Powerstage 700 for bass rig and preamp/power amp relationship?

[ShredFetus]

Hey gang I'm about to start gigging as a bass player and am looking at how to set up my rig. I'll be playing fuzzy psych/garage rock.
I'm currently borrowing a Hartke HA2000 bass amp which lives at the rehearsal studio but I already have a bunch of guitar gear on hand that I'm hoping I can repurpose.

So here come the questions...

Is there any reason the PS700 can't be used as a power amp for bass?
How about without a 'proper' bass preamp in front of it?

To explain further, I get my effects from my Boss GT-8 guitar multi fx. I've linked all sorts of wild stuff to the expression pedal - delay timings/feedback, phaser, wah etc. so I really want to keep this as part of the chain. I did find that the preamp section is very much designed to emulate guitar amps which don't play nicely with bass. So I have just disabled that section and the rest of the effects sound great into the Hartke.

If I swap the Hartke for the PS700 would I then be missing a proper pre-amp stage, or would I still technically get a pre-amp signal, just without the gain and tone controls of a normal amp?
I could add overdrive/parametric EQ/compression into the chain of the GT-8 to compensate, plus the PS700 has the 3 way EQ on the front.

I don't have a bass cab on hand at home or I would just plug it in and try it out.
So would it work or am I nuts?!

[Mincer]

The GT8 PS700 would be a great bass rig. I bet you can find a cleaner preamp in the Boss to work just fine. The PS is just clean power, so it it isn't a substitute for an entire bass rig. Something like a Tech21 VT Bass pedal or similar preamp would work well, though.

[ShredFetus]

Legendary, thanks Mincer! Now I think about it I may have also had the speaker sim on when I was running through preamps which would have made a big impact. Hence when I turned the whole section off the full bass sound came flooding back through.

I imagine the auto ohms matching and DI out on the Powerstage will come in handy (will have to see what the cab sim on the DI is like for bass)

[VinceT]

Look for the Ampeg SCR-DI preamp pedal - it’s really good - I use mine into a clean power amp and it does exactly what it claims!


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[ShredFetus]

Reporting back on this one - so I gave this setup a try for quite a while and found I couldn't really get a really deep preamp tone out of the GT-8. It is after all a guitar focused device. The 'Full Range' preamp model was pretty good, but lacked character especially when adding gain. All the other preamp models really sucked the bottom end out. I didn't really figure this all out until I started playing with a full band at rehearsal and really noticed the bass frequencies missing. Trying to dial them back in with EQ didn't really work because you can't exactly bring something up from nothing if it's already been cut.

Such a shame because I was already invested in a lot of the effects combos I'd made and how I could control all the modulation parameters with the exp pedal.

So... I went and got a Two Notes Le Bass preamp pedal.
Added it into the FX loop to replace the internal preamp section of the GT-8.... and BINGO.

Huge bass tone with all of my effects exactly as intended. The best part - they connect with MIDI, so when I stomp on a different preset on the GT-8, the Le Bass preamp also changes channels without me having to touch a thing.


Bonus info:
Out of curiosity I wanted to test the DI speaker cab sims between the Le Bass and the SD Powerstage. I know the Powerstage is meant to emulate a 'famous guitar 4x12' and there was definitely a difference as you can see here.



So I'll probably avoid using the PS700 as a DI live, and am now looking into a stereo cab sim.


Now I know this info might be mostly useless as who the hell else is going to use a combo like this right?

But the learnings apply to anyone wanting to cross over from guitar to bass and try and repurpose gear. Your guitar preamps may be killing your bass tone, no matter if it's a multi fx, individual pedals or whatever. I know most multi-fx modellers come with bass presets now so I would recommend starting with those. As I said, the differences didn't really come out until I was playing in a live band situation, so I hope all this experimentation helps someone!

[Mincer]

Thanks for the new info! I could see the PS700 being great with a Tech 21 Bass preamp, to- just take the direct out of the preamp to the PA, and use the PS700 for the volume on stage. Lots of ways to do the same thing, I guess!

[RevDoom73]

Now I know this info might be mostly useless as who the hell else is going to use a combo like this right?

This is great info, thanks very much for sharing! You'd be surprised how many people are using the PS 700 for a bass power amp and how many people have talked about doing something like this, so it's great that you're sharing info like this for those who are curious. I have gigged out using the PowerStage along with a SansAmp Bass Driver, utilizing the PS 700 for my stage volume, and it worked perfectly.

[Mincer]

This is great info, thanks very much for sharing! You'd be surprised how many people are using the PS 700 for a bass power amp and how many people have talked about doing something like this, so it's great that you're sharing info like this for those who are curious. I have gigged out using the PowerStage along with a SansAmp Bass Driver, utilizing the PS 700 for my stage volume, and it worked perfectly.

Lighter than an SVT, I'd imagine!

[CaptainWhizz]

So I'll probably avoid using the PS700 as a DI live, and am now looking into a stereo cab sim

So do you have effects in the GT-8 that run after the Two Notes Le Bass? Or could you have the Le Bass on the left output into the Powerstage and also XLR out to the PA, and a second preamp on the right output running XLR to the PA? (I think that’s what you’re going for, running one live cab and stereo DI signals?)

