The Ultimate Preamp

[Alien]

I'm part way through designing a preamp. Some of the features will be original, some based on stuff I've liked in other amps. The idea is to use this to front a light weight power amp. Here's what I've got so far:

Gain control features 'traffic light' signal strength indicator and a pad switch for active/passive (which might yet be removed)

EQ features Bass & Treble shelving controls, with 3 sweepable Mids, +/- 15dB (or maybe just 12, not fully decided yet) on all controls.

Each Mid band will have a swept range of around 3 Octaves, and will cross over each other by about 1 Octave.

The frequency controls will also feature a pull switch to alter the bandwidth (Q) of each of the mid bands.

So, my question to you is this; What other features would you like to see fitted? DI out? Crossover? FX loops?

Let me have it!

A

[joegarcia]

Foot switchable valve drive, rear tuner out, fx loop with front blend control, several outputs on jack as well as balanced XLR. Wouldn't need much else personally as long as it was packed with valves and sounded awesome. Interested in poweramp valves with dummy loads as in DHA and Warwick Protube amps too.

Edited May 6, 2009 by joegarcia

[Kiwi]

Quite a few suggestions here, Andy.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1390&st=0&start=0"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...t=0&start=0[/url]

As for me, give me an Avalon U5 with a 4 band parametric eq, twin inputs (for 2 basses) and an effects loop.

Then give me another but put two in a rack chassis instead with one input each.

[alexclaber]

Lots of headroom, low distortion, 4 band EQ a footswitchable overdrive channel and a power valve driving a dummy load with enough headroom and gain to go from completely clean to very dirty. DI out. I wouldn't bother with a crossover, no cabs are well designed for them.

The problem with asking a hundred bassists what they want from a preamp is you'll get a hundred different answers!

I really like how the U5 has enough headroom to not need an input gain knob, pad or signal indicator but I'm guessing that if you have active EQ it won't be possible to take that approach.

Alex

[BigRedX]

At least three switchable inputs each with their own gain control.

Programability of all the controls (except the input gains) with at least 40 memories for storing your favourite sounds.

[maxrossell]

Definitely a DI out.

[Mr. Foxen]

Stereo inputs and a balance, and fx loops for them. Really I just want two preamps, but with an option to go to a single output. Oh, I'd like coupla bands of sweepable mid, and sweep quite low on it. Hmmm, I'd like a drivey side to be responsive to volume and how hard you play like a guitar amp, but again, probably not of interest to most, just trying to find a pedal that does it is what I really need.

[Boneless]

My idea of the perfect preamp:

- both a (true) valve and a "uncolored" SS section, with a minus whatever pad for active basses, and double gain control (a la Hartke HA3500), and the possibility of getting true overdrive from the valve section (or maybe a separate overdrive section, but it would be too crowded, probably)
- modulable (as in, with a pot think Markbass's VLE) low cut and high cut controls (shelving EQs)
- peaking low and high (at, say, 80Hz and 5kHz), to increase lower and higher frequencies, without affecting the extreme frequencies, tailored to work together with the shelving eqs so that they "interfere" correctly one with the other (ie. cutting both bass and doesn't result in a peak between the two frequencies)
- graphic equalizer for the frequencies in between, or a fully parametric 2 or 3 band equalizer
- blendable FX loop
- preamp master volume
- digitally storable, footswitchable settings
- DI, of course, with modulable output
- defeatable speaker sim on the DI output

plus probably something else

[Alien]

Some good ideas so far, some doable, others way beyond the scope of what I'm doing.

Keep 'em coming

A

[Mr. Foxen]

Oh, thought of a feature that came with my old valve amp, that seems to have gone out of fashion, the ability to deliver 500v to people touching it.

[umph]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='481060' date='May 6 2009, 03:09 PM']Oh, thought of a feature that came with my old valve amp, that seems to have gone out of fashion, the ability to deliver 500v to people touching it.[/quote]
yeah its quite a nice feature, some soundcitys seem to have had it build in!

[chris_b]

The ultimate pre amp isn't the one with the most buttons!

Check out how Dave Funk designed the Thunderfunk preamp on their 550 and 750 models. The quality of the components used and the design of the pre amp are such that when run "flat" the tone is so good that most players don't even use the comprehensive EQ and only use the Timbre and Volume controls.

[The Funk]

Aguilar DB680 with a proper footswitchable effects loop.

[yorick]

A mute button.

[Happy Jack]

Boneless, do you REALLY live in a town called Monopoli?

And if you do, how do you cope with all the silly jokes?

Edited May 6, 2009 by Happy Jack

[Happy Jack]

OK, back on-topic, this suggestion is for those of us who need reading glasses.

I got fed up with being completely unable to read the knobs on my kit, so when Dave Hall did a custom VT3 for me I asked him to replace all words with large, simple symbols which would be easy to recognise without glasses and under stage lighting conditions.



That's G2 (Gain #2), OD (Overdrive), MV (Master Volume), Treble Clef (go on, have a guess), and MID.



Bass Clef, Q, BOO (Boost), COL (Colour).



The three bottom flick-switches are labelled Boost, Fat/Phat, Brightness.

You get the idea ...

It works, too.

[alexclaber]

If you're making the preamp 1U full width then I'd consider making it modular, so you could have a choice of valve or s/s input stages, basic or parametric EQ, overdrive or not, valve dummy amp stage, etc. That way you could have one main box and then a series of interchangeable modules that fit behind, so you could produce enough models to keep almost everyone happy.

Input: Valve or solidstate
Colour: Parametric EQ plus bass/treble shelving, or 4 band EQ plus switchable overdrive
Output: Valve power amp to dummy load or solidstate
Back panel: DI and 1/4"/XLR line standard. Optional FX loop and crossover.

Alex

[MythSte]

Id more or less want an MXR M80 with a valve pre and power section.

[EBS_freak]

This is fairly amusing. Guys wanting all these bells and whistles... and the funny thing is, they will never be used!

[clauster]

Two XLR DI out for me please (both switchable pre/post would be even better)

[MythSte]

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='481198' date='May 6 2009, 05:11 PM']This is fairly amusing. Guys wanting all these bells and whistles... and the funny thing is, [i]I personally can never see them being used![/i][/quote]

[alexclaber]

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='481198' date='May 6 2009, 05:11 PM']This is fairly amusing. Guys wanting all these bells and whistles... and the funny thing is, they will never be used![/quote]

So if you make it modular you make them pay for every bit they want - suddenly superfluous bells and whistles get weeded out!

Alex

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='MythSte' post='481209' date='May 6 2009, 05:18 PM'][/quote]

You misquoted me.

I said, "This is fairly amusing. Guys wanting all these bells and whistles... and the funny thing is, they will never be used!".

Edited May 6, 2009 by EBS_freak

[MythSte]

[Boneless]

Happy Jack, yes! I actually live in Monopoli

Have a look:

[url="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=it&geocode=&q=monopoli&sll=41.442726,12.392578&sspn=18.194768,46.538086&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=11&iwloc=A"]http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sour...=11&iwloc=A[/url]

and yeah, I do get those jokes all the time (especially considering that the game of "Monopoly" is actually called "Monopoli" in Italian ) but you just get used to them over time