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Two Notes Le Bass Players Club

#961
bassjamn said:
Thinking about getting a le bass, what is the issue i see some users mention about EQ and mids?
looks like there is a mid and sweep knob according the manual on channel B.
Do people wish there was a mid knob on channel A?
Click to expand...

That's the long and short of it. It's a surprisingly characteristic sound, the pure A channel, and while more mids control is always good, I think they intended to allow for clean + mids gain by low-gain channel B or Cold Fusion, which can easily stay surgically clean, and to have channel A be its own beast.

I suppose it'll depend on the bass, because I don't think I could dial in a better mid setting to tame the disgusting, corpulent mids my Taurus with Model Js puts out than the bit of scoop channel A gives. Perfect combo.

That said, I'm about to do some experimenting....
 
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#962
Update: the XLR out into my Black Lion Auteur studio preamp generates a massive noise floor of hiss. I didn't have it running thru a level-accurate DAW channel, but I'd estimate it to be -35 to -40dB. It's loud. Not gonna work! Is this a design issue or an individual unit problem?

Either way, my trusty Darkglass Vintage Ultra will continue to be my studio connection, though if I need the tones of the Le Bass, I can run it thru with the Darkglass deactivated, functionally in passive DI mode. That gets me the ~-60dB I need for clean recording...and I can use the Darkglass as sort of a cab modeler if I really want to get that sound, since it's got a whole slew of EQ available.

Including the Auteur, that's three preamps in a chain haha
 
#963
bassjamn said:
Thinking about getting a le bass, what is the issue i see some users mention about EQ and mids?
looks like there is a mid and sweep knob according the manual on channel B.
Do people wish there was a mid knob on channel A?
Click to expand...
Hi Chanel A acts as a boost on channel B which has the mids and sweep ,so its not necessary. B gives you some growl, distortion A is smoother I blend the two sometimes, other times I just use A it's very versatile AB with hot or cold fusion both nice. Enjoy your sound
 
#965
MattNY said:
I am in the market for tube tone and this pedal caught my attention. I play through a Hartke LH500....

Can I use this pedal as a preamp: bass > 2 notes Le Bass > Amp? Any thought on how this tube pedal will interact with the tube in the hartke LH?
Click to expand...
Yes, you can use the LeBass as a standard pedal into the front of your amp, that's exactly how I am using it.
 
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#968
Man do I want to pull the trigger! Can this pedal do vintage 70s rock tones? I play in a stoner trio and I'm looking for that warm tube break up, but not quite distorting. I have to imagine this pedal is very responsive to playing dynamics given its tube powered? I'm also hung up on whether this pedal is transparent, or does it add it's own voicing/flavor?

For reference, the clip below illustrates the tone I'm chasing, and I am hoping the Le Bass gets me closer. And yes, I realize to fully obtain this tone I need a an all-tube amp.

KADAVER -Living in Your Head
 
#969
MattNY said:
Man do I want to pull the trigger! Can this pedal do vintage 70s rock tones? I play in a stoner trio and I'm looking for that warm tube break up, but not quite distorting. I have to imagine this pedal is very responsive to playing dynamics given its tube powered? I'm also hung up on whether this pedal is transparent, or does it add it's own voicing/flavor?

For reference, the clip below illustrates the tone I'm chasing, and I am hoping the Le Bass gets me closer. And yes, I realize to fully obtain this tone I need a an all-tube amp.

KADAVER -Living in Your Head
Click to expand...

GET IT!
 
#970
@MattNY as you say, you will never get from any pedal IMO what a tube amp gives you, but you can get close and get a sound which is phenomenal from some.
LeBass is one of these pedals where you can achieve that.
A channel is magic for a fat sound and you can dial in B to run in cold fusion so it has just enough break up for what you want without getting fizzy and bringing clarity.
It’s a great pedal to tweak and to listen to
 
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#971
Thanks for your response!

Alright, I tried an EQD Speaker Cranker I found used for cheap. The Speaker Cranker is fanstastic: maintains the bass and amp's tone while give you a great tube-type response. That said, It doesn't add any warmth to your tone, which is what I am after. Back on the hunt...

I've heard great thing and listened to fantastic sounding demos of the new Orange Bass Terror. You can certainly hear its tube pre-amp section doing its thing. I was very close to pulling the trigger on a new head, but then I thought, why the heck would you do that when there are tube pre-amps available and you like your current rig? Plus the Orange flavor is a bit mushy for my tastes. So back to the Le Bass.

Here's my hang up:

I like the tone stack for Channel A as it is more akin to the vintage passive eq sections I dig. Channel A however, may not give me the amount of break-up that I am after and thus I may need to rely on Channel B and the fusion modes. I am concerned that the EQ section of Channel B is going to be too active sounding and detract from the passive character I adore (which the Hartke maintains wonderfully). I have a parametric mid-eq pedal that makes my P-bass sound like it's an active instrument while I have a graphic EQ that does not alter the passive character of my P-bass. My point being that I am worried that I will have to rely on Channel B whose EQ section will be have too much 'color' for my liking. The EBS Valve Drive seems more straight forward and also has a passive eq section (I think?). I'm torn....

Any thoughts?
 
#972
MattNY said:
Thanks for your response!

Alright, I tried an EQD Speaker Cranker I found used for cheap. The Speaker Cranker is fanstastic: maintains the bass and amp's tone while give you a great tube-type response. That said, It doesn't add any warmth to your tone, which is what I am after. Back on the hunt...

I've heard great thing and listened to fantastic sounding demos of the new Orange Bass Terror. You can certainly hear its tube pre-amp section doing its thing. I was very close to pulling the trigger on a new head, but then I thought, why the heck would you do that when there are tube pre-amps available and you like your current rig? Plus the Orange flavor is a bit mushy for my tastes. So back to the Le Bass.