[ShredFetus]

So do you have effects in the GT-8 that run after the Two Notes Le Bass? Or could you have the Le Bass on the left output into the Powerstage and also XLR out to the PA, and a second preamp on the right output running XLR to the PA? (I think that’s what you’re going for, running one live cab and stereo DI signals?)

Hey Captain yes there are effects after but I'm not going for a dual preamp type setup - it starts mono with some compression, wah, then the LeBass preamp but after that it splits to stereo with a phaser & ping-pong delay so I'm really going for the stereo effect.

I've got everything linked up to the exp pedal so alongside the wah the delay and phaser frequency increases as I push the pedal down - starts off like a gentle swell then gets pretty hectic towards the end! I've seen guitarists do this kind of thing bending over tweaking knobs on their stompboxes but this way my hands are free to keep playing. And I don't think I've heard it in stereo before.

Anyway, the goal would be to have both channels going to the desk so the audience gets left and right sides through the PA. It really sounds like it's swirling around you!

Otherwise if there were no post preamp effects I'd just use the DI out from the LeBass preamp.
Of course I can just ask the soundie to mic both cabs (I have two GK 2x10 cabs) but a lot of smaller venues around here just expect to DI the bass, and a single channel at that.

Thanks again for your help and feedback guys!

[ellwoods]

I don't have a bass cab on hand at home or I would just plug it in and try it out.

Did you end up being able to test the PS700 as a power amp into a speaker - cab or single (non-FOH) PA?

I'm very curious about getting a PS700 and using it as a power amp with my line 6 helix for guitar and bass into a greenboy F112 cab. My concern is if it has enough clean headroom and power to properly amplify bass at small gig/stage volume support/practice levels. I have 0 doubts it would be more than enough for guitar.

I have found only 1 youtube video review (specifically for bass) where the user had volume at halfway up and said he was underwhelmed by the volume into his bass cab. Also the only professional bass use I have found was Simon Grove using it as his rig on tour with plini into an ampeg 6x10 cab (4ohm cab, so 700w 4ohms pushing 6 speakers). My use case would be at 8ohms into a single 12" cab, and my (probably terrible) understanding is that at 8ohms there will be less clean headroom.

Hoping you could add your experience with the PS700 for bass as a power amp going into a cab or speaker (non-FOH supported).

Thanks!

[eclecticsynergy]

Did you end up being able to test the PS700 as a power amp into a speaker - cab or single (non-FOH) PA?

I'm very curious about getting a PS700 and using it as a power amp with my line 6 helix for guitar and bass into a greenboy F112 cab. My concern is if it has enough clean headroom and power to properly amplify bass at small gig/stage volume support/practice levels. I have 0 doubts it would be more than enough for guitar.

I have found only 1 youtube video review (specifically for bass) where the user had volume at halfway up and said he was underwhelmed by the volume into his bass cab. Also the only professional bass use I have found was Simon Grove using it as his rig on tour with plini into an ampeg 6x10 cab (4ohm cab, so 700w 4ohms pushing 6 speakers). My use case would be at 8ohms into a single 12" cab, and my (probably terrible) understanding is that at 8ohms there will be less clean headroom.

Hoping you could add your experience with the PS700 for bass as a power amp going into a cab or speaker (non-FOH supported).

Thanks!

I've used a 350W Hartke into a 2x10 and it was plenty for rehearsals & small stages.
That Greenboy cab has received good reviews. The idea of a 900W 1x12 bass cab kind of blows my 20th century mind.

Assuming the output of the Powerstage is a clean 350W @ 8Ω, it should be enough.
As long as there's enough headroom I think you'll be fine.
The only question is whether the Powerstage remains flat and clean - it was intended for guitar, after all.

[ellwoods]

That Greenboy cab has received good reviews. The idea of a 900W 1x12 bass cab kind of blows my 20th century mind.

The builder I have been in contact with told me it is rated 450W RMS or 900W program. I think I was confused by the ratings and thought I should be aiming for 450W amp to match this cab. I can explore other power amp options up to 900W?

Either way I like the great reviews they have, was looking for a relatively compact/travel friendly speaker to use with my amp modeler for practices or just stage sound at gigs supported by PA. Was just trying to find an equally portable power amp solution to pair with it (hence why I find myself here on a PS700 thread)

[eclecticsynergy]

The builder I have been in contact with told me it is rated 450W RMS or 900W program. I think I was confused by the ratings and thought I should be aiming for 450W amp to match this cab. I can explore other power amp options up to 900W?

Either way I like the great reviews they have, was looking for a relatively compact/travel friendly speaker to use with my amp modeler for practices or just stage sound at gigs supported by PA. Was just trying to find an equally portable power amp solution to pair with it (hence why I find myself here on a PS700 thread)

My understanding was that the recommended 12" for that cab (Greenboy Fearless 1x12) is a neo mag speaker rated at 900W.
Here's the review I read - this guy is pushing his with a 1200W amp!

https://www.guitarworld.com/reviews/greenboy-audio-fearless-f112-cabinet