DI/Pre-amp pedal for pop and RNB

Gear
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Hi, Bassbuzzers,

I’ve had my Cort B5 Element for about seven months now and I am thinking about buying a pre-amp pedal so I can discover my tone better. Currently, I play through Scarlett 2i2 (1st gen) and with VST, but should I go and play live at some point, I would need something proper. When it comes to my tone preference, I tend to lean towards the RNB, pop, and overall clean sounds. Cozy in the low end, not much treble.

The Cort is pretty throaty in thr mids, but that seems more like a plus than anything else. Since I have no place for an amp, I decided to buy a DI/preamp pedal (put it in Scarlett and then record in daws). I like how Aguilar Tone Hammer sounds, but it’s almost impossible to find here in Eastern Europe, the Tech21 Sansamp v2 is available, but almost all demos go for the rugged metal tone.

To specify the tones I like - it’s like on Bowie’s later records (or his late 70s stuff), like Jamiroquai guys, some Duran (although John seems a bit more bright), Jamerson, Bootsy (I realise that Bootsy is heavy on effects tho), pop and rnb sound.

Thanks in advance!

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I love my Providence Dual Bass Station. Very clean.

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Are you interested in a preamp with or without a tube?

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4

Out of the many I tried, I liked the EBS ValveDrive best for tube tone, and the Tech21 VT Bass DI for solid state tone. Note that both of these will add a lot of great color to your tone, neither are remotely transparent preamps.

Then again, I’ve never seen the point of transparent preamps - they seem to me to fundamentally miss the point :slight_smile:

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@floyderama I have the VT Bass DI from Tech 21. I’ve been able to dial in any kind of sound i want with it, and I’m sure you could do the same.

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Do those exist? :joy:

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IKR? Weirdly they do! The TC SpectraDrive is that way, and so was my EHX Battalion, which is why I sold it.

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8

Add the MXR M80 to the list of transparent preamps also. I’m not sure about the M81 or the Thump.

Might be nice to have at the beginning of your signal chain for an unaffected signal to go out to the mixing board. Although, I think I would still prefer a colored preamp in that position.

Edit: Corrected words for clarity.

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They are useful for the EQ of course, but they are definitely not my preference. If I am buying a pedal, it’s gonna add tone or it’s gonna get chucked. Except tuners and maybe compressors, though there’s some compressor pedals that add some nice color as well, like that MarkBass tube one Toby got.

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Let’s talk semantics. To me clean means something else. For example some amps have a dedicated clean and drive/gain channel. A good preamp should handle clean and drive excellent but the tone of preamp would still be the same. Right?

Transparent is more about tone imo, so no flavor is added. I’m just trying to check if I’m talking out of my ass or not :sweat_smile:

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Yeah. For me, the preamp should color tone without overdriving or the drive channel engaged. That’s the whole point.

A transparent preamp… doesn’t. The only tone changes come from its EQ or overdrive and otherwise it’s flat.

I just don’t see the point. There’s better solutions if all you want is an EQ and there’s better solutions for overdrive/distortion.

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How about EBS MicroBass 3?

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That’s what I’m using, best pedal on my board. Can’t comment on the specific genres you have in mind, but it works for me.

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