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The Preamp Subjective

#61
Only ever used 2.
Tech 21 Sansamp rack mount
Line Six BassPod that I use now
I liked the Sansamp better, but it doesn't have the convenience of the pedal controls. The only issue I have is when I stomp to kick effects in or out, it is difficult not to hit the volume pedal and turn yourself off. I would like a way to kick the pedal in or out.
 
#62
Home-build Albert Kruezer JFET preamp, modified to include FX send with pre/post EQ switch and additional line in on the back to enable parallel FX processing. Invalid Link Removed
Flexible, cheap and clean with loads of headroom and easy to adjust/modify to personal requirements.
 
#63
Let me add a new one to the list:

Peavey TB Raxx:
A unit from 1989 (and only from 1989). 1 rack unit, 2 12AX7 tube stages, passive fender tone stack and an active post-master EQ. I love that little thing! It is noisy, but the unit sounds oh so nice
complete rack

complete rack

  • Media owner vbchaos
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Also on that picure:

ART ProChannel II
A pre-amp that get s much of love among bassists lately. I eventually switched to the TB Raxx because the ART has no "baked in" sound. It is not sterile but very very clean. No tube overdrive possible. The 4-band EQ with parameters on all 4 bands lets you cover all frequencies you need. It can supply phantom power (e.g. to drive a ToneHammer in front of it) and has a well-working compressor

I am still hunting down a V-Type preamp. It will be mine, oh yeah. Someday, it will be mine! A JGR is out of my league unfortunately.
 
#66
Wow bump up on this thread, sorry I missed it in it's prime time. I've been trading preamps for years now.

For me it's been:
Eden Navigator - I've had four Eden Navigators, I love the versatility but in the end the noise floor is just to high. If anybody knew how to mod one and bring it down to something reasonable I'd be back in game for sure. But one of my favorite live rigs I've ever owned was an Eden Navigator going into a Peavey IPR1600 driving one or two Bergantino AE112's. Lightweight and full featured at it's finest.

Demeter HPB-1 - I've tried to like it three times. I think in the end for my taste it was just too clean.

Demeter VTBP-201 - I had one briefly again just did not float my boat but I liked it better than the HBP, much warmer by comparison.

Alembic F2-B - I've had two of them. Both very old. The first one I got in a pawn shop for $20 (this is in recent years BTW) it was a total ugly duckling. The second I never really used but did send it back to Alembic where they got it all working back to spec. Cool pre, just never really caught on for me.

Aguilar Tone Hammer - Next to the Navigator's this is the preamp I used the longest and a year and some change. The AGS circuit was always very tough to control for me. I wanted it on sometimes but could never get it to come to a level which I thought was acceptable, too much boost.

SansAmp VT Bass 2 - Playing director or through an amp; this is my current always on pedal when I'm playing my 50's style P-bass. It sounds great and for my taste all the controls do just the right thing for my ear. Wondering if should have bought the DI, Programmable or perhaps even the rack mount version. This is my current setup and as part of this setup I've got the Fairfield Circuitry Barbershop in front of it in the signal change for when I want just a touch more distortion based sustain. I'm having a lot of fun with the rig and I don't have any real money invested in it by comparison to the above. In the past couple of weeks I've added a Summit TD-100 as the DI and never gotten more positive comments on my tone.

I'm still thinking about giving the Tone Hammer another go and then I'm kind of curious to try an UA LA-610 or some kind of Neve 1073 knock off like a Vintech or something a bit more pricey.

Great thread - really glad I found this one.
 
#67
Loving this thread and glad it got bumped back up! I do a lot of doubling gigs so I'm always looking for either two channel pres, or two smaller pres with an ABY box. My current ones are;

Michael Pope MPP2-
Works really well for upright, pretty good for electric, I can switch instruments very quickly and the DI is stellar.

Reiner 6SL7 Tube pre-
My favorite electric bass pre by a mile. Huge and open sounding. Also the best electric bass recording pre I've ever owned

Aguilar Tone Hammer Pre/DI-

Shockingly good and dirt cheap. I use it on my smallish doubling board all the time.

