BBE Acoustimax Preamp Pedal

Purchased new in 2006 and in constant use since then. This preamp is not designed specifically for bass but I find it to be the most versatile and musical preamp I have owned in 35 years of playing professionally.


I am a freelance bassist and am called to play many styles of music. I specialize in upright bass for acoustic jazz, bluegrass, singer-songwriter, theater, weddings and corporate gigs.

This is a single-channel preamp dialed in especially for acoustic instruments but does fine job for electric bass guitar as well. Features include 2.2Mohm input, which presents a nice input environment for piezo upright bass pickups.


Complete list of features: Input gain, Three band eq with a swept mids, notch filter, switchable sonic maximizer, output volume, mute switch, ground lift, XLR DI with phase reversal switch, 12dB pad, Pre/post switch, line out, TRS EFX loop, tuner out.


This box is very well thought out and I cannot think of much BBE left out of the design. Perhaps an XLR microphone input would be nice. Also a global phase switch would be useful. The current version of the Acoustimax has phase switch for only XLR; not a deal breaker. I do not use the EFX loop or the tuner out, but I am glad they're there if I need 'em.

I use this preamp for all my upright and electric bass gigs and for recording if the track requires a pickup sound.

My gigging upright is a Christopher laminated bass with a Fishman Full Circle pickup and my electric is a Musicman Stingray electric bass.

The Acoustimax is very clean with tons of headroom and plenty of sound-conditioning options that are ideally suited for upright bass. The sonic maximizer is the real reason I purchased this box and is now integral to my amplified sound. I will not plug in my bass without it--ever.

The preamp is low-noise in all environments. Because I am going for a natural acoustic tone, any EQing I do is to generally to compensate for bad room acoustics or a harsh-sounding speaker.

The preamp has been very reliable, but the crappy POS wall-wart power supply failed within the first year of use. This was a major hassle for me since the preamp requires a 12VAC replacement; an unusual, non-standard power supply.

I dug through a box of orphan wall-warts at my local GC and luckily found a suitable replacement (plus a spare) and wouldn't you know it, this died a similar death within a year. In spite of this shortcoming I still am sold on the preamp and will purchase an additional spare power supply to keep handy when the next one fails. BBE are you listening?

When I first purchased the Acoustimax I emailed BBE with praise for delivering a nice product and some suggestions to improve it. I received a form letter response.

When the power supply inevitably died, I contacted BBE again and they promptly offered to charge me for a replacement, which is apparently not covered under the terms of their 5-year warranty.

If not for the lame power supply I'd give it a 10.

I have played professionally since 1975. Over the years I have used every available amplifier suitable for upright bass. At present I have pared down my live rig to the Acoustimax, an Acoustic Image Focus SA power amp and two Euphonic Audio Wizzy 10 cabinets. Not the perfect rig, but portable, loud and suprisingly hi-fi for a system without a tweeter.

If the Acoustimax were lost, I would be lost too and I would replace it immediately. I plan to purchase a spare but have yet to get around to it.

I love that BBE set out to build a preamp just for acoustic players and the design succeeds on many levels. If you play upright this is the preamp to own. It blows away all the competition: the Fishman Platinum Bass sounds squashed, the Baggs Para DI sounds murky, the D-tar Equinox is too expensive (plus, semi-parametric preamps are very hard to use in the heat of the battle). The Acoustimax does what it is supposed to do: make your acoustic instrument sound as good as it can with a piezo pickup.

The BBE sonic maximizer is the cornerstone of this preamp and for good reason; it really works. The BBE process corrects acoustic mis-alignment present most loudspeakers. I believe it delays the bass frequencies so they arrive through the loudspeaker in the same fashion as they do off the instrument, in the air. The sound is full and round and just feels right.

Maybe I just didn't have enough experience but I found the manual utterly useless. Yes, I know the button says notch, or Lo Contour, what the heck do they do?!

I had to use google to find an explanation for how to use it... I found one by Guitar Gear Heads:

http://www.guitargearheads.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=288

Then I was off and on my way!

Besides the notch cut and sonic maximizer, everything else actually is self explanatory and is easy to adjust.

Grrrrreaaat!!!

Sounds very clean but I didn't do any signal measurements.
No additional noise added to my ears.

Feels rock solid, except for the wimpy power supply. The wire feels like a peice of hair! BBE shoulda beefed it up.

A bit pricey but I found it to be an excellent EQ / Preamp unit.
I'm also currently using it with my electric guitar and it does wonders let me tell you!

That notch-cut filter really does magic to my sound. It clears up a lot of muddiness and boominess once properly adjusted.

I'm currently running it before a Vox AD30VT and my guitar is a Parker PM20 Pro. Definitely not a pro, but it sounds great to my ears.

I previously ran it with a Larrivee DV-10 (which is now gone, c'est la vie) and it also sounded mighty fine.

Just wanted to add PROPS to BBE for an amazing unit that seriously helped me achieve an awesome sound!!!!

