs.
I also have the impression that built-in IRs are not a standard for new bass preamps. I was sure that this function was about to become the new industry standard, but apparently I was wrong. I see tons of new bass preamps on the market witout this function, and I'm sure there's a reason.
My guess is that the underlying reasons for this might be similar to the reasons for which many sound techs prefer to get DI feed instead of miked cab: they want to have the whole frequency range to work with.
I don't have IRs available, but I do use cab sim on my EBS preamp usually...
Also note that number of players has been using high pass and low pass filtering recently (either as part of amp/preamp features or in the form of a separate pedal) which can substitute for cab IRs...
I use HPF pedal and use LPF on my amp...
I use HPF pedal and use LPF on my amp...
