What are you folks using for preamps?

[Crash-VR]

Originally Posted by S.bowman

I spoke wth my Sweetwater Rep before pulling the trigger, and he had had the opportunity to try many different acoustic through all 3 of the Grace Designs Pres. He said they all sounded fantastic, but he could not remember if any had the Anthem SL installed. I'm thinking that since I like the sound of the pickup through a DI and my Presonus board, I'm going to like the Bix even more.

I have the Anthem SL in my guitar right now. It sounds fantastic through the Felix.

[curbucci]

K&K pure mini to a K&K pure XLR.

[BluesKing777]

Originally Posted by S.bowman

Yes, I am starting to think that I may have jumped the gun installing the Anthem SL. I have seen videos of the Felix and Alix, and both sound awesome, even on you tube. The Tone Dexter looks great as well, but I am reading that it doesn't play well with the anthem.
I appreciate the input from everyone. Now Im thinking that I am going to change out my pickup before proceeding.The anthem sounds decent straight to my board with a DI, but I need more control for live. Didnt realize that it would pose a problem with many of the preamps I am considering.

If you don’t mind the Anthem SL, leave it in and try a few preamp DIs before going off on another route. What pre have you tried?

Baggs Anthem into Plane Jane Baggs Venue DI is probably a good start. I have an old Fishman Pro EQ DI and that is good to cut a few zippy bits.

BluesKing777.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by S.bowman

I have IRs of a lot of acoustics and mics in the AX 8.

Generic IRs for acoustics rarely work well. That's the whole benefit of ToneDexter, as well as Soundscape and the NUX box. You create IRs for your specific guitar. The only times I've heard the Aura pedals sound good was with people who had sent their guitars into Fishman to have IRs made for the specific guitar. You'd think it'd be good enough if you have an IR for a similar model, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

[ogradyboy]

Mesa-Boogie Rosette Preamp DI. YMMV

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by KevWind

I don't know if they are still being Mfg. , but my in gigging system (sitting unused ) I use the Manley --Langevin 2 channel DVC (Dual Vocal Combo)

Its the red unit with the analog VU's

These units are EXTREMELY good sounding although the EQ is basic at best. As a live acoustic guitar preamp I would add some sort of parametric EQ to it. If you don't need great EQ they are fantastic, and the compressor is very musical sounding too. I've had mine for years in my home recording rack. It's one of the best pieces of gear that I've ever owned reliability wise too!

They are now discontinued, although they did do a reissue in blue a few years back...

https://www.manley.com/legacy/mdvc

[rockabilly69]

As for myself, 90% of the time I use a Grace Alix, the other 10% A Felix!

[jwellsy]

That 2 channel Sunnaudio preamp keeps calling me until I see that price tag.

[stephenT]

I'm using old technology, a Fishman ToneDEQ. And I use it with their Fishman Blackstack sound hole pickup. I've been using the Blackstack a couple years and prefer it to the Sunrise(s) I'd used for years.

What appeals to me about the ToneDEQ is the natural sound with it's analog circuits. Excellent reverb and it's a floor unit which I find easier to use on stage.

[southbeck]

Lr baggs Venue. And a strymon blue sky for reverb. Couldn´t ask for more. Well maybe a good tuner because the one on the venue sucks..

[guitarman68]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

Let me use the analogy of my totally analog stereo system. The signal starts with a stylus riding in a groove, which is translated to an electronic signal by the cartridge. People spend a lot of time and money getting this right. If you don't like the sound coming off your cartridge, you spend a lot of effort trying to modify the signal so you do. If you do like this sound, you will want everything down the stream to reproduce this faithfully.

The cart is analogous to your pickup. Now take the much loved K&K. Reproduce this faithfully and you will have more mud in the low end than anyone would want, and probably too much high end, and a peak in the mids, so you need as much EQ as you can get.

So I have a decent cartridge I like the sound of, and a series of gain stages, the first to replicate the signal, and later gain stages to color the sound to please my ears. How is this accomplished? Buy choosing tubes and the basic design topography then speakers for the sound I want. Tone controls? EQ? I have none. The first tube in my pre does everything I want. Telefunken? A bit bright. Mullard, a bit warm. Amperex Bugle boy is just right.

For my guitars, I take the proper Dazzo pickup into the simple SunnAudio pre. Simple not describing the circuit, but the lack of all the unneeded bells and whistles. It takes a signal and reproduces it in a very linear fashion, without the peaks and valleys most consumer pres produce. Now when you get to Grace level design you are buying good gear, but I would not use most of the features it provides.

Now the Tonedexter take this I don't like the sound of the pickup, and replaces it with the mic sound, a very cleaver approach. So the need for a K&K is to make the tone usable and thus four bands of EQ, enough to compensate for the pickup and the gain stage in the pre. The RedEye is another linear gain stage product. The designer added a treble knob for marketing more than anything. When I talked to him, he called it the dead string knob. I am not saying that given the correct equipment like a Grace pre, you can't make a K&K sound good, you can. But the signal coming from my guitar is something needing no EQ. I don't use the EQ on my SunnAudio Stage DI except when I need to fatten up the tone of my cheap JJB equipped archtop. Then I crank the bass. But I wasn't willing to put the right Dazzos into a really cheap guitar. The simplification of my rig is rewarding.

+1 - I'm completely in Br1ck's camp.
Playing various stringed instruments on stage I use various preamps (see below).
Most use on guitars get the Grace Felix and SunnAudio MS-2. But to be honest, I do not EQ my Dazzo and UltraTonic installed guitars. Needed EQ with K&K PUs.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by S.bowman

This is one of the videos I watched. For demo purposes they should have killed the verb. The low end just sounds awful.(Sorry if this is a board member playing this demo. The playing is great, just not a tone I'm after.
https://youtu.be/iqIoJ0fwH9c

That sounded fantastically good. especially the low end. Are you sure your output system isn't poor?

I use an LR Baggs GigPro. Sound is amazing although I dont love the belt clip format.

[JakeStone]

The Baggs VENUE has become an indispensable piece of gear for me.

[S.bowman]

Originally Posted by fazool

That sounded fantastically good. especially the low end. Are you sure your output system isn't poor?

I use an LR Baggs GigPro. Sound is amazing although I dont love the belt clip format.

Yes. I listened through my ADAM studio monitors, as well as my home stereo system.
I agree that it doesn't sound terrible as far as sounds go, but it does not sound like an acoustic guitar in its natural state. At least to my ears it doesn't.

[S.bowman]

Just wanted to return to this thread and say that the Grace Design Bix arrived yesterday, and it is impressive. Very clean, and really doesn't take any tweaking to get what i am after.
My only regret is that I didn't do more research before buying and installing the Baggs Anthem SL. Not that it doesn't sound very good, but I feel I could do better for this particular guitar. Still looking and learning to find the perfect match. I will just put the Anthem into something else when I do make a choice.
Very pleased with the Bix. Sounds great for guitar, and will be useful for other instruments that I play. The Felix and Alix look great as well, but I told myself that I am keeping my board small, and simple. (Wont be the first time that Ive lied to myself about music gear! I will probably get a Felix before it is over with. lol)
Thanks to all that replied, and gave info.