I previously owned the L.R. Baggs Para D.I. I just couldn't get a good sound out of it, but that might not have been its fault. I just remember tweaking it over and over and being frustrated. I have a friend who did the same thing. So I switched to the Acoustimax, and immediately I got the sound I was looking for! The only thing I missed was the lack of phantom power for the thing. It's really easy to use. Just use your EQs to get a good sound, and turn on the Sonic Maximizer to refine your tone. I need the mute function that sends the signal to the tuner as I play onstage every Sunday at my church. Also, the Pad button is necessary for smaller sound systems like the one my church has, and the Ground Lift is a life saver in certain situations. Haven't really used the feedback controls.

Awesome sound quality. If I knew how to get a good sound of of the Para D.I. then I'm sure that would sound great too, but I just can't say enough about how good the sound is out of this thing. I really only use the direct out, as I don't use an acoustic amp. I plug directly into the PA system, and it sounds wonderful. I also have a stereo cable for the FX loop, and I use it with a delay. This too sounds great, and I couldn't be happier with having that option. The sonic maximizer really is a great thing. You can EQ the thing to your liking and still have a great sound, but turn on the Sonic Maximizer and your guitar really comes alive onstage! So kudos to BBE for including it!

I bought this used on eBay, and I haven't had any problems with it. It is definitely built to last. All of the knobs have a heavy feel to them as they are made out of metal. The Para D.I. had plastic knobs which worried me for long term use. The plastic switches on the back of the unit kinda worry me, but they are mostly set it and forget it, so they don't get much use.

I've sent some emails to BBE, and they got back to me the same day and were very informative. The best of the best from my experience!

Don't get the wrong idea b/c of the negative comments about L.R. Baggs. I love their pickups, and I'm hoping to get an iMix in one of my guitars. But compared to the Acoustimax, to me there is just no contest. Sorry Para D.I., but I got the sound I wanted from something else.
I've become a big believer in BBE. I also have their Green Screamer and regular Sonic Maximizer pedals for my electric setup, and they both are solid and sound great. The Acoustimax only furthered my belief. I'm hoping to try out their wah too.
Anyways, if you need an acoustic preamp that's loaded with features, the Acoustimax is definitely a great one.

The unit is fairly easy to use. I received it as I was leaving for a band gig 8 hours away and played with it that night.

The sound is incredible. Sometimes a little too clean.

I play a Taylor 814-CE for my acoustic rig. I have heard people talk about BBE pedals and how great they are and in particular about the Sonic Maximizers.

If you are looking for a fat, deep and clean sound from your acoustic? You probably will want to get this pedal!

I have had it thrown in an old back pack and it fires up every time. Never failed on me.

I have never called BBE

I play a mixture of music resembling Copeland, Damien Rice, One Republic, Manchester Orchestra. I mainly play electric guitar but I bought this pedal for my acoustic setup. I run a from a Taylor 814 into Boss DD-5 with Tap, Boss dual loop pedal into BBE Acoustimax with Planet Waves Tuner via tuner out.

I love the sturdy construction

Even though my Taylor has a balanced output, I love the way the acoustimax makes my guitar sound. I wanted to find the acoustic "pro" sound (Shane and Shane). With this pedal I have come pretty darn close!

The manual is very easy to understand, the unit is very easily tweakable. Unfortunately the effect loop is TRS. I tweaked it without reading the manual, it's very easy to get good sounds for it.

Pristine sound! I use it for ELECTRIC guitar, I have bought it for the parametric eq and the mute (tuner) function. My stuff comes alive. It has a very good transparent sound, clean highs, wide bass. The parametric mid is a very good option! It is twice better than the sonic stomp! Don't expect magic if you take everything to maximum, you have to tweak it a little, but it's woth. Maybe it is the best preamp for acoustic guitar too. Di out, ground lift, mute, tuner, sonic maximizer, wow!

Great, no problems. The tuner and effect loop jacks are plastic, but it's built well overall.

Never dealt with them.

I play a mix of fusion, ambient and metal music. I have a blues cover band too. I have been playing guitar for 12 years, I learned at jazz school and had many guitar units (cost about $12,000) so far. It serves me well, my sound is much better. I wish it had an on/off switch for the effect loop.

Easy to use if you're frendly with eq parameters, you can immediately get a good sound while turning the knobs into flat. Engaging the sonic maximizer will take out all the harmonics you couldn't hear without it.

I use it with a 1986 martin HD28, equipped with a martin thinline passive piezo pickup, and an Ovation 1990 collectors edition with op-24 active piezo system, directly into a mixing console: natural, eccelent D.I., great balance, great presence, no noise at all. The eq section lets you cut off the feedback basses and the "nosy" mids in a natural way, depending on the sound of the venue. The pad switch is really helpful when used with active onboard systems, as well as the pre-post switch, that engages the volume control in the device. You can set the gain and let the desk technician set your output volume, or do all by yourself. The effects loop is an "insert", I've used it with a yamaha magic stomp acoustic, and in this way you only get the sound of the effect. To obtain a more realistic sound i turned the "blend" of the yamaha into 5 (I was using at 10 when the yamaha was stand alone), but am thinking about using the bbe alone and take the effetcs from the desk.

