Obsessed with preamps

[Yan_Huriey]

I feel I have become obsessed with preamps, apart from all the fannying about it's raised an issue, heres the list.

 

1. EBS Microbass 2.

2. Darkglass Alpha Omega Ultra.

3. Line 6 HX Effects. (more for mucking about)

4. Darkglass BK7 Ultra.

5. Sansamp Bass driver DI.

 

I do like running 2 preamps together as I switch between generes during a set.   For example I can run the sansamp or the AOU for a clean signal, with the BK7U for the dirty stuff. Sometimes I run both preamps as it just gives flavour to flavour.

 

I am getting a weird 'popping' noise in my amp at home when I really dig in on the E string, or slap the E (not an issue if I slap on the fretboard)idkw. Practice seems ok might be my home rig, but thats EBS, so not budget.

 

I play a Jazz Elite, which seems to have a hot signal, and U make that hotter again, twice.  Just trying to figure out what is going on.

 

The BK7 ultra is a keeper, because its genuinely unique, The EBS is superbly engineered and just 'works very well' The AOU has a superb EQ, but the distortion I could live without, which makes it an expensive EQ, The sansamp is probably the 'warmest' but I find it a bit 'vanilla' idk, cant put my finger on it. The line 6 I havent made my mind up yet.

 

Just need to sort out that popping, still happens with the amp gain right down.

 

Any pedal on its own is fine, it happens when I chain them.

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by Yan_Hurei
Bzdly written

[Geek99]

You def have too much stuff going on …

 

I manage with just a zoom b2.1

ive not found it’s limits yet 

[chris_b]

What's wrong with the preamp in your amp?

[Yan_Huriey]

1 minute ago, chris_b said:

What's wrong with the preamp in your amp?

Nothing, but most of the gigs I play I go straight to the desk. I decided to just 'take my sound with me' usr the house rig as a power amp only.

[Downunderwonder]

41 minutes ago, Yan_Hurei said:

popping, still happens with the gain right down.

That is strange. Maybe your idea of gain down is still a boost going into the 2nd pedal. What happens if you bypass the 2nd pedal?

[Yan_Huriey]

27 minutes ago, Downunderwonder said:

That is strange. Maybe your idea of gain down is still a boost going into the 2nd pedal. What happens if you bypass the 2nd pedal?

Firstly I made sure the overdrive light wasnt kicking off on my amp (it wasn't)

Secondly I set the gain or (level) of each pedal so I don't get a volume increase when I turn any of them on.

Thirdly, it doesn't matter which pedal I turn on the issue can arise (one pedal on, the other on bypass).

Fourthly, the order in which I put the pedals on the board does make a difference, The BK7U is a main offender here.

Fifthly, turning my compressor off also helps, its like the compressor is picking up the noise and highlighting it.

 

I feel that its an issue I have created myself becasuse I process the bejeezus out of my signal and I dig in big time. But that's how I like my sound. I am very puzzled how a pedal can affect another pedal when its in bypass mode, but it absolutley does.

Edited September 2, 2021 by Yan_Hurei

[Downunderwonder]

Only thing I can think of is you could be getting a momentary bad ground condition by thwacking a string against a pickup, akin to the pop that can occur with engaging pedals from standby sometimes when they don't maintain the same ground potential as one another.

[Skybone]

Just to be a bit pedantic here, but the HX FX isn't a preamp, it's an effects modeller. It's just the effects models from the Helix, not the amp/cab models.

 

The Helix Stomp, LT, Floor, Rack, or the POD Go, or any other type like a Headrush or Kemper, then they're preamps.

[Rich]

5 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

Only thing I can think of is you could be getting a momentary bad ground condition by thwacking a string against a pickup, 

This was my first thought too. It happened on one of my basses too if I started digging in too hard. Put a strip of black insulating tape along the top of the neck pickup, to cover up the polepieces. Won't affect the sound but it will help, if that's where the popping is coming from.

[Leonard Smalls]

What happens if you just turn the actual bass volume down a touch? 

And if it's a active bass, try changing the battery - I've found distortion can be a sign of fading battery...

[Hellzero]

You don't speak of the preamp(s) gain. This is the first thing to do in your chain. A perfectly set gain is the key to a perfect sound, but don't use the gain light as it's pure bullsh*t, use your ears and set it accordingly.

 

That said the more pedals, whatever they are, you add to your signal, the more problems you put in the equation... And the more deteriorated your sound gets.

[BassAdder60]

Is it a PBass or bass with normal pickguard ?

 

they pickup static and make a crack sound when your fingers touch it 

 

Shouldn’t be very loud though 

[ezbass]

7 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

Only thing I can think of is you could be getting a momentary bad ground condition by thwacking a string against a pickup, akin to the pop that can occur with engaging pedals from standby sometimes when they don't maintain the same ground potential as one another.

