Anyone know about preamps for double bass piezos?

[garybaldy]

My old Fishman Pro Eq Platinium Bass pre amp is not it's best now. What do you suggest as a replacement. I believe the input impedance should be 10megohm for a piezo pre amp. Thanks

[David B]

I've heard good things about the EBS Stanley Clarke acoustic preamp - it has two channels which can be blended (for a piezo pickup and a microphone on a bass for example) or switched between if, say, doubling on upright and electric. £339 from Thomann.

[kevmoga]

Welcome to the rabbit hole, no limits to how far down you can go. I’m a bassist first, so somewhat familiar with current options. The preamp du jour of late seems to be the Grace Design offerings, if you want 2 channels for blending, that’s the Felix, the Alix is a single channel - beware they are pricey. The Red Eye preamps are also hot right now, a little less expensive. Both of those company’s products get great reviews for amplifying both upright bass and acoustic guitars.

I keep it simple and cheap by using the Fdeck HPF. You get the high pass filter and a 10mohm input. I did a direct comparison to my older model Fishman pro platinum and the Fdeck stood head and shoulders above in sound, but not necessarily features. Pay a visit to the double bass side of the Talkbass forum and you can learn a lot. Another great resource I’d recommend is the Gollihur bass shop website, Mark has reviews of the current popular options. Hope this helps.

[Sam Sherry]

My ca. 1982 Walter Woods MI-100-8 is all set without a preamp.
My GK MB-150S benefits from one.

I use the Radial Piezo PRE Tonebone unit. Two inputs with independent volume control, each switchable for guitar-nominal or piezo-nominal input impedence. Cannon & 1/4" out. I use the mute button all the time and an adjustable clean boost button, set for +4dB, works great for solos.

Here's one on Reverb for $200 used.

[Cunamara]

The LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI is used by two bassists I play with and they both get really good tones with it in their signal chain. I have one that I use for my flattop guitar and it works great for that. I've loaned it to a violinist with a piezo pickup in his instrument and it was an improvement in his tone. Jean-Luc Ponty uses one.

[garybaldy]

Welcome to the rabbit hole, no limits to how far down you can go. I’m a bassist first, so somewhat familiar with current options. The preamp du jour of late seems to be the Grace Design offerings, if you want 2 channels for blending, that’s the Felix, the Alix is a single channel - beware they are pricey. The Red Eye preamps are also hot right now, a little less expensive. Both of those company’s products get great reviews for amplifying both upright bass and acoustic guitars.

I keep it simple and cheap by using the Fdeck HPF. You get the high pass filter and a 10mohm input. I did a direct comparison to my older model Fishman pro platinum and the Fdeck stood head and shoulders above in sound, but not necessarily features. Pay a visit to the double bass side of the Talkbass forum and you can learn a lot. Another great resource I’d recommend is the Gollihur bass shop website, Mark has reviews of the current popular options. Hope this helps.

When one has used the same unit for many years it does become a rabbit hole!

[garybaldy]

Oddly enough I did a Trad Jazz gig last night with my Hungarian Golden Strad (!) cheapy and a budget piezo from Ebay (the seller makes them himself) through the old Fishman and an Ashdown 1x15 combo and I had a really great sound - compliments from both the guitar/banjo and horn players as well. I wasn't happy with it at home before I went. Perhaps it was the stage.

[Hammertone]

Comparatively ancient but highly effective:

[Spook410]

I used to play a lot of flat top guitar and have had a Grace Design Felix for quite a long time. It's very well made. They use high quality input circuits with switchable input impedance. Very well sorted overall and don't know of anything better.

Oh. And it's gotten expensive. Fortunately they make models with few channels/features that are still excellent. Grace Design is one of the best in the business.

The Acoustic Guitar Forum has a section for acoustic amplification that has a lot of good information.