The Little Jake requires a preamp, which can be a wide number of things. To make things easy on most bassoonists I work with someone from Chicago that makes a very simple preamp housed in an Altoids tin with a belt clip that provides the necessary impedance buffer and signal boost in a compact package. There are some EQ problems with it depending on your rig though – as it’s a very bass heavy signal. I temper that preamp with an EQ pedal or just at my amp.
Most of the time I prefer to use a slightly more expensive belt clip preamp made by L.R. Baggs called the GigPro. For about $100USD it provides a similar impedance buffer and drive that the Little Jake needs, but also provides gain and volume controls and a two band EQ along with a “trim” that can help avoid any extra boomy-ness. Here are my settings that I use with this and my rig. It changes slightly sometimes, but basically this is it:
Click to view the image a little larger. I’ve added red lines to clarify where the Trim, Bass, and Treble knobs are pointing, since it doesn’t photograph well. If anyone is using the Little Jake and wants to try it out, this can be purchased at many music stores both locally and online.
Trent Jacobs, bassoonist 