Double Bass Which Pre-Amp?

[oldprussians]

I had Been using Shadow SH 965 NFX the had a Pre amp but then I broke the Nano flexes and could get a distributor to get the replacements. So then a bought the SH 950. Tried to jig the pre amp from the 965, because it sounded good but thin, but it doesn't seem to work.

So now I use my Zoom B2, which normally I use as a amp in a box for when I go away in Job as a consultant, to practice in my Hotle room.

But this seems like a rather big thing to carry for the double bass pre-amp.

Any suggestions for an alternative pre-amp?

 

[bolo]

I searched a bit for specs on the Shadow preamp but did not have much luck (or much time). Not sure how "proprietary" its functions or features are.

Looks like any replacement unit would have to accept two inputs, one from each pickup. That might limit your options.

On the least expensive end, and small, something from K&K Sound maybe?

 

[clothsnake]

couple of things here...
if the B2 works... why not just continue to use that..? it's not that big... i have one and use it purely to 'freak out' the upright for fun.

i have used a couple of shadow pickups on my upright, and had the original one repaired by shadow via mail order... they were very good, and just replaced the whole thing... and the newer model is a lot more robust than their first efforts.
for some reason... not a popular pickup on these pages... but i like it a lot... absolutely no noise and very versatile.

if you are keen to try a new preamp, and can salvage the 'pads' from your current shadow model pickup... wire them, into a single 1/4" jack... if one is completely shot... just wire the one into a jack, and try the K&K preamps.. they are pretty good. i used one with a home made pickup for a while, and it worked very well as a 'matcher' for my amp... it remained a little 'raspy' though. and i think because of the 'home made' thing... was a little prone to feedback

 

[DoubleMIDI]

The Shadow Nanoflex 965 connector box (the part that holds the battery) is not a "preamp" as most people call the impedance converter. Shadow writes somewhere that the preamps (=impedance converters) are in the small boxes at the foil and since they need power they must get it on the hot wire. So I assume that the connector box uses a capacitor to filter out the power for the output and probably another one and a resistor for loading the power on the hot wire.
Of course there is a volume pot and a sound pot too, but there is no real need for an amp section in the convertor box.