Red Eye / Grace Bix / Rupert Neve RNDI

[Riles]

Looking to buy a preamp/DI to connect to my Shertler Jam 400. Vocal channels have been very quiet but plugging in guitars has created a hum. Main goal is to eliminate the hum and hopefully improve overall sound with simple controls/not too many knobs.

Figured I would be buying a red eye but looking further the Grace Bix and Rupert Neve RNDI have caught my attention. I have not tried any of these. Guitar is Avalon Legacy--pickup has battery but no controls so active piezo (I am guessing).

[jseth]

The pickup should not be causing any hum whatsoever... you may want to get some sort of pre-amp, but not because of any hum...

I had Fishman pickups in both my 6 and 12 string guitars for a decade or more, and they were whisper-quiet; mine had only a battery inside with no controls for volume or tone, but they sounded terrific!

Anyway, first thing to do is to make CERTAIN that your "gain-staging" is correct... by this I mean, adjust the gain on the input for the guitar so that it "clips" slightly when you are playing it as hard as you will do in performance; usually good amps will have a small led to indicate that clipping. Once you find that point, reduce the gain slightly... the object being to have a strong signal input without any distortion (clipping).

Once you have the individual channel set correctly, then it's just a matter of setting the output volume on the amp/channel...

If this does not fix the problem, try switching cords; use one that you KNOW is a good cord... if that doesn't do it, change out the battery (even if you think it's still good!).

If these "fixes" don't take care of the problem, it is likely there's something wrong with your pickup. If it's an older unit, it could be that the actual transducer under the saddle is shot... this happened on one of my guitars after about 12 years or so. Cost me around $70 to replace the UST portion of the pickup and it was as good as new!

Hope this helps!

[stevecuss]

Replying to follow this thread with great interest. I have been chasing good pickup/pre amp sound for years and have recently been shocked to hear the great variety in tonal response from various preamps and boxes that claim a flat response. These 3 that you mention are on my list to consider as well.

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by Riles

Looking to buy a preamp/DI to connect to my Shertler Jam 400. Vocal channels have been very quiet but plugging in guitars has created a hum. Main goal is to eliminate the hum and hopefully improve overall sound with simple controls/not too many knobs.

Figured I would be buying a red eye but looking further the Grace Bix and Rupert Neve RNDI have caught my attention. I have not tried any of these. Guitar is Avalon Legacy--pickup has battery but no controls so active piezo (I am guessing).

Do you get the hum no matter what power circuit you plug into? And do you get it both at home and at various venues? Often this is a matter of power, not the pickup.

Louis

[Riles]

Louis.
The hum did happen on every channel and trying 3 different guitars. New Mogami cable as well. Both times were at someone's house (different houses)-- so it could have been grounding problem st each house

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by Riles

Louis.
The hum did happen on every channel and trying 3 different guitars. New Mogami cable as well. Both times were at someone's house (different houses)-- so it could have been grounding problem st each house

That would be my guess.

Louis

[Riles]

Regarding the different preamps mentioned--there are good reviews for Red Eye but not much yet for Bix or Rupert Neve (but good reputations).
Anybody have experience with those two products? Or a fit feel might work best for my situation?

Thanks, Riles

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by Riles

Regarding the different preamps mentioned--there are good reviews for Red Eye but not much yet for Bix or Rupert Neve (but good reputations).
Anybody have experience with those two products? Or a fit feel might work best for my situation?

Thanks, Riles

They're all good products--and there are lots of others. How they'll work for you depends on what features you need (and how much you have to spend). I think people often exaggerate the differences between the various DI/preamp out there designed for stage use. As long as you get one with the right inputs and outputs for your uses and the right input impedance for your pickup, you'll be fine. They all do more or less the same job, and in a live situation going into an acoustic amp, you're not dealing with night and day differences in sound. What matters is the feature set and the way the unit is designed to be used (do you like the way the controls work? Are they easy to see and manipulate on stage? Do you need footswitches? Do you need a boost, a ground lift, a feedback notch? Are the EQ points where you like them? Do you need or want parametric or semi-parametric control of the EQ, graphic EQ, etc.?).

