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Topic: EU and USA - Steel Pre amp possibilities 220V/110 |
Philip Sterk
From:
Nashville, TN
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Posted 27 Aug 2014 6:12 pm |
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So It looks like I will be touring in the EU and UK next month. I will most likely be using a variable of amps to play through. Amp du jour if you will. I was wondering if there is a good pre-amp that that works for steel I can take over with me, for those shows where the amp just isn't gonna work out and may have to go DI, or maybe even use as a pre for an amp itself.
Voltage requirements obviously different. Is there a good pre that can handle multi states of voltage 110/220? I know that lightweight bass amps seem to be getting a lot of good marks with the pedal steelers. The TC Electronic BH250 comes to mind w/ multi voltage, but that is full amp and I would need a cab to go with, and I'm not sure that will be in the cards
Are there any reasonably priced do-dads that get good marks in the EU or UK? A positive bonus being I can still use it in the USA 110v
Basically, I was hoping to find something that is a consistent variable, night in night out. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks!
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"The method by which the fool arrives at his folly was as dear to him as the ultimate wisdom of the wise." |
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Jay Ganz
From:
Out Behind The Barn
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 27 Aug 2014 8:52 pm
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The Baggs Paracoustic DI works well in a pinch and runs on phantom power or battery.
For a very big step up the Sarno V8 octal pre has a voltage switch. It gets a truly amazing and perfect sound.
Over there I would buy or rent a transformer/voltage converter and run a power strip with surge protection from it. The voltages over there can fry your stuff fast.
You will need the double protection.
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Bob |
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mike nolan
From:
Forest Hills, NY USA
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Posted 27 Aug 2014 10:31 pm
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+1 on Bobs advice on bringing your own transformer. Don't cheap out either, I did that on a recent UK visit and burned up a small mixer that I took along. There seem to be keyboard amps at most UK clubs, and those always work well.... kinda neutral, but they get the job done. I took my own small mixer with efx and a tiny battery powered monitor speaker so that I could use the PA in a pinch. Depending on the venues, monitor mixes are either excellent or non existent. Gear rental is usually fairly expensive and, often difficult, unless you have semi-real tour management.
I might have some stuff laying around the studio, give me a call over the next couple of days. |
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Philip Sterk
From:
Nashville, TN
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Posted 28 Aug 2014 6:07 am
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Thanks guys,
I thought about bringing a Fishman Pre that I have. I've been considering all kinds of things. I will definitely be bringing my own transformer.
Jay, I didn't know Sans Amp made a guitar version. I know a lot of bass player use the bass version and like them.
Bob, A V8 isn't in the budget at the moment. Though, I'd love to have one someday. I have an older Sarno Tonic that I like, but don't really want to subject it to the travel.
Mike, I've been meaning to call you. You'll be hearing from me soon!
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"The method by which the fool arrives at his folly was as dear to him as the ultimate wisdom of the wise." |
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Ian Sutton
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 28 Aug 2014 7:10 am
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I keep a Fishman Pro-EQ Platinum Preamp/EQ/D.I.whatever in my pac-a-seat in case I have an amp failure at a gig. I've spent some time setting it up, and it sounds pretty darn good, especially with my Strymon reverb and delay pedals.
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Some gear. |
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Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 28 Aug 2014 2:36 pm
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| Hey Philip--plus one on that Tech 21. It's a nice unit that can give a decent Fender flavor (ranging from tweed to blackface with the character knob) to whatever you put it in front of. Its obvious advantage is size & battery power. |
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Philip Sterk
From:
Nashville, TN
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Posted 29 Aug 2014 6:08 am
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Brad, I'd love to get my hands on a V8, just not in the budget at the moment. That said, I have a few of your products and I think they are great. So, I have no doubt that it would work great in my situation. Not enough scratch at the moment...
Jon, Thanks for confirmation. I was curious if the sans amp/blonde plays nice with hot steel guitar pickups. I guess its more of a simulator than a "pre-amp".
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"The method by which the fool arrives at his folly was as dear to him as the ultimate wisdom of the wise." |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 29 Aug 2014 6:22 am
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re: headroom, no problem. I've used it with standard hot steel pickups (alumitone, Lawrence 912, Telonics). Sim or preamp? Not sure how to classify it. Both, I guess. Not a digital modeling sim like a Pod, though.
My ultra-portable rig for a while was the Blonde (plus whatever stomp boxes I felt like carrying) into a little Crate Powerblock into a Marrs cab.
The only shortcoming is that the Blonde output is not as hot as I'd like. Seems to require high settings on its output and on the power amp (hence a raised noise floor).
Tell you what, Philip---if you would like to audition mine, you can borrow it for a spell. Get in touch. |
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Philip Sterk
From:
Nashville, TN
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Posted 29 Aug 2014 8:03 pm
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Thanks for the friendly offer Jon. I really appreciate it. I'll take your word that it would work well. Curious if you were you plugging the blonde into the instrument input on the power block or was there a "pre-amp in" input (if there was one)? Thanks for the insight!
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"The method by which the fool arrives at his folly was as dear to him as the ultimate wisdom of the wise." |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 30 Aug 2014 6:37 am
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Hey Philip--not sure if your question is about use of the Blonde or how I use the Powerblock but....
...if I went by the book I would indeed bypass the preamp portion of the P'block and just use its amp section but it is simply more convenient to go in thru the front so I am actually double preamping the signal.
I've A/B'd the results, instrument input vs. rear power amp-in insert and I am satisfied with this. Understand that the Crate does not A/B well with a real steel amp. I've got a Webb (for sale) and a Steel King and there is no comparison. But for the expedience of portable NYC gigging I have declared this rig good enough. My definition of 'good enough' is 'not optimum but definitely not shit'.
I'm practicing right now with the Blonde into the Steel King. It lends a little blackface eq curve that's nice.
I do mean it--if you want to borrow the Blonde to see if maybe you want to buy one, let's do this. |
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Philip Sterk
From:
Nashville, TN
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Posted 30 Aug 2014 9:12 am
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Jon,
Yeah, sorry if I wasn't clear about the input question. You did answer my question.
I wouldn't expect the unit to be a "replacement" pre, but "good enough" is what I was looking for under the potential circumstances.
If I have some time in the next week I'll hit you up, but in meantime, I will definitely take the Blonde into consideration. I'm still in conversation with tour manager/booker over there to see what I will be using for the majority of the shows.
Thanks for all the info!
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"The method by which the fool arrives at his folly was as dear to him as the ultimate wisdom of the wise." |
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