MESA/Boogie Subway+ Bass DI-Preamp II

The MESA/Boogie Subway+ Bass DI-Preamp II is a compact bass preamp and DI pedal that puts the tone shaping of MESA's Subway bass amps on a pedalboard. Its preamp circuit is derived from the Subway D-350, D-800 and D-800+ bass amps, and MESA/Boogie describes it as a compact, full-featured follow-up to the company's first edition Subway preamp pedals, combining the features of those two original models into a single new unit in a 35% smaller format¹.

At its core is an extended range J-FET preamp that, in the maker's words, "easily adapts to use with active or passive basses"¹. For a bassist, that means one box can sit at the front of the chain, shape the whole tone, feed a power amp or desk, and mute for tuning, all at pedalboard scale.

The controls

The Subway+ II is built around a fully active 4-band Baxandall EQ, giving +/- 12dB of cut or boost on Bass, Low-Mid, High-Mid and Treble, with fixed high and low shelving controls. The High-Mid band is sweepable, with a variable frequency control running from 300Hz to 5000Hz, so you can hunt down and shape the exact part of the midrange where your bass lives or gets lost in a mix¹.

Before the EQ, an Input Level control sets the gain for the bass you have plugged in, and a Master Output Level control sets the final level going out to your amp or the desk¹.

The Variable Hi-Pass Filter is worth a note for anyone who has fought a flubby low end. Sweeping it from 30Hz to 150Hz blocks sub-sonic frequencies below its setting, cleaning up rumble before it reaches the amp or the PA¹.

The Deep switch is a simple voicing tool: MESA/Boogie says it enhances the low end and adds additional roundness¹.

The two footswitchable functions, Mute and variable Boost, are the stage-facing part of the pedal. The Input Mute footswitch mutes the outputs for silent tuning between songs, and the Boost gives you a footswitchable level jump for solos or louder sections. Gearnews noted that "a practical mute button for noiseless tuning and an adjustable boost make the pedal very suitable for stage use"².

Inputs, outputs and power

The rear panel covers the full range of connections a gigging or recording bassist needs.

• Instrument Input (Active or Passive) with Input Level control¹
• Aux Input for a media player¹
• Headphone Output¹
• Line Level Preamp Outputs, usable as a 1/4" TS unbalanced or 1/4" TRS fully balanced output¹
• Balanced XLR Direct Mic Level Out with Pre/Post and Ground Lift switches¹

The XLR direct output is the DI side of the pedal. MESA/Boogie describes it as "a full-featured mic-level balanced XLR direct output (DI) with pre/post EQ and ground lift," intended for front-of-house, monitors or a recording audio interface¹. The pre/post switch decides whether the desk hears your EQ shaping or the raw signal, and the ground lift breaks ground-loop hum when the pedal and the desk are on different power.

Power is flexible: the pedal runs on DC from 9 to 18 volts and accepts either polarity, so it works with supplies that would rule out a strictly center-negative pedal¹.

From the Subway amps to the Subway+ II

The Subway+ II is the second generation of MESA/Boogie's bass DI preamp pedals. The original Subway Bass DI-Preamp Box carried "the Tone and Features of Our Subway D-800 in a Bass DI Pedal," with a solid-state preamp derived from the Subway D-800 amp, an Active/Passive input switch, a semi-parametric MID band, a switchable DEEP mode, and AC or battery power³. That model is now discontinued: MESA/Boogie's page for it states it is no longer available and has been left up for reference only³.

The Subway+ II takes the preamp lineage further, drawing on the Subway D-350, D-800 and D-800+ bass amps rather than the D-800 alone, and folds the features of the original two Subway preamp pedals into one unit in a 35% smaller format¹. The dimensions tell the story: the original Box measured 2.51 H x 6.875 W x 5.27 D inches, against 2.25" x 6" x 4.25" for the Subway+ II¹³.

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