Hi,


I am primarily a classical upright bass player. On occasion I get a gig that requires me to play amplified, for which I use a piezo pickup through an Acoustic Image head and a Bergantino EX112 cabinet. I also have an Alembic 5 string with signature electronics. Although it sounds fine through my amp, it just doesn't have the Alembic sparklle, brilliance and character through this system. In fact, my Sire is more impressive through this system. Is there a preamp/di pedal that I could use that would bring my Alembic tone back or do I need to buy another amp?


Best,
Gil

 I saw this the other day...all I know is from the listing.
It does sound like a nice unit.

...and it's from Tony Levin, I'm not sure if that is adding to the price.


https://reverb.com/item/17167995-basslab-stepabout-chapman-stick-stereo-preamp-1st-gen


edit: I'm watching the video in the listing...nice demo.


edit2: I see there is version 2, and it's quoted at $775 on the 'Stick' site:


http://stick.com/shop/electronics/stepabout/

Thanks, Elwoodue,
This is interesting, though more pricey than what I was thinking of. I'm trying to keep the price under $400.00. Also, I want it to double function as a DI as well.

Gil:

It's hard to recommend a preamp since many of the available options are not tonally neutral. They often have a particular tone, and so what one likes another may not. So, with that caveat, I will tell you that I really like the Mesa Subway DI preamp. It's essentially the preamp of Mesa-Boogie's D800 amp. Subjectively, I would describe the tone as clean and a bit mid-forward, although the various EQ options are a great balance between powerful and user-friendly and should allow you to find something close to your tone.

Which Acoustic Image head do you have? I have an AI Coda R that I bought to use with my piezo-equipped Turner Renaissance bass and find the tone to be a bit dark sounding when used for an electric bass with magnetic pickups. If I play an electric bass through mine I always use the built in notch filter to kill some of the low mids and open up the sound of the amp more. If your head has a notch filter try engaging it and sweeping through the frequencies, you may be able to find a sweet spot that will help. I like the Mesa D800 and think if you wanted a pedal with a built in DI that may be a good choice but IMO the D800 is also a kind of dark sounding amp. It does have pretty robust tone shaping, though, and may be just the ticket for you. On my AI amp I can bypass the built in preamp by running an external preamp into the effects return of one channel and using only the power section of the AI. If you have an effects send and return on your AI head you could try doing the same thing with the Mesa pedal, or another pedal/preamp of your choice.

EdwardofHuncote here on the club uses a Broughton Resonant Low Pass Filter and likes it.  I haven't found a link for it yet.

The Resonant LPF pedal I use with non-Alembic basses was a custom build, but Josh offers low and high pass filters regularly. Mine just came with a CVQ that goes from  -3 / +15 dB. Not nearly as smooth as an Alembic, but the next best thing. 

https://www.broughtonaudio.com/

To the original poster's query, I don't have much firsthand experience with preamp pedals, but earlier this year I was on a recording session where they tracked my '81 Distillate using one of these Ampeg units.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SCR-DI--ampeg-scr-di-bass-preamp-with-scrambler-overdrive

I have to say I liked the results.

I would recommend the Grace Design preamps, probably the Alix for your case.

StephenR, my AI is a Claris 2R. Thanks for the tip on engaging the notch — I will try that when I get a chance.

Edwin, thanks for your recommendation. That Grace Design preamp seems to be designed for acoustic instruments. Have you had experience with electric basses, particularly Alembic?

Edwardofhuncorte, the Ampeg pedal is one of the pedals I'm considering. Have you had other experiences with it?

No sir... that was it. The studio I recorded that project in had it in-house. The whole session was kinda' outside my comfort zone... rounds on my bass instead of flats, pick instead of fingers, hard rock instead of newgrass or oldtyme, so I didn't worry too much about what they did with my bass tone, but it actually came out very nice. No idea what they ever did with those tracks, but I had a lot of fun, and finally got to record some music with one of my best buddies on drums!

Good luck with your search; these guys here have waaaaay more experience than I do with the kind of gear you're looking for.

*Coincidentally, nice to see another upright bass player around.

Thanks, Eduwardo.

If you can bypass the preamp on your current amp, you might consider using an Alembic F-1X or F-2B. I use both with different set ups and they have simple bass, mid, and treble controls, sound great with Alembic and non-Alembic basses (as well as acoustic w/piezo pickup).  I have not tried them with a standup bass. Also, they are rackmount units, not pedals.

Gil,

I've never played through one but looking at the specs of that Clarus SL-2 head I would think you should be able to get the tone you're looking for without any additional gear.  There's no effects loop return on that head so you can't bypass the preamp.  And adding a preamp before the head's preamp could get you into some noise issues.

The only thing odd about the controls on the AI is that "filter" knob which Stephen pointed out, described as a "sweepable low cut".  If the sound is overall too dark, try twisting that knob to remove some low-end and even out the tone a bit.  If you're happy with what the rig does with your upright you should be able to tweak channel-2 to sound good with your Alembic.

Jimmy J