Bankai Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 (edited) Nowadays, I get my tone from an MXR M80 DI which is fine when running straight to a pa, however when I'm running through a normal bass amp I just set everything neutral and still get quite a bit of coloration. Sooooo, I'm considering getting a rackmount power amp and a fairly neutral cab, primarily for monitoring, but with enough power to do a gig without pa support if required. Has anyone got suggestions of a good way of going about this? I've got my eyes on a nice crown class-d amp which should do the job. Edited February 24, 2015 by Bankai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest monsterthompson Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 (edited) pay attention to input impedance, and balanced vs line level connections. some power amps and preamps don't pair evenly, so you can miss out on volume. from the Monique description on Jule's page [url="http://www.juleamps.com/bass/monique.html"]http://www.juleamps....ss/monique.html[/url] - Monique has two outputs: Line Level output (1/4" Single Ended TRS) and a separate XLR balanced DI output that is driven by a beautiful Cinemag transformer. Both outputs have their own separate level controls. The Line Level control is also a push-pull switch. Left in, the Line Level control gives you the original Monique (0db .775volt) output. When you pull the Line Level control out you get a 4db increase in both the Line Level and the Balanced XLR outputs. That gives you up to (+4db 1.25volts) from the Line Out and (-10db .775volts) from the Balanced XLR output. The Line Level Output often goes directly to the input jack of your amplifier, but it's 10K output impedance also hooks up extremely well to an Effects Loop Receive, a Power Amp Input, or a Line Input jack. Edited February 24, 2015 by monsterthompson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funky8884 Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 The BB2 will go very loud if you feed it 1Kw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Google about Crown Class D amps and input levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Rock Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 In pursuit of the ultimate quality clean tone, I tried all sorts of amps, but settled on a pre/power setup. It sounds fantastic, has miles of headroom and is very transparent. What pre and power amps do you have in mind? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest monsterthompson Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 [quote name='3below' timestamp='1424809607' post='2700758'] Google about Crown Class D amps and input levels. [/quote] as a former Crown owner, I support this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bankai Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 [quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1424818990' post='2700940'] In pursuit of the ultimate quality clean tone, I tried all sorts of amps, but settled on a pre/power setup. It sounds fantastic, has miles of headroom and is very transparent. What pre and power amps do you have in mind? [/quote] It's not so much about having a clean tone that I'm interested in this route, it's more so about having something fairly neutral that doesn't add or detract from the tone already being generated by the preamp. I use the MXR M80 at the moment. Might upgrade to a sansamp at some point in future, but the M80 does the job well for now. Power amp, I'm open to suggestions. Are there any specifications that make a PA power amp good for bass usage, or will any power-amp that's good for PA be good for bass? (e.g. Crown, EV, etc.) Cab wise, I'm going to have to go for a normal 4x10 for now. Maybe I'll look to barefaced when the budget allows Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Rock Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 I can give my experience of two different Crown power amps - the XTi (class AB) and the XLS (class D) Both were great for bass, as are most proper PA power amps. They are both extremely transparent. In the end, I kept the XTi as I felt that it had the edge on quality of tone. There was just something about the XLS (possibly psychological) that seemed a tad 'empty' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 i use a demeter Minnie 800d power amp for my pre/power set up, it is ridiculously small and lightweight (fits in the pocket of my mono m80 gig bag) and can go very loud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 [quote name='Ant' timestamp='1424852925' post='2701074'] i use a demeter Minnie 800d power amp for my pre/power set up, it is ridiculously small and lightweight (fits in the pocket of my mono m80 gig bag) and can go very loud [/quote] I recently bought the Demeter head that has this power amp built in it. Stunning thing! I did email Demeter themselves - the poweramp in that format is NOT rack mountable, but for an extra $50 they will build it into a a standard rack unit instead. I'm already thinking about that as an option to go with my Ampeg preamp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taunton-hobbit Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 I've got a Crown XLS2000, it's a good powerful amp which requires a bit of thought about signal processing beforehand, otherwise it can all sound a bit clinical......but it is only supposed to 'amplify' the incoming signal, and it does that job very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lw. Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 @ the OP, Sorry but have you said which amp & cab you currently use? Wouldn't sending the signal from your EQ pedal into the amps fx return bypass its pre-amp and so avoid colouration? Though of course most common cabs will add their own flavour to the mix too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest monsterthompson Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 [quote name='Ant' timestamp='1424852925' post='2701074'] i use a demeter Minnie 800d power amp for my pre/power set up, it is ridiculously small and lightweight (fits in the pocket of my mono m80 gig bag) and can go very loud [/quote] if that is in the OP's budget, i'd suggest also considering this [url="http://www.juleamps.com/bass/M700.html"]http://www.juleamps.com/bass/M700.html[/url] (each are pretty boutique and pricey) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillento Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 [quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1424818990' post='2700940'] In pursuit of the ultimate quality clean tone, I tried all sorts of amps, but settled on a pre/power setup. It sounds fantastic, has miles of headroom and is very transparent. What pre and power amps do you have in mind? [/quote] The RMI Basswitch IQ/DI is your best bet for preamp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Rock Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 [quote name='gillento' timestamp='1425140601' post='2704443'] The RMI Basswitch IQ/DI is your best bet for preamp! [/quote] Thanks for the recommendation. I'm pretty in love with the Avalon U5 at the moment, but maybe that's something to try in the future. Smaller than the Avalon too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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