Tech 21 QStrip - Bass Preamp

Product Information

The 100% analog MOSFET circuitry in the heart of the Q\Strip provides the warmth, girth and larger-than-life tones for which vintage consoles are revered. Add in four bands of pro-audio-quality equalization, two parametric mid bands, as well as high and low shelving filters, and you have incredible control over how your instrument cuts through on stage or in a mix. Applications for the Q\Strip include using it to ‘push’ a guitar amp, teaming it with a power amp to act as a bass rig, and pre-processing a guitar, bass or keyboard signal prior to recording directly into a DAW. You could also feed it from a mic preamp for vocal or instrument recording. The high-cut filter may be useful for recording or for feeding a PA where you don’t have a dedicated speaker emulator, and conventional drive pedals or other effects can be placed before the Q\Strip in the signal path.

In the end I would suggest trying one. Specifications are meaningless if you aren't happy with the tone or ease of use. This cookie stores user-like settings for the chat system provider, which are required for our online chat service. Trusted Shops I'm reasonably familiar with the technology of such consoles from 60s/70s - both UK and USA origin - but not aware of widespread use of MOSFET devices in Channel EQs. Whilst small signal (as opposed to Power devices) MOSFETS can be used for audio work, in my experience the console EQs tend to be based around Bipolar transistors as the active components (maybe JFET but these used more for signal switching in desks toward the end of this era). The use of Mosfets was intentional for the sonic benefits, low noise and also so the unit could be phantom powered. Bipolar transistors would be too power hungry.As it happens this has recently been the topic of a discussion on a pro audio orientated forum where I dabble. One member was most adamant that only mic level was 'legitimate' but couldn't really articulate why. I finally got around to playing with my Q/strip at home last night. Just Bass- Q/S - Zoom B3n in bypass mode and headphones. Ok, so its an EQ, not really much to expect. Plugged The Sire V7 in and had a play. Very powerful but i found the best tones were almost flat on the boosts. I never really had a 'wow' moment but i can see it potential. Saying that, even with it off and using my normal Zoom presets i wasn't feeling it last night. Thanks for the reply. It does clarify things a fair bit wrt the transistors. I agree the specs' aren't the important thing but the advertising references the technology and 'inspiration' so the question arises.Good point about the limited power available via phantom. But now that mixing desks / interfaces etc often have proper Line Level inputs there's often no advantage and some disadvantage in deliberately attenuating a signal when you don't need to. yes it can be useful to have the option to work at 'non-professional' nominal level eg -10dBv (lower level and different dB reference - standards are great - that's why we have so many 🙄) and I have been in the situation where I've chosen to configure a DIY attenuating pad to archive some stuff from DAT (remember when that was a thing ???) using my now old multichannel TDIF interface that has unbalanced inputs at a low nominal level. But I still prefer to work at +4dBu until I have to attenuate.

Manchmal nehme ich es auch zu Auftritten mit, bei denen ich es selbst garnicht brauche. Hin und wieder kann man seinen Mitmusikern damit dann aber unter die Arme greifen, wenn mal ein anderes Gerät den Geist aufgibt. The fact this little box can be used like a D.I. with phantom power may not be useful to everyone but can come in handy, especially for bass players who uses it as a cab sim. Early in your chain, the parallel output can be used for your tuner or as a secondary chain, if you are creative.

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Both are pedals that combine different functions, and different players will have different needs for the different functions. Based around MOSFET circuitry, the Q\Strip offers four bands of desk-style equalisation, comprising high- and low-shelf filters plus two sweepable mids (40 to 700 Hz, and 300Hz to 6kHz). The separately switchable high-pass and low-pass filters allow you to constrain the frequency spectrum by trimming the highs and lows — and the low-pass filter can be used in conjunction with the main EQ to approximate a speaker emulation filter.

Tech 21 is arguably best known for the SansAmp ‘Amp In A Box’ simulator—However, their quality product range has been rapidly expanding over the years, including effects and utility pedals. Today we have something else a little different; A recording console channel strip in a box! Dan Veall takes a look at the Q/Strip. Darüber hinaus habe ich es mittlerweile auch für die Kalimba und den E-Kontrabass benutzt und bei all den Instrumenten war der QStrip gut brauchbar. Well this one is now sitting at the end of my home pedal board! I didn't get on at all with the BDDI (which Dave, I know, is a big fan of!) but I'm really loving the Q\Strip's tone shaping capability: it goes several steps further than what my amps can do, which is saying something as they're both pretty good (particularly the Mesa M6) in the tonal options they provide. And I finally have an XLR out on one of my pedals to boot Einmal um bei kleineren oder kürzeren Auftritten, sowie bei Proben auswärts eine kompakte Lösung für den E-Bass parat zu haben, die man gleich im Instrumentenkoffer mit dabei hat. The knobs are precise and smooth, but without snap to the middle position. Anyway it sounds quite neutral with knobs at about a noon position and this is good.

Definitive Vintage-style DI/EQ

Dafür kann man aber mit dem QStrip sehr viele verschiedene Instrumente bewältigen. Ein Gerät zu haben, das eben genau in dieser Vielfalt stets ein gutes Ergebnis liefern kann, ist auch etwas wert. There are still products (including g interfaces and mixers) that can’t accept true nominal +4dBu line level balanced signals. This alone makes a mic signal more universal as a line level signal won’t work in that situation. Beispielsweise bekomme ich Akustikgitarren an meinen Mesa Rosette DI-Preamps immer besser eingestellt als am QStrip. The low pass filter (LPF) is going to be useful for guitarists but also bassists who like using ‘gainy’ distortion. We often have problems when it comes to cabinets with tweeters in, or sending the sound of our pedals directly to the PA. Being able to emulate the sound of a paper cone speaker really smooths out the top end of heavy distortion. This button will go a certain distance to making that a tap of a foot rather than reaching for tweeter attenuator knobs on darkened stages to tame excessive top end fizz! Also worth noting that signals that are impedance balanced or 'Ground Cancelling' are likely to be at -2dBu nominal level. Since the -ve leg of the signal isn't driven.