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Bass head with valve pre, what's good nowadays?


andydye

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On 14/01/2023 at 11:30, MrDinsdale said:

The Jad Freer stuff looks really impressive, from what I've heard it sounds incredible too and packed with great features/design.

 

Can't afford the amp, or their power amp but still probably going to end up with their Capo preamp pedal in the near future.


But the Capo (awesome indeed) is a different preamp than the Sisma has.

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6 minutes ago, matbard said:


But the Capo (awesome indeed) is a different preamp than the Sisma has.

Yeah the Sisma is modelled on a B15 i think? The Capo just looks like a very versatile and high quality preamp.

 

What i meant was more that I'd love to own all their stuff but I'll settle for the Capo 😂

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For fun, try out the Bugera Veyron BV1001T, 3 x valve pre and digital out. Rated at 2000w but really around 600w. They are amazing and super cheap.

 

https://www.bugera-amps.com/product.html?modelCode=P0AED

 

https://www.bugera-amps.com/product/review.html?modelCode=P0AED

 

https://www.thomann.de/gb/bugera_bv1001t_veyron_bass_head.htm

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1 hour ago, andy67 said:

For fun, try out the Bugera Veyron BV1001T, 3 x valve pre and digital out. Rated at 2000w but really around 600w. They are amazing and super cheap.

 

https://www.bugera-amps.com/product.html?modelCode=P0AED

 

https://www.bugera-amps.com/product/review.html?modelCode=P0AED

 

https://www.thomann.de/gb/bugera_bv1001t_veyron_bass_head.htm

What he said, great amps. Alternatively, if you don’t mind weight and used, try a Hartke LH500 or 1000. Loads of heft and clean valve warmth.

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On 10/01/2023 at 15:01, MichaelDean said:

 

I'm surprised I haven't seen an Ashdown ABM mentioned yet! The valve drive on my ABM 600 warms things up nicely. Really flexible EQ too. It should pair nicely with your Barefaced 610 too.

 


I was gonna say extactly this. 
 

and this:

 

A9861FAB-8C70-4AFF-B600-F0BD8644135C.thumb.jpeg.6c45506f9f43c6854b8f1f37ef3706e4.jpeg

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My advice would be for you to get a tube/valve preamp pedal instead.

 

Would give you much more options and flexibility, both in terms of amps and preamps to chose from, and obviously combinations of these, but actually also in terms of tone shaping (dialing in exactly the EQ and amount of tube saturation e.t.c you want).

 

Though of course the choice is entirely up to you.

 

Edited by Baloney Balderdash
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I used to use a tube preamps (EHX English Muff'n, later the EBS Valvedrive) as a means to add warmth to certain amps.

They generally worked well but I actually found them to be a bit annoying and superfluous when gigging. It was another bit of kit, more fragile than a normal pedal, generally requiring a different power supply (12v AC) from the rest of my pedals. The tonal benefits were often so subtle that the audience wouldn't be able to tell the difference between those pedals and a comparatively bomb-proof Sansamp Bass Driver. Absolutely loved the valve preamp pedals when recording though and I still own them. 

I think I generally prefer a really nice amp which does my basic clean(ish) tone and I will just use a standard non-valve pedal to add dirt. In one form or another my Mesa Walkabout and EBS Fafner haven't failed me in nearly 14 years. If I was ditching them I would probably go either Helix or 'amp in a box' Origin Effects Bass Rig and FRFR speaker or go the complete opposite and just buy a Matamp GT200/Ampeg SVT/Orange AD200 and 4x10!

 

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I'd second this approach; I had a LMIII for a while, but its' inherent smoothness and politeness wasn't my cup of Darjeeling, so I added a preamp pedal to rough things up a bit. After a while I realised I never switched the preamp pedal off, so I looked for an amp that would sound the same as both together, and save the hassle of an extra piece of kit, power supply, lead, etc...

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Ashdown feedback...having has to use the 600w Ashdown head at SKegness the other weekend through an Ashdown 2x15 cab, I was expecting something decent, boy was I disappointed, had to dime the input gain and master volume to get somewhere close to audible, underwhelmed.com

 

presumably there was summat amiss with the rig but as it was festival backline it wasn't my place to tinker

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7 minutes ago, andydye said:

Ashdown feedback...having has to use the 600w Ashdown head at SKegness the other weekend through an Ashdown 2x15 cab, I was expecting something decent, boy was I disappointed, had to dime the input gain and master volume to get somewhere close to audible, underwhelmed.com

 

presumably there was summat amiss with the rig but as it was festival backline it wasn't my place to tinker

Doesn't sound right. I regularly use an ABM 500 and Berg 215 and it punches like a mule. Sounds like a typical festival/house backline issue and could have been: compressor on or turned up (will reduce output), shape button engaged (no mids), EQ disengaged (big vol drop) or a horrible mixture of these issues. Maybe, dare I say, shagged out gear. 

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Well i had a play on a VBA400 last night at practice and its an absolute beast. Still not sure that it was good enough to warrant carting it about and maintaining an all valve head vs my GK Fusion S but annoyingly as soon as I started playing everyone in the band just turned and said "That's the sound right there".

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I have an older GenzBenz Steamliner that has a three tube pre. It certainly warms and thickens the Class D back end. I sent it off to California when I heard agedhorse was still doing service work on them so it’s like a brand new amp today. 
Sometimes you see Streamliners go for very reasonable money.
 

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24 minutes ago, msb said:

I have an older GenzBenz Steamliner that has a three tube pre. It certainly warms and thickens the Class D back end. I sent it off to California when I heard agedhorse was still doing service work on them so it’s like a brand new amp today. 
Sometimes you see Streamliners go for very reasonable money.
 

I'm sure the Bugera BV1001T is a copy of the Streamliner, @agedhorse will definitely know :D

Edited by andy67
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1 hour ago, andydye said:

Ashdown feedback...having has to use the 600w Ashdown head at SKegness the other weekend through an Ashdown 2x15 cab, I was expecting something decent, boy was I disappointed, had to dime the input gain and master volume to get somewhere close to audible, underwhelmed.com

 

presumably there was summat amiss with the rig but as it was festival backline it wasn't my place to tinker

 

1 hour ago, NAS Bass said:

Doesn't sound right. I regularly use an ABM 500 and Berg 215 and it punches like a mule. Sounds like a typical festival/house backline issue and could have been: compressor on or turned up (will reduce output), shape button engaged (no mids), EQ disengaged (big vol drop) or a horrible mixture of these issues. Maybe, dare I say, shagged out gear. 


Probably the cab. Put them with a decent cab (Berg, Barefaced, et al) and they are epic

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4 hours ago, andydye said:

Ashdown feedback...having has to use the 600w Ashdown head at SKegness the other weekend through an Ashdown 2x15 cab, I was expecting something decent, boy was I disappointed, had to dime the input gain and master volume to get somewhere close to audible, underwhelmed.com

 

presumably there was summat amiss with the rig but as it was festival backline it wasn't my place to tinker

Def something wrong there Andy, the Ashdown I used at Skegness was an ABM500 through an Ashdown 215 cab and I didn’t need to push that at all.

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Just now, Reggaebass said:

That’s what I use Ander with a BB2 , lovely tone 👌

 

Hmmmm! My only grit is finding out whether the V4b can pull loud with the Six10, I'd be inclined to think so but some folk on the internets are saying it's not as loud... (trying them with 2x12s and 4x12s, that is).

 

I'd just really want to see it get better than the ABM 600, which in my mind is very complicated, but then again I've polished my basses pedals and cabinet so looking whether it's possible to improve the bass head without spending much money...!

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