 

2 hours ago, Rich said:

This was my first thought too. It happened on one of my basses too if I started digging in too hard. Put a strip of black insulating tape along the top of the neck pickup, to cover up the polepieces. Won't affect the sound but it will help, if that's where the popping is coming from.

Both of the above ^^^

 

As soon as you mentioned it not occurring when slapping on the fretboard my immediate thought was pole piece contact.

[Yan_Huriey]

6 hours ago, Rich said:

This was my first thought too. It happened on one of my basses too if I started digging in too hard. Put a strip of black insulating tape along the top of the neck pickup, to cover up the polepieces. Won't affect the sound but it will help, if that's where the popping is coming from.

I did put a strip of insulation tape accross the neck pickup and it has greatly improved things. I chained my BK7U and my AOU together, when the BK7U is last in the chain, I still get it, but its much reduced than before. With the AOU last in the chain there doesn't appear to be a problem. Though I was using headphones with my amp, so I need to do more testing, could be fixed though, cheers dude.

[Yan_Huriey]

6 hours ago, Skybone said:

Just to be a bit pedantic here, but the HX FX isn't a preamp, it's an effects modeller. It's just the effects models from the Helix, not the amp/cab models.

 

The Helix Stomp, LT, Floor, Rack, or the POD Go, or any other type like a Headrush or Kemper, then they're preamps.

You are not being pedantic, you are quite correct. The only reason I put it in there was my head was on fkn fire.

[Yan_Huriey]

7 hours ago, ezbass said:

 

Both of the above ^^^

 

As soon as you mentioned it not occurring when slapping on the fretboard my immediate thought was pole piece contact.

I know Pier Piras uses pickup covers on his Jazz Elite, maybe its just one if the oddities that this bass produces. I have noticed that the onboard preamp is way more aggressive than any other active bass I own.

Edited September 2, 2021 by Yan_Hurei
Spelling

[Yan_Huriey]

6 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said:

What happens if you just turn the actual bass volume down a touch? 

And if it's a active bass, try changing the battery - I've found distortion can be a sign of fading battery...

Tried turning the volume down and it still happens, its beginning to look like string to pole contact.

[Geek99]

The tape idea above is a good one 

[binky_bass]

Get a Kemper. There's 18,000 profiled amps available from their user exchange website. You can store thousands on the amp itself and set them all to the same volume/EQ if you want to ensure no volume dip/jump when switching. 

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, binky_bass said:

...You can store thousands on the amp itself and set them all ...

 

That's one heck of a repertoire. At ten 'sounds' per song, fifty songs in the set list... Hmm... Any chance of an extended memory for the 'other' band..?  

[nekomatic]

12 hours ago, Skybone said:

Just to be a bit pedantic here, but the HX FX isn't a preamp, it's an effects modeller.

Can it drive a load of lower impedance than its input impedance, at a gain of 1 or more? Then it’s a preamp. 
 

What it does with the rest of its time is its own business 😎

[Woodinblack]

The HX FX also models two of the other preamps

[Skybone]

Dunno, I was just under the impression that the HX FX only had the effects models from the Helix, and not the amp/cab/mic/IR capabilities.

 

It does have a BDDI model as an effect, but would that mean it was technically a preamp as well?

 

Is the B7K a preamp or a distortion/OD box?

 

Anyway, my point was that the HX FX doesn't have the same preamp capabilities of the HX Stomp/Stomp XL/LT/Floor/Rack or POD Go.

[Woodinblack]

I guess that depends on your definition of preamps. it certainly has preamp models, in distortion, but that is what a lot of people want in preamps, I think it covers everything you would want in a preamp, tone shaping, stereo balancing, mixing, gain changing, overdrive, IRs (it has those).

I doesn't have amplifier models but then niether do most standalone pre-amps.

 

[LeftyJ]

I'm a bit obsessed with preamps too, but I don't use more than one at a time. I own and have owned several preamps, both 19" rack-based and pedals. I currently own the EBS MicroBass II, Darkglass B7K (not the Ultra - and I strictly use it as an OD pedal. I feel the B7K Ultra is much more useful as a preamp because of the added footswitch to operate the distortion and bypass separately), an SWR Grand Prix (Grand Pre, get it? ), the Ampeg SVP-CL and the Ampeg SVP-PRO. The latter is the core of my current rehearsal and live rig. On stage it goes straight into the FOH, in our rehearsal space it goes into the power amp in of my EBS HD350 and through an EBS ProLine 4x10. I generally don't really like graphic equalizers, but I love this preamp! It's the preamp section of the all-tube SVT 2 Pro.

 

I have also owned a Hartke VXL Bass Attack (my first venture into preamp pedals, and a great one at that!) and some modelling stuff I didn't get along with very well. 

The MicroBass II was my main tone tool for a long time when I was in a coverband, I must have owned it for over 15 years now. I still like it, but don't really use it anymore.