Bass Preamp

[yanto]

Has anybody got experience of the Headway EDB-1 as a preamp for bass?I know it's 2 channel so can add mic at a later date but soundwise is the Fishman Platinum Pro Bass a decent buy?I have a Bassmax pickup fitted right now.
Cheers
Iain

[slobluesine]

decent review here Iain...

[url="http://www.taylorguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163924"]http://www.taylorguitarforum.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=163924[/url]

not such a good one here tho...

[url="http://www.strum.it/index.php/page,66.html"]http://www.strum.it/index.php/page,66.html[/url]

oh well....

Edited August 2, 2010 by slobluesine

[bassace]

Yes, the Headway geezer can be a bit crotchety but mine's OK. I've posted this before but I'll do it again:- I swear by the Fishman Pro eq (not the Platinum Pro eq). It's cheaper, simpler and gives you an impedance matched sound, phase reverser and five way eq. It's my 'go to' preamp. I've got an fdeck unit coming. It's the one all the US guys rave about. I'll let you know how I get on.

[slobluesine]

is anyone using one of these?

[url="http://www.jp-guitars.co.uk/sales/pickups_and_amplification/baggs.htm#LR_Baggs_Mixpro_2-channel_Preamp"]http://www.jp-guitars.co.uk/sales/pickups_...-channel_Preamp[/url]

[Mr Bassman]

[quote name='yanto' post='913027' date='Aug 2 2010, 05:36 PM']Has anybody got experience of the Headway EDB-1 as a preamp for bass?I know it's 2 channel so can add mic at a later date but soundwise is the Fishman Platinum Pro Bass a decent buy?I have a Bassmax pickup fitted right now.
Cheers
Iain[/quote]

I've got both the plat pro and headway.

The plat pro often seems to lack something, so I got the Headway to try and it really seems to sparkle!

It really makes my Yamaha SLB100 (with undewood fitted) come alive.

I'm not sure yet about my Kolstein with a full circle, I'm still a / b'ing them.

I have a K & k bassmax fitted to my old French bass and it sounds great direct into a markbass head [b]without[/b] any pre amp.

By the way, my son has just got a carved archtop guitar and it feeds back like a mother, I suggested he take the headway to his next gig, prob solved with the notch filter!

[tinyd]

[quote name='yanto' post='913027' date='Aug 2 2010, 05:36 PM']Has anybody got experience of the Headway EDB-1 as a preamp for bass?I know it's 2 channel so can add mic at a later date but soundwise is the Fishman Platinum Pro Bass a decent buy?I have a Bassmax pickup fitted right now.
Cheers
Iain[/quote]

I've got a Bassmax and Fishman Platinum Pro on my Shen DB- the BassMax can indeed be plugged straight into the amp but I could never get it to sound great - very trebly and growly IMO. But when I added the Fishman it made a big difference so I'm happy with the combination.

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='tinyd' post='913482' date='Aug 3 2010, 08:53 AM']I've got a Bassmax and Fishman Platinum Pro[/quote]

I'm using this combo on my DB. I'm not entirely sold on the EQ on the Plat Pro tbh, seems like it could use more controls in the mids.

[TPJ]

Just to add another one in, I run my Bassmax through an Art Tube MP, then into my amp. The Art has a phase reverse but no eq. The tube affects the DB signal in a very pleasing way.

[TheRev]

[quote name='bassace' post='913282' date='Aug 2 2010, 10:11 PM']Yes, the Headway geezer can be a bit crotchety but mine's OK. I've posted this before but I'll do it again:- I swear by the Fishman Pro eq (not the Platinum Pro eq). It's cheaper, simpler and gives you an impedance matched sound, phase reverser and five way eq. It's my 'go to' preamp. I've got an fdeck unit coming. It's the one all the US guys rave about. I'll let you know how I get on.[/quote]


How have you managed to get hold of an Fdeck? I thought he wasn't willing to sell them outside of the US because of the problems getting an EC certificated thingy.

[BassBod]

No direct experience of these two. But I've generally found that any "decent" active DI box will do a pretty good job with current pickups, and there is less need for eq etc than there used to be.

I use an Orchid muting DI most of the time, does the impedance matching fine, gives me an on/off footswitch and a good DI. I also really liked the LR Baggs Para-DI, but it had a few issues. The tuner send needed a return cable (or something like that..can't remember the details), and the eq was voiced for guitars so only the lowest band did much. It also had a low-cut built in (non-switchable) which helped to avoid subby-boom on bass. Second hand these are very good value.