basslass Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 I stopped carrying my amp anywhere unless there isn't any other option at the gig venue. The FOH will DI it anyway so I thought why lug around something that is essentially a monitor and has no effect on the FOH sound. I'm using the Noble DI preamp (http://nobleamps.com/preamps/) which works great! I have it on my board and send the xlr to FOH and connect the 1/4 inch either into the bass amp's effects return, which bypasses the amp's preamp and I get only the sweet tube sound of the pre, or directly into the front of amp and just eq the amp flat. The DI has only three knobs, Volume (affects only the 1/4), bass and treble --> sweet simplicity! I've gotten the best IEM sound of any DI from the noble. It isn't cheap but it is the best peice of gear I've ever bought. I wont sell it ever. The roster of people using it is awesome and the Guy who builds them - Jack Roan- is a bloody legend. There are loads of good videos on the preamps but in the name of shameless self-promotion here is me and my Noble in action (Most of the videos in my YT-channel is made with the Noble) : 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 To summarise, it looks as though you kind of want a preamp (because they're useful and because why not?), you want something clean and clear, and you probably don't want to spend that much in case it's not for you. May I suggest the catchily-named Studiospares 458190? Great preamp, super-clean, loads of gain, great DI box, usable eq for bass. It needs a polarity adaptor (it's center positive unlike most boss pedals) and you can see the thing from space, but otherwise it's great preamp. Really useful box. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgehouse Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 1 minute ago, Jack said: To summarise, it looks as though you kind of want a preamp (because they're useful and because why not?), you want something clean and clear, and you probably don't want to spend that much in case it's not for you. May I suggest the catchily-named Studiospares 458190? Great preamp, super-clean, loads of gain, great DI box, usable eq for bass. It needs a polarity adaptor (it's center positive unlike most boss pedals) and you can see the thing from space, but otherwise it's great preamp. Really useful box. Good shout - I forgot about the studiospares on - nice clean tone and the notch is really handy. I have learned the hard way that a piezo pickup really does need a different type of preamp to get the most out of it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 31 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said: I've learned too much about piezo's on bass after having the Shuker - more than anyone should know in one lifetime I reckon You just became my Piezo / Preamp wingman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgehouse Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 1 minute ago, Frank Blank said: You just became my Piezo / Preamp wingman. Haha! Having wired up that Shuker and mucked about with the piezo saddles for best contact with the strings I'm happy to say no matter what you do, I've probably been there Having said that, the Shuker is still probably my fave bass of all time - and I'm totally sold on Piezo and how it can sound on bass. I really like the tones I get out of it and it's been worth every bit of the pain and effort to get it perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 16 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said: To summarise, it looks as though you kind of want a preamp (because they're useful and because why not?), you want something clean and clear, and you probably don't want to spend that much in case it's not for you. Yes to those things but also my ignorance of technical stuff often finds me sonically frustrated and then someone will say something like Where's your preamp? or You need a gankel damper on that son. So I find it easier to deal with that kind of embarrassment on here rather than f2f. Useful, and I think in the live situations I'm likely to to be in soon very useful by the sounds of it. 16 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said: May I suggest the catchily-named Studiospares 458190? Great preamp, super-clean, loads of gain, great DI box, usable eq for bass. It needs a polarity adaptor (it's center positive unlike most boss pedals) and you can see the thing from space, but otherwise it's great preamp. Really useful box. You may, thank you, I shall investigate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 5 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said: Haha! Having wired up that Shuker and mucked about with the piezo saddles for best contact with the strings I'm happy to say no matter what you do, I've probably been there Having said that, the Shuker is still probably my fave bass of all time - and I'm totally sold on Piezo and how it can sound on bass. I really like the tones I get out of it and it's been worth every bit of the pain and effort to get it perfect. ^ This is, essentially, a kind of nightmare for me. I get a man in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 3 minutes ago, Frank Blank said: Yes to those things but also my ignorance of technical stuff often finds me sonically frustrated and then someone will say something like Where's your preamp? or You need a gankel damper on that son. So I find it easier to deal with that kind of embarrassment on here rather than f2f. Useful, and I think in the live situations I'm likely