That would be an Intersound IVP preamp.
In that clip's time-frame, a lot of guys wanted something a) louder, but primarily b) cleaner than running SVT's or the big Acoustic stacks. So these component rigs with a preamp (back then, the IVP, Alembic, Pearce, Kern, Yamaha) on top of commercial power amps (usually the Peaveys, or if you went 'up market', the Crown DC's or P-Series Yamahas), on top of regular bass bins or more usually PA bins if you thought you wanted to be 'hi-fi'.
Primarily the difference was how clean everything could sound, if done right. Some guys preferred it, and for others it was just 'too' clean, and they soon went back to bespoke bass rigs.
Back then, the staggering array of choices we have now was a daydream, and this sort of thing was the in-between stage from then to now, and some guys still use rigs like this. The spooky thing was up to a very high level, a power amp rig just got louder and louder, without the increasing distortion you'd hear in a bass amp head. Make no mistake, the ham-fisted could make a component rig do that as well, but done right with suitable components carefully chosen, it could be quite cleaner and louder, as true commercial reinforcement bins and amps were far cleaner and heavier duty than bass guitar amps and cabs.
In that clip's time-frame, a lot of guys wanted something a) louder, but primarily b) cleaner than running SVT's or the big Acoustic stacks. So these component rigs with a preamp (back then, the IVP, Alembic, Pearce, Kern, Yamaha) on top of commercial power amps (usually the Peaveys, or if you went 'up market', the Crown DC's or P-Series Yamahas), on top of regular bass bins or more usually PA bins if you thought you wanted to be 'hi-fi'.
Primarily the difference was how clean everything could sound, if done right. Some guys preferred it, and for others it was just 'too' clean, and they soon went back to bespoke bass rigs.
Back then, the staggering array of choices we have now was a daydream, and this sort of thing was the in-between stage from then to now, and some guys still use rigs like this. The spooky thing was up to a very high level, a power amp rig just got louder and louder, without the increasing distortion you'd hear in a bass amp head. Make no mistake, the ham-fisted could make a component rig do that as well, but done right with suitable components carefully chosen, it could be quite cleaner and louder, as true commercial reinforcement bins and amps were far cleaner and heavier duty than bass guitar amps and cabs.
