pearce pre amp

I am looking for the preace pre-amp that Billy Sheehan has played for years , But i know they dont make them any more .
Not sure what model right off hand but I can find it .
Any idea where i can find one.

it was a Pearce G2X

http://web.me.com/travishartnett/Pearce_Amps/Ads.html#9

the other popular one was the BC1 2 channel preamp..in fact, there is one on ebay now...buy it before I do ....

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rare-Pearce-BC1-Two-Channel-Bass-Guitar-Preamp_W0QQitemZ280481795510QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item414e048db6

AUUUGGGHHH!!!! Major GAS attack!

I do know that Pearce did some modifications to Billy's units to get more dirt out of them, so the stock units don't all have the same "chainsaw through chocolate pudding" sound that he gets. Still, I wouldn't turn down any Pearce amp if I had the $$$.

As far as I know, Billy still uses his original Pearce preamps to this day.

what?? you don't have 1/2 a grand to spend?

the funniest thing about it is the video

ill bet it hits close to 5 bills when it's over

Amimbari . If someone needs to find something out there you are the man to go too . I would love to have that pre amp on e-bay .
Question ? I have a mesa 400 + head. Do i even need a pre -amp or do i just need find a dist. unit , Like a Rat dist . box?

OK....bear with me. There is a lot to consider with this.

Since the Mesa 400 is a complete amplifier, I don't see the need for another whole preamp. That's not to say that you couldn't do this, but basically, you would end up with a preamp going into a preamp going into the power amp.

There are players that do this, but you also have to remember that the output of a preamp is designed to drive a power amp, so if you did run an outboard preamp into the front end of the Mesa, you'd have to be sure that the output level of the outboard unit is low enough so that what hit the front end of the Mesa preamp isn't too hot, otherwise you'll kill the Mesa's preamp. IMHO, it isn't worth the risk.

You can also take an outboard preamp, and run into the power amp section of the Mesa, which would totally bypass the Mesa's preamp. But personally, I think this would be a waste. Why cart around the added weight of a second preamp, when the Mesa already has one?

Your best bet would be to do as you suggested, and simply find a good distortion unit to run into the Mesa, and this again opens up the question of running stereo. So as not to detract from this particular topic, I am going to start another thread in the Amps section to go into further detail about stereo setups.

thank you Eric for your time and effort

No problem, Bro. That's why I'm here, along with Everyone else.

OK. I just finished a new bass stereo rig thread in the Amps section.

Since the Mesa 400 is a complete amplifier, I don't see the need for another whole preamp<<< yep. I had one and a triple-rec. all it will do is overload the inputs even the one marked for active, and it sounded nasty. I tried a lot of pedals into that thing, and naw.
in order to utilize a lot more effects I started using PA amps years ago and I'm glad I also switched from the 45lb 12 tube beast mono to a 38lb 4 channel compatible wattage system

if I plug my preamped bass in straight I can adjust the bass and treb on the bass it to where I can live with it, but it is more important to leave the controls around 1/2way, adjust the eq on the preamp in the rack, and use the knobs on the bass to add or take away a little on the fly.

basically it's like this, you like the mesa sound? KEEP IT
you wanna experiment, go buy a 100 watt power amp and use the same cab you use now, find a rack-pre and compare to your mesa...you will be AMAZED what a 100 watt SS amp with a very nice pre can do with 1/3 the watts of the 12tuber ( no you can't buy a 79.95 Pyramid DJ amp )

I've tried running a couple preamps into the power amp on my 400+. It sounds much louder and clearer just to use the Mesa's preamp.

I concur with amimbari--if you want to experiment with different sounds, get a Carvin power amp or something and swap out preamps to your heart's content.

Now, I've found that it's hard to find a setting on the 400+ that will give good tube breakup and using a pedal that boosts your signal won't give you the same results with the 400+'s 8 zillion tubes that you would get with a Marshall with a handful of tubes in it. The 400+ was designed to deliver gobs of headroom at loud volume and it does that superbly. Dirt is not its specialty, so I would recommend getting a pedal that will give you better distortion without driving the preamp.

The other week, I got the opportunity to really crank my Mesa through the 4x10. It sounds better the louder it goes. As I turned up the master, I was able to get better breakup. Channel 1 sounds better to me than Channel 2 and 1 sounds much tighter at loud volumes than 2 does as well.