Here's my hang up:

I like the tone stack for Channel A as it is more akin to the vintage passive eq sections I dig. Channel A however, may not give me the amount of break-up that I am after and thus I may need to rely on Channel B and the fusion modes. I am concerned that the EQ section of Channel B is going to be too active sounding and detract from the passive character I adore (which the Hartke maintains wonderfully). I have a parametric mid-eq pedal that makes my P-bass sound like it's an active instrument while I have a graphic EQ that does not alter the passive character of my P-bass. My point being that I am worried that I will have to rely on Channel B whose EQ section will be have too much 'color' for my liking. The EBS Valve Drive seems more straight forward and also has a passive eq section (I think?). I'm torn....

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Hey Matt I'm in Brewerton If you'd like to try my Lebass
 
#974
Matt, when you’re in fusion mode you can customize the blend between the A and B channels. I kind of switch between an always on “A” channel that gives a beautiful, vintage-sounding, fat tube warmth, to an “AB” warm fusion that literally just pushes that same classic sound a little harder. The blend is like 60% A, 40% B. I use the EQ/tone controls on the pedal very sparingly (unless I’m recording direct) and it has a very organic sound.

Before getting my SVT Classic rig, I ran the Le Bass (and a compressor) into a Mesa D-800 head and a fairly modern voiced Epifani stack and was still absolutely nailing the sweet sound of 70’s-style, tube-powered bass awesomeness. I thought I might ditch the Le Bass when I moved over to Ampeg, but it kind of saves me at low volume and it’s so transparent that it takes nothing away from that classic Ampeg tone. I’m selling a bunch of extra stuff right now....but I’m not selling this pedal.
 
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#975
@madhouse - Greatly appreciate your feedback :). Did you have a chance to listen to the clip of Kadaver I posted above? Do you think I could get close to that tone? Of course I would need to play a rig like your Ampeg to perfectly mirror that tone, but I am ok with getting close. I have gotten very close with the EQD speaker cranker, but I am just lacking the warmth.

I would love to own an all tube head, but that's not practical for me due to cost and form factor. I have been eyeing the Bassman 500 HD and Terror 500 due to their pre-amp sections, so I am hoping the Le Bass can act as a similar pre-amp for my Hartke LH - I want to turn my Hartke LH into more of hyrbid amp than it already is :). I think as you have said, the blend feature is going to do the trick. Also happy to hear to hear the overall sound is organic. I think it's time to pull the trigger....
 
#977
Matt, I liked that tune and the guy’s bass tone. You should be able to get that pretty easily. About the only thing I found challenging on this pedal was the whole sweepable mids section. I don’t know if I was overthinking it or what, but I did a lot of messing around with it. Again, when all was said and done, most of my tone-shaping knobs are at zero or pretty close to it.
 
#978
I went for it! The Le Bass just arrived today. I ordered it from Sweetwater-great service :)! Had a good hour session with it this evening and I am very happy so far. I am blown away with how transparent this pre-amp is. Of course it adds tube gain, but the tone of my P Bass is ever present in all modes and at all levels of gain. Till now I have tried the EHX Battalion, EQD Acapulco Gold, EQD Speaker Cranker, Behringer BDI21, and Catalinbread F56. The Le Bass was what I was searching for all along :)

I was surprised at the amount of gain I could achieve using Channel A. Now don't get me wrong, there is clear increase in overdrive when you switch to Channel B, but Channel A can achieve some sag and bloom when you dig in. Channel A is a great clean tone and if you cut the bass and treble there is plenty of mid range on tap. If you are accustomed to passive EQs a-la Fender or the Hartke LH, channel A is very intuitive. In face, Channel A sounds like the pre-amp in the LH with a smidgen more of gain. The other major surprise was how musical the active eq in Channel B sounds. For reference I have an EWS Bass Mid Control, which is a parametric mid eq. This pedal makes my P-bass sound like an active instrument whereas the Channel B Mid Sweep keeps the passive nuances of my bass even when the mids are dialed up a bit. Very musical EQ section.

Channel A alone, channel B alone, and both fusion modes offer many usable tones as I could not make this pedal sound bad! If you treat the eq in Channel A like an active EQ and set the controls at noon, your tone will be very scooped. I do not enjoy a scooped tone, so this the only "bad" tone I hear (very subjective). The fusion/blend control is just icing on the cake!

I hope to use this in a band setting this weekend and If I do I'll report back :). The Le Bass just replaced all my pedals! I am still in the honeymoon phase, so we will see how the romance holds up.
 
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#979
Awesome to hear and I am glad you recognise what the A channel can do despite only a bass and Treble knob. Too many people dismiss it as scooped, why only 2 knobs blah blah blah etc.
Sounds like you have it set up very similar to me. I either use A channel alone for that fat fat tone, or I use A/B cold fusion with nearly exactly the same tone but bumping the mids a little for a little more brightness depending on which bass, song, age of strings etc.

I am still in the honeymoon period 3 years later!

Well done and welcome to the club
 
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#980
On the A channel, I add just a little bass (like to 8 o’clock) when I’m running through headphones, but when I’m through my rig I literally have both the bass and treble on zero (transparent). I usually have the gain at noon and the volume just a little higher. This seems to warm up the signal but keep it very pure for the Ampeg to do its thing with.

I had a good headphone session last night while putting the finishing touches on the Deep Purple “Perfect Strangers” bassline. With a little grit from the warm fusion and tone dialed back a hair on my bass, I really nailed that almost cello-like sound Glover gets during the cool part of that song. Glad you’re liking it Matt.
 

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