Best Preamp Guitar Pedal (2024 Update)

From the very first moment I plugged in both my Martin D42 guitar with it's Fishman pickup and my five string Stelling Banjo with the KAVANJO pickup system to their respective LR baggs Venue DI preamp's a smile lit up on my face. The sound, the controlled sound, the natural sound that came out of each device was absolutely wonderful. I would have to say that my banjo sounded incredibly smooth… And the guitar tone was the best I've ever gotten from my Martin D 42. It was a pleasure to listen as a strummed or finger picked each instrument. And you could tell that the audience was listening intently… There was no distortion whatsoever. And I've really just started using the device, and haven't fully dialed in the potential. I'd also read a lot about the tuner not being accurate… Well I have two Petersen tuners… Clamp-ons … one on each instrument and I double checked it with the baggs built-in tuner… And so far it has been spot on. The boost switch is fantastic and the mute couldn't be better. I am completely satisfied and delighted that I purchased one LR Baggs Venue DI for each instrument.

I've got 2 LR Baggs Para DI's and have been wanting to try out the Venue DI. I have a Taylor 814 V Deluxe, Taylor 614 and a Taylor 354. I always bring at least one of the 6 strings and the 12 string when I play. All 3 guitars have different tonal qualities, so I wanted separate DI's with EQing abilities for each. The Paras do very well, but I found the Venue to be quicker to dial in a great acoustic tone and it sounds more transparent to me. I love the boost function too!!! Very well built! Like others who have reviewed, the tuner is slow to respond at times and phantom power would have been nice – otherwise this is a 5-plus stars.

First of all I should to say that I have had play experience only with amp sims before so that this review is written impressed by difference between digital and analogue worlds. Build quality and appearance are certainly on high level. Knobs turns smoothly bright switcher has no excessive play and that also applies to other components. The Kraken has great weight (comparing with usual pedals) and looks solid. As Boris The Blade used to say Heavy is good, Heavy is reliable. If it doesn't work you can always hit them with it. Now I'll tell about minor negative thing. I was having high-pitched continuous beep after some time of work when I plugged it to multi-power supply (12V 1000mA and with isolated outputs claimed by the manufacturer). I had to switch to kraken's power supply so now it's ok. I think it's probably more problem with multi-power supply. Ok let's talk about the most important thing it is SOUND. My rig includes Clean Booster -> Overdrive pedal -> The Kraken -> Audio Interface -> Wall of Sound. In general it allows me to reach my purpose to get high gain sound for metal tones on red chanel. Maybe with 4 cable method connection with real amp it works better but in standalone mode it still needs some boosted impulse from pre-overdrive if you want to get tight punchy rithm to play with palm mute. So I wouldnt consider it as extremely high gain sound. But it doesn't diminish the greate tone of the Kraken at all it still does most of work of creating tone. I used it togheter with Kraken 412 speaker simulation and it works very well. Regarding sound itself comparing with amp simulators it is on couple levels above. I don't know how to explain, it feels more musical, touch sensetive, clear without mud and some noisy unmusical high frequensies that I get on sims. I can play for hours and I don't get earn fatigue. My ass and left leg get tired faster. And litteraly yesterday before I started write this review I discovered how amazing sounds natural harmonics. You can produce it on the several strings simulteniously e.g. and I don't know how to properly explain this feeling but at this moment you clearly understand that it works just as nature intended. By the way string difinition is also fantastic. Speaking of how it works with extended range guitars. I use 8 string guitar in standart tuning and it still sounds very well. Maybe it looses a bit to big brother but with proper cab you can get tight tone. After digital amps I'm a bit shocked and surprised. And I think that proper IR makes about 30% percent of work if not more. All in all I would strongly recommend it for those who are tired of amp sims and looking for better sound for playing in bedroom.

At a point several years back I only owned Active Basses, but in the space of two months proceeded to acquire several High-End Basses with Passive Electronics, I was in need for something in my signal chain to raise the output of the Passives to the level of my Active Basses. I took the advice of a close friend who's a true "Professional Bassist" who also knows a great deal about the technical issues of Pedalboards, Large-Scale Amplification and such and picked up the Xotic Bass RC Booster which was the highest-quality he could recommend (I'd rather spend the money once rather than upgrade from a "Beginner's Pedal" to a "Midrange Model" and so on…) That was once of the best pieces of advice I've been given in terms of gear, as to this day the Bass RC Booster is a main piece of equipment on my Pedalboard. Between the 2-Band EQ, Gain & Volume controls I'm able to raise the level of my own Passive Basses or a Bass that I'm using at a Jam or Open Mic to the levels of my Active Bass, which I have all adjusted to Unity Gain as to cause as little issues as possible. Two surprising use of note: with a minimal increase in Volume the Pedal becomes just as useful as a Volume Boost to both Passive & Active Basses for solos, drum 'n bass breakdowns and other times where it's necessary to step out into the spotlight a bit more. Secondly, when the Gain is pushed towards the higher registers you can even can a quite useable "SVT"-type Overdrive. Even players who play with a clean tone will certainly find this added bonus helpful in both live and studio situations. To sum up the Xotic RC Bass Booster, it's an extremely high build-and sonic quality, low noise & versatile Boost effect. Its additional use as a light Overdrive effects is just as effective in its field. I use this often on my Pedalboard, and would replace it immediately if it were lost or stolen. A bit pricey when initially purchasing, it makes up for that as you're buying a Professional Quality effect, and would not have any need to replace with a "better one" a year or so down the road. This is all one would need to cover this area of effects!

