Why use an external preamp when amplifier has 5 band EQ?

I play bass just for fun. Recently, I have been considering an external preamps such as a Sadowsky SBP2 or an Aguilar AG for my passive Fender Jazz. The reviews say it give 'better' tone. But my bass combo has a 5 band EQ section. Assuming, i am not looking for a second sound whilst playing (soloing or overdrive), would I really need a pedal EQ to shape the tone? Any clear benefits of using a pedal preamp? Thanks!
Assuming you're not just looking for a second sound, there can still be reason to use a preamp.

1: Not all EQ is the same. Mixing EQ sections can lead to interesting tonal results. A Fender-style tone stack can work well with a 5 band EQ, for example.
2: EQ might not even be part of the reason to use a particular preamp. You might want the overdrive/clipping characteristics, compression, transient response, or the overall tonal color (esp on preamps with minimal tone controls)
 
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I’d rather have active tone controls on the bass, fiddling with knobs on a pedal is even less accessible than ones on an amp mid song. It’s an older design, but the preamp in my G&L L2k gives me all the tone shaping I need. There are some pedals with added features like overdrive and DI that are useful. I used to use a pedal with WQ sliders, but left it on the amp, not on the floor.
funnily enough, I don't like having active preamps for the same reason. I find that having an active system on the bass is too fiddly. Amps and pedals encourage me to find the right setting and leave it.
 
There are different ways of using an EQ. They could be using for tone correction, or alteration. If you're happy with what you have then you don't need one which is great!
 
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IME quality trumps quantity every time when it comes to tone sculpting. (My simple tube head does a certain something the digital amp can't do with its adjustable 4-band / sweepable / variable width / notch / HPF / LPF / compression / distortion.)
For my upright piezo pickups, I find my buffer / HPF preamp is indispensable – so I definitely understand the potential benefit with the right outboard circuit.
But for me, that hasn't carried over to bass guitar; I got that Sadowsky pedal and found it to be superfluous at best.
 
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Oh man … looks like I may have to lug my bass and little combo to the shop and try them preamp pedals out. Then it may not sound the same as in the shop as when I’m back home! :laugh:

When you're auditioning gear at a shop you want to use gear that’s either the same as what you already use or gear that you’re pretty familiar with.

It’s unlikely any of the shops in my area will have Walter Woods amps and Bergantino cabinets. While I’ve never owned an Ampeg bass amp I have played through plenty of them so if there’s an Ampeg in the shop, I’ll plug into that. If I didn't bring my own bass, pulling down a P-bass off the wall will do the job because I’ve been gigging P-basses for about 40 years now. So when I plug in the pedal I listen to how it changes the overall sound. That gives me a good idea about what it will sound like with my own gear, whether back home or at a gig.
 
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I've worked with some sound guys who insist the DI on my bass amp be set to pre-eq so they receive a flat signal. Since I don't trust any of them to actually EQ my tone properly, I will also sometimes run a preamp pedal on my board so I'm still sending an eq'd signal to FOH. In general, though I agree that you don't REALLY need one. If my amp is providing all the sound, I have an EQ pedal set up for a slap tone that I can kick on for the songs where I slap, but otherwise, the preamp on my GB Shuttlemax is pretty awesome and doesn't really need anything in front of it.
 
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Many people make valid points here, however many people have lots of redundant EQ, and that can create recipe for disaster.
Every musician thinks that they know best. Few actually do.
A bass can have an active preamp with EQ, A preamp pedal can then have an active EQ, other pedals have more EQ stuff, the amp itself has an active EQ, the mixing board will have an active EQ, the DAW will have 1000 active EQs available.

No you dont need more EQ.
I wish people would not continue to add more and more redundant EQ to their setups. Multiple EQ and gain stages conspire to damage sounds more than they correct anything. A sweet EQ in your house means nothing to a stage or studio sound. Players insisting on their own multi EQ setups is based on the fallacy that their room or headphones at home have the same acoustics as the rock club,
Any perceived cool sound on its own means little. Highly customized tone only matters if it makes the song better.
 
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Every musician thinks that they know best. Few actually do.
This 100% We're great at dialing in what we want but what we want to hear is unlikely to be exactly the tweaks need to make bass fit in with the mix.

I'm sorry folks, but you cannot EQ your bass from the stage to make it work in the FoH mix any more than you can drive the Greyhound bus from the back row. You're not out front, you don't hear the room from the audience position, you don't hear the full mix.

I've done some church gigs where I play bass and run sound. Even when I'm at the mixing board, I don't hear things right. The very act of playing alters what you hear. For these gigs, I'll multi-track record some of the rehearsal and then play it back and adjust the mix with nobody (myself included) playing. After that, I focus on playing. It isn't ideal but it does work.
 