Grace Designs FELIX-

My favorite upright pre to date. Two channels, mic or line inputs. Can blend channels, great DI. Works really great on electric too if you like a squeaky clean SS sound.

My smaller local gig board uses the FELIX and the Aggie. Everything on the board, including the amp
image.jpg

Sets up and tears down super quick and sounds terrific, IMO :)
 
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#71
I'm going to re-ignite this thread as it was a good one.

I've had a couple more preamps since, even demo'd a Monique.

Mindprint EN-Voice Mic preamp - This is a bit of a rare bird to find anywhere, but there was a follow-up to it that is still available. This was pretty deadly German made mic preamp that works great for bass.
It's got massive gain in comparison to many dedicated bass preamps. However, it was fairly scooped sounding without anything else running on it, where the signal shouldn't have been affected at all.

Aguilar DB680 - This is a fantastic sounding preamp. Probably one of the best pre's for bass I've ever played. Ironically, I just sold it today, but it's mainly because I wanted someone else to check it out and continue my tone quest.
I still have a strong interest in trying a Millennia STT-1 and/or TD-1 and can't afford to keep a collection as I go, so one has to go.

Yamaha PB-1 - Well, I have this preamp given to me. It just sat in one of racks for a while. Over the past couple weeks, I've given it a good run and man is it awesome!
It definitely has the Fender tone stack going on, so you have to turn up the eq so you get output, but the two biggest thing I found with this preamp is just how clean it is and how its incredibly noise free.
I don't think I'll ever let this one go, but who would when it was free!

Monique Dove Cage - I didn't get to own this one, but was able to demo it for a couple hours at a friends house. This is a pretty killer preamp that does live up to the hype on this website.
Sounds really good, I just found it didn't have the output I liked, even with the one knob pulled out to give a boost. I might try this one at home if I get the opportunity, but I'm thinking it's not really my thing. I'm thinking pure solid state is really my thing. So, I'm maybe a Glockenklang Bass Art might be a good dedicated bass preamp of choice.
 
#72
bassballs27 said:
Yamaha PB-1 - Well, I have this preamp given to me. It just sat in one of racks for a while. Over the past couple weeks, I've given it a good run and man is it awesome!
It definitely has the Fender tone stack going on, so you have to turn up the eq so you get output,
Click to expand...

Why do you say you have to turn up the EQ to get output? That preamp has more gain than Santa has elves!
 
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#74
Doug Parent said:
Why do you say you have to turn up the EQ to get output? That preamp has more gain than Santa has elves!
Click to expand...

If bass, mid, and treble are all set to 0 you get no output. That's what I meant.

And the output is amazing. The DI is just as spectacular too.

I'm not sure why these things sell for like $100 to $200. It's a true sleeper preamp, that's for sure.
 
#76
bassballs27 said:
I'm really more into rack mount preamps to be honest.
Click to expand...

That's cool, I just thought some of these newer pres could appeal to someone :)

I only used rack pres until recently. Amps are getting so small I just mounted a few things onto a pedalboard that sits on my cab, including the amp itself. Works pretty darn well. That came about because my favorite upright pre so far doesn't come in the rack format. Otherwise, I'd be right there with you!
 
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#78
dukeorock said:
That's cool, I just thought some of these newer pres could appeal to someone :)

I only used rack pres until recently. Amps are getting so small I just mounted a few things onto a pedalboard that sits on my cab, including the amp itself. Works pretty darn well. That came about because my favorite upright pre so far doesn't come in the rack format. Otherwise, I'd be right there with you!
Click to expand...

I'm thinking my dis-interest in pedal style preamps started with my Bass Driver DI that never seemed to have enough output. And why was that? Because they power amp I was using had a very high sensitivity level! Dough!

But, I seemed to have better luck with rack mount preamps. The Tonehammer pedal does interest me a bit.......but I don't think I'm going to try another Aguilar amp again.
 
#79
bassballs27 said:
If bass, mid, and treble are all set to 0 you get no output. That's what I meant.

And the output is amazing. The DI is just as spectacular too.

I'm not sure why these things sell for like $100 to $200. It's a true sleeper preamp, that's for sure.
Click to expand...

Oh ...thats right I forgot the EQ section is active. (It was 1986 last I used this preamp lol!)
 
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