The Xotic Bass BB Preamp was the first "Quality" pedal I purchased when I moved from Multi-Effects Units and Boss/Korg/DigiTech mass-produced effects to Individual Pedals, and while there are a number of high quality/high-end "SVT-In-A-Box" Overdrive/Distortion Pedals on the market now I still consider this to be among the top units. Firstly is it's perfect balance of ease-of-use vs variety of tone: between its overlapping Treble & Bass EQ section & Gain control, it's quite easy to go from adding just a touch of Overdriven "dirt" into an otherwise Clean Bass tone to Lemmy or Type O Negative's Peter Steele full-on "Lead Bass" Distortion, and many different examples in-between (Entwistle, Squire, Lee and Commerford). However, the amount of Gain you choose to use does not overwhelm the inherent sound of *your* playing style and *your* Bass and other gear. A Jazz Bass will continue to sound like a Jazz Bass, a Precision will sound like a Precision, StingRay, Ibanez, etc… Adding the 2-band EQ section into the equation will continue to give you more options: for example, if you're using a "60's"-type Jazz Bass (Alder Body, Rosewood Fretboard) you may very well want to add some additional treble EQ to sound closer to the stereotypically brighter "70's J-Bass" (Ash Body, Maple Fretboard)… or not, if you simply want to add overdrive/distortion. I've found that while other Bass Overdrive/Distortion pedals may have more functions and knobs/switches, I personally find Gain-increasing effects to be better with a minimum of controls. One feature is of great use both in the Studio/Recording setting, or if you should find yourself with a massive "Preamp/Head/Amp Failure" before a show: as its name implies, the Xotic Bass BB Preamp has enough output to drive a Power Amplifiler or to the Mixing Board on its own. This "Emergency Function" alone is worth its weight in gold if you don't have an alternative method of amplification should catastrofic failure happens. And you wouldn't even need to play the show using a distorted tone is your usual is a clean one – by simply not increasing the Gain you still have a perfectly good 2-band Preamp at your foot/fingertips. The quality of the pedal is also second to none. Hand-wired with top-of-the-line parts, its potentiometers & input/output Jacks are all heavy duty, and the footswitch clicks on and off with an audible (and forcefull) "click". The only negative that comes to mind is not only its but most modern pedal: it will drain a 9V battery very quickly. However, as most Bassists as well as myself are switching to pedalboard-mounted multiple pedal power supplies, I doubt this is a true negative to most players. Again, there are many Bass Overdrive/Distortion pedals on the market currently that give you a choice between multiple presets, more bands of EQ, XLR Outputs, and numerous other functions. However, I believe the Xotic Bass BB Preamp combines ease-of-use, a good deal of tones at its potential & high quality craftsmanship at a reasonable price of pedals of its caliber.

The Xotic Bass BB Preamp was the first "Quality" pedal I purchased when I moved from Multi-Effects Units and Boss/Korg/DigiTech mass-produced effects to Individual Pedals, and while there are a number of high quality/high-end "SVT-In-A-Box" Overdrive/Distortion Pedals on the market now I still consider this to be among the top units. Firstly is it's perfect balance of ease-of-use vs variety of tone: between its overlapping Treble & Bass EQ section & Gain control, it's quite easy to go from adding just a touch of Overdriven "dirt" into an otherwise Clean Bass tone to Lemmy or Type O Negative's Peter Steele full-on "Lead Bass" Distortion, and many different examples in-between (Entwistle, Squire, Lee and Commerford). However, the amount of Gain you choose to use does not overwhelm the inherent sound of *your* playing style and *your* Bass and other gear. A Jazz Bass will continue to sound like a Jazz Bass, a Precision will sound like a Precision, StingRay, Ibanez, etc… Adding the 2-band EQ section into the equation will continue to give you more options: for example, if you're using a "60's"-type Jazz Bass (Alder Body, Rosewood Fretboard) you may very well want to add some additional treble EQ to sound closer to the stereotypically brighter "70's J-Bass" (Ash Body, Maple Fretboard)… or not, if you simply want to add overdrive/distortion. I've found that while other Bass Overdrive/Distortion pedals may have more functions and knobs/switches, I personally find Gain-increasing effects to be better with a minimum of controls. One feature is of great use both in the Studio/Recording setting, or if you should find yourself with a massive "Preamp/Head/Amp Failure" before a show: as its name implies, the Xotic Bass BB Preamp has enough output to drive a Power Amplifiler or to the Mixing Board on its own. This "Emergency Function" alone is worth its weight in gold if you don't have an alternative method of amplification should catastrofic failure happens. And you wouldn't even need to play the show using a distorted tone is your usual is a clean one – by simply not increasing the Gain you still have a perfectly good 2-band Preamp at your foot/fingertips. The quality of the pedal is also second to none. Hand-wired with top-of-the-line parts, its potentiometers & input/output Jacks are all heavy duty, and the footswitch clicks on and off with an audible (and forcefull) "click". The only negative that comes to mind is not only its but most modern pedal: it will drain a 9V battery very quickly. However, as most Bassists as well as myself are switching to pedalboard-mounted multiple pedal power supplies, I doubt this is a true negative to most players. Again, there are many Bass Overdrive/Distortion pedals on the market currently that give you a choice between multiple presets, more bands of EQ, XLR Outputs, and numerous other functions. However, I believe the Xotic Bass BB Preamp combines ease-of-use, a good deal of tones at its potential & high quality craftsmanship at a reasonable price of pedals of its caliber.

