SolidGoldFX's Beta-V is their most expansive and refined iteration of that Bass Preamp Pedal to date

I believe SGFX first introduced their ’Beta Bass’ Preamp as a Superdrive back in 2013. Since then we’ve seen several different iterations of this pedal - both circuit updates and special editions - including DLX and Germanium versions. Presumably the V here is that Roman numeral - either indicating the now 5 knobs or principal controls, or that this is possibly the 5th major iteration of this circuit.

In any case we now have 5 knobs, and an additional 3-way toggle to set the Low Pass Filter Frequency Cluster.

Controls - Volume, Low Pass Filter, Drive, Presence (Active Treble Post EQ), Low Pass Filter Frequency - Bump / Flat / Scooped, Body (Active Bass Post EQ).

The Active 2-Band EQ here allows you to better carve out your desired frequency profile - and the new toggle switch helps you further fine-tune your preferences.

There are some pretty decent extended-range compact Bass Preamp pedals out there now - and this Beta-V rightfully takes its place among those.

Bass Amps have long been used by Guitar players also - since the days of the Ampeg SVT and Fender Bassman - in fact Stoner Rock en masse makes a pretty liberal use of those killer sounding early bass amps.

I, like most home-players - do like a fair amount of bass in my signal. Unlike gigging players - which need to fit their output within the optimal band-mix - meaning that for most contemporary applications - the bass is shaved off - and you get a more mids-prominent profile.

When you play at home though - you need that extra low-end bass resonance to really fill out your soundstage and frequency profile - to make your output sound fully balanced. So those Bassy, and in fact Bass Preamps can be pretty instrumental in delivering some more low-end heft.

As an example the Catalinbread SFT is mostly guitar-player leaning - based on the Roling Stones use of that source amp (Ampeg SVT), and the Desert Sound Stoner scene.

I’m doing a forthcoming piece on Bass and Bassy Preamps - which really deliver that killer stoner sound for rhythm guitars. There are a fair few of those pedals I will be acquiring in pursuit of that project - and my own capsule collection will undoubtedly include the SGFX Beta-V too.

Not all Bass Preamps quality - they need to have expansive enough controls - to allow guitar players to properly dial in their preferences. There’s a few of those pedals that are just superbly well calibrated - where even fairly minimal controls work well for both Bass and Guitar. While generally you need a more expansive EQ - kinda sorta 3-Band or near enough!

The SolidGoldFX Beta-V is available for orders right now on the SolidGoldFX Webstore for $199 and equivalent - as well as of course at International Dealers.

I’d be interested to hear from anyone who uses Bass Preamps within their guitar rig!