Potentially stupid question

[ashevans09]

But please bear with me.

Basically, I have a question about preamps. Or more to the point, their application. I was cruising around youtube and found this video:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kat6WNUS-k[/media]

Now, I've always kind of been a bass -> pedal board -> amp -> cab kind of guy. I can appreciate running different channels to different amps and having switches between them because you want to alter tone etc, but what I don't completely understand is where preamps come into this, particularly in the way Mr. Chancellor (and others I can't name off the top of my head but have witnessed) use them in their line.

I guess what I'm asking is, are the pre's there as a different tonal line to select, or are they there in place of the pre's on his GKs? If so, in that case, why bother carting the GK around when a power amp would do the job just as well? I'm just kind of confused. Surely if you don't dig the tone that the pre onboard your amp creates, why bother carting it around just to slave the power end?

Or does he just really like the tone the GK power section gives him?

I'm not really sure if I'm getting across what I mean here, so I guess I'll ask the question in a different way:

How do you guys use pre's as part of your set up? Also at what point do you have them in your line?

It's late, I'm sorry x

EDIT - 1000th post, yay!

Edited November 24, 2012 by ashevans09

[ThomBassmonkey]

Basically a pre-amp is the tone shaping part of your amp. Sometimes amps don't do quite what you want, you can use a preamp in front to change it a bit. Things like PODs and other effects are preamps.

[ashevans09]

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' timestamp='1353718438' post='1877901']
Basically a pre-amp is the tone shaping part of your amp. Sometimes amps don't do quite what you want, you can use a preamp in front to change it a bit. Things like PODs and other effects are preamps.
[/quote]

Heya, thanks for the response . I get the tonal options thing, it's just, I don't know, it seems an awfully complicated line. I guess I just don't understand, if the pre of an amp wasn't doing what I wanted tonally I wouldn't buy it, y'know?

Then again I guess if by combining the two he got what he wanted, that'd be awesome. And I guess he kind of has the resources to do whatever he wants.

I've just answered my own question haven't I? Sorry guys. Spent all day driving up from Devon, brain's not quite on

[jackers]

[quote name='ashevans09' timestamp='1353718657' post='1877902']
Heya, thanks for the response . I get the tonal options thing, it's just, I don't know, it seems an awfully complicated line. I guess I just don't understand, if the pre of an amp wasn't doing what I wanted tonally I wouldn't buy it, y'know?
[/quote]

Usually I would agree, but for people like Justin Chancellor (and Tool in general) it's a bit different, cos he uses alot of sounds that you just won't get out of a simple bass -> board -> amp set-up.

I did quite alot of experimenting to try and get close to his sound when I first got some good recording stuff, and it is very difficult, there is just so much going on.

[Phil Starr]

There's really two ways of achieving a sound, the rational, working towards a goal, grappling with the science method and the suck it and see "man that's immense" method. Most of us of course are somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.

This is the rig of the suck it and see brigade. Two dozen pedals and actually multiple pre amps (sansamp on the floor), this isn't created by any logical process, this guy just plays through boxes, likes the sound and adds it to his rig. His tech will sort out any problems.

[stingrayPete1977]

As always with these things the cabs on stage are mostly for the players monitoring as somewhere all them boxes need to come through the pa for people 30, 000 deep to be able to hear anyway. Flea has 7 cabs on stage totaling 19 drivers and 4 horns yet one tiny Mic on one of the 10 inch drivers, he is also galliens biggest name player but has no heads on show, just cabs.

[ThomBassmonkey]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1353753177' post='1878062']
As always with these things the cabs on stage are mostly for the players monitoring as somewhere all them boxes need to come through the pa for people 30, 000 deep to be able to hear anyway. Flea has 7 cabs on stage totaling 19 drivers and 4 horns yet one tiny Mic on one of the 10 inch drivers, he is also galliens biggest name player but has no heads on show, just cabs.
[/quote]

In the video it says that both cabs are mic'd as well as a DI from the preamp. It's possible that it goes through the preamp mainly for the sake of DIing it rather than any benefits for the tone.

Also Flea is with Acoustic now. He was using 3 2001RBs into 3 410RBH and 3 115RBH when he was with GK. The reason the heads weren't on the cabs (they were on show often, just next to the cabs) was just for ease I suspect. They're all racked so there's no point in taking them out to put on top of the cabs.

[stingrayPete1977]

I have seen them twice since he went to Acoustic, both times he was still using his full GK rig

[BassPimp66]

I found this one the other day about Flea's rig. GK all the way !

http://youtu.be/3ARZGwfhC_U

[Guest bassman7755]

Having all those pedals is a bit OCD I think, and having the signal buffered and re-amplified a few dozen times in the signal chain must cruisify the tone, surely a bass pod (or 2) could do everything that setup does ...

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='BassPimp66' timestamp='1353785376' post='1878504']
I found this one the other day about Flea's rig. GK all the way !

http://youtu.be/3ARZGwfhC_U
[/quote]
Nice rack

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1353853530' post='1878952']
Having all those pedals is a bit OCD I think, and having the signal buffered and re-amplified a few dozen times in the signal chain must cruisify the tone, surely a bass pod (or 2) could do everything that setup does ...
[/quote]

If the buffers are good, keeps the tone better than a bunch of cable and connections.

[ThomBassmonkey]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1353776959' post='1878407']
I have seen them twice since he went to Acoustic, both times he was still using his full GK rig
[/quote]

It doesn't surprise me. The ray into GK is definitely his tone, his modulus was designed around a ray from what I've heard but he won't get an amp that sounds like a GK easily.

[stingrayPete1977]

The clip gave me 5 string modulus gas

[AttitudeCastle]

I was always on the side of the "why use X Y Z if they will use A B C infront of it" or "why have so many pedals when only 1 or 2 pedals could do that" until I had a bigger set up myself after a few years of growth.

I've found similar sounds with cut down setups, but it's just not the same tone or feel plus from years of using the same stuff I understand and know the bits of gear much better.

So to answer the question, maybe he uses both as that's the sound that he likes?

I use my "overly" complex set-up at times (compared to like Shep's it's nothing though haha!) including a pre-amp into the front of the amp sometimes as simply that's how my tone has evolved and that's the sound I like!