• 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 freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

why do you have a dedicated bass preamp?

SO, im not entirely sure how this works...but with a Poweramp, could a pedal like the Tone Hammer or an EBS valve drive be used as the preamp?
Both these pedals can drive a power amp, as can most preamp pedals. Always safest to check with the company before you buy, but I don't know of any preamp pedals that can't.

EDIT: I'm sure someone will quickly name off the 3 or 4 that can't.
 
Yeah folks don't take Peavey seriously. Whatevs, people are stupid sheep; musos are stupider sheep. Lots of folks only like P bass-> SVT -> Fridge.
Peavey also didn't used to have great distribution. I lived and played in San Francisco for nearly fifteen years and I don't ever recall seeing a single piece of Peavey gear of any kind.

I remember some guy working in a music store in either SF or Seattle bluntly dismissing Peavey as "for rednecks and Pentecostal church bands," and that was pretty much the reputation it had in the NW for decades.

I've seen major act contract riders specifying that no Peavey equipment be used or even visible onstage when the act was playing. :hmm:

Personally, I just never found their styling, logo and marketing attractive. I'm sure their gear's no worse than anyone else's these days.

While I have lots of strange, cheap, vintage, overvalued and/or exotic gear and often use it for recording, I wouldn't consider using it onstage. I use matching, box-stock, plain-vanilla Ampeg or SWR pro-end amplification and US Fender basses in conservative colors because that's an immediately recognizable default pro rig that nobody has a serious beef about one way or the other and to which they don't give a second's extra thought.

"Oh. Cool."

I want the attention on ME and my music, not my gear, which is another reason I don't use the Tower of Babel rack unit thing. I never want people fixated on all those curious lights and blinking switches.

Yes, this stuff does matter for a pro stage act. More than your actual sound, come to that. Nobody in the audience cares about that.
 
Peavey gear has suffered from a stigma based on it's place of origin. The gear is made is Mississippi and many of the early users were country. Many people associated it with country music and did not want that stigma.

Peavey gear is good and reliable... always has been.Every now and then they would produce a great piece.

Now back to the real question. More flexibility and possible savings makes the preamp/poweramp more attractive Especially when trying to get something over 500 watts.Seems an amp needs at least that much to be gigworthy. How many all-in-one amps and/or combos that are capable of that for last than $700. You could buy a number of 800-1000 watt amps under $500 and a few preamps around $200. It's amazing that in the last 10-15 years that you NEED that much power to play. The need for power has also been a product of the bandstand itself. One of the biggest changes that has cause this is use of more synths and keyboards in music.
 
"Both these pedals can drive a power amp, as can most preamp pedals. Always safest to check with the company before you buy..."

The key is to check the power amp's input sensitivity against the preamp's output. Various amps require only .75 vrms or so to drive them to full potential, while others require twice that (or more). It's not a problem if the preamp/stompbox/whatever puts out more than the amp needs (you can turn down the attenuators on the amp), but if you find yourself in the other situation, you may end up unhappy.
 
It was this thing:
tb_raxx438x90.jpg


The old T. B. Raxx.

I have no idea if he knows what he's talking about or not. Peavey gear still has some problems being taken seriously in some quarters, and this seems to be regional. Up until a couple of years ago, nobody out here would have been caught dead with the stuff without being paid to, based on what prejudice I dunno.

I've never owned a Peavey anything, as I usually found their stuff too ugly and generally still do.

Definitely regional.. A lot of people around Ottawa seem to use Peavey or a GK head with Peavey cabs.
 
Both these pedals can drive a power amp, as can most preamp pedals. Always safest to check with the company before you buy, but I don't know of any preamp pedals that can't.

EDIT: I'm sure someone will quickly name off the 3 or 4 that can't.

Somebody mentioned the EP1500 power amp. Almost *no* preamp pedals will drive that amp to full power. Many mic preamps can. Most bass preamps (not pedals) can.

I believe some QSC power amps also required a higher input voltage than many preamp pedals could provide.
 
Here's another feaure: I often run PA from stage and get all I need for bass from 1 side of my Stewart World 1.6. I use the other side to run PA gear as needed. Bridging is available if huge amouts of power are needed for bass, but in that case I'll usually just DI into the system instead.
 
Somebody mentioned the EP1500 power amp. Almost *no* preamp pedals will drive that amp to full power. Many mic preamps can. Most bass preamps (not pedals) can.

I believe some QSC power amps also required a higher input voltage than many preamp pedals could provide.

Behringer EP, and QSC RMX, are very similar amps. Like all pro gear, they expect +4dbu, line level. Consumer audio is −10 dBV.
 
Hey Sadworld -for me, the preamp/power amp setup is the way to go. I never liked having to lug around a bass head and then having a bunch of other stuff loose (Wireless, tuner, outlet strip, etc.). So, I got myself a 4-space rack, and filled it with a Crown Macrotech 1200, a Sansamp RPM preamp, and mounted the wireless and tuner in a one-space shelf. So I've got my whole rig in a compact little case, and setup at gigs is easy. You can find good used high-power amps like Crown, Crest, QSC and Stewart for pretty reasonable prices on the "Bay" and then try different preamps - bottom line is you should be able to put together a killer pre/power amp combination for $1K or less -