Fishman Platinum Pro EQ/DI Analog Preamp on an upright with a piezo pickup?

[danonearth]

Hi all, I am replacing a piezo pick-up on an EUB (I know… Sorry!  but I want to buy a good pre-amp first to test several different options. I also play guitar, and most my guitar pickups are Fishmans, so I am looking at getting an “Fishman Platinum Pro EQ/DI Analog Preamp” and was just wondering if anyone has ever used one on an upright with a piezo pickup? Thanks!

[jrixn1]

I've had one with my double bass with piezo pickup.  It is well-built and sounds good, which is the main thing.  Personally, I didn't like the feel of the knobs, and I had no use for the boost footswitch, compressor, or brilliance control.  Additionally, since I was doubling, I already had a tuner.  So for me it wasn't a match, as it's quite large and expensive but I had no need for half of its features.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2023 by jrixn1

[Owen]

I used to have the non stomp box one which was great. The reality is that an Fdeck preamp or a clone will do all you need and will be much cheaper. I will admit to a vested interest here because I have one for sale. But even if I did not I would still say the same thing.

 

[haruki]

I've use one on my double bass for the past few years - I find it really useful especially the low pass filter and tuner and it gives another eq point.  It is quite sturdy and though its not the smallest I don't mind that - I found the headway preamp a but fiddly for my fat fingers...

 

I was even thinking of getting a spare.

[Frank Blank]

Although not with an upright, I used a Fishman Platinum Pro with my semi-hollow acoustic basses, both of which have Piezo pickups. The Fishman is a great bit of kit, sounds lovely with Piezo instruments, if I hadn't upgraded to using a Grace Design pre I'd still be using the Fishman.

[NickD]

They're a handy bit of kit, currently my 'traveling light' solution. I have A J-Tone and a Realist on my DB, and it works nicely with both, but it also works fine with my NS EUB too.

[Owen]

13 hours ago, Owen said:

I used to have the non stomp box one which was great. The reality is that an Fdeck preamp or a clone will do all you need and will be much cheaper. I will admit to a vested interest here because I have one for sale. But even if I did not I would still say the same thing.

 

I lied, I cannot find it.

[TheRev]

I use a Fishman Platinum Pro analog in my live seup and use it's predecessor in our rehearsal room.  I really like it -  high impedance preamp, HPF, DI and tuner all in one box.  I don't tend to use the EQ much, but its' useful to have.  The ability to be able to switch the EQ centres between 'guitar' and 'bass' is handy if you play other instruments.

 

 

[lemmywinks]

Not had an EUB in years but I use both the Platinum Pro and Stage preamps with a few piezo equipped acoustics and electric basses. If you don't need all the extra features of the full pedal then the Stage version might be useful and it also has a belt clip if you don't need a floor unit, it has the same sound but with just a 3 band eq (sweepable mids, guitar/bass switch), adjustable boost, phase and a 3 way low cut switch rather than a knob.

 

On the Platinum Pro the brilliance (5kHz) is very useful for cutting string noise while still being to add a bit of treble (3kHz), I miss that on the Stage.

[keeponehandloose]

Highly recommended on upright bass. Only downside is the unit wont run on phantom power, its battery or mains adaptor only.

 

Edited September 12, 2023 by keeponehandloose

[NickA]

You don't HAVE to use a pre.  My realist pickup goes straight to the bass amp and usually sounds fine. It does have an onboard volume control which is useful. A phase reverse might be useful, but they feel weird as the bass's own sound cancels what's coming out of the amp, an EUB should not suffer feedback anyway.  Notch filter ... maybe.  High pass? Already in the bass amp.

 

Always nice to buy new gizmos of course.

Edited September 19, 2023 by NickA

[Owen]

If your amp's input has a high enough impedance you are good to go. This is not always the case.

 

And for the record, I am ALWAYS up for new gizmos.

[Owen]

I seem to recall that my Realist pickup was much less fussy about what it went into than other pickups I have used.