13 stitches wrote:

Amimbari . If someone needs to find something out there you are the man to go too . I would love to have that pre amp on e-bay .
Question ? I have a mesa 400 + head. Do i even need a pre -amp or do i just need find a dist. unit , Like a Rat dist . box?

The Rat is pretty good. But, if you're willing to spend a bit more money, I'd check out this site. He mostly reviews pedals from smaller boutique companies.

well I'm not shocked, but that pearce BC1 pre went for 610.00!!!!!!!!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280481795510&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I'm not too surprised either, Mike. Those Pearce preamps do have quite the reputation, and not just because Billy Sheehan uses them. From what I've heard, they were really well-made. Too bad they don't make them anymore.

i'm looking for a rat ... really cool sound but wouldnt use it more than an "effect" in the aresenal.

for full time distortion and/or growl i use the boss fuzz from the processor ... i dont know its pedal equivalent. eric was talking about loosing the bottom end with distortion. this is the distortion where i dont get that. plenty of undistorted bottom end mixed in with it.

i use a tube preamp, post of the ss preamp on my carvin. its warmed up the tone nicely, but i dont get the drive and growl that i'de want from loading tubes. it also doesnt like certian octave jump effects i use (it saturates the higher pitched harmonics till they drop off and go phtt).

if i had a mesa 400, i wouldnt use a preamp. if i was looking fro more, i'de get an electro harmonix distortion offering and i'de also experiment with some tube drive pedals.

GUYS, the admin on the leftybassist forum has 2 of them for sale...if there is an interest here, I'll buy them and resell one of them to one of you...let me find out how much FIRST!!!!

ok he's not a dumb guy, he also saw the couple selling on ebay for 600 not too long ago, and said 400..is it worth it? probably to someone, but shoot, I don't have 800 bucks to dump out and wait for money to come back unless I KNEW it was a for-sure deal.

Given their reputation, and the fact that they aren't made anymore, I would say they're worth it. Heaven knows I would snatch them up in a second of I had the cash. But it's up to you, Bro.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. It's a real shame that Dan Pearce isn't making amplifiers anymore.

Kinda bumping a old thread here but Pearce Preamps come up every once in a while on Talkbass/Ebay.
I got a stupid good deal on mine from Talkbass, Around 200 bucks, needed a bit of work that came to around 40 bucks if I remember correctly.
Can't imagine my rig with out it now!
The BC1 is the model Billy Sheehan mainly uses, modified but I can find the wiring schematics for anyone interested.
If someone is just after the overdrive Billy uses, EBS just released a Billy Sheehan signature pedal at NAMM this year.
I ordered one and will post a video of myself demoing it when I get it.

Awww....RATS!

Here I thought that you had one for sale, Al!

I know someone who is selling one if you are interested, not sure how much he wants though.

Atomic Al wrote:

I know someone who is selling one if you are interested, not sure how much he wants though.

OH????

Can you find out how much he wants for it?

Sure, he is a member of the Yamaha Attitude page on facebook,
He has some videos on youtube aswell. Search Danny Growl if you wanna check him out.

I'II PM you the group page

Nevermind.... I can't PM links either haha

Aw, CRAP!

Sorry about the limits, Al. I really don't understand why they are there. The only possible reason I can think of is that maybe Forumotion wants to try and limit robotic SPAM activity, as well as porn postings.

I just checked the Admin panel again, and I still can't find how to toggle off those restrictions. It might be that, since this is a free board, they can dictate whatever limits they wish to.

Once I can finally get the main site up and running, I won't be quite so picky about such things.

there is a way around this you know

sub a dash for the :// and a + for the dots

https://2img.net/h/i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm171/amimbari/GEAR%20PICS/IMAG0355.jpg

http-i296+photobucket+com-albums-mm171-amimbari-GEAR%20PICS/IMAG0355.jpg

then we can just put it back to normal and go to the link or wait the rest of the timeframe

Hey Eric,
Danny got back to me, he wants 450 Euro for the Pearce BC1.

Bummer. That's like $600 USD. Out of reach for me, I'm afraid.

Damn!
You can do so much with the Pearce it blows my mind

http-www+youtube+com/watch?v=OLV8hr9hSDw

PS thanks for the tip amimibari

ya that sounds like me getting buzzed and noodling with the distortion/chorus/clean ( I run a 2 channel preamp/rig also

I like to sit in between the 2 speakers for the sweeping stereo chorus .