Bass Gear Review

Reviewer	Mike Childree
Manufacturer	Yamaha
Model	PB-1 Bass Preamp
Price	$300 new in the early '80's...you can easily find one
	used in good condition now for less than a hundred bucks.

Dimensions	one rack space
EQ	Treble, mid, bass. sweepable, switchable one-band
	parametric eq,
Effects	loop w/send and return level controls
Other	direct out w/ground lift and level, heaphone out
	w/level, several different outputs, both pre and
	post eq.

I am reviewing this old preamp because I've been shopping for a new bass amp, and I am becoming more and more aware that this old buddy has been the most reliable, consistent piece of gear I've owned in the 20+ yrs of hard gigging. I've never had a single problem w/it, and it's never failed to give me a tone to prompt other bassists to compliment me on my sound, regardless of the power amp/cabinets/bass I'm using. Incredibly road-worthy... you could wreck a building with this thing. Very, very clean both onstage and in the studio. The eq controls really do what they are supposed to, work very independently of each other, and it doesn't take an engineering degree to dial-up a good tone. Over the past few years, I've bought lots of gear, and in the past few weeks have tried out just about every major-name bass amp on the market to replace my heavy old rack, but have yet to find an amp that sounds any better than this old solid-state warhorse! And believe me, there's not another bassist on the planet more anal-retentive about his tone! With used prices around $100, I could not imagine a better value for the income-challenged bass player.

Construction	100%
Clarity	100%
Tone	100%
Size/Bulkiness	100%
Value	100%
Overall	100%