Product Description

Nordstrand Starlifter Preamp Di

Nordstrand Starlifter Preamp Di features quality & musicality in a stompbox sized bass preamp with 3 band EQ & Mid sweep. Use the clear signal or the tone shaping contour switch for anything from vintage to modern bass tones.

The Starlifter will help you explore galaxies of tone, offering top notch sound quality with a simple accessible feature set with clear and easy to use controls. It provides a killer clean DI signal that can either bypass the EQ or take advantage of the powerful tone shaping qualities of the carefully designed contour switch and the 3 band eq which features a swappable midrange control. The line out provides plenty of gain to make any amp or powered cabinet sweat. A tuner out, mute switch, and switchable input impedance add real work flexibility. Get on board the Nordstrand Starlifter Preamp and take your tone to the stratosphere.

SIGNAL FLOW = Input → impedance switch → –10dB pad → tuner out → EQ & Contour → DI/Output

Starlifter Preamp Top Panel Controls

MUTE — Mutes all output except the tuner out. In MUTE mode, the mute LED turns red, as do the side lights.
ENGAGE — Turns on the EQ, illuminates the green LED, and turns the side lights green. When the pedal is disengaged, signal still passes through the gain circuitry and the volume knob remains functional.
ENGAGE allows switching a “flat” and EQ’d sound on the fly.
VOLUME – The signal level at the output jack (DI level is not affected). There is quite a lot of gain at hand here. We intend the StarLifter to provide more than enough gain to drive a power amp cleanly and loudly. (More on that later).
CONTOUR — A 3-way switch allowing a selection of “flat”(off), “vintage”, or “modern” settings. “Flat” passes an uncolored signal with no additional eq present, beyond that set with the EQ controls. The “vintage” setting is a “frowny-face” EQ curve, designed to provide a darker tone with a low-mid bump emulating a classic heavy tube amp setup with an 8×10 cabinet. The “modern” setting engages a carefully chosen mid scoop with treble and bass boost, providing quick access to great slap, R&B, and Gospel tones.
TREBLE — Provides +/– 15dB shelving boost and cut with a 6kHz corner frequency. MID — Provides +/- 15dB boost and cut at the frequency selected by the mid freq knob.
MID FREQ — Selects a center frequency between 150Hz–2.8KHz for the midrange bell filter.
BASS — provides +/- 15dB boost and cut with a corner frequency of 70Hz.

Starlifter Preamp Back Panel Controls

INPUT — Plug your instrument in here. (But you already knew that).
IMP SWITCH — Changes the input impedance from 1MΩ to 10MΩ. Use 1MΩ for passive or active electric instruments and the 10MΩ setting for piezo pickup systems, e.g., the typical upright bass pickup.
PAD — Decreases gain at the input by 10dB for high-output instruments. Use the StarLifter without the pad unless it becomes audibly necessary as would be indicated by the presence of unwanted distortion.
TUNER OUT — Allows connection to a tuner or for any other need requiring a parallel output. Remains active at all times.
12-15VAC POWER SUPPLY INPUT JACK — Connect the included 15VAC 300mA power supply here.
GND LIFT — Lifts the ground connection (pin 3) at the DI jack. Can eliminate a noisy ground loop, but should remain unused unless necessary.
PRE EQ — Allows DI signal to bypass eq section of pedal providing a flat, uncolored signal for recording or FOH You can still have the EQ’d signal at your amplifier. The EQ’d signal can be sent to FOH or “tape” by leaving this switch out (disengaged).
PAD –20dB — Reduce the signal at the DI jack by 20dB for better interfacing with some equipment.
DI JACK — Connect your mic preamp or recording interface here.
OUT — Main instrument output. Connect into front end of amp or line level input on recording interface. A lot of gain is available and you can easily drive a power amp or a powered cabinet. Look for an amp in or an effects loop return to bypass the front end of your amp for a super clean and deeply musical sonic quality.

*Dimensions = 6.5″ x 4″ x 1.75″
*Weight = 2.5lbs (1.13kg)

Nordstrand Starlifter NZ & Australian Power Supply

All Starlifter preamps from Tone Merchants come complete with a power supply suitable for both New Zealand and Australia power. You can just plug in your amazing new preamp into our logo power plugs with no issues. Power supply is included in the price and is not sold separately.