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On the similar L5 preamp by Aion, I find it works best as just that - a preamp, last in the chain, and running directly into a power amp.  It's not really an overdrive or EQ pedal, it's the amplifier's preamp in pedal form.  Maybe running your Colour box before it would help?

Interesting- for the L4 I think the low gain overdrive it does is really musical sounding and as an "amp sounding" eq (Ie not a surgical tool) it's pretty good. I'm currently running it after most pedals but before chorus. Thr colourbox I think was made for guitarist direct to desk fuzz thing, but where I think it shines for bass is in the low gain mode as an end of chain di and preamp strip sound - it's the transformers - they sound great.
They go straight to desk and back through my IEM ... who needs amps in 21st century?! :p

That's a good write up and nicely done build!  I hadn't really thought about it but it is a bit fiddly to set up.  On the real thing there's no channel switching so once you have a sound dialed in you stay there.  And like a Fender I don't think most people use the first channel.

I think Aion have a really good recreation of the amps preamp - in pedal form I think ideally it would have the drive part of the circuit for each channel with some kind of post drive attenuation- then effects loop, then gain and limiter. Or something- but then that ends up being similar to some of the Suncoast stuff.
I like that fender style preamp sound so think I will use the first channel a fair bit - we will see!!

My review (as a bass player, I don't play guitar) of the Lab Series L4 preamp ...

It's the oddest sounding thing I've built! It doesn't sound like I would expect it too, and can't put my finger on why!
What I was expecting was "preamp pedal, quite clean, maybe crossed with an low gain overdrive pedal."

The closest thing I've experienced to it is my old HX stomp and flicking between two amp models (once set up with non crazy gain) - there's a processed nature to the sound, some compression maybe? and a complexity that feels more like an amp model, esp when getting hairy, than something like most the OD pedals I've tried (or indeed models of said OD on HX stomp or the Zoom stuff)

Channel A is pure Fender tonestack, probably more bassman feeling than showman preamp - there's that classic dip in the mids.
Channel B is more- I dunno what - I can get more driven rock tones out of it. Deep switch on both just adds more everything and changes the way it reacts. Swept mids is very powerful but fairly wide Q I think.

You can set it up so A is lower gain, and B higher, and then bounce the high gain into the post master limiter to keep the signal level under control.
Playing with it this way I was thinking "this is finicky to set up and get levels right" ... and then played along to a track and it sounded great - slightly dirty but fitting in the mix and not fizzy or shouty at all - just right and part of the tone I was hoping to get when I built this pedal.

Another strange thing... The preamp I built before this was a valve version of a Alembic/Fender showman, and it had quite a lot of output that would quickly clip the colourbox at the end of my chain.
This also has lots of output, or at least sounds LOUD-  but doesn't seem to make clip the colourbox clip as much - I don't think it's subsonics as I was using a HPF between them but it's very strange.

Anyway. slightly fiddly to set up, but rewarding when it is.

Finished!!

so Musikding made a kit, and I put it together and it worked first time...!
Result!

Sounds good, still need to calibrate it

Cheers for the reply

I actually had a Sushibox london underground with the fender tonestack - which was ok
I built a frog F2b which is very similar and sounds amazing - but my build and the high voltage power supply (on both pedals) weren't playing nicely with the charge pumps in another pedal in the chain.
The L4 sounds great though from your description - what would you (or your bass player) compare channel 2 too?

LukeFRC, if you're into the tube boxes, check out Sushi box FX, particularly this guy
https://www.sushiboxfx.com/product/particle-accelerator-diy-pcb/

I had (and sold) a Sushibox London Underground with a fender tonestack - lovely stuff but same as my frogfx it wasn't playing nicely with a couple of pedals with charge pumps in ... (yes, different charge pumps tried)

When I started I just lent the headstock against a wardrobe door to amplify it.

Look for whatever you can find locally secondhand and sell it again when you leave?

I've thought about it but I think it really comes down to the fact that I enjoy building stuff and I think it would be cool to build him something.

I think I'll check out the TDA based amps and see if that would be a good fit.

Thanks all!!!

the issue will be that bass amps need way more power than guitar amps, and the cab will tend to be bigger. Ashdown do a small valve amp that's 30w and then coupled with a high efficiency cab - for guitar that would be enough for most things but for bass would just be loud enough to play with a quiet drummer. 
If you are building something it's going to be low power and possibly too big to take back with you.
If it's just for practice a preamp, compressor, drive, whatever and then headphone amp might be more useful ?

Bass players Unite! 10 years ago, I was the only one here.


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Pedals are fun but for me there's a level where the difference between 10 different variations of the same drive topology just aren't that that noticeable on bass...

Years back I made a Russian bmp, a catlinbread sft and a small clone in the same crazy enclosure... but never used it and sold it.

Then the direct-to-PA approach meant I ended up with a Zoom B3, then a B3n then a HX stomp.

An affordable JHS colourbox v2 meant a pedal board needed to be built ...

Things I made include - schalltechnik's Vong, PedalPCB boards for Chop shop (Fairfield barbershop) and Low Tide mini (Fairfield shallow water) and a Frog FX F2b - which is an alembic F2b valve preamp
(Also in the chain c4 synth, tech21 boost chorus bass, johnk mini-xo, broughton omni comp)
The F2b clone is a bit of a problem as I moved thr tube so it was in the enclosure - but of course the wires are picking up stuff and making it noisy (also volume at the end changes output impedance) so thinking of making some more things...

When I started I just lent the headstock against a wardrobe door to amplify it.

Look for whatever you can find locally secondhand and sell it again when you leave?

hello, thought I should do the introduction.... Luke from somewhere near Leeds up there in Yorkshire, U.K. - bass player mainly, but go through spouts of building and fixing things. Not sure how many people in the U.K. hang out on here but some of the threads are interesting!

I'm not really favoring one channel over the other except that you have the sweepable mid on channel 2, which either opens up a cool palette or works well if you switch basses.  That said, Channel 1 can get pretty grindy if needed (there's an internal switch) and I do like the simplicity.

I've been using the Sludge as well as Sushi Box's clone of the F2-B and it would be a bit tough to pick one as they all have a cool flavor.  I'm a sucker for anything Lab Series so that's a big bias, and I do like the compression.  It's not really like any other compressor out there (the Moog influence I suppose).  The Sludge has the built in XLR which is really handy as a toss-on-stage-and-direct-to-FOH option and I like the warmth and dead simple tube solution in the Alembic clone.

I'm a bass player and interested in building the L4 even though I haven't heard it!! Channel 1 and the sushi box are both based on a similar fender tonestack, do they sound similar? And what does channel B sound like compared to the sushibox?
Just asking as i know what the sushibox will sound like so I think you might be able to help me decide if I'm going to build!