Ampeg Classic Analog Bass Preamp Pedal Reviews

SVT in a box.

I'm late in the game to Ampeg. I have an HX Stomp for mostly effects; (the preamps/amp sims all seem to distort) and an Aguilar Tonehammer. I love the tone capabilities and the color this pedal adds. I run everything at 12:00 and add the bass boost button and my tone is so fat and smooth. Flat wounds sound buttery and roundwounds are crisp but clean.
Running direct or through the Aguilar, I love the tone I get.

I picked this up having used Ampeg's SCR DI pedal for several years. And while you don't get the nice balanced output option with this box, you do get every bit of the Ampeg front end sound that you get from the SCR. I use this pedal in front of a modified tube PA amp from the late fifties into a 2x10 cabinet and achieve a superb, gigable and recordable mini SVT tone. I also use it in front of a Motown DI box which then goes into a nice mic pre and compressor….it's unstoppable direct bass tone. A no brainer at this price point.

Shout out to my Sweetwater SE
Zack Bauman who steers me in the right direction. The Classic preamp pedal is the closes your gonna get to the real Ampeg tone, price wise.. I've been using the SCR-DI preaamp which is a great pedal but wasn't using the Scrambler or DI and needed room on my pedal board. Some blogs say the SCR-DI sounds slightly sweeter than the Classic. It maybe hard to tell the difference in tone however from my comparisons the small difference between the SCR-DI and the Classic are in the Ultra Lo setting. When the Ultra Lo is engaged they both cut 10 db @500hz. The SCR-DI adds 1db @ 40hz while the Classic adds 2db @ 40hz.
Rolling back the Bass Eq knob on the Classic between 11 and 12 o'clock remedies that small difference. The Ultra High functions the same on both pedals. The Ampeg Classic has the punch and warm Ampeg tone in a smaller size but you wont be disappointed.

Never used an ampeg amp before but this preamp seriously makes me want to try them. I needed a preamp mostly for EQ and boost since I'm running split gain/clean setup into one head (I know completely wrong) and this does so well that I don't even need drive to cut through a mix. SOLID product and totally recommend

Awesome chunky fat goodness!

I've been looking for that tight Ampeg sound without having to spend the bucks for an SVT amp. I think this comes remarkably close. It's not only a nice pure and clean bass tone it's also gives that tight low end that you hear in an Ampeg amp. The highs are very nicely processed in this pedal as well to get all the tone you want without a lot of things you don't.
This was definitely worth the price as an upgrade to my pedal board. Before you think this is some sort of metal pedal you should know that I play an acoustic bass through this and it still preserves that "woody" sound while giving it some nice tight low end.

I decided to throw more money into my Ampeg Portaflex 350 head to make it sound better. This pedal gets that done. I patched it into the effects loop with a Boss BC-1X bass compressor in front of the head and it has sweetened up this 350 head. Should have got the 500 head instead. Only complaint is when you switch the Ultra-Low button ,it crackles. Had it checked out where I bought it , he tested another one, it also crackled. Best to kill the box before switching Hi to Low buttons. Overall, great stomp box pre-amp technology from Ampeg.

I bought this item to try out over a year ago and have been impressed but performance as an Ampeg preamplifier. I ditched my component preamplifier because I was able to do more with this in my pedal train. yup put is also able to run straight to a power amplifier. Are use this in my clean base chain at the end before sending it to my mixer/preamplifier that goes to a power amp. My other chain consists of FX/overdrive as desired.
This has the same lo and hi boost options that Ampeg typically include in their amplifiers and even a pad switch inside the box.
I was skeptical going in, but this piece of gear has proven itself worthy of a spot on my pedaltrain and has kicked my component preamplifier out of the lineup.

It's a decent preamp I bought this pedal couple of months ago I had still had it in the Box I was using a Hartke bass attack this and pay preamp has less features but the sound is smooth I would recommend it it's a decent pedal I give it a 4.5

An excellent and simple tone shaping pedal that can add depth, sheen and definition to a rig. More refined and varied than onboard preamps. Simpler to use than eqs on most amps. Once you have the basic tone set on your amp and bass this pedal helps add just a little something extra that make the bass tone fuller and more present.

If you play country this pedal is a must for guitarist
The pedal really brings out crystal clear twang
I bought it as a boost for my low output G5260
Baritone and then after testing the pedal on my strat
I realized it's a great guitar boost with mix cutting
screaming highs that trump the best active pups
Before you get new pickups try this pedal it will
surprise you how well this bass preamp works on
guitars

For what it is, its OK.

I purchased this hoping for some semblance of clean Ampeg tone shaping capability, and find it does do that pretty well. I have one significant complaint with this box however. There is no external attenuation switch on this, but rather an internal jumper. That in and of itself is a pain, but on top of that Ampeg felt that 15db of attenuation was appropriate. Normally 10db is normal, so not sure where 15 came from. I moved it to the attenuation position and found it useless. I play both active and passive basses, so the inability to deal with this easily is not helpful. ALso, if you drop that jumper, forget about finding it....I did last night and now have a box that is useless until I find another one.

Sound is good, which is the reason for the 3 stars. I'll keep it around for the tonal options, but come on AMPEG, seriously?? A jumper instead of a switch? Don't understand other than cost cutting which I seriously doubt adds much to the overall fab costs on this unit.

Very disappointing. What is Ampeg thinking. Distortion you cant get rid of without turning the volume down on the bass, Weak tone. I also have the MXR M81 Bass Preamp.. The MXR is an amazing preamp. Spend the extra and go with the MXR.

Got this thinking I"d get I Nice tight little Ampeg tine in a box. It may very well produce that but I could not get beyond the loud pop when engaging the pedal and the awful hissing noises it made. Had to return it. :/