Built like a tank, even the knobs seem to be really hard. As i said, I plug it directly into the desk, and it sounds great. I bought it just not to have an amp onstage. I completely depend on it!!!

never needed

I play guitar since 23 years now, am a professional recording studio owner. I play rock, pop, reggae, jazz with fingerstyle, strumming and fast picking solo parts. I also own a presonus blue tube, that I bought both as a preamp and as a D.I., but it has no eq, even if the sound coming out is very good. The yamaha magic stomp is a good effetcs device, but the sound isn't that kind of realistic I was looking for.
My favourite feature of this device is definitely the naturality of the sound, it takes out the best from your instrument. The only thing that's missing is a parallel buffered effects loop, in the way not to influence the tone set up with the bbe, but you can take the effects from the board or from the amp, if you have one.

Easy, listen for the sound you like as you turn the knobs and push the buttons, go figure ?

ELECTRIC GUITARS TOO !!!

I use the BBE Acoustimax as the last box in my input chain to my amp to add LOTS of versatility to the charactaristics of my distortion/gain etc...

It should do wonders for ANY distortion or overdrive box.

Very well made all metal enclosure. Feels very "top quality".

It's worth having and keeping. No matter what I have in my effects chain to my amp, this box will always be there.

This pedal is extremely easy to use. I am a worship leader at my church and i bought this to use with our band on Sunday monrings. So far i have found that even the slightest adjustments on this alters the sound quite a bit. However, this is probably the easiest tweaking pedal i have ever bought. Give it a 10!

This is my setup. I use this pedal with one of three guitars. A Martin DC1-E, a Larrivee OMR-3V, or a Godin Solidac with fisman powerbridge. My initial reason for buying the acoustimax was to beef up the powerbridge. It really sounds thin, and i think the reason for that is that it's in a solid body guitar. With any of these three guitars I am able to dail up a very warm natrual sounding acoustic tone. I can a some highs and a little of the bbe process and it gets very snappy and percusive sounding. With a little reverb on the solidac i can get very natural sounding acousitc tone.

This pedal is completely silent. No noise whatsoever. I use it with all three of my acoustic guitars, straight into the house PA.

I love this pedal.

I hate to give out 10's when a peice doesn't deserve it, but I cant justify giving this pedal a 9.

Built like a sherman tank.

Never dealt with BBE. But their website is cool.

I have been playing for ten years now. I have had several acoustic guitars. My Larrivee is my favorite to play. I wouldn't own anything that would supress the natural goodness, and sweet tone from that guitar. This pedal take a great sounding acoustic and makes it sound great through a PA. I have found that this is hard to do with piezo pickups. I said before that my main reason for this purchase was to help add depth to the power bridge on my Godin. I origianlly looked at and SWR California Blonde, fantastic sounding acoustic amp. Howerver, that amp costs $700 new and the acoustimax gives me the exact tones from Godin thru a PA that I was getting thru the SWR. If this pedal we lost of stolen i would definitely replace it.

Well-built and easy to use. It's marketed as an acoustic guitar preamp, but I took a gamble and bought it to use as a preamp for my Fender Rhodes Stage 73 Electric Piano. Very easy to dial in a great sound. EQ is very effective, preamp is extremely quiet. BBE processing is subtle, but definitely there. No patches to select or edit. Manual is basic, helpful, easy to read.

I use this on the Rhodes, as noted, and may use it for other keyboards as well (string pads, horns, acoustic piano patches could all benefit). The BBE effect pretty much always sounds great --- it really is like removing a blanket from your amp's speaker. I use this effect with the Bose PAS System (+ one subwoofer), so if there were issues with the sound quality, or added noise, I'd hear them. This unit also has incredible bass boost in the EQ. Nice, full bass, not boomy, but very full.

Still new, but very well-built. I'd use it on a gig without a backup.

BBE Sales was very service oriented in helping me determine that this preamp would work with a Fender Rhodes. I had my doubts, but staff technical expertise convinced me to take the risk. I'm glad I did!

I play anything from jazz to R&B/Soul to rock and country, and have been playing professionally for about 24 years now. I mainly own keyboards. I buy lots of them, but only keep the ones I like, which include two Rhodes Stage 73s, a Hammond B3 w/ two 147 style leslies, a Roland RD700 stage piano, a Roland XP80 workstation, a Korg BX3 portable dual manual (B3 style) organ, a Motion Sound Pro 3t, several Speakeasy Vintage preamps, a Nord Electro Two 73, and an acoustic piano.
If the BBE Acoustimax were lost or stolen, I'd get another one. This will be very versatile and useful for a number of different instruments, unlike dedicated Rhodes preamps out there that aren't built as well and don't have as many features. I love lots of things about this unit -- it's fairly compact, size-wise, easy to use onstage, has great sounding EQ, an XLR DI out in addition to a Lo Z out, a very strong gain circuit to boost the signal, and -- best of all -- very little audible hiss/noise. It does what it does extremely well, so nothing to hate. It would be cool if it had a nice digital reverb program that could be added, but for some reason no one does that.
This tool definitely helps me make music. It does not get in the way. You dial in the sound, and then forget it's there.