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Pre-amp advice needed :o)


Freddie75
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Hi fellow chatters,

Not sure if this is a stupid thing to be asking so please forgive my lack of knowledge.

I have a GB Shuttle 9.0 and am thinking or getting a pre-amp to give me more options for sounds/tones.

I need something quite versatile that can produce a nice clean fat warm tone - something like an Ashdown ABM for when playing in my Foo Fighters tribute band, and also something which can give me a sound kinda like Paul Turner for when playing more funky stuff in my Funk covers outfit.

Is this the best route to take? Not sure I want to purchase another amp so thinking probably cheaper to go the pre-amp route.

Any recomendations or experience with pre-amps with the shuttle?

Thanks in advance

Freddie

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Thanks LukeFRC

I intended to purchase the Shuttle and am happy with the sound from it, just looking at something to give me more options and to get a more accurate sound for some of the stuff I'm playing.

I tried one of the sansamp DI pedals but didnt get on with it really - perhaps I didnt give it enough time.

Edited by Freddie75
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If your amp doesn't really deliver what you want, look for a new amp..

Personally not a fan of throwing effects in front of the pre stage.... as it may well be poorer quality...but that also depends how much you spend on the amp anyway.

You might need a decent hybrid amp..with valve pre which you can overdrive...and then switch back to clean.
Not many amps can do this well enough, IME... so I'd get an amp that could do your core sounds..and it may well be that you need two amps.

2 amps that I know can do clean and O/D to a degree...are SWR SM series and Thunderfunk which has a switch simulator.
I would also think Eden do one as well. Maybe the Ag500 twin channel..

From your initial post... clean and fat and Paul Turner aren't a zillion mile away from each other anyway...???

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I have both the Sansamp BDDI and the Catalinbread SFT. Both do an excellent job of making a small rig sound like a big, over-driven valve rig (in different ways, of course, and with loads of options), but it doesn't sound to me like that's what you're looking for.

If you want to shape your sound without over-driving it or adding grit, have a look at the Radial Tonebone.

Quite expensive, but built like a tank, and enough of a Swiss Army knife that you can always find extra uses for it.

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Freddie,

I think you need a day out at a good bass shop to try some stuff out and narrow down exactly what you need. Bass Gear in Twyford is probably your nearest. I can recommend the Gallery in London and Bass Direct in Warwick from personal experience when I have been in similar gear dilemmas.

Incidentally, I think Luke mentioned the Streamliner at #2 as this does have a more gritty overdrive than the Shuttle whilst still doing a warm funky tone too. I love mine and suggest you try one. Certainly easier to carry around than an Ashdown!

Good luck and let us all know how get on.

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[quote name='PTB' timestamp='1344762872' post='1768771']
Freddie,

I think you need a day out at a good bass shop to try some stuff out and narrow down exactly what you need. Bass Gear in Twyford is probably your nearest. I can recommend the Gallery in London and Bass Direct in Warwick from personal experience when I have been in similar gear dilemmas.

Incidentally, I think Luke mentioned the Streamliner at #2 as this does have a more gritty overdrive than the Shuttle whilst still doing a warm funky tone too. I love mine and suggest you try one. Certainly easier to carry around than an Ashdown!

Good luck and let us all know how get on.
[/quote]

Thanks for the advice, you're absolutely right in that i need to spend some time in Bass shop. I do like the streamliner sound so will have to go try one out. Thanks for your time.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have a DHA VT1 EQ, and I swear by it's mojo. It's got a real proper valve in for warm fat tone-y goodness. Very versatile giving everything from clean to a heavy distortion. I use it with my Matamp GT200 to give a clean boost and with my SS combo to give a little valve growl. Very well constructed and I love the handmade nature of the thing. Plus I picked it up for a good price on BC!

[url="http://www.davehallamps.co.uk/page29.html"]http://www.davehalla....uk/page29.html[/url]

Edited by billyapple
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I just got a GK mb fusion in the post . . . . yowza. LOTS of filthy tube action . . . nice EQ section. I'm not used to it, or any GK gear.

Try it if you can. ;) So far I've only tested the preamp section (no speaker cable yet)

P.S. it comes with a footswitch for switching between the two channels - it's nice to play with. It's bigger bro the fusion 550 has motorized eq - which could come in handy!

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If you're looking for a 'WARM TONE', you need to spend some time looking for a couple of little thingamijiggs called 'tone controls'. You may not have heard of these, but they are usually round, stick out on the front of your amp and have labels next to them saying something like 'Bass' or 'Treble'. Try turning the first one to the right a bit, and the left one to the left a bit. Hey presto - a 'WARM TONE'.
No need to thank me.
By the way, if your amp is one of those sophisticated ones with a 'Mid' control, turning that to the left will also give you a 'WARM TONE'. Don't ask me why. Scary huh?

Edited by stevie
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[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1347539925' post='1802127']
If you're looking for a 'WARM TONE', you need to spend some time looking for a couple of little thingamijiggs called 'tone controls'. You may not have heard of these, but they are usually round, stick out on the front of your amp and have labels next to them saying something like 'Bass' or 'Treble'. Try turning the first one to the right a bit, and the left one to the left a bit. Hey presto - a 'WARM TONE'.
No need to thank me.
By the way, if your amp is one of those sophisticated ones with a 'Mid' control, turning that to the left will also give you a 'WARM TONE'. Don't ask me why. Scary huh?
[/quote]
I wondered what those things were but was to afraid to ask - duh

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I used to have a Tech 21 VT pedal. They are excellent at achieving the really warm sound of valves without going to too much expense. Well worth trying. I used mine all the time, just sat there on top of my Aguilar DB751. I only sold it on when I sold the 751 and bought a Matamp GT200. That gives me the real deal.

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i use my pearce BC-1 preamp for all my 'clean' tones (has a nice valve-style drive on channel 1, and a harsher drive on channel 2)

but if i wasnt to use this i'd go for a darkglass b7k, i also used an aguilar tone hammer for a bit and it sounded nice with the AGS switched in, but seemed to overly compress my signal and made all my (intentionally louder) distortions and synths quiet.

anything with some nice TS like drive and a 1khz mid boost will get me interested.

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