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pre-amp pedal advice


doomed
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So my new Sansamp bass driver turned faulty on me after half a dozen uses, lucky i kept my BD121...., I have been informed i'll be getting a full refund. I am always wary if something fails on me of going down the same route again, so has anyone got any suggestions of for replacing it? It will be on permanently, running into the return of my LMT800 as was the Sansamp, I've looked at the Darkglass pedals can anyone tell me if they (other than the B7K which i know will) would run as described? Thanks in advance.

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Well I use a Zoom B3. It has many different patches on it, including the Sansamp, but also has amp-modelling (including Markbass) so should I get amp failure, I can get my whole sound DI`d to desk, and not just the effect I`m using. Makes using provided rigs easy as well. Effectively, my amp now is just a power amp, all the eq/drive/compression comes from the B3.

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A thread was posted on talkbass recently with clips comparing the Sansamp/B7K/RustyBox etc - and the best sounding to me was the Aguilar Tonehammer: [url="http://johnbscott.com/preamp_shootout/"]http://johnbscott.com/preamp_shootout/[/url]

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The Tone Hammer is a great unit but decide if you want to use it as a clean only or drive only (regardless of how little drive you need) as there is a noticeable boost between the two channels. There was a good review/user setting piece on Talk Bass by one experienced user which I found really useful when I used one. It explained how to get the best from the TH and the importance of the mid control in the drive channel.

I'm currently using the MXR M80 as i find it's better suited to my needs or pre-amp/dirt box/di I really like the M80. It can sound a bit 'modern' with the drive engaged but I'm digging that sound and have other pedals for more low gain vintage tones.

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I guess it depends how you want to use the preamp. If you are looking for a clean tone then the Aguilar would be a great choice. Dirty tone, nothing beats the B7K or even comes close for me, and I reckon iv tried all of them. But of course, totally depends on the player, bass and amp :)

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[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1371319535' post='2112598']
I guess it depends how you want to use the preamp. If you are looking for a clean tone then the Aguilar would be a great choice. Dirty tone, nothing beats the B7K or even comes close for me, and I reckon iv tried all of them. But of course, totally depends on the player, bass and amp :)
[/quote]

The B3/7K is unbeatable for a certain type of dirty tone, but it does very much have an inbuilt voice and it does that "voice" impeccably. However, there are so many other dirty tones it cannot do. It is not the be all and end all. In fact there is no "be all and end all" dirt generator pedal/pre-amp. All these different dirt tones require different approaches to make them. I guess once Fractal or some other uber-high tech company do a latest generation Bass-specific modeller we will then start to get that type of thing for bass.

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I would agree, alone it will not suit every sound you are looking for (although running it at 12v with the 4 band eq affords a lot of variation in comparisson to the B3K) but it adds a great flavour to any fuzz or drive you put into it, and the blend knob really lets you control the intensity of that flavour, which I think is a big plus for its use as a dirty preamp. I am also getting excellent results using a Vintage before it; I can't imagine there are too many drive tones I can't get using them both.

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