Homie. You’re in luck. There have been mini and micro volume pedals available for years lol

There's no tonal difference at all between the two. The only thing you lose on the compact is the second foot switch to turn the effects loop on and off, but you gain the ability to power it from a regular pedalboard power supply and not have to have a second IEC power cable going to your board.

@@janekgwizdala Thanks for the input! :)

Around USD $900 now. I wish there was more flexibility, but if bassists dig it 🤷🏼‍♂️

Agree. It's nonsense.

I still have no idea what this pedal does... people just say "it makes your tone better" but can't describe how.

@@BassMonstrum I have a tech21 q\strip and a 1073 clone at home I use for recording direct bass, the 1073 clone cost about 2x what the Q\strip cost, and the differences in tone are very subtle. Once you’re in a live situation I bet it would be very challenging to be able to tell the difference between the two. When I’m at home with headphones or studio monitors though the higher end preamp imparts some tonal changes that are very inspiring to hear while playing.

Well yes, I have a pretty good picture of what a preamp does for your sound. If you believe it's clear that no one can explain preamps to you, then you simply haven't been speaking to the right people. There's nothing wrong with subtlety, and you can't simply say an audience won't notice it live just because a difference in two sound samples in a demo video on youtube is subtle. They won't notice it live because when you play you're not putting on a clinic and A/B testing it for them to highlight the different between bypassed and pre amped. You're playing a gig. Besides all of that, you're missing the point of the entire thing. The underlying importance of a preamp to a player is about how it makes you feel as a bassist. The feedback you get through the instrument and the amp as a result of having something in the chain. That is true for almost any effect. Every preamp I've ever used (and that is dozens at this point if I had to guess) has a totally different character. And yes, some have lots of knobs and EQ options, and others don't. Do you know anything about the Neve 1073 that the BP-1 is based on? It has slightly more than the two knobs of the BP-1, but not the "50 knobs" you reference in your comment. More knobs and EQ options don't equal a better product. Some things just don't need all that crap if they sound good on their own. There is also a massive difference between the capability of an on-board preamp vs something super high end like this. In this video for instance, I'm using a P bass which is passive and has no preamp. So there are dozens of use cases for a preamp. Regardless of what "wonders a producer" can work in a mix in a DAW, it matters what signal is being recorded more than anything. To the player, be that in the studio or live onstage, the feel and the feedback through the fingers is paramount to anything else. Only the experience of using these devices will give you a clear understanding of their importance to bass players. Watching KZfaq videos and reading gear forums will help you exactly zero percent of the time when it comes to gaining actual user experience. They will expose you to a lot of different product and many varied opinions, but very little beyond that.

@Janek Gwizdala thanks for your answer. Btw, my "getting the picture" came off as rude, but was simply meant it for emphasis, and directed not to you, but to the generic reader. I apologize for that. Thanks for your thorough reply and clear perspective. Cheers.