[Dave Longenecker]

I bought the Smith PAPA Preamp a few months ago. I was mainly interested in using the preamp to get the modern Smith sound for my 1990 "3 knobber" so that I would have the Vintage tones from the bass itself, then I could also get the newer tones with the preamp - which has the same 'guts' that the newer models have. I was especially interested in having a 'Mids' control.

I have used it live in this context, and it is also great to have this little baby around to practice with a headphone, but I have really found it most useful for recording my string bass: I use it more like a 'More-Me' headphone application.
I sometimes get the opportunity to record my string bass on sessions, but it's impossible for me to ask the sound engineer to give me more of my bass in the phones when there are thirty or forty players and only one overall headphone mix. I usually do the "Right can on my right ear- the other ear on the instrument" thing - but I never can really hear my instrument well, and the headphones nearly fall off in this awkward setting. Instead, I connect the preamp to the pickup of my bass, use an earbud from the preamp and the earbud goes in my left ear which is INSIDE my left 'can'. That way I hear the whole orchestra and click on the right side, and my bass on the left. There is some flexibility in the sound I get to the earbud by using the EQ on the preamp. Also, I then connect the preamp to a tuner on my music stand. With this setup I can both hear myself play and see if it is in tune using the tuner. I find it a very useful setup.

There is a bit of 'hiss' in the sound I get to the earbud, but using the preamp this way is so useful that I can easily ignore a bit of hiss.

Just thought I would share that.

Cheeers!

Dave