Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Why do I need a pedal preamp?
- Thread starter StrivingOn
- Start date
Yeah ,…less is more ,….. I mean ,…ummm…. 
im doing casino gigs with plenty of foh , sure is easier negotiating the stage stairs.
im doing casino gigs with plenty of foh , sure is easier negotiating the stage stairs.
edwinhurwitz
Supporting Member
JeezyMcNuggles
Inactive
- Feb 23, 2018
- 14,723
- 20,970
- Disclosures
- I suck, but nobody really notices
It's nothing like an SGT-DI. An SGT-DI is an almost exact copy of an SVT cl preamp. Except that it has a buzz in the high end (not noticeable live, but noticeable through your amp). They did a great job on it. You can't tell the difference between on and off. On an svt. I cant.
1. Because what you do to your amp affects your signal to the PA. Including volume.
2. Because the preamp sounds good, but not great.
3. Because there's no flexibility on a set point 3 band eq that starts off with the bass boosted and high end dulled.
4. Because you can set a different eq on it, like an ultra high, and low, with compression for slap parts (etc) and just kick it on for that.
Last edited:
I have the EHX Battalion Bass, I bought it for the distortion but having the preamp is actually pretty useful when using different amps that I’m not familiar with. The DI with ground lift is a good problem solver too. And… it doubles as a headphone amp for practicing at home!
Preamp pedals can do a lot of things, but might not be necessary for your pedalboard. I personally like the preamp on my MarkBass amp and have a separate pedal for drive if needed (actually two, with one being more of a boost). The DI out on the amp is solid as well, so no need for a preamp there either. Lastly, I have a good home practice setup, having recently acquired a Boss Katana Go, to which I can plug my headphones in directly and get a variety of sounds. The only situation I'm not really covered for that a preamp pedal would help with is for a quiet stage show, of which I do not play many, but I would certainly use a preamp pedal if this ever changed. This covers the majority of use cases of a preamp, and given your individual circumstances, a preamp pedal may or may not make sense.
Aren't effects loops post EQ?
Unless you're running the EQ flat you may be ruining your tone before it even gets to FOH, or if your DI is set to pre EQ there may be no effects in your signal at all??
Unless you're running the EQ flat you may be ruining your tone before it even gets to FOH, or if your DI is set to pre EQ there may be no effects in your signal at all??
This why I have a Sansamp BDDI. It sends a clean signal to FOH and my amp serves as my monitor so I set it to sound good from my position rather than the back of the room.
I survived as a pro for many years without one so 'need?' Probably not but I do like the convenience.
Last edited:
I've done a small duo gig with no amp - Sansamp BDDI straight to PA. It worked well.
I have an Ampeg preamp, and though I have it on my pedalboard, I don't NEED it on my pedalbaord. It's there because I have it. I got it to practice w/ headphones and an audio input. Plus I got it used for a great price. And GAS...
--EDIT-- To fix spelling! D'oh!
--EDIT-- To fix spelling! D'oh!
Last edited:
Who said you needed a preamp?
I personally dislike running preamps into preamps as it can easily muddy things up, scoop frequencies etc.
I do plan on grabbing a Sansamp BDDI which I will completely bypass into my amp/cab and only use for FOH. It's super convenient on BDDI because it has a parallel out to bypass it.
So my stage tone remains the same (my amp and my cab), and FOH gets a Sansamp tone which emulates a mic'ed amp. Should improve my FOH tone compared to using the dry DI from my amp, but that remains to be tested. I also hope that my dirt pedals will sound better on PA due to Sansamp's cab sim (HPF basically).
I personally dislike running preamps into preamps as it can easily muddy things up, scoop frequencies etc.
I do plan on grabbing a Sansamp BDDI which I will completely bypass into my amp/cab and only use for FOH. It's super convenient on BDDI because it has a parallel out to bypass it.
So my stage tone remains the same (my amp and my cab), and FOH gets a Sansamp tone which emulates a mic'ed amp. Should improve my FOH tone compared to using the dry DI from my amp, but that remains to be tested. I also hope that my dirt pedals will sound better on PA due to Sansamp's cab sim (HPF basically).
All my gigs are ampless. I don’t have a preamp pedal, but I do have all the functions of one in various pedals on my board - level boost, overdrive, eq. My pedalboard is my “amp” - all the things most folks do to get their amp to sound good, I do so what I’m sending to FOH sounds good.
I can’t be the only one who wonders why you (and anyone) is using the fx loop…
which you don’t have to justify, but it DOES lead me to a follow up- since you have a preamp PRE effects, a good reason you may need a pedal preamp is to eq the post-effect sound.
This is actually EXACTLY why I would not use an fx loop; In my view, I view an amp eq as controlling the sound of the amp in the room, and I view pedal/onboard preamps as shaping the sound of my tone.
now before anyone tries to correct me, I am aware that many amps, pedals, and other preamps are using the same handful of topologies.. But for my personal mental map of tone staging, it makes sense to me to view it like this:
-EQ post-guitar and pre pedals (either as onboard preamp, or with a preamp/eq first in the pedal chain) as my ‘bass tone,’
- A pedal eq at the end of a pedal chain as my ‘master tone,’
- then I use my amp EQ to ‘shape the room.’
As such, a post-pedal EQ for me will typically be the one with the most extreme settings of the three, I don’t always have an active bass at all (and then the ‘master’ eq is also my bass tone as needed), and the AMP eq is generally pretty close to noon, with adjustments as needed to make everything sound good in the room. Certain amps will have a typical standard adjustment, but generally speaking whatever their ‘neutral’ is to me is where I make adjustments from.
So TLDR, a pedal pre-amp is justifiable to shape the sound of your ‘wet’ effects mix, and/or to be a switchable tone change for the bass itself, whereas the amp EQ is more easily left static. The bonus being that you can simply turn it off if you don’t need to correct or enhance the sound of any effects..
AND it may simply be the case that a particular pedal preamp offers you different or additional EQ options or topology than an amp eq. I desire different things out of these different applications
which you don’t have to justify, but it DOES lead me to a follow up- since you have a preamp PRE effects, a good reason you may need a pedal preamp is to eq the post-effect sound.
This is actually EXACTLY why I would not use an fx loop; In my view, I view an amp eq as controlling the sound of the amp in the room, and I view pedal/onboard preamps as shaping the sound of my tone.
now before anyone tries to correct me, I am aware that many amps, pedals, and other preamps are using the same handful of topologies.. But for my personal mental map of tone staging, it makes sense to me to view it like this:
-EQ post-guitar and pre pedals (either as onboard preamp, or with a preamp/eq first in the pedal chain) as my ‘bass tone,’
- A pedal eq at the end of a pedal chain as my ‘master tone,’
- then I use my amp EQ to ‘shape the room.’
As such, a post-pedal EQ for me will typically be the one with the most extreme settings of the three, I don’t always have an active bass at all (and then the ‘master’ eq is also my bass tone as needed), and the AMP eq is generally pretty close to noon, with adjustments as needed to make everything sound good in the room. Certain amps will have a typical standard adjustment, but generally speaking whatever their ‘neutral’ is to me is where I make adjustments from.
So TLDR, a pedal pre-amp is justifiable to shape the sound of your ‘wet’ effects mix, and/or to be a switchable tone change for the bass itself, whereas the amp EQ is more easily left static. The bonus being that you can simply turn it off if you don’t need to correct or enhance the sound of any effects..
AND it may simply be the case that a particular pedal preamp offers you different or additional EQ options or topology than an amp eq. I desire different things out of these different applications
Last edited:
