What preamp pedal do you use, and why?

[BlueTalon]

I have never used a preamp pedal, but I'm currently looking for one, and I'd like to pick the brains of the TB collective that has experience with them. I'd like to hear from people who have gone through a search process, have tried a few different preamps, and have settled on one you like. Specifically, what do you like about it? What makes it better for you than previous pedals you have used? Also, if you have had negative experiences, I might find those helpful.

I'm not looking for a lot of distortion. I like some grit, but I also like to play clean, and I want something that will facilitate both. My budget is up to $300+. I don't mind paying for quality, but I don't want to spend money just to spend money. Also, my preference is for something relatively small (not a lot of room on my small pedal board).

*edit* It also needs to serve as a DI box.

So, whatcha got?

 

[Ethereal Thorn]

I have used many preamps and in that price point the Mesa subway di+ is the one I came back to it just sounds good. It is nice having the control with the EQ for stuborn rooms.

 

[bassbrad]

Live I'm using a @Sushi Box FX Underground Accelerator tube preamp as it has the warmth and tone controls I prefer.



For recording I'm using a combination of a Sushi Box Particle Accelerator, Southampton Ictineo, Lightning Boy LBA 2020 Transformer and a Sushi Box Finally Tube DI.

This gives me a sound that sits well in most tracks needing little in post production.

 

[QweziRider]

Mesa Subway DI+. Close to my Mesa amps as far as tone goes, and I can send a post EQ line to my IEM transmitter and the pre-EQ line to front of house. No need for me to rely on a monitor mix for what I want to hear of bass, just what he/she can send of everyone else to the second IEM transmitter channel.

 

[esa372]

I use the Tech 21 Q\Strip (top left), cuz it sounds great! Clean, flexible, great features. (The ParaDriver is used for OD, when the need arises.)

Tuner -> RTDI -> compressor -> Q\Strip -> ParaDriver

 

[Jazz Ad]

There is a huge choice on the market and many different reasons to use preamp pedals. I can tell you why and how I use mine.
- Zoom B3. I use the pedal for pretty much everything so I have it at hand. Models are good and very versatile.I mostly use the Bass Drive+ (MXR M80), Ampeg SVT and GK400 models.
- Ampeg SCR DI. I'm quite fond of Ampeg tones in general and this one packs a lot of them. The Scrambler channel is very musical and easily gets through, which is not a given for bass overdrive.
- Fishman Pro EQ Platinum Bass. My go to pedal for acoustic instruments and clean tones. It has a very efficient compression and hi pass filter.
- HK BassMaster. Very nice Fender Bassman tubey style tone, perfect for recording. I seldom use it these days though.

I owned many other great ones along the year. Noble DI is incredible. SansAmp BDDI, old yet still does a perfect job. EBS Microbass II and III so versatile and always do what you need. MXR M80 rules at anything heavy. And a lot of others.

 

[Afc70]

I just started using a simple pedalboard around a year ago, and I’m using the Phil Jones PE-5 pedal pre. (It’s tuner>Cali76 compressor >Phil Jones PE-5> Khan Di> house) the Phil Jones PE-5 is very clean sounding but musical. It’s a great sounding setup !
Edit: the Khan tube Di is one of the fattest, amazing sounding Di’s around!

 

[Mosfed]

I have so many preamps it’s hard to know where to begin. I use them for tone shaping and sometimes for light overdrive. I love preamps.

Broughton SSDI/Super Stack/Silver Deluxe - my go to’s for Fender tone stacks. Fat deep bass and smooth highs. Always slightly scooped but such a great tone.

Broughton p-15/Fliptop/SV-Pre - for Ampeg tones

Broughton Helion/Monoblock - for Traynor solid state tones

Broughton Designer Submarine/Southampton Ictineo/SFX Big Beautiful Bass - One of the fattest preamps out there. Just huge.

Broughton Archetype series - original designs for a super gritty tube tone

I have a ton more and just ordered the two Origin Effects ones.

