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Introduction
Congratulations on purchasing the Fender
Tube Bass Preamp. This product is designed to
deliver creamy tube tone that is thick, natural and
balanced for both live and studio applications. By
combining a Fender
®
passive tone stack with modern
features like our Vari-Q™ semi-parametric EQ circuit,
Room Balance for your stage cabinets, and an
independent Tube Overdrive section, you now have
the best of the old and the new in a single rack space
with a 4-button footswitch to control it all.
Bi-Amped Bass Rig (Separate power amps and
speaker cabinets dedicated to lows and highs
independently)
1. Use guitar (shielded) cables to connect the high
frequency output and the low frequency output to
a stereo power amp (or two mono power amps).
Use speaker (unshielded) cables to connect each
side of the power amp (or from each individual
power amp) to the appropriate speaker cabinets
2. Use the Active Crossover to select the frequency
cross-over point
3. Any frequencies higher than the selected cross-
over point will be sent to speakers assigned to the
higher frequencies
4. Any frequencies lower than the selected cross-
over point will be sent to speakers assigned to the
lower frequencies
5. This is what is called a Bi-amped rig (bi- meaning
"two"). The advantage of this setup is its ability to
be more efficient with the signal and the player's
ability to hear specific ranges of sound coming
through specific speakers (example: sending high
frequencies to a cabinet with 10's and low
frequencies to a cabinet with a 15)
6. The result is less unwanted distortion as high
frequencies do not have to compete for headroom
with low frequencies
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TBP-1
The TBP-1 can be used in the following ways:
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What makes the TBP-1 special?
The passive tone circuit in the TBP-1 is the same one
used in such classic Fender
Reverb
®
and Dual Showman
circuit means that the EQ controls are close to being
"flat" when set Bass: 2, Mid: 10, Treble: 2. Although
you are able to make tonal changes, you may notice it
doesn't react the same as a typical solid-state front
end. The passive circuit feels integrated, with the
Volume and EQ controls affecting each other. A solid-
state amp has a pre-defined shape with an active EQ
(typically allowing cut or boost as much as 15dB). This
difference takes a little while for some bass players to
get used to, but the tonal character of the passive
circuit feels right immediately!
Normal Full-Range Rig
1. Connect the TBP-1 Main Output to the input of a
power amp
2. Run speaker cables from the power amp to the
cabinet(s) and GO!
Replacing the Pre-Amp Tone of an Existing Rig
1. Connect the TBP-1 Main Output to the Effects
Loop Return of a combo or head
2. The power section of the combo or head is now
powering the TBP-1
3. The pre-amp of the combo or head is not part of
the sound
4. This is a simple way to add the tone of the TBP-1
to an existing bass rig
Studio Recording Pre-Amp
1. Run a BALANCED LINE OUT (microphone) cable
from the back of the TBP-1 to a recording device
2. Choose POST on the BALANCED LINE OUT so
the EQ changes are included in the output signal
3. Jensen
®
line out transformer keeps signal clean
and strong
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amps as the Twin
®
. This "cut-only" passive
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