to to be in soon very useful by the sounds of it. You may, thank you, I shall investigate. Basically an external pedal preamp like the ones we're talking about here are all of the controls on the front of your (well, any) amp. Usually at least gain, eq, volume, things like that. What they don't have are the power amp (which makes stuff really loud and drives cabs) or the speaker. Like amps, pedal preamps all have different features (some have more eq, overdrive, whatever) and they all sound different. The Ampeg Scrambler sounds sort of like the Ampeg amps do and the GK Plex sounds very like the GK amps do. Two main uses that I can think of: As an amp replacement - Many gigs these days have big PA system and good monitors, so you don't need to creat any of your own volume. In this case a pedal preamp would give you all of the control over your sound that you need without making you have to carry the power amp and speaker in your combo that you don't need. As an 'effect' in addition to your amp. Your amp is super clean and very high fi. Lets say you join a rock band and you ditch the Rob Allen for a P Bass with rounds, you can put something that sounds 'rocky' like the Sansamp or the Two Notes Le Bass in front of your amp to make your clean amp sound less, well, clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 1 minute ago, Jack said: Two main uses that I can think of: As an amp replacement - Many gigs these days have big PA system and good monitors, so you don't need to create any of your own volume. In this case a pedal preamp would give you all of the control over your sound that you need without making you have to carry the power amp and speaker in your combo that you don't need. Just this ^ use is going to be my live situation for the foreseeable, the AER, although small is heavy so a decent preamp in my bag is, I think, going to be vital if I want to control tone live. Thanks @Jack. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgehouse Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 26 minutes ago, Frank Blank said: ^ This is, essentially, a kind of nightmare for me. I get a man in. It was surprisingly pain free as John East's preamps are exceptionally logical, well built and well configured. But I take your point If you were close to me you could pop over and try a range of preamp pedals (I've got half a dozen or so) so you could see what you do/don't like - your bass into a preamp pedal then out into my FRFR monitor (which for all purposes is basically the same as a PA) Let me know if that's of interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgehouse Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 Just looked - Southend - I'm Peterborough so it's a bit of a trek but not too bad. Again, you are welcome to come and try some just to see and see how your bass sounds in a preamp into PA type setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 16 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said: If you were close to me you could pop over and try a range of preamp pedals (I've got half a dozen or so) so you could see what you do/don't like - your bass into a preamp pedal then out into my FRFR monitor (which for all purposes is basically the same as a PA) Let me know if that's of interest. You have pre-empted my next question, I'm quite interested in the concept of FRFR thanks to your excellent Interesting FRFR Story post. So could I plug into the preamp, DI to the desk and have my sound onstage via my own FRFR monitor? Forgive me if this is explicitly answered in you thread. 15 minutes ago, Bridgehouse said: Just looked - Southend - I'm Peterborough so it's a bit of a trek but not too bad. Again, you are welcome to come and try some just to see and see how your bass sounds in a preamp into PA type setup. It is a trek I am very happy to do, I can get some train spotting in as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgehouse Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 7 minutes ago, Frank Blank said: You have pre-empted my next question, I'm quite interested in the concept of FRFR thanks to your excellent Interesting FRFR Story post. So could I plug into the preamp, DI to the desk and have my sound onstage via my own FRFR monitor? Forgive me if this is explicitly answered in you thread. It is a trek I am very happy to do, I can get some train spotting in as well! My signal chain on stage is DI from preamp into FRFR monitor then DI out (passthrough) from there into the PA. Means I have my own monitor all for me that I set volume on independently. Soundman does what he wants with the output then Let me know if you want to pop over to try some stuff out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 4 hours ago, Bridgehouse said: My signal chain on stage is DI from preamp into FRFR monitor then DI out (passthrough) from there into the PA. Means I have my own monitor all for me that I set volume on independently. Soundman does what he wants with the output then Let me know if you want to pop over to try some stuff out. I seriously might take you up on that, I’ll PM you if so. Thanks for the offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 Just opted for the Fishman Platinum Pro from GAK, cheers all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgehouse Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 30 minutes ago, Frank Blank said: Just opted for the Fishman Platinum Pro from GAK, cheers all. Good choice 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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