Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Bass Rack Pre Amps or Bass Rack FX


funkgod
 Share

Recommended Posts

On 02/06/2024 at 11:53, Piers_Williamson said:

 

I know this is a 'show me your rack' section, and I can read the words, but (not being a studio engineer), I'm not entirely sure what 'have changed over to the Quad Cortex in the studio, although I do run the DI channel through an RND Shelford and an AMEK 9098 comp/lim..' means.  It sounds and looks impressive though!

 

 

Sorry, didn't mean to acronym you to death...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...
On 13/05/2024 at 15:06, funkgod said:

Thought id open this up as im interested in all things bass rack pre's,

 interesting to see whats out there and must be interesting for others thinking about getting one.

if you have one please tell us a bit about it.

I've owned Ashly BP-41 and Alembic F2B ones, both of which were very cool within their lanes but not quite my long term cuppa. As usual, I'd rather just roll my own:

 

PW7_SP1_2.thumb.jpg.079e29069a8d9dbf747c8674a3db5023.jpg

 

That one is sitting over a commercial 1000 watt plate amp with DSP processing in the pic, but the power amp is now gone along with a more Fender/Alembic style rack job I did:

 

PW4B.thumb.jpg.452edd78a306a0f0a4b894310d246866.jpg

 

And then I've done a few tube ones:

 

10010803_10203289589257773_623269685_o.thumb.jpg.d6d8dfafcde015e17276080f8aea909c.jpg

 

...which uses 6SL7 and 6SN7 tubes. The second version was two rack spaces rather than three, like so:

 

PW6B2_backin.thumb.jpg.35aa76a7cd6e3dbcc165830489de3b49.jpg

 

And then my favorite is in a half rack width format, meant to fit side by side with either a tube one or a DIY 700 watt amp:

 

Padstack1.jpg.f8f5a27938c56357d714eddd3fce151e.jpg

 

And then the very similar preamp in this integrated 500 watt amp build can be run completely independently of the power amp section:

 

PW8B_racked.thumb.jpg.a288432c6bcd6c312e4f7621b0a5351f.jpg

 

I still own the first one and the last two, a luthier friend now has #2 and #3 and has taken both to his NAMM booth, and #4 belongs to a well known pro who primarily uses it in his home studio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a late 80s Peavey TB raxx tube preamp

 

They are not so common in UK, but sometimes come up £150-£250 ish (the TG raxx, guitar version is more common, just a few component values different I believe )

 

I’m always really impressed with it, had it around a decade – only really used in the house but did once use it with a massive PA and was impressive.

 

Does the whole Alembic F2b thing, but also has gain boost with active EQ (bottom/body/edge)  and can still sound very modern too with nice drive. 

Mine probably needs a cap job as it's a bit noisy.

 

If you find a bass or guitar version, snag it ! 

 

Thanks Neil 

TB Raxx 1.jpg

TB Raxx.jpg

Edited by orangepeelneil
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I picked up this cute H&K Bassmaster (pics not mine, but it's the same device) a couple of weeks ago, mostly as a home practice amp. It came in the original box! The seller was clearing the stock from a long closed bass store in the Netherlands (due to the owner's health issues). The master volume doesn't seem to work, but otherwise it's all fine so I'll just need to have that looked at. The EL84 is mostly there to generate actual power amp saturation for recording situations, but it's very much capable of driving a cab (5 watts output power). I paid €190 and I feel like that was €190 well spent! 

 

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg

Edited by LeftyJ
  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 28/11/2024 at 16:17, Passinwind said:

I've owned Ashly BP-41 and Alembic F2B ones, both of which were very cool within their lanes but not quite my long term cuppa. As usual, I'd rather just roll my own:

 

PW7_SP1_2.thumb.jpg.079e29069a8d9dbf747c8674a3db5023.jpg

 

That one is sitting over a commercial 1000 watt plate amp with DSP processing in the pic, but the power amp is now gone along with a more Fender/Alembic style rack job I did:

 

PW4B.thumb.jpg.452edd78a306a0f0a4b894310d246866.jpg

 

And then I've done a few tube ones:

 

10010803_10203289589257773_623269685_o.thumb.jpg.d6d8dfafcde015e17276080f8aea909c.jpg

 

...which uses 6SL7 and 6SN7 tubes. The second version was two rack spaces rather than three, like so:

 

PW6B2_backin.thumb.jpg.35aa76a7cd6e3dbcc165830489de3b49.jpg

 

And then my favorite is in a half rack width format, meant to fit side by side with either a tube one or a DIY 700 watt amp:

 

Padstack1.jpg.f8f5a27938c56357d714eddd3fce151e.jpg

 

And then the very similar preamp in this integrated 500 watt amp build can be run completely independently of the power amp section:

 

PW8B_racked.thumb.jpg.a288432c6bcd6c312e4f7621b0a5351f.jpg

 

I still own the first one and the last two, a luthier friend now has #2 and #3 and has taken both to his NAMM booth, and #4 belongs to a well known pro who primarily uses it in his home studio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

christ on a bike ! loads of great work there,

"The second version was two rack spaces rather than three, like so:"

that looks next level design, layout and everything looks really good.

you should be taking orders if you was in the mind to,

have you got a site up ? if not you should do one.

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/12/2024 at 02:19, funkgod said:

christ on a bike ! loads of great work there,

"The second version was two rack spaces rather than three, like so:"

that looks next level design, layout and everything looks really good.

you should be taking orders if you was in the mind to,

have you got a site up ? if not you should do one.

 

 

Thanks! I have no interest in selling production hardware at this time, especially in rack enclosures that typically cost a fortune these days. I do however love sharing open source designs with DIY'ers though, for instance: https://github.com/Passinwind/PW3B-LPF

 

I did have a website up for several years offering design services, but The Plague put an end to that dream and I just use it to archive info on my DIY stuff these days.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...