Overall: I loved this pedal when I first got it. The tone was great, the distortion was decent, and the compression was nice. This being a DI was one of the main selling points for me as I run direct into a set of Bose systems for gigs. I rarely used the distortion, but always tone and compression.After about 5-6 months the distortion stopped working, it would just pop and cut in and out. Around 6 months after that the DI slot stopped working all together, which rendered the pedal useless to me outside of practice. Figured it would last longer for the price.

I've had the pedal a couple weeks now and I am more familiar with it. I may have written a previous review so this might be an update… I purchased this pedal for the few times I would have to play on others' amps that don't have any effects as I already have two very good modeling amps. It works great on the modeling amps with the clean channels selected. Recently I bought a Fender Blues Jr which has no effects. I am in a small space where you really can't crank up the volume. To cut to the chase, the TM300 can stand toe to toe with either of my modeling amps, either plugged into them or the Blues Jr. In the modeling amps it provides more clean voices than the amps do without a lot of fiddling. You can also use the distortion/overdrive features instead of the amps' native on-board features if you wish. It is very intuitive and if you take the time to play with it you can come up with some very interesting combinations. I have a Les Paul Custom and a Fender Strat. And though both have upgraded pickups I couldn't quite get the sounds I wanted. The LP was a little too jazz-like and muddy when played in distortion thru the amps. The Strat was just tinny and quacky. I was considering changing out the pickups in both a second time. The TM300 breathed new life into my LP. I can now dial in the sound I want without having the change the pickups. The Strat has a richer fuller sound when I want and the quack when I want. I got this one simply because it was cheap and I just wanted to play around. Venti cinco dolares? Are you kidding me??? The only drawbacks are: 1) It has a plastic housing. It's not heavy duty like a Boss. 2) If you use 9V batteries you have to take the stomper off the change them. A minor annoyance. 3) If you use batteries you have to be careful to unplug the unit after use or it will burn thru your battery in less than a day. Or you will have to buy a 9V adapter. BUT… If you don't want power cables and like to keep things neater, the battery option will help and will also make it more portable as you don't have to pack a power cable if you go anywhere with it. This is my 3rd Behringer pedal, and though not the best in the world I own 3 for 75 buckaroos… less than the price of one professional pedal. For an amateur they work fine and can help a newbie find out what they like and need in pedals without a lot of financial pain.

I bought this based on the EHX YouTube review. I can see using this if your main amp failed, but more so for recording or practicing at home. I bought it because it has the effect loop and wanted to try some different pedal combinations. I may return this and just buy a regular amp head.

This MXR covers all of the tones I need. I am playing a passive bass through a PA. I mainly need some boost and some color. This works great. I rarely use the distortion. The pedal really add to the bottom end. I reduces that hollow tone you can get playing live in an acoustical challenging room.

This pedal arrived with me last Friday, I was really keen to use it having seen the demos online, the following 2 days turned our to be the most frustrating of my life. I suspect the demo people are given a fully programmed device to portray a seeming ease of use. In reality after 2 days of struggling with sluggish and in some cases non responsive buttons and really poor tutorial, even with the help of online programmes, I was not able to store a single usable setting. Now it may be that I was supplied with a faulty unit or the pedal requires far more time and patience than I can throw at it. In a performance environment, utmost simplicity is key and I feel this unit is not that simple, or as I said earlier. could be defective. In either case it isn't for me and the end result is a return for refund or exchange for a different brand. If some-one could mail me in this regard as soon as possible I would be very grateful. kind regards Chris

ARE YOU TIRED OF THE NOISE??? Well, Line6 Pocket POD Guitar Processor. You want your sound to sound real and not so proceeded you sound like a cheap video game. You want the punch that Line6 provides in this little Pocket Processor. You need use it in production? Well you have not only what's onboard but hook it up to your computer and unleash the endless possibilities of user and preset functions. Why are you still listening to noise? Plug your favorite headphones into this baby and rock out while you line in your favorite songs from your mp3, cd or media file source. The only noise you want will come from your audience's response to your performance…so…what are you waiting for? Try out this LINE 6 POCKET POD GUITAR PROCESSOR for yourself along with their line of professional gear.