F-2B + S-F2 or S-F2 + F-2B

[jazzyvee]

I'm awaiting delivery of an F-2B that should be arriving soon from the alembic dealer in France.
What is the preferred way of using it since there is no send/return on the F-2B. Should I go from my D-s5 to F-2B then into the SF-2 then to my power amp or into the S-F2 then into the front end of the F-2B and out into my power amp?
My assumption would be that the former is better as I would be filtering my chosen pre-amp sound rather than attempting to use the preamp on an already heavily filtered sound from the SF-2.

[xlrogue6]

I'd try it both ways and let your ears be the judge, but my intuition matches yours.

[jazzyvee]

I'd try it both ways and let your ears be the judge, but my intuition matches yours.

It would be nice though if the F-2B had S/R channels and dual DI's as well.

[lbpesq]

As I understand it, the standard amp’s effects loop is placed between the preamp and the power amp sections.  I’m not sure where an effects loop in a stand-alone preamp would go in the circuit?  Placing the SF-2 between the F-2B and the power amp would be the equivalent of placing it in the effects loop of a combo amp.

Bill, tgo

[hieronymous]

I've been considering this question as well - dreaming up a small rig with F-2B & SF-2 - I personally would go through the F-2B first for the sound quality of the unit, EQ it the way I want, then for myself was thinking of using the SF-2 as a fancy crossover - low-pass on the neck pickup (low frequencies if going mono), hi-pass on the bridge pickup.

It might sound cool to put the SF-2 first and kind of overdrive the F-2B but that might not be the sound you're going for.

[jazzyvee]

Overdrive.......

[hieronymous]

Overdrive.......

Didn't think so! 

[rv_bass]

At first I was thinking F-2B into SF-2, similar to what I do with my F-1X into SF-2. But then I thought, Big Brown and Orange Osage were essentially SF-2  into F-2B (although probably more going on than just that).  So I don’t know, maybe try both ways and see. 

[edwardofhuncote]

Jazzy, I think the answer is probably on page 13 or 14 of the SF-2 manual. These are the shop drawings showing suggested connections for various applications.


*I'll try to attach it... if it's too big, I'll try something else.

**and adding my Congratulations & Compliments on finding a New Old Stock F-2B.

[rv_bass]

Here’s a link to the manual

http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=263.0

[changed link to current Club]

[gearhed289]

I'd ultimately go with what my ears tell me as xlrogue6 said, but in theory, my choice would be SF-2>F-2B>power amp. I'd look at the SF-2 as additional active tone shaping for the bass before it hits the amp. I run most of my passive basses through a Sadowsky preamp pedal for some subtle bass and treble boost. It's the first thing in my signal path so that it acts like an onboard preamp.

[sonicus]

I follow what I learned from my audio engineering teacher; Mr. Leo De Gar Kulka in regards to basic gain structure to obtain a clean sine wave without clipping and therefore the lowest distortion  .  I use the Alembic SF-2 in the signal path directly from the output of the instrument . Other patches might work ,  if that is what your ears tell you ,my 2 pennies . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_De_Gar_Kulka

[edwin]

I have experimented with this and prefer the SF-2 first. I think Rob is onto something.

The FX loop capability is accomplished if you can get an IN-2!

[sonicus]

Edwin ,  Yes  indeed , it works well with my IN-2  ,

[edwin]

Edwin ,  Yes  indeed , it works well with my IN-2  ,

What is your signal flow for this? I've tried using the SF-2 with F-2B and IN-2 and the gain structure always seems weird or noisy.