preamps

[heatheroo]

Thinking about retiring my old Roland SIP-301 preamp and entering the 21st century. I don't see a whole lot of info on what is available in the preamp market. Right now my rig consists of:

 

SIP-301, the crossover output going into a

QSC RMX850 driving a

bassman 2-15 cab loaded with EVM15's for the bottom end

and a

GK 1-15 cab for thre top end

 

I hear good things about the Alembic preamps and I see some info on the BBE units. What else is out there?

 

Thanx.

[guitargod0dmw]

What are you looking to achieve with a new preamp? What kind of music, what kind of tone? What don't you like about your current tone? Budget?

[blueyedmule]

Just to name a few:

 

Ampeg

Aguilar

SansAmp

Fender

Eden

Rocktron

ISP Technologies

Behringer

BBE

 

There are I'm sure many more companies making bass preamps. That's only scratching the surface. You can also use an integrated preamp/poweramp setup and use the preamp out to your existing poweramp if you prefer. I've thought about setting up my little Trace Elliot amp that way, with my Mackie 1400i.

[seraphim7s]

Is it feasible to get an outboard (ie standalone) preamp and somehow bypass the preamp built into a normal head, only using its power section?

 

I'm wondering because someone I know just bought a SS bass head, and the tone is not so great (he likes tubes but cannot afford a tube head), but its plenty powerful. Or could you just run a tube preamp into the head's preamp and adjust the gain so that most of the tone is coming from the tube preamp?

[heatheroo]

as to my requirements.........

 

I currently play in a bar cover band, but I also do occasional jazz and theater gigs. Why am I looking for a replacement? Well.........I've been using the Roland since 1980 and I'm just interested in seeing what improvements have been made. Up until a year ago I was still using the QSC 1151 poweramp I originally bought with this rig. I finally replaced it with the RMX850 which allows me to use the SIP-301 crossover. Now, I'd like to upgrade the preamp. I see the list of preamps previously posted. Does anyone have personal experience with any of them? I'm not interested in buying a preamp/poweramp combo and bypassing the integral power amp. Does GK make a preamp only version of any of their amps?

 

BTW - I'm playing a '77 T-Bird which I bought new in '77...........so you can see i don't change equipment very often(g)

[Tlaloc]

YOU'LL NEED A PREAMP WITH THAT.

 

 

 

(sorry, it had to be done)

[guitargod0dmw]

 

Does GK make a preamp only version of any of their amps?

 

 

Yes...the 2001 RBP. It's the preamp to the 2001 RB.

[mrmax]

Is it feasible to get an outboard (ie standalone) preamp and somehow bypass the preamp built into a normal head, only using its power section? I'm wondering because someone I know just bought a SS bass head, and the tone is not so great (he likes tubes but cannot afford a tube head), but its plenty powerful. Or could you just run a tube preamp into the head's preamp and adjust the gain so that most of the tone is coming from the tube preamp?

 

Plug the Bass into the pre amp, plug the pre amp's output into the amp's FX return and there you are, you've bypassed the amp's preamp section.

[The Real MC]

I love the sound of my Ampeg SVP-Pro preamp and it sounds great with any power amp. The tone is in the preamp (and the guitar and its player).

[bikehorn]

A lot of people like the Sansamp Bass Driver DI, which also comes in a rackmount version(the RBI).

 

Question though, I have a chance to pick up an SIP-301 for $150, and I'm wondering what kind of stuff it can do. It's at a pawn shop, so I can't try it out without taking it down the street to a music store...which would probably not be easy to talk my way into. I need a cheap preamp and this looks pretty cheap. Do you ever use the crossover?

[scampi]

the svp-pro is my favorite, it's got a distinct ampeg/valve type sound - great harmonics and overtones, and some of the mid frequencies are useful - I do not use the graphic eq on this unit, it's superfluous, you don't need it - all you need is to tweak the gain/drive/bass/mid to taste and it's plug n play really

 

I also own the rbi, it's ok for a specific sound, but it is sorely lacking in lower mids imo and the center freq for the mid control is just all wrong for bass - if I bought a sansamp pre now, I'd get the rpm instead for the sweepable mid control, FAR more useful

 

I tend to boost mids a bit in the 200-250 range, the rbi does not allow me to do that and sounds too 'scooped' - it does the rude svt thing well enough, but it's lacking in some areas where the svp does a whole lot more for me

 

fwiw, there are tons of sound samples for various pres at this site

 

http://www.basstasters.com/preamps/

[Zon5string]

 

Just to name a few: Ampeg Aguilar SansAmp Fender Eden Rocktron ISP Technologies Behringer BBE There are I'm sure many more companies making bass preamps. That's only scratching the surface. You can also use an integrated preamp/poweramp setup and use the preamp out to your existing poweramp if you prefer. I've thought about setting up my little Trace Elliot amp that way, with my Mackie 1400i.

 

 

Alembic

SWR

ADA

Kern

Trace Elliot

[heatheroo]

Bikehorn - I've been using the SIP-301 since 1980......I think. It's a good preamp, fairly flexible, has a compressor 9that I never use) effects loops and a crossover. yes, I use the crossover to biamp. You can set the crossover freq. I leave mine set straight up and down............whatever freq. that is. There' sreally nothing I don't like about the SIP-301. I'm just gassing for something new. I think back inthe day, I paid $700.00 for the SIP-301, a QSC 1151 and an anvil case.

[Apendecto]

Add Demeter to the list, but I haven't played through one.

 

Yo.

[Gruntollio Bass]

I've seen a few of these WP100's on the bay at reasonble prices recently. I haven't played through one but heard plenty of good things about them and have considered getting one myself with a good power-amp.