The Great Bass Preamp/DI Comparison

[keatz]

After some reading up on how the EQ works on the SLO and dialing it in....well....um....It's good! Really really good. It's not better than the Shaw, but I can make it sound as good...and the SLO does a better job of giving you some break up if you dial in the gain.

Here is a clip of me playing some scales so you can hear different frequency ranges. Both clips are recorded from a TC Electronics Ditto looper so the same playing dynamics and such are heard in both clips. They are also going directly to each preamp...no other pedals in between other than a tuner. Each preamp is going XLR out to my A&H ZEDi10 mixer into garage band with no processing. There is no cab sim engaged on the SLO and the treble switch is in the "neutral" position.

The bass is a Dingwall combustion. I used it because it is the fullest range "modern" sounding bass I have which will show the mid scoop thing better than any of my others. It's also active so the high end is a bit brighter.

Ya'll....this little preamp is a strong contender. I thought it might be a bit of snake oil...but it's good. Will it boot the Shaw off my board. Eh...I don't know. The Shaw's DIs are top notch and it has a 9v power supply built in too. At this point, it's going to come down to features, not sound.

I'm going to need to spend some time with the the SLO and play with some cab sims too. But I can safely say...the SLO is all it's cracked up to be. I've owned a Noble too...and the SLO is punching above its weight.

The Shaw definitely has alot more punch here

 

[Kenneth92]

Oh yeah!? Well let me tell you that I did a side by side comparison of the noble preamp, and Dr. J sparrow and i gotta say that the noble preamp was better.

 

[chadhargis]

Oh yeah!? Well let me tell you that I did a side by side comparison of the noble preamp, and Dr. J sparrow and i gotta say that the noble preamp was better.

The Noble and Shaw are both PREMIUM boutique pieces of kit. They are both "better" than the SLO to my ear. But the SLO is very, very close and in a mix you won't tell the difference.

I've said it before...if I were tracking for a living....I'd use the Shaw. But playing live, with only PA support...the SLO is lighter, takes up less space, has cab sims, and can be driven to overdrive where the Noble and Shaw really can't unless you feed them a ridiculous hot signal. All you do on the SLO is turn up the gain, and turn down the volume and you get that nice crunchy overdrive.

I just popped in a Mullard balanced triode tube. That's another thing that I like about the SLO...the 12AX7 tubes are still in production. The 12SL7GT in the Shaw is NOS only. No new ones being made. When they are gone...they are gone.

 

[Btbp]

This came up on Reverb today Retrofier™ Bass Glow™ Pedal | Retrofier

 

[sonofshel]

This came up on Reverb today Retrofier™ Bass Glow™ Pedal | Retrofier

Very cool...very interested

 

[chadhargis]

This came up on Reverb today Retrofier™ Bass Glow™ Pedal | Retrofier

That's an odd duck. It doesn't appear to have a tube in it, but professes "tube tone". There is no EQ, no XLR out, and nothing that really distinguishes it as a "preamp". Looks to be more of an overdrive pedal to me.

 

[Spearsy]

That's an odd duck. It doesn't appear to have a tube in it, but professes "tube tone". There is no EQ, no XLR out, and nothing that really distinguishes it as a "preamp". Looks to be more of an overdrive pedal to me.

FWIW - Quimper Electronic Systems LLC - Port Townsend WA

 

[ThisYouCanTrust]

I've not been able to try the Bassics unit, but I have spent some time with the API Tranzformer. I love API stuff, but as an all-in-one compressor/EQ unit...I was a little underwhelmed. I only got to spend about 10 minutes with it, and it sounded fine, but didn't just blow me away. I'd have bought it if it did. I could have gotten a sweet deal on it at GearFest.

I'd also love to find a GK Plex to test.

That's fine, I guess if your top3 is shaw/noble/slo then api/bassics is nothing for you anyway

 

[Joeyanton28]

Has anyone compared the Arkham Zephyr to any of the top 3? (Noble, Shaw, SLO)

 

[chadhargis]

Has anyone compared the Arkham Zephyr to any of the top 3? (Noble, Shaw, SLO)

I’ve owned a Noble and Shaw, but I’m not familiar with the Arkham Zephyr. Looks like it’s a rack mount unit versus a pedal format so it’s a little different beast. Love that it has a built end HPF.

 

[Yogi Bear]

I'm new to the pedal preamp scene, but very interested. Can I power a passive cab with a preamp pedal into something like a baby sumo? Or would I be better served going with a rack mount pre..?

 

[57pbass]

I'm new to the pedal preamp scene, but very interested. Can I power a passive cab with a preamp pedal into something like a baby sumo? Or would I be better served going with a rack mount pre..?

That should work perfectly... so many options. I’m using a powered cabinet which works great. I have a few pre amp pedals and an Alembic F1X which is racked that allow me to drastically change up my sound by just switching pre amps.

 

[chadhargis]

I've been wanting to go the powered cab route for a couple of reasons. My bass rig sits in my basement under a blanket 99.99999% of the time. Using something like a QSC powered speaker as my bass amp if I ever need one would also give me a portable speaker I could use for other occasions such as playing music on my deck or at a party using an MP3 player.

On another note...I found a good deal on a used LR Baggs Stadium DI and have it in route. I don't anticipate it knocking the Shift Line off my board, but it might be a viable option for a backup preamp to keep in my gigbag in case I have an issue with my board.

 

[57pbass]

I've been wanting to go the powered cab route for a couple of reasons. My bass rig sits in my basement under a blanket 99.99999% of the time. Using something like a QSC powered speaker as my bass amp if I ever need one would also give me a portable speaker I could use for other occasions such as playing music on my deck or at a party using an MP3 player.

On another note...I found a good deal on a used LR Baggs Stadium DI and have it in route. I don't anticipate it knocking the Shift Line off my board, but it might be a viable option for a backup preamp to keep in my gigbag in case I have an issue with my board.

Bag End makes powered 10/12/15 and multi speaker powered cabs. All use the same Minima One amp which is 1350 @ 4 ohms and 675 @ 8 ohms. Super high quality and they sound amazing. I have two powered 15 cabinets..might get a 12?
https://bagend.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Minima-One1.pdf

 

[ThisYouCanTrust]

I'm new to the pedal preamp scene, but very interested. Can I power a passive cab with a preamp pedal into something like a baby sumo? Or would I be better served going with a rack mount pre..?

This is exactly what I'm doing, slo3 into baby sumo into big twin2.

 

[chadhargis]

LR Baggs Stadium DI Review

I received the Stadium DI today and put it through it's paces. It has some nice features that are very different than the old run of the mill "B/M/T" controls. I didn't find the drive or the compressor fit my particular tastes, but I was able to get a good tone out of it fairly easy.

That said, it's not in the same league with the SLO, Shaw, Noble, etc. I enjoyed playing with it, but it's up in the classifieds now. If you want an affordable, feature rich preamp/DI...it's a good candidate.

 

[scubaduba]

I'm interested in this one: Bass Preamp BP-2

 

[chadhargis]

I'm interested in this one: Bass Preamp BP-2

Looks interesting....as does this for around $100.

Harley Benton Custom Line Bass DI Expander

 

[BassBeginer64]

Been trying to catch more information on the Julie [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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[tedsalt]

Been trying to catch more information on the Julie [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Now why'd you go and do that? I was just feeling good about what I have