TS-50 Bass Preamp Bausatz

It features a 3-band EQ, among the most interesting I ever tried. Low frequencies can get very strong, this thing is quite powerful. My neighbours upstairs are getting nervous these days...

I was curious about the tri-comp network results.

At first, it didnt knock me off my feet. After a few weeks, I started to really appreciate the distorted sounds, subtle, rich, round and warm.

Its always a good idea to connect it in the Return input of an amp fx loop, to override your amps preamp.
For me, it sounds also really good connected as usual, in the front of the amp, using the circuit as a bass overdrive.

The two toggleswitches allow to push the circuit into the distortion zone.

I had to solder a capacitor on the other side of the switch board, to avoid any unpleasant squeezing, when I close the enclosure.

I can compare it with an other good preamp circuit : Tech21 VT Bass DI.
TS-50 is a really good option, its not the same obviously, much less parts and less sophisticated options (no MIDI connection,etc.), but its also a top-quality preamp with its own character, I can easily dial some great tones. If I had built the TS-50 sooner...

The EQ felt strange when I first tried to plugg a guitar in this circuit. I guess its calibrated for bass, but within a few seconds I could find some beautiful sounds too, I just had to turn the knobs a bit...

It has an overall feeling of a very well-thought, well-balanced circuit. I am not very knowledgable in electronics, but I would bet its an astonishing design, made by brillant people.

Only issue is a common one with gain effects : on my build, if I push all controls to maximum, it gets a bit noisy because of the gain. Easily fixed with any noisegate.

justin a., 18.11.2022