Pedal preamp shootout

Over the years I've accumulated a few pedal preamps. It all started with the Aguilar DB924 which I've used A LOT. Last summer I bought the EBS Micro Bass II for a Europe tour I was doing (you never know what amp you'll be provided when away from home). Finally, when Aguilar put out the Tone Hammer, because of its versatility and good price I HAD to get one.

So here I am with three really good preamps but I can (and will) only use one at a time, sometimes any of them actually. So I had the idea of making audio clips of all of them to see what they can do. Here's my results available for you:

• Aguilar DB924
• Aguilar Tone Hammer (set to sound like the DB924)
• Aguilar Tone Hammer (mid boost)
• Aguilar Tone Hammer (mid cut)
• EBS Micro Bass II (channel A)
• EBS Micro Bass II (channel B)

I recommend to download all the clips and put them in a playlist (in Windows Media player for example) in order to better hear the differences between them.

Here's pictures of the different preamps and settings:

Aguilar DB924

Aguilar Tone Hammer (set to sound like the DB924)

Aguilar Tone Hammer (mid boost)

Aguilar Tone Hammer (mid cut)

EBS Micro Bass II (channel A)

EBS Micro Bass II (channel B)

Technical info:

The bass:

• Lakland DJ4; 2007, rosewood fingerboard and Aero pickups. Strings are DR Nickel Lo-Riders.

The cable:

• Bayou: 12', canare GS-6 cable, neutrik connectors.

Recording:

• Bass to Aguilar DB900 DI into Lexicon Alpha USB soundcard direct to Cubase LE. No compression or any EQ added.