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I play bass just for fun. Recently, I have been considering an external preamps such as a Sadowsky SBP2 or an Aguilar AG for my passive Fender Jazz. The reviews say it give 'better' tone. But my bass combo has a 5 band EQ section. Assuming, i am not looking for a second sound whilst playing (soloing or overdrive), would I really need a pedal EQ to shape the tone? Any clear benefits of using a pedal preamp? Thanks!
It totally depends upon how your bass and amp sound together. 5-band EQ's can be great, or they can pinpoint all the wrong frequencies. First question is "are you happy with the sound you get from your amp without a preamp pedal". If so, then don't buy a pedal.

If you're not happy, have you exhausted all the capabilities of tone shaping in your amp. Are you familiar with how each of those 5 EQ's affect your sound. If not, you need to dedicate some more time to understand your amp and familiarize yourself with what each EQ option does. I have a few different amps, all but one are Eden or DNA amps (all were designed by David Nordschow aka: David Eden). The other one is an under-powered GK amp that I kept to use with guitar.

My big Eden amp is a WT500 that was upgraded from 500-watts rms bridged to 800-watts. It has the power supply from a WT800 in it so I refer to it as my WT500/800. It was the actual amp that David used to design all the Eden cabs from 1999 until he left to found DNA in 2009. It has a bass shelving EQ for everything from 30Hz down, and then three semi-parametric controls that, between them, let you control three octaves of Frequencies, from 30Hz up to 12KHz. Finally it has a Treble Shelving control for everything from about 2KHz up.

I spent a LOT of time figuring out what each of those controls did to my sound and the screwy thing is that I figured out that the only adjustment I need from setting all the EQ options flat, is to boost my low-mids at either 250Hz if my amp has the semi-parametric control to dial it in, or 500Hz if that's the only low-mid frequency the amp provides. I also have an Eden WTDI (Eden DI pedal with built-in WT preamp) and its mid-choices are either 500Hz or 2KHz. So I toggle it to 500Hz.

I also figured out while making small adjustments at a time (2-clicks makes a noticeable difference in the sound) that with my Bass, turning that low-mid boost up to 1:30 was what I needed to sound good in the mix. A little boost in the low mids anywhere between 250Hz and 500Hz gives you nice presence and definition in a mix. I also found that if I turned the boost up too much at either of those low-mid frequencies that my sound would honk at me - sounded bad! So then I slowly turned it back down until the honk went away and that's where I run it now.

Moral of the story is you need to spend time with your amp's EQ to figure out what its tone shaping possibilities are and do they let you get "your" sound. Now, if it doesn't let you get your sound, then you may want to get a DI with built-in preamp. Pretty much every major manufacturer makes one and if you like a sound from a particular brand, get that one. I carry a WTDI with me in my gig bag just in case I have to use a backline or need to run direct to the sound board. With its Eden WT preamp I just set it the same as I EQ my Eden amps; plug it into the effects return of a backline amp; and Voila' it sounds like my Eden gear. That's because I just bypassed the backline amp's preamp and hooked my preamp directly up to its power section by plugging it into the effects-in/return. That way I get the sound I want without wasting time trying to dial in the backline amp to something I deem acceptable. At one gig, a promised amp was not there, so I just ran into the FOH. My bass came out the mains and I heard myself just fine in my monitor.

I can also hook that directly into a snake for the soundboard and get my sound. In the case of a sound tech, I always tell him I have it set flat except for a boost to 1:30 at 500Hz. That way if he needs to make changes he knows where I'm starting from. Just an FYI if you get an Eden WTDI; if you have a passive Jazz Bass; and if you want the best sound for a pro-studio recording; toggle the mids to the 500Hz position and add a little boost in those low-mids. When I did that, they took my raw signal exactly as I sent it and just adjusted the level to match the mix. They were amazed how good it sounded coming into them and had to come inspect what I was using after the 3-hour session.

So those preamp pedals can come in handy. But as far as running them always, don't do that unless you can't get your amp to sound good enough using its native EQ section/graphic Equalizer. Then a DI stompbox with preamp can be a god-send
 
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I used to ask myselfe this questions as well. I noticed so many bass players had an external preamp pedal, but didnt get it. As you say there are preamps and EQ's in our amps and in our basses. Why would I possibly need another?

Out of curiosity I bought the Behringer BDI21, which is a clone of the Tech 21 Sansamp. It was dirt cheap and supposedly a very close copy of the real thing. My mind was instantly blown. I just loved the tone it gave me. It makes my bass sound sort of 90s ish or ampeg ish, I guess. Its a great pedal for me.

Im not saying you need one tho. Just that it can make a big difference for your tone and its defo worth checking out in my opinion.
 
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It depends on the specific pre-amp, but I almost always use one. Likely my favorite is the Genzler Magellan as it features a great high pass filter and a mid control with adjustable frequency. Not to mention a really good DI.
 
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