 

[BlueTalon]

I need to interject here -- for my purposes, a preamp must also serve as a DI, so I need to combine functions.

 

[revd]

Used to use SansAmp BDDI v2. Great really, nice drive, versatile, analogue.

Now use Broughton Messenger. Clean only but that's OK, I've got dirt elsewhere. Great LPF and HPF, headphone out, analogue.

 

[MCS4]

I don't always use a preamp pedal, but when I do it is the Mesa Subway DI. I use it either directly through a rack power amp or in the FX return of a bass amp so that it bypasses the amp's preamp section. Really the only reason I have it is because I usually run a pre/power rack setup and am not especially happy with the rack preamps I come across these days.

I've never particularly found a use for stacking a preamp pedal on top of an amp's preamp unless I'm using the preamp pedal for overdrive.

 

[tpaul]

SansAmp BDDI v2 (the one with the mids knob). Sounds great, EQ is good, has grit if you want it, has a clean blend, has DI. $250 brand new, or you can find them for $150 used.

You can find different varieties of the pedal, including a three-way programmable version if you want to change tones on the fly, but I like this basic version.

 

[Warlock_Surfer]

anyone used the laney digbeth preamp pedal?

 

[jmattbassplaya]

Still using the VT Bass for when I want something different. It has a lot of tones under the hood and works well for a wide variety of styles. I used to actually run two different units - one for general oomph and tone shaping, and the second for gritty, grindy OD goodness.

 

[tb-player]

++1 for Tech21 Q\Strip.

I’ve been thru a ton of DI/pre pedals and the Q\Strip is the most transparent with an amazing eq. It does everything (or nothing, depending on what you need).

The best feature of all is, it runs on phantom power. I’ve literally thrown mine in my gig bag and used it for the sole purpose of running direct… no power supply needed. That’s convenient!

 

[progjeff]

I use two preamp pedals to define my sound. The YYZ pedal into the dUg DP3x. I like the bi amp sound these pedals emulate. I enhance the mids on the YYZ and use the compressed lows and defined highs of the dUg, both drives are at 9:00 for a fairly clean sound with a bit of harmonic overtones. for overdrives I use the Billy Sheehan and Barefoot blueberry, both could be considered preamps also since they can also shape your sound. Depending on which bass or pickup setting i use I can get a deep, warm but defined tone, to a clanky piano like tone.

 

[darren1970]

Darkglass X7 as my always on pre-amp. I've got it set with a clean & compressed low/mid frequencies with just a touch of drive on the high frequencies. Great sound for the genre I'm currently playing.
I also run an Darkglass Alpha-Omega too, which I "stack" with the X7 for songs requiring a thick driven tone

 

[brocket]

Tech 21 VT Bass DI. For me, this seemed to hit the value sweet spot- tone, options, price, reliability- especially when bought used. The "Character" knob on it seems to do just that- give the tone a little something that I don't get out of my amp (TC Electronics BH250). I don't use it for dirt, but it can do dirt well.

Generally speaking, based on what your looking for, one of the Tech 21 DI pedals should work for you, and I think all "flavors" of the Tech 21 DIs have been mentioned within the first 20 comments.

 

[Jebberz]

Tech 21 Bass Fly Rig. I was using VT BAss DI, but this uniot has the same Preamp, and covers almost all my current effects needs.

 

[Dynomuttasaurus]

Preamp with DI is absolutely necessary if you play out IMHO. The very first show I played, the backline amp crapped out. FOH had a preamp/DI and it was the best I've ever sounded. The next week, I purchased my first pedal. I've gone from the Tech21 BDDI, to Darkglass B7K, and now I'm back to Tech 21 with the DP-3x. Which one is best? I think the Tech 21s are more versatile, but also more sensitive on the controls. It's hard to get yourself into a lot of trouble with the Darkglass. You can easily over-adjust the Tech 21s. Enjoy the journey.