What would one be able to achieve with a bass preamp? Would it improve your tone, even if you run it through a solid state power amp? Also, is it possible to get a nice overdriven sound from it(since my Ibanez PD7 is noisy and crappy like any other pedal, and my amp's distortion besides being weak, can't be switched off)?

I only use a Cube-100 for amplification right now.

You pretty much use an pre-amp for any amplified instrument, be that an (base)guitar head, rack gear, or any goodies and do-hickeys you might have.
You can't just plug into a power-amp!

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Sure you can! But you can't shape your sound without a preamp...

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and you're going to be quiet as hell.

one thing a preamp does to your signal other than shape the sound... it boosts it from instrument level to line level... that's a huge jump in volume.

if i plug my guitar into a boss metalzone and then straight into my cs-800(800w poweramp) to a 4x12 cab or two... hey, not only is it going to sound like shit, but the volume levels of that monster poweramp cranked to the limits with 4-8 12's is going to be about equal to a little practice amp.

i tried it.

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If the poweramp has a driver or something in it, it should be loud. Like a 12ax7 or something. I plugged right into my amps return, meaning the power amp and with a pedal i could get it loud as fuck although crappy sounding, you must be able to do that with other power amps as well.

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First off, good job haha

Second, you own a metalzone?

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whether or not the poweramp has preamp tubes shouldnt matter... hell it wouldnt work on my peavey classic 50/50 and that thing had 4 preamp tubes in it.

nope. it was my old drummer's. i didn't have a preamp for a while so i thought, maybe.... but to no avail.

an intsrument level signal is alot quieter than line level.

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yea i would thinks so.

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Well okay then .

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I've been thinking about upgrading to a rack setup. But I know nothing about rack gear, so now I begin my education.

Now, I lean more towards high quality solid-state --- As in I have to have something that's unbelievable tight --- Would getting a solid-state preamp coupled with a tube poweramp be a good combination?

In an all solid-state head, where the poweramp is powered by transistors, the amp "farts out" at high volumes, basically because its a solid-state, if I'm correct. And if I'm further correct, it has nothing to do with the actual pre-amp. So if I obtained a 100-watt or more tube poweramp, would that eliminate "farting out"?

So, do I have to use a preamp strictly with a poweramp or is it ok to use it with a poweramp that has a preamp stuck into it?

A poweramp with a preamp stuck into it is basically your typical amplifier head.


I think. Don't kill me xdx

You can have a rack-head too.

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True, true .... can anyone give me any informative links on rack setups?

I would rather have a quality S.S. pre-amp, and tube poweramp, than viceversa

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