Louis

[Vancebo]

Originally Posted by lschwart

They're all good products--an there are lots of others. How they'll work for you depends on what features you need (and how much you have to spend). I think people often exaggerate the differences between the various DI/preamp out there designed for stage use. As long as you get one with the right inputs and outputs for your uses and the right input impedance for your pickup, you'll be fine. They all do more or less the same job, and in a live situation going into an acoustic amp, you're not dealing with night and day differences in sound. What matters is the feature set and the way the unit is designed to be used (do you like the way the controls work? Are they easy to see and manipulate on stage? Do you need footswitches? Do you need a boost, a ground lift, a feedback notch? Are the EQ points where you like them? Do you need or want parametric or semi-parametric control of the EQ, graphic EQ, etc.?).

Louis

This is a great answer. I have owned so many of these preamp/DI units it boggles my mind. You plug into one and each one will have a slightly different tone until you start tweaking knobs. Than it becomes abou the EQ filters and where they're set and how that sounds with your particular pickup and amp, etc.
Let me ask you a question. If you are looking to insert a piece of gear in your signal chain, what do you want it to do for you?

[Riles]

Thanks for thoughtful replies.
Vancebo, I want the piece of gear to give a clear clean sound/signal (help with impedance if needed)--maybe warm up tone but feel okay with doing that on amp--but definitely want simplicity with little to no knobs. Do like the mute switch though on the Bix and see where that would be helpful

[lschwart]

Riles, what kind of pickups do you have?

Louis

[Vancebo]

A Red Eye works well if you want Boost and one knob to add and subtract treble. You can expect the bix to be a very good solution if you want a mute switch. If you want zero knobs, then a DI by Radial and others might and work for you as well.

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by Riles

Thanks for thoughtful replies.
Vancebo, I want the piece of gear to give a clear clean sound/signal (help with impedance if needed)--maybe warm up tone but feel okay with doing that on amp--but definitely want simplicity with little to no knobs. Do like the mute switch though on the Bix and see where that would be helpful

Well as someone who gigs with the JAM 400 almost daily I would get something with a least one band of parametric EQ, or at very least a tunable notch filter! I find the centering of the EQ on the JAM 400 does not line up with my real world gig needs! And I've said this time and time again, but, the Empress PARA EQ for me has turned the JAM 400 into a serious guitar machine. I would love to try that Neve box though (actually in combination with the PARA EQ!!!), and anything Grace makes is a serious piece of gear. I'm sure you can get liberal return policies on any one of these boxes, so hell, try them all and let us know which one gets the crown! Good luck on the search. Oh and make sure to buy yourself a outlet ground tester

[Riles]

Louis. Not sure exactly what type of pickup. It is stock pickup with no volume or tone controls. Guitar is Avalon Legacy A330 (walnut and spruce). I can send serial number to Avalon board and they can tell me.

Rockabilly. I will check out Empress especially with your real world experience with the Jam. Curious if you have a default settting to start. Also ground tester seems like a great idea. Do you search for a good outlet and bring extension cords as needed? Are you the one who added short pole mount to Jam I saw?

Thanks guys

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by Riles

Louis. Not sure exactly what type of pickup. It is stock pickup with no volume or tone controls. Guitar is Avalon Legacy A330 (walnut and spruce). I can send serial number to Avalon board and they can tell me.

Rockabilly. I will check out Empress especially with your real world experience with the Jam. Curious if you have a default settting to start. Also ground tester seems like a great idea. Do you search for a good outlet and bring extension cords as needed? Are you the one who added short pole mount to Jam I saw?

Thanks guys

The key questions are whether or not it uses a battery and whether or not it's a mic, a piezo element of some kind, or a magnetic pickup. If it does use a battery, that means it's active, has it's one onboard preamp, and can be more or less plugged into anything. If it does not and it uses a piezo element, it's going to need an input with a high input impedance (1 megOhm or higher). The inputs on your channels 4/5 and 6/7 on the Jam 400 are probably adequate for this. Unless you're unhappy with the tone your'e getting, I'd think a ground tester and maybe a simple DI box that would let you run a balanced signal into one of the mic inputs would be more useful in the face of the hum problem than an EQ unit like the Empress--as good a unit as that is.

Louis