Jazzjames Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 (edited) What would you pair with this for a preamp? I'm only after preamps that fit in a 1u rack space. I'd dearly love to get my hands on an Aguilar DB659 but I can't find one anywhere.... At the moment I'm using my tonehammer as the preamp. For those who are curious, this thing is a total beast. It weighs about 21kg(!) but when it's up and running the sound is just glorious. In a rack case it's not so bad to move about. It no more difficult to move around than my DB112s. Apparently, the Tonehammer and the Hellborg are both rated at 500w, but they are on different planets in real terms. I still love my Tonehammer though! James Edited November 4, 2016 by Jazzjames Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjimmyc Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Sansamp RBI? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuzzie Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 [sub]Depends on your sound.[/sub] [sub]do you want a rack preamp, or will a pedal do?[/sub] [sub]Pedals you can have anything from Two notes to Darkglass and in between[/sub] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuzzie Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 sorry i just read the post properly! I'll get my coat............ Still a good pre amp pedal is a consideration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzjames Posted November 1, 2016 Author Share Posted November 1, 2016 I've already got a Tonehammer DI and the head, I'm after something significantly higher quality. Those type of preamps work great for a lot of gigs but I've already got that covered. As I said, an Aguilar DB759 would be great, but I can't locate one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryancowell25 Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Have you not considered the Hellborg Pre-amp?....... I have one and they are stunning..... always wanted to try it with the poweramp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 (edited) [quote name='ryancowell25' timestamp='1478030375' post='3166229'] Have you not considered the Hellborg Pre-amp?....... I have one and they are stunning..... always wanted to try it with the poweramp [/quote] +1. The obvious choice. PS. There's film on YT of Larry Carlton's son playing through the full Hellborg set up and his tone is epic. Edited November 1, 2016 by Dan Dare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 The Hellborg set up was designed primarily for acoustic playing and has MASSIVE amounts of headroom for a super high fidelity experience. This means the transients from piezo pickups pop cleanly and with less compression than other run of the mill rigs. It sounds hyper real to the untrained ear. So if you don't go for the full set up, you only get the benefits from the parts you have if each non Hellborg component in the signal chain is also capable of massive headroom - the principle of weakest links in the signal chain applies from your fingers to the speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzjames Posted November 2, 2016 Author Share Posted November 2, 2016 [quote name='ryancowell25' timestamp='1478030375' post='3166229'] Have you not considered the Hellborg Pre-amp?....... I have one and they are stunning..... always wanted to try it with the poweramp [/quote] Finding one at the right price is the tricky bit, but if one came up second hand, sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 [quote name='ryancowell25' timestamp='1478030375' post='3166229'] Have you not considered the Hellborg Pre-amp?....... I have one and they are stunning..... always wanted to try it with the poweramp [/quote] +1 Or if you can't find one think studio type preamp rather than a bass guitar type preamp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 ^ if you are going that route... and you would consider paying a bit of cash... off the top of my head... Grace Design M103 SSL X Logic Alpha Channel Neve 8801 Kemper Profiler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krispn Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 (edited) Jazz James Do you mean an Aguilar DB659 or DB680? Edited November 4, 2016 by krispn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzjames Posted November 4, 2016 Author Share Posted November 4, 2016 Sorry, typo. DB659. I've actually spontaneously gone for an SVP CL that I saw on ebay. Different from what I was thinking but the price was right and I can for sure work with the ampeg sound. I'll let you all know how it soubds when I put them together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bassman7755 Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 (edited) [quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1478051549' post='3166421'] So if you don't go for the full set up, you only get the benefits from the parts you have if each non Hellborg component in the signal chain is also capable of massive headroom - the principle of weakest links in the signal chain applies from your fingers to the speakers. [/quote] Headroom is much more of an issue for power amps and speakers. At instrument and preamp signal levels your talking about signal-to-noise ratio (or dynamic range) and most decent quality modern gear has plenty of it, well the solid state stuff at least - valve preamps can vary a lot more in their s/n ratio. Edited November 6, 2016 by bassman7755 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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