thisisswanbon

Doesn't tick the all in one box... but I run a DemonFX Call76 (totally original design as I understand 😬) into a Laney Digbeth preamp.  The digbeth has a lovely switchable tube emulation and FET channel with 4 band and tilt eq systems and sounds great!  You can get this combo for well under £200.

I'm loving this combo (I run other pedals too and the digbeth is last in chain) and honestly can't imagine there being anything better at either pedal's price point.

I've always liked the idea of using these to tighten up lows, but I struggle to comprehend where they go in your chain!

To my underdeveloped brain, it makes more sense to go at the end of your chain to filter any effects units too, but when going to FOH it wouldn't hit your DI.  At the beginning of your chain just feels like it would suck all of the fundamental of your raw bass whilst not addressing the added lows from effects and preamp EQs...

9 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

There’s some preamp shootout video on YouTube with all the biggest names and the Digbeth shone out on that to my ears

 

 

 

I watched that video more times than I'd like to admit...

TL;DR - I have a problem.

So I've been on a bit of a preamp journey since going direct to FOH, and I feel like it's finally come to an end! It seems a shame to just let it be done without taking the excuse to be a bit self indulgent and talk about some fantastic pedals... so here we go!

My epic tone quest begins in March '23, with my band buying a new P.A. System. I'd forever been in a cycle of buying bass amps to suit my barefaced Big twin II (which I hated), and decided the new PA was an excuse to go direct to FOH. Enter... Hotone Ampero Stomp II!

I'd had little success with the HX stomp previously, but looking at the spec sheet thought this HAD to be a winner. After a brief bit of setting up it sounded fantastic, with a great lively quality to the sound. As has often happened with me though; I see digital, I hear digital. This coupled with option paralysis and meant it had to go... enter, Mark Bass Vintage Pre!

What a bloody good bit of kit this is! The tube really adds a warmth and punch to the sound that I've not gotten elsewhere. There was a mid quality to this that I LOVED! Didn't like the preset eq voices, but didn't use them. Found I had to have the gain too low for my c4 patches and lost alot of headroom, and when turning the gain up the clipping was very digital and didnt have that expected tube character. And so it went... enter, Ampeg SGT DI!

What a sound! This thing was monstrous! Didn't like the digital cab sims, but thought they were a nice inclusion. The SGT circuit though had a life and weight that was unbelievable! Found the gain staging to be a bit fiddly, felt cheated that I wasn't using the cab sims, and the lads in the band saying they couldn't really tell the difference made me think £370 is a bit much to make myself smile. And so, back it went... enter, Laney Digbeth Preamp!

I cannot believe the quality of this thing for £140 new! It's so feature rich and well built; 3.5mm aux in and phones out, 4 band eq with selectable low mids, dual mixable channels, fx loop, really useful tilt eq... the list goes on!

I still had the Ampeg when I bought this, with a view of best pedal stays. I can't say this bested the ampeg, or the mark bass, or the hotone; they all brought a genuinely different tonal palet to the table. The thing that won out on the laney was this weight and body to each note. There's a space to the note with both channels on that gives it a real amp like feel. It put the same smile on my face as the mark bass and ampeg, at a fraction of the price!

I'm obsessed with pedals, so no doubt somewhere down the line I'll want the latest and greatest, but for now I'm content at last!

If it's any re-assurance, their returns policy is the most transparent, well communicated returns process I've ever used.  Love your description of this pedal, my JPTRFX jive didn't tick the boxes I wanted it to, wishing I'd gone for something like this instead!

I'd be inclined to agree with @NancyJohnson on this one... I had a Spector Rebop 4MM that I loved the look of and in headphones but struggled in the mix.  Spent upwards of £450 on an Aguilar MM pickup and a custom commissioned routeless pick up.  Made a difference tonally but it still wasn't what I expected and didn't drown out the other niggles I had...

If the bass doesn't do what you want it to, then I'd change the bass; not the electronics

Personally I've had digital stuff (Line 6 HX stomp, Hotone Ampero II Stomp, various zoom iterations, Ampeg SGT DI with digital IR loader, source audio aftershock and bass OFD, TC Spectracomp etc) and they always lack a certain body and harmonic content.

That being said, I may love it if I try it; I know local players who are far better than me who have this and love what it does... I currently use a Source Audio Ultrawave and C4, so am not 100% anti digital; I just think it lends itself to certain application, and this is one of those where I can't understand why they haven't stayed true or closer to the source material.

At the risk of being "that guy"... I can't work out why they've gone the digital route with these!  Surely a recreation in pedal format would've had more appeal (and better results I can imagine) than a digital interpretation .

1 hour ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Up to you of course, but everyone else seems to think the Ampero II effect models are great, some even amazing (and most people actually the previous generation of Ampero One effects, that Ped speaks about, as well) .

 

People who actually tried the most recent generation of HoTone digital modeling effects, unlike Ped.

 

Also I would think a lot of it is down to personal preferrences.

 

Personally I haven't tried any of HoTone's digital effects, so can't confirm neither side of this discussion, but I would be partial to trust the opinion of the majority and people who actually tried the models in question.

 

Try looking up the HoTone Ampero II Stomp, which would be the smaller version of this, threads, which features the exact same effect models on, utilizing HoTones most recent current modeling technique, and you'll see what I am talking about.

 

While I haven't tried the Ampero mini, the filters on the Ampero II were fantastic (one mans fantastic is another mans tragic of course).  The pitch effects were still awful on the Ampero II however, even after a complete overhaul update of them... they'd have been better off saving face and removing them in my opinion.

3 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

Having owned the M5, MS60B and now a Helix LT, I think yes, it is £150 better than the zoom. 

Appreciate the reply Greg, but I respectfully disagree (also owned 2 MS60B's and 2 x HX Stomps).

Neither blew my socks off, but I found the zoom filter and synth sounds to be a huge cut above the HX stuff, and The dirts, fuzzes and distortions were more than passable on the zoom.  With the ability to stack effects in the zoom, I'm not sure how it's justified.

This surely can't be £150 better than the Zoom MS60B though... seems ludicrous pricing to me!

Was going to... but saw someone say they're a digital emulation and instantly switched off...

Sold 🙂

Paddy has pretty much hit the nail on the head there... its a fantastic pedal that does everything right really, it's just ALOT of coin.  That being said, price wise I'd say its in line with all premium preamps (markbass, origin effects, two notes etc). 

I gigged mine last night straight to FOH to be sure of its return and the sound man said it was thunderous (no IRs used, just preamp and SGT).

Long story short, if you're happy to spend the coin then you can do far far worse

Excellent condition Orange Little Bass Thing Bass Amp including NON notched volume knob by Orange under warranty and gig bag!

Had this amp less than a year bought new from Andertons, selling due to going the IEM FOH route.

Contacted Orange after a couple of months of ownership as the notched volume knob made gigging very difficult, but it's such a fantastic sounding head that I really wanted to stick with it.

Orange agreed to take the amp back under warranty through Andertons and fit a linear "normal" volume knob for me. The usability of the amp increased 100x over and it sounds incredible!  I have the full email thread with Orange for verification.

Has the best 1 knob compressor I've ever used, which adds real tube like weight and character to the note with indicator light on the front.  The EQ is very musical at all settings with sweepable mid freq, and the 500W are SERIOUSLY loud watts, closer to tube wattage than typical class D wattage (I rarely had the volume past 8 o clock, and that's contending with a bass heavy synth player).  Can't wax lyrical about this amp enough, and I'll be sad to see it go but it's not getting used and could do with the funds to pay Santa!

Still have all original packaging, and happy to ship at buyers cost, or meet in the middle within reason.

New Hotone goodness here!

https://www.hotoneaudio.com/products/multi-effects/ampero-ii-stage

Looks like a step up from the Ampero II stomp, which is a really impressive bit of kit, and if it was a better known brand with a bit more customisation would've been a genuine HX stomp killer!

This unit looks seriously impressive!

Got mine yesterday and its great! Found its more than capable of doing subtle tubeyness. Concerned about some of the reports of a low di output though...

My only issue is the cabsims turn my C4 synth patches and external drives into dark mushy mess... anyone got any experience of this and any idea of how to get around this? I suppose this is more of a general IR and cabsim issue than a SGT specific one... 

7 hours ago, ordep said:

Big board rewire finally done. Added the MC3 for the Stomp and FI. 

 

You literally have a mix of my favourite pedals, and pedals I'd most like to try on this board... you have no idea how much board envy I'm feeling right now!

EHX Hot Wax is the best example of dual drives I've ever used... no preamp option though 

On 10/09/2023 at 09:41, fretmeister said:

Boss BC-1X.

 

It’s been a revelation. It just works perfectly. I no longer own a Cali76, Empress, DG SS, Keeley Pro because of it.

Those are some pretty big names the boss unit has picked off! If you don't mind me asking,  Do you feel like it does something that the Cali and Empress don't?  I was always put off the boss unit with it being digital.

JPTR FX Jive really sweetens up my tone in the mix... also found the way huge pork & pickle to work some magic when looking for a hairy rock clean tone. Would love to try one of those JHS colourbox pre's... but so much coin! 

1 hour ago, Dazm66 said:

Anyone invested in Ian Martin Allison's presets? Any good? I don't mind chucking a fiver or a tenner just to see what a patch is like but his are far more expensive and wondering if they're worth it. Especially the synth sounds which sound amazing on the videos that I've seen but I always suspect there's more going on than just bass>helix.

John Willis from "Dr Tones Lab" slated them.  He said they're all just generic values on standard blocks and there's nothing thought out or special.  I'm sure he uploaded his own versions to the Dr Tones Lab website for free where all values were 1 out to avoid any plagiarism drama.  Might be worth checking them out on his website.

Worth mentioning I actually really like what Ian Martin Allison is doing, but haven't tried his or Jon Willis' presets.

So after having a play around with this through headphones, it definitely does the cali76 thing pretty well!

In honesty though I think there's an element of listening with my eyes... I just remember my Origin Effects unit sounding a bit "better" but I can't put my finger on how or why. I honestly think it's a mental thing of "it's a clone, and the fit and finish is no where near, so it can't be that close".

In reality though, I have no idea how they've made a compressor sound as good as this for 50 quid! If I take my cali76 head off then it genuinely is just a great compressor!

I have a problem...

Had an unexpected gear sale, so was debating the cali76 cb or expresses compressors. Decided to take a punt on the completely original Demon FX Call76 first though with the huge price difference! Opinions will be on another thread, but I think it's a keeper!

Possibly... although if they've blindly copied it then it's more likely